Tiny Island Diary
17 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 3 years ago -A celebration of all the tiny islands in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Each week, we'll hear from an ACNH player about their virtual island life and celebrate the goodness of ACNH. Maybe we'll pick up tips and tricks and an occasional in real life lesson inspired by the game. Think of this podcast as a weekly bottle that washes up on your shore, from ours.
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Episodes
S1E13: #ACNH Gets Spooky!
October 31, 2020 22:08 - 46 minutes - 43.1 MBIn the second part of our finale episode, we catch up with four more guests from the season, who've returned to detail the shifts and changes on their own tiny islands. First up is RyanFTW, a well-known ACNH streamer and content creator on Twitch and YouTube. Those of you who have watched Ryan for months know a lot about what's changed for him the past few months, so if you want to hear new thoughts and experiences you haven't heard on his streams and videos, you'll just have to listen to t...
S1E12: Ingenuity And Resourcefulness In #ACNH
October 23, 2020 02:17 - 55 minutes - 51.4 MBFriends: I apologize to the 9 or so of you who downloaded the first live mix of this episode, which was technically the third mix. It was still messed up. I re-cut the audio mix two more times, and GarageBand foiled me over and over again. I think I have finally tricked the whole system of Zoom --> GarageBand --> Anchor into giving me an episode that doesn't make me cringe. If you did listen to the first mix and think it sounded like a conversation with Satan, try downloading this new one an...
S1E11: Gender and Identity in #ACNH w Jae Lin
October 12, 2020 18:43 - 1 hour - 58.7 MBThis week, we welcome Jae Lin (they / them), who is ready to answer my many questions about and generally discuss the experiences of gender and identity in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Jae is Programs Manager at the new Games and Harassment Hotline, a text support hotline for anyone who makes or plays games. We spent much of our time exploring several aspects of the safe haven that so many of us enjoy in ACNH, which is a reprieve for those of us for whom IRL can feel risky, because of ou...
S1E10: Accidental Accessibility of #ACNH w/ SuperBlindMan Brandon Cole
October 07, 2020 02:43 - 42 minutes - 39.3 MBI was inspired to think more about how accessible Animal Crossing: New Horizons is -- and isn't -- after a blind friend downloaded Pocket Camp and found it virtually unplayable. ACNH is not Pocket Camp, and I couldn't begin to estimate how much better ACNH is for low-vision and blind gamers. I wanted to hear about playing ACNH from someone who is blind. Enter Brandon Cole, a multi-hyphenate content creator (Twitch streamer, YouTuber, and podcaster), and accessibility consultant to gaming c...
S1E10: Accidental Accessibility of #ACNH with SuperBlindMan Brandon Cole
October 07, 2020 02:43 - 42 minutes - 39.3 MBI was inspired to think more about how accessible Animal Crossing: New Horizons is -- and isn't -- after a blind friend downloaded Pocket Camp and found it virtually unplayable. ACNH is not Pocket Camp, and I couldn't begin to estimate how much better ACNH is for low-vision and blind gamers. I wanted to hear about playing ACNH from someone who is blind. Enter Brandon Cole, a multi-hyphenate content creator (Twitch streamer, YouTuber, and podcaster), and accessibility consultant to gaming c...
S1E9: #ACNH Fantasy And Illusion w/ Sarah Vines
September 29, 2020 20:52 - 53 minutes - 49.4 MBI'm thrilled this week to interview Sarah Vines, one of the first people to engage as a listener with this podcast. Finally getting to talk with her in real time, as opposed to leaving comments and tweets for each other, was easy, and it comes through in the conversational nature of this episode. We dissect Sarah's specific "found items" take on cottage core, discuss her serious anticipation of Halloween and pumpkin growing, and engage in literal potty talk... there's no better phrase for c...
S1E8.75: #ACNH Villager Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow
September 22, 2020 20:11 - 8 minutes - 7.66 MBAnother week, another scheduling conflict, and another bonus episode for you! I'll just get to my final question in this bonus episode: How do you nurse your woe when a beloved villager leaves? Give me your advice. I'm in Sad Land about my latest villager switch-up and would prefer to feel less sad soon. Tell me your best advice on Twitter, Instagram, or through email! I need it! I expect we will be back on track with the interview-length episodes you've come to expect by next week, but let...
S1E8.5 Bonus: Queen Alexandra's Birdwing Is #ACNH Bae
September 14, 2020 18:41 - 11 minutes - 11.1 MBEight full episodes into the first season of Tiny Island Diary, I present to you the first bonus episode. It's brief, and there's no guest interview. But I share some thoughts and ask lots and lots of questions. Before all that though -- let's remember that eight finished episodes means eight excellent interviews. So I've recorded a brief set of ICYMI suggestions, spotlighting each of the first eight episodes based on... wait for it... your villager personality preferences. Which means if y...
S1E8: #ACNH Deep Thoughts w/ Kelly Griese
September 07, 2020 21:35 - 1 hour - 56.3 MBThis week's guest, Kelly Griese, is the Senior Investor Education Coordinator with the Indiana Secretary of State. You might think that we spent the whole episode talking about the blog post she wrote for Indiana MoneyWise Matters called, "The Economics Of Animal Crossing." But that was just a small part of the total conversation, because it turns out Kelly is an avid gamer. And while she has only been playing ACNH for two months, her island design and knowledge of the game suggest that she ...
S1E7: The Wonder And Surprise Of #ACNH w/ Annabelle
August 31, 2020 20:51 - 41 minutes - 38.2 MBOur guest this week has been in the ACNH world since May, and in the world in general for just seven years now. Annabelle is our youngest guest so far, by far, and her favorite game is Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Her game play has remained untainted: she's never played the game with anyone else who's playing it (meaning she occasionally gets help from Mom & Dad, neither of whom play ACNH), so she isn't influenced by anyone or anything. She hasn't taken dream tours of other islands and got...
S1E6: #ACNH For Completionists w/ Rusty Riels
August 24, 2020 15:52 - 47 minutes - 43.8 MBThis week, we hear all about guest Rusty Riels' tiny island. Rusty is possibly the guest (so far) whose natural approach to #ACNH seems the most familiar to me: he's task-oriented and a self-professed "completionist," so earning badges for 5,000th bug and fish caught were particularly sweet (and we discuss tips for finding the elusive giraffe stag). And Rusty plays for the total escape from adult and pandemic life -- wear what you want, do what you want or don't, it's OK to not socially dist...
S1E5: About Time: Time Travel, #ACNH in Pandemic Times, and DLC Ensuring Future Play Time w/ Jazmine Dudley
August 17, 2020 17:51 - 48 minutes - 44.9 MBJazmine Dudley, content creator at YouTube's PrettyBrown&Nerdy and the podcast Nerd Talk, lifelong gamer, and AC player since the original Animal Crossing, joins us this week to talk about our favorite popular game, Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Those of you who've played every AC installment since 2002 will recognize, as Jazmine does, Nintendo's efforts toward diversifying character skin tone, hair styles, and facial features. And you also know, as in most diversity and inclusion work, th...
S1E4: The Thrill Of The #ACNH Hunt w/ RyanFTW
August 10, 2020 15:15 - 1 hour - 57.9 MBThis week, we welcome guest RyanFTW to Tiny Island Diary. Ryan is a popular host of both a Twitch TV channel and a YouTube Channel and is known for his laid-back and family-friendly Animal Crossing: New Horizons content. As an early-morning player myself, it's especially soothing to watch videos where the 5 a.m. music and morning routine are familiar! In this episode, Ryan and I discuss pretty much every aspect of his widely viewed villager hunt videos, dissect how valuable ACNH is for the ...
S1E3: The Dark Side of #ACNH w/ Dr. Emily Flynn-Jones
August 03, 2020 15:04 - 57 minutes - 52.9 MBWhat happens when you mash up Animal Crossing: New Horizons with Law & Order: Special Victims Unit? You'll find out in this dark and delightful episode of Tiny Island Diary with Dr. Emily Flynn-Jones, creative director of indie game development firm Killjoy Games. Inspired by a piece by Gabby DaRienzo, Emily discusses unique ways in which our tiny islands give us space to mourn in this very strange time. But wait, there's more: ACNH is versatile enough to create an entire world of, say... w...
S1E2: #ACNH is All Pun and Games w/ Ash Hall
July 27, 2020 17:12 - 42 minutes - 39.4 MBSeason 1 continues with guest Ash Hall, for whom #ACNH is a welcome reprieve from heaviness in their personal activism, professional work, and the pandemic-influenced world at large. Ash and I met as progressive activists and community organizers in Austin, Texas. While Ash has been a generous collaborator, patient teacher, and steady guide in our activism, it is a bonus to share a fondness for Animal Crossing and to see their values cultivated on their tiny virtual island. In this episode ...
S1E1: Sable Is The Real Hustler of #ACNH w/ William Shipley
July 20, 2020 16:59 - 39 minutes - 36.6 MBThe first season of Tiny Island Diary starts strong and sweet, like guest William Shipley, a violinist and violin teacher near Boston, MA. I met William a few years ago on Instagram, and we recently discovered our mutual appreciation for #ACNH. In this episode, he shares how #ACNH offers safe escape during COVID times, what it was like to celebrate a pandemic birthday on his tiny island, and why Sable is the true OG hustler. I start to realize how popular my villager Sherb really is, and w...
S1E0.5: Trailer
July 13, 2020 22:00 - 2 minutes - 2.18 MBTiny Island Diary is a new weekly podcast that celebrates the sweet virtual life of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Making happy moments while a pandemic rages around us is a requirement of modern life, so if you also delight in finding a vampire squid on your midnight swim, and cradling that arapaima with all the love in your heart, you've found your podcast. Tell us what you enjoy most about ACNH this week on Twitter or via email. We will back back next week with a guest and a full epis...