Serious Fun
54 episodes - English - Latest episode: 9 months ago - ★★★★★ - 5 ratingsTake a journey into the frivolous with 'Serious Fun', a podcast by UWGB Communication and Information Science professor Bryan Carr. Hear from the scholars, professionals, and fans that interpret and create pop culture. Whether it's comic books, video games or reality TV, "Serious Fun" examines the media that shapes and reflects our lives.
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Episodes
Episode 54: GameChangers - The Games That Made Us (w/ Juli Case and Chris Williams)
November 02, 2023 13:00 - 1 hour - 85.5 MBVideo games! You love 'em! You know you do! But some games are more special to us than others. Some games inspired us, or challenged us. They made us see the medium and the world in a different way. Some even changed the entire industry. These are the GameChangers, and this week on Serious Fun Bryan sits down with Dr. Juli Case and Dr. Chris Williams of the UW - Green Bay English faculty to list and discuss the personal and historical significance of fifteen must-play games and why you should...
Episode 53: Listener Beware, You're In For A Scare(y good time) (w/ R.L. Stine)
October 26, 2023 13:00 - 56 minutes - 77 MBIn our second live show from the Brown County Library Pop-Con, Bryan is joined by legendary author and master of kid-oriented horror R. L. Stine! In this wide-ranging interview in front of a massive live audience, we talk about writing horror for younger audiences, the impact Tales from the Crypt has on a young mind, tips and strategies for a prolific writing process, why comedy and horror are so closely linked, and so, so much more! Show notes: Check out all of Stine's work at https://www...
Episode 52: You Meddling Musicians (w/ The Shake Ups)
October 19, 2023 13:00 - 1 hour - 85.4 MBSerious Fun returns with another slate of live episodes from the 2023 Brown County Library Pop-Con! This week, Bryan sits down with Patrick and Savannah O'Connor of power pop band The Shake Ups and discusses their unique blend of cartoon and musical influences in front a live audience! This "animated" conversation also covers copyright and licensing, songwriting and musical arrangement, remix culture, and so much more! Download it already! Check out the Shake Ups' music, find their tour date...
Episode 51: Grappling with Neokayfabe (w/ Abraham Josephine Riesman)
March 20, 2023 17:58 - 1 hour - 115 MBWhat can professional wrestling and its largest figurehead tell us about our social and political moment? Turns out - a lot! Author Abraham Josephine Riesman returns to Serious Fun for an in-depth discussion about her new book "Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America". Riesman breaks down McMahon, his empire, his connections to politics and business, and how his contributions to pro wrestling have created a new weighted form of synthetic reality she calls "neokayfabe" that perme...
Episode 50: The King of the Monsters (w/ Miriam Brabham and Zack Kruse)
October 28, 2022 17:58 - 58 minutes - 79.7 MBIn our final live Serious Fun from the 2022 Brown County Library Comic-Con, Bryan sits down with Zack Kruse (UW - Green Bay Sheboygan) and Miriam Brabham (UW - Green Bay Main Campus) to once and for all answer that question that gnaws at us literally and figuratively - who is the all time greatest, gnarliest, creepiest, most symbolically relevant monster of them all? Is it Dracula, lord of the vampires? The Wolfman, half-man half-beast? Frankenstein's monster, misunderstood brute? Or is it th...
Episode 49: The Nefarious Gourdon Seed (w/ Robb Mommaerts)
October 21, 2022 17:36 - 54 minutes - 74.8 MBIt's a spooktacular celebration of the craft of drawing on a new Serious Fun! In this live episode from the 2022 Brown County Library Pop-Con, Green Bay artist Robb Mommaerts talks about his style, influences, and work on properties like Klawde the Evil Alien Warlord Cat. Robb also demonstrates how to draw and create original characters from scratch in this fascinating live drawing demonstration! Check out Robb's Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/robbmommaerts/?hl=en Check out his p...
Episode 48: Writing The Stories I Wanted to See (w/ Lori M. Lee)
October 14, 2022 15:34 - 57 minutes - 78.5 MBSerious Fun returns with the first of three live episodes recorded in front of a live audience at the Brown County Library Pop Con on October 1, 2022! First, Bryan sits down with acclaimed, award-winning author Lori M. Lee to discuss her work on books like Pahua and the Soul Stealer, as well as representation in fantasy and science fiction, breaking into the industry, the responsibility that comes with adding Hmong culture to the genre, and more! We also talk a lot more about Kingdom Hearts...
Episode 47: The Godzilla Door
May 13, 2022 15:50 - 29 minutes - 40.3 MBThis week, Serious Fun brings you what you've been craving - academic lectures! Recorded on April 18th, 2022 as part of the Climate Change Teach-In at UWGB, Bryan talks about the movie "Don't Look Up" and the broader question of pop culture metaphors for scientific and social issues. How do metaphors work? Is Don't Look Up a successful one? Are there better ones? How should pop culture talk about climate change? All this and more is yours should you download the new episode of Serious Fun!
Episode 46: A Civilized Konversation (w / David Craddock)
March 29, 2022 07:00 - 1 hour - 125 MBIf you were waiting for a new episode of Serious Fun, well...your wait is over. Also, maybe get some other things going on in your life? I mean, do what you will, just seems weird that you await this podcast with bated breath. That said, this is a real good episode! A great one, I daresay! The illustrious writer and author David L. Craddock joins us to talk about his latest tome, "Long Live Mortal Kombat: Round 1". Bryan and David talk about the history and legacy of Mortal Kombat, how publ...
Episode 45: We Need Podcast Power, Now! (w/ Joe Hunter & Lan Pitts)
September 24, 2021 19:59 - 1 hour - 113 MBIt's another Serious Fun! This week, Bryan dons his brightly-colored spandex and joins forces with artist Joe Hunter and returning guest writer Lan Pitts to talk about their series "Beast Heart Strikers" and its exciting new announcement, as well as the sentai genre and how their cultural influences have shaped the work. We also talk about a lot of other stuff, like He-Man and pro wrestling. Also Ray Romano drops by a couple times. It's a whole thing. Go ahead and listen, if you want. SHOW...
Episode 44: Ten Rings, Someone Pick It Up (w/ Pang Yang)
September 09, 2021 13:00 - 1 hour - 106 MBOnce again, Serious Fun goes into the breach and picks apart the latest offering from the Marvel monoculture – SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS. This time, however, we have a very special guest – academic professional, martial arts and comic movie aficionado, and beloved spouse Pang Yang! Bryan and Pang talk about her experiences growing up in a media environment where she didn’t see herself represented, where Shang-Chi fits into the MCU pantheon, as well as how the character represe...
Episode 43: The Nostalgia Awakens, Returns, and Rises (w/ Eric Morgan, Chuck Rybak, & Ryan Martin)
September 03, 2021 13:00 - 1 hour - 117 MBEarlier this year, the Oshkosh Public Museum played host to “The Nostalgia Awakens”, a traveling exhibit that holds the distinction of being the largest public display of the original Star Wars action figures and toys ever in Wisconsin. Such a momentous occasion merits an equally momentous podcast – one that cannot be contained in a single show alone! So this week, Serious Fun crosses over with fellow Phoenix Studios network shows Canonball and Voyageur to talk about the Star Wars franchise a...
Episode 42: "X" Marks the Book (w/ David and Nadia Oxford)
August 26, 2021 19:18 - 1 hour - 112 MBIt's a new fall season of Serious Fun! This week, Bryan sits down with David and Nadia Oxford, retro gaming power couple and co-authors of the new book “Mega Man X: Maverick Hunter’s Field Guide”. In this wide-ranging conversation, the trio discusses how video game fandom has changed since the early days of fansites and message boards, how the Mega Man series has evolved into new aesthetics and formats, and the work that goes into making a field guide for a fictional universe. We’ll also answ...
Episode 41: Bird Man and Regretful Cyborg Grandpa (w/ Clif Ganyard & Emily Fecteau)
April 30, 2021 17:59 - 1 hour - 116 MBSerious Fun returns yet again with another group dissection session for a Marvel Disney+ streaming show! This time we're breaking down "Falcon and The Winter Soldier" with Serious Fun production assistant Emily Fecteau and, back by popular demand, it's UWGB History professor and Captain America superfan Dr. Clif Ganyard! Join us as we try to put the series into proper historical and canonical context, explore its intriguing character developments, and challenge whether it is equipped to handl...
Episode 40: Wanda Grow On (w/ Regan Gurung & Emily Fecteau)
March 11, 2021 19:41 - 1 hour - 103 MBLordy lordy, Serious Fun is 40...episodes in! So there's a little TV show called WandaVision. You might have heard of it. It's the talk of the town. This week's Serious Fun adds on to that talk as Bryan welcomes two special guests on to talk about the first proper Marvel Studios streaming TV show - the Director of Oregon State's General Psychology program and former UWGB faculty Regan Gurung as well as UWGB undergrad and Serious Fun research and production assistant Emily Fecteau. The trio ...
Episode 39: Localizing the Legend (w/ Scott Strichart)
February 18, 2021 16:05 - 59 minutes - 82.2 MBWe are living in a golden age for globalized pop culture – we have access to television, film, music, video games, books and comics from all over the world on a scale never before seen. Have you ever thought about what it takes to bring pop culture from one culture to another, though? Scott Strichart has – and as the Senior Localization Producer for the Yakuza series at Sega, he has had a hand in bringing some of the most daunting, complex, and beloved Japanese video games to Western audience...
Episode 38: Stan Lee - Myth, Legend, and Man (w/ Abraham Riesman)
February 05, 2021 22:20 - 1 hour - 86.6 MBSerious Fun is back and we're talking with journalist and author Abraham Riesman about his new book "True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee" in a thought-provoking discussion about the fraught relationship between Lee and Jack Kirby, the role of copyright in maintaining celebrity mythology, and the elusiveness of a person's true nature (among lots of other things).
Episode 37: Wrestling for Nobody (w/ CarrieLynn Reinhard)
April 11, 2020 21:05 - 56 minutes - 77 MBIf a wrestling match happens in an arena and nobody's there to cheer - did it really happen at all? These and other questions will kind of be answered as Bryan sits down with Dr. CarrieLynn Reinhard, president of the Pro Wrestling Studies Association, to explore the challenges facing professional wrestling in the age of a pandemic. How are AEW and WWE differing in their approach? Can we still watch wrestling the same way? Should we? It's a great show, so download it already!
Episode 36: Stay At Home, Stay Amused (w/ Ryan Martin & Georjeanna Wilson-Doenges)
April 02, 2020 22:18 - 1 hour - 90.8 MBSerious Fun is back, and this time it's remote! Bryan sits down, at a comfortable distance, with the crew of Psych and Stuff (Ryan Martin and Georjeanna Wilson-Doenges) for another fantabulous crossover, recorded via the magic of the Internet. On the docket: what kind of media are we consuming during the pandemic curfew, and why does it bring us comfort?
Episode 35: What Does Star Wars Mean to You?
December 20, 2019 20:59 - 31 minutes - 43.9 MBIt's a very special Life Day gift - a special documentary episode about Star Wars! For the final Serious Fun of 2019, Bryan asks a cadre of fans a simple question: "What does Star Wars mean to you?" The answers will surprise, amuse, and even beguile you! Or you'll find it an agreeable way to spend half an hour. Download it now! (Thanks to Kris Vespia, Georjeanna Wilson-Doenges, Alison Staudinger, Ben and Tony from Not Exactly Radio, Mai Lo Lee, and Justin Poirot for their contributions!) Au...
Episode 34: War Crimes, Brought to You By Mountain Dew (w/ Eric Morgan)
December 11, 2019 17:37 - 39 minutes - 54.1 MBIn 2013, the Red Cross issued a statement calling on the video game industry to reconsider how it presented war and war crimes. Six years later, after the controversial release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, how much has changed? Do video games accurately depict war crimes and their consequences? And as artificial intelligence trains on games like Starcraft, should we be worried about what these programs are learning? Bryan sits down with UWGB Democracy and Justice Studies professor Eric Mo...
Episode 33: Anyone Can Wear the Mask (w/ Marena Bridges & Ryan Martin)
October 28, 2019 21:10 - 53 minutes - 73.1 MBSerious Fun wraps up Brown County Library Comic-Con 2019 with the third of its shows recorded live at the event! This week, doctoral candidate Marena Bridges and UWGB Psychology professor Dr. Ryan Martin sit down with Bryan to discuss representation in superhero media in light of the Academy Award-winning movie "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse!"
Episode 32: 90% Mental, 50% Physical (w/ Jana Fogaça & Alan Chu)
October 21, 2019 13:48 - 1 hour - 93 MBSmell that pine tar and bubblegum, folks - the World Series is upon us! What better way to celebrate than to take some time to learn about the growing field of sport psychology with UWGB's resident experts Dr. Jana Fogaça and Dr. Alan Chu? Well, you could actually watch the game I guess but too bad, this is what we have. And it's a good one! A great one! Jana and Alan discuss mental conditioning, youth sports culture, growth mindsets, and more! I learned a lot, and so will you!
Episode 31: Martha's Merry(?) Murderbots (w/ Martha Wells)
October 14, 2019 14:09 - 51 minutes - 70.1 MBThis week, Bryan sits down with Hugo and Nebula award-winning science-fiction and fantasy author Martha Wells to talk about her work, including her Hugo Award-winning Murderbot Diaries! Martha and Bryan discuss worldbuilding, getting inside characters' heads, writing for collectible card games, and so much more! This episode was recorded LIVE at the 2019 Brown County Library Comic-Con! Listen now! SHOW NOTES: Check out Martha's work at http://www.marthawells.com/!
Episode 30: Oh Mae Goodness! (w/ Gene Ha)
October 07, 2019 21:42 - 48 minutes - 66.7 MBSerious Fun makes its return to the Brown County Library Comic-Con in the first of a trio of shows recorded live at the event! This week, Bryan sits down with comics artist and writer and creator of the series “Mae”, Gene Ha. Gene talks about his life, his start in the industry, his major comics and storytelling influences, the challenges and benefits of publishing a book on Kickstarter, as well as some weird tangents about axe crimes and town perceptions. It’ll make sense when you hear it. ...
Episode 29: What We Watched On Our Summer Vacation (w/ Patty Williamson)
August 27, 2019 20:43 - 1 hour - 122 MBIf you missed Serious Fun, good news - it's back! If you didn't - I'm very sorry! But this is the first new Serious Fun of the new season and we spend it with special guest Dr. Patty Williamson of the Central Michigan University School of Broadcast and Cinematic Arts. Bryan and Dr. Williamson talk about the summer in film, from the chokehold Disney has on the medium to the impact of streaming on the box office to some of the best movies this summer and the most interesting ones for this fall ...
Episode 28: Higher, Further, Faster (w/ J. Richard Stevens)
March 11, 2019 13:38 - 1 hour - 111 MBIt only took them eleven years but finally a female hero is frontlining a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie! This week Bryan sits down with CU Boulder media studies professor and Captain Marvel superfan J. Richard Stevens to talk about the new movie, Carol Danvers' turbulent publishing history, and the feminist lessons the film provides for everyone. It's a whole flerken lot of fun! Sound credits: Audio from "Captain Marvel: Trailer 2" - Marvel Studios Pinar Toprak - "Captain Marvel", Captain ...
Episode 27: BlacKkKlansman Film Discussion (w/ Vince Lowery & more!)
March 08, 2019 20:52 - 1 hour - 131 MBThis special episode of Serious Fun is a recording of a February 27, 2019 discussion of the film "BlacKkKlansman" featuring Bryan and Dr. Vince Lowery. The discussion was recorded after a screening of the Academy Award-winning film, and covers a wide variety of topics concerning how the film talks about race and racism in our contemporary climate, how it performed at the Academy Awards, its historical context, and what we do next. You'll also hear from UWGB students, staff, and community mem...
