Best Aidan Rick Podcasts (2025)

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183: Despelote (with Moises Taveras) 1:59:11

Play Pause

30m ago1:59:11

1:59:11

Support my work on Patreon- https://patreon.com/realdavejackson Join the Tales from the Backlog Discord server- https://discord.gg/V3ZHz3vYQR Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi- https://ko-fi.com/realdavejackson There are more than enough sports games to go around out there, but the culture of sports does not begin and end on the field of play. There is an e…

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182: Bionic Bay (with Harry Loizides - Six One Indie) 1:28:59

14m ago1:28:59

1:28:59

Support my work on Patreon- https://patreon.com/realdavejackson Join the Tales from the Backlog Discord server- https://discord.gg/V3ZHz3vYQR Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi- https://ko-fi.com/realdavejackson Sometimes a game you'd never heard of will break out with a 90+ on the review aggregator websites and immediately turn heads, and that's exactly wha…

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181: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (with Ty Schalter) 2:38:16

6d ago2:38:16

2:38:16

Support my work on Patreon- https://patreon.com/realdavejackson Join the Tales from the Backlog Discord server- https://discord.gg/V3ZHz3vYQR Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi- https://ko-fi.com/realdavejackson Everybody has that game they played a hundred times as a kid and therefore can't be objective about anymore, and for us, The Legend of Zelda: A Link…

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Rethinking School Leadership & Purpose with Dr. Richard Surrency 43:00

7d ago43:00

43:00

In this episode of Beyond the Syllabus, we head to rural Florida to hear from Dr. Richard Surrency, Superintendent of Putnam County School District. With decades of experience as a teacher, principal, and now district leader, Dr. Surrency brings a boots-on-the-ground perspective to one of the biggest questions in education today: How do we prepare …

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180: Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden (with Erik - Pages of Play) 2:50:05

13d ago2:50:05

2:50:05

Support my work on Patreon- https://patreon.com/realdavejackson Join the Tales from the Backlog Discord server- https://discord.gg/V3ZHz3vYQR Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi- https://ko-fi.com/realdavejackson Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden (Don't Nod, 2023) represents a different type of game that Don't Nod has been making alongside their popular choice-ba…

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From Industrial Model to Human-Centered Learning with Dr. Greggory R. Slate 36:30

26d ago36:30

36:30

In this episode of Beyond the Syllabus, we sit down with Dr. Greggory R. Slate, Superintendent of Davidson County Schools in North Carolina, who brings both vision and lived leadership experience to this essential transformation. With a background in school improvement, trauma-informed practice, and a personal journey shaped by loss, Dr. Slate shar…

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080_Eula Rohan: Collaborative Change with Equine assistance 45:36

20d ago45:36

45:36

Eula Rohan visits the Swamp and shares how she walks alongside Australia's First Nation communities as they build cross sector leadership capacity. Eula is practicing the “harder craft” of large group facilitation processes that address layers of social complexity, difficult historical challenges and present day aspirations for healthy communities.…

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179: Blue Prince (with Jenny Windom) 2:41:49

23d ago2:41:49

2:41:49

Support my work on Patreon- https://patreon.com/realdavejackson Join the Tales from the Backlog Discord server- https://discord.gg/V3ZHz3vYQR Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi- https://ko-fi.com/realdavejackson You know a game is good when it kicks off a new round of discourse about genre names, right? Regardless, Blue Prince (Dogubomb, 2025) is the latest …

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178: Psychonauts (with Try - My Life in Gaming) 2:40:30

30d ago2:40:30

2:40:30

Support my work on Patreon- https://patreon.com/realdavejackson Join the Tales from the Backlog Discord server- https://discord.gg/V3ZHz3vYQR Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi- https://ko-fi.com/realdavejackson A good friend of mine likes to say "every game is somebody's favorite game", but I'm always intrigued when some oddball picks enter those conversati…

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Metacognition, Motivation & Meaningful Learning with Rick Cohen 42:44