Episode 26: Grappling With Storytelling (w/ Lan Pitts)
January 15, 2019 21:59 - 1 hour - 112 MBProfessional wrestling and comics are perhaps two of the purest art forms known to humanity, and much like the proverbial peanut butter and chocolate, when smashed together end up being quite tasty indeed. This episode of Serious Fun speaks with Lan Pitts, one such confectioner of this treat and writer for Boom! Studios' WWE comics series. Bryan and Lan talk about writing for comics, finding the story in professional wrestling, the mythic storytelling possibilities of The Million Dollar Man a...
Episode 25: Overthinkin' Die Hard (w/ Michelle McQuade Dewhirst & Ryan Martin)
December 20, 2018 16:31 - 1 hour - 101 MBYou've spent all season arguing about whether it was a Christmas movie, but is it possible Die Hard is...so much more? This week we're launching a new subfeature on Serious Fun just in time for the holidays called Overthinkin' It! Bryan is joined by Dr. Ryan Martin (UWGB Psychology) and Dr. Michelle McQuade Dewhirst (UWGB Music) for a deep-dive, overthought analysis of the action classic Die Hard in time for its 30th anniversary! Is Die Hard secretly a feminist action movie? What can it teach...
Episode 24: Fanimes of Animes (w/Ntxhee Yee Thao & Jayke Huempfner)
December 13, 2018 14:45 - 59 minutes - 82 MBAfter a brief and largely unplanned hiatus, Serious Fun is back! This time around, Dr. Carr talks to representatives from the UWGB Anime Club about anime, anime fandom, and more! Ntxhee Yee Thao and Jacob Huempfner share their favorite shows, talk about the business and process of creating anime, and reflect on their fandom and the friends they made along the way.
Episode 23: A Graveyard Smash
October 24, 2018 16:22 - 35 minutes - 48.4 MBIt’s a special all-Frankenstein, all the Franken-time episode of Serious Fun! This episode stitches together two of Bryan’s presentations on the legacy of Mary Shelley’s work as part of our on-campus celebration of the novel’s 200th anniversary. First, gasp as Bryan talks about the surprising way Shelley’s work has been reinterpreted by pop culture icons you might not expect! Then, thrill to a discussion of Frankenstein’s monster, copyright law, and the public domain! Get your Halloween start...
Episode 22: Supervillains on the Couch! (w/ Ryan Martin & Chuck Rybak)
October 15, 2018 17:00 - 59 minutes - 81.2 MBAnother great year of Brown County Library Comic-Con episodes comes to a grand finale with a special Phoenix Studios crossover event! Bryan joins forces with the powerful minds over at Psych and Stuff (represented here by Dr. Ryan Martin and Dr. Chuck Rybak) to talk about supervillains, psychology, mental health, and political philosophy! Is Killmonger justified? Does Lex Luthor have a complex? Can we read Two-Face as a metaphor for depression? And what of Thanos? All that and Bryan airs his ...
Episode 21: Writing Across the Universes (w/ John Jackson Miller)
October 08, 2018 16:51 - 1 hour - 83.2 MBSerious Fun at the Brown County Library Comic-Con continues as Bryan sits down with the Scribe award-winning author John Jackson Miller! Miller, the writer of countless comics, novels, and more for franchises like Marvel, Star Wars, Star Trek, and the Simpsons talks about the challenges of working in established universes, the process of writing comics in a digital age, the perils of focusing too much on canonicity and continuity, and so much more in a wide-ranging and entertaining discussion...
Episode 20: There's Always Room For Art (w/ Carli Ihde)
October 01, 2018 19:55 - 59 minutes - 81.4 MBThe first of our three-episode series LIVE (to tape) from Brown County Library Comic-Con is here! Bryan sits down with local artist Carli Ihde to talk about her style, her experiences working in art forms ranging from murals to pumpkins, her time at the Kubert school and working in the comics industry, her advice for aspiring artists, and her thoughts on drawing powerful women. It's funny, it's inspiring, at points maybe even a little inappropriate - a great episode of Serious Fun with a fant...
Episode 19: Superman Beyond Borders (w/ Regan Gurung)
September 21, 2018 19:41 - 59 minutes - 81.6 MBThe COUNTDOWN TO COMIC-CON at the Brown County Library continues on Serious Fun! This week - Bryan sits down with UWGB Psychology professor Dr. Regan Gurung to talk about comics and superheroes across borders as well as his own experience with the medium as a child growing up in India. What can Superman tell us about the immigrant experience? How can comics explain and find commonality across culture? What is the psychological payload of identity - dual or otherwise - in superhero media? And ...
Episode 18: A Tangled Web (w/J. Richard Stevens)
September 05, 2018 20:42 - 1 hour - 93.6 MBSerious Fun makes a triumphant return for a new season with the first part of the Countdown to Comic-Con event! With a plethora of new games, movies, and comics coming out this fall, Spider-Mania is alive and well - but what about Spider-Man makes him endure and why do we care about him as much as we do? CU-Boulder Media Studies professor J. Richard Stevens sits down with Bryan to talk about the character, his enduring faith in humanity, his origins as a borderline horror character, and why w...
Episode 17: Hybrid Storytelling And You (w/BJ Hollars, Tara Pohlkotte, & Kathryn Gahl)
May 09, 2018 15:00 - 1 hour - 103 MBSerious Fun is proud to present another live panel show from UntitledTown 2018! This time around, Bryan moderates a panel on hybrid storytelling featuring "Bend in the River" creator BJ Hollars, and Appleton Storycatchers Tara Pohlkotte and Kathryn Gahl. They'll talk about their own work and how to go beyond prose and page to tell a great story - from podcasting to setting poetry to music and more.
Episode 16: A Panel on Panels (w/Kristen Radtke & Mistaloo Meff)
April 23, 2018 14:36 - 1 hour - 92.8 MBLive from UntitledTown 2018, Bryan moderates a panel with "Imagine Wanting Only This" author & art director and New York Editor for "The Believer" magazine Kristen Radtke and Milwaukee-based comics artist, educator, and hip-hop MC Mistaloo Meff (creator of "Angry Kat: Zombie Protocol"). It's all about comics, from the mechanics of sequential art to breaking into the industry to representation and beyond!
Episode 15: Credit Where Credit Is Due (w/Rebecca Nesvet, Kris Coulter, & Michelle McQuade Dewhirst)
April 06, 2018 16:13 - 1 hour - 87 MBThe Serious Fun Women's History Month series concludes with a celebration of the unsung and underappreciated women in popular culture. Panelists Dr. Rebecca Nesvet, Dr. Kris Coulter, and Dr. Michelle McQuade Dewhirst cover female achievement in everything from screenwriting to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to sports bras and hair care products, discuss ways to promote and celebrate women's accomplishments, and even call out Paul McCartney along the way. (Recorded live at the Common Grounds C...
Episode 14: Our Bodies, Our Culture (w/ Jana Fogaca, Kwynn Cartner, Alison Gates & Christine Smith)
March 30, 2018 19:15 - 55 minutes - 76.6 MBOur special Women's History Month series continues with a discussion of gender issues and body image in popular culture, recorded live at the Common Grounds Coffeehouse at UWGB. Panelists Dr. Jana Fogaca, Dr. Christine Smith, Alison Gates, and Kwynn Carter share their own experiences with body image and explore where our obsession with the "perfect" female body comes from - from classical art history to the Kardashians and beyond. (NOTE: There are some sound issues for the first minute or s...
Episode 13: Flying Fists of Feminist Fury(w/ Ioana Coman, Anna Katner, and Selena Deer)
March 23, 2018 14:32 - 58 minutes - 80.4 MBTired of convention panels on feminism and gender issues in media that are just dudes who look like Bryan? So is Serious Fun. As part of the celebration of Women's History Month, we're launching a three-part series about issues facing women in popular culture - all recorded live at the UWGB Common Grounds Coffeehouse with all-female panels. First up - the female action hero. Once a rarity, we're now seeing women take charge and punch faces more regularly in pop culture - but what does that me...
Episode 12: Wakanda Forever (w/ Meta G. Carstarphen and Ryan Martin)
February 23, 2018 16:48 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBIn this Serious Fun, we dig into the cultural phenomenon that is Marvel Studios’ Black Panther. The movie has already made All Of The Money worldwide, but why is it resonating so strongly? What does it have to say about complex topics like the African diaspora, Black liberation, and the responsibility of a king and a country to its people and the world? And is Shuri a great character, or the greatest character? Bryan sits down with University of Oklahoma Journalism and Mass Communication prof...
Episode 11: The Goaties! (Get it?)
January 11, 2018 22:53 - 1 hour - 86 MBLeading experts agree: last year was the most 2017 of any year yet. At least the video games were good. Join Bryan and returning guest Steve Watts as they talk about the best and brightest the year had to offer in digital interactive entertainment in the first-ever live streamed episode of Serious Fun!
Episode 10: It's Not Just A Game (w/ Jessica Luther)
November 15, 2017 16:25 - 1 hour - 93.4 MBThis week on Serious Fun – is there such a thing as ethical sports fandom? Or does the often exploitative nature of college and professional sports mean that we’re complicit in some of the very things to which we are often morally opposed? Bryan sits down with freelance journalist Jessica Luther, author of “Unsportsmanlike Conduct: College Football and the Politics of Rape”, to discuss her work as well as topics ranging from the systemic problems inherent in college and other levels of athlet...
Episode 9: The "Good War" (w/ Clif Ganyard)
November 01, 2017 13:54 - 1 hour - 92.1 MBThis week, Bryan talks with UWGB Associate Provost and historian Clif Ganyard about pop culture's ongoing fascination with World War 2. Has using the conflict as a backdrop for comparatively simple popular culture in turn simplified our view of the war? How do games like Call of Duty and Wolfenstein and films like Inglourious Basterds turn the war into an abstract...and how might they be used to educate as well? All this plus a lengthy discussion of Captain America.
Episode 8: I Mustache You Some Questions, But Let's Not Jump to Conclusions (w/ Steve Watts)
October 24, 2017 17:50 - 1 hour - 109 MBAs part of Serious Fun’s ongoing commitment to riding the coattails of major pop culture events, this week Bryan sits down (virtually) with long-time friend, former podcast co-host, and veteran video games journalist and editor Steve Watts to talk about the long-term impact and cultural value of the Super Mario franchise in light of the release of Super Mario Odyssey. On the docket: our memories of Mario, the importance of Mario to game design, the series’ often turbulent relationship with fe...
Episode 7: It's Not Easy Being Green (w/ Ryan Martin & Chuck Rybak)
October 17, 2017 18:15 - 53 minutes - 72.9 MBTime to smash into a new episode of Serious Fun! Recorded live at Brown County Public Library Comic-Con, this fantastic crossover episode with “All The Rage” sees Bryan sitting down with “All the Rage” hosts Ryan Martin and Chuck Rybak for an episode unpacking the anger that fuels the Incredible Hulk and his superhero cohort. Is The Hulk an interesting and accurate depiction of anger? What can we learn – or fail to learn – from his exploits? How does anger manifest in different ways among dif...
Episode 6 - The Pug Life Chose Me (w/ Mike Norton)
October 09, 2017 20:02 - 49 minutes - 67.6 MBJiminy Jilikers! It's a live episode from the Brown County Public Library's annual Comic-Con event with comics artist Mike Norton! Bryan sits down with Mike to ask him about his work, his style, his affinity for pugs, and more in a wide-ranging interview. Learn about what it's like to work for DC Comics, how Mike developed a multiple award-winning webcomic, and more!
Episode 5: The Grand Design (w/Ben Geisler)
September 22, 2017 19:38 - 1 hour - 87.9 MBOh my goodness, it appears Serious Fun is at it again! This time Bryan sits down with UWGB Computer Science professor and game industry veteran Ben Geisler to talk about the fine art of game design, from corporate challenges to finding sneaky ways to engage and empower players. Plus: electronic music is defended. Credits: "Music 6" - Bill Brown (Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction); "A Dream of Armageddon" - Sascha Dikiciyan & Cris Velasco (Prototype).