1M ago42:44

42:44

In the debut episode of Beyond the Syllabus, we sit down with Rick Cohen, Chief Academic Officer of Edison Township Public Schools and a leading voice in translating the science of learning into real-world classroom practice. From his beginnings in juvenile detention centers to becoming a published expert on metacognition, Rick shares how understan…

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177: Split Fiction (with Aaron Angle) 1:56:12

1M ago1:56:12

1:56:12

Support my work on Patreon- https://patreon.com/realdavejackson Join the Tales from the Backlog Discord server- https://discord.gg/V3ZHz3vYQR Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi- https://ko-fi.com/realdavejackson Hazelight Studios were already on the map before their Game of the Year winner It Takes Two, but that game was so much fun that everyone, including …

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078_Runa Sabore: Designing a New Frame of Society Through Architecture. 38:19

2M ago38:19

38:19

Runa Sabore was raised in a commune. She has carried the communal lessons of caring for community into her work helping design buildings that support how people can live well in the “age of aging.” Runa talks about the potential of “universal design” to keep people living at home and how she has learned to connect silos that form the basis for heal…

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079_Kelly Indira Buis: The Craft of Facilitation and Adaptation 53:42

1M ago53:42

53:42

Kelly Indira Buis comes to the Swamp to discuss the craft of group facilitation. Kelly is the founder of The Adaptation Company in The Hague, Netherlands. The work of facilitating groups of human beings is challenging. There are often multiple agendas and outcomes that need to be navigated for useful outcomes. Then there is the importance of gettin…

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176: Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride (with Chris Coplien - Retro Hangover) 2:41:17

1M ago2:41:17

2:41:17

Support my work on Patreon Join the Tales from the Backlog Discord server Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi I didn't hear about Dragon Quest for a very long time, probably an embarrassingly long time, and once I played one, I didn't....get it. It all seemed too plain, too simple, too lacking in complexity, and while a part of me was relieved to suddenly hav…

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175: Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii (with Brian Edwards) 2:37:43

2M ago2:37:43

2:37:43

Support my work on Patreon Join the Tales from the Backlog Discord server! Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has risen to the gaming mainstream with its beloved Like a Dragon series, and when a hot streak occurs, a heat check often follows, and there is no bigger heat check than a game where you play through a Hawaiian pirate adventure …

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077_Paolo Quattrone: The Wonder of Accounting and the Society of Jesus 43:42

2M ago43:42

43:42

Paolo Quattrone comes to the Swamp and brings his love of accounting as basis for better judgment and decision making. He also re-introduces us to The Society of Jesus (Jesuits). Paolo makes the case that in a globalized world, increasing technology and our faster life-pace are leading to more uncertainty and a misalignment of our purpose. In our c…

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174: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (with Michael Higham) 3:07:28

2M ago3:07:28

3:07:28

*Spoiler section includes some spoilers for key moments and/or themes in Nier Automata, Persona 5 Royal and Metaphor ReFantazio. Support my work on Patreon Join the Tales from the Backlog Discord server! Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi! Once or twice a year, a game will hook me so strongly that not only can I not stop playing it, I can't stop thinking abo…

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076_ Graeme Findlay: Differential Voice: A Leadership Approach for Complexity 1:00:01

2M ago1:00:01

1:00:01

Graeme Findlay visits the swamp and brings his Differential Voice leadership meta-model. Graeme makes the case that to lead effectively today, a leader needs more than one voice. Graeme has us covered: his differential voice approach is based on six major ‘modes’ of leading. Take note as Graeme leads us through when and how we use these different l…

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173: Max Payne (with Nomad - The Retro Wildlands) 1:44:31

2M ago1:44:31

1:44:31

Support my work on Patreon Two podcasters entered the room on a collision course, one with a backlog the size of a mobster's rap sheet, the other with one foot in the past. There was only one way out of this mess- one podcast to end them all. The subject was an old friend, if you consider a man out of options a friend. A man with a thirst for reven…

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172: Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (with Dan - The Greatest Story Ever Played) 1:56:37

3M ago1:56:37

1:56:37

Support my work on Patreon As a lifelong Indiana Jones agnostic, there was no way that MachineGames would make an Indiana Jones game I would care about, right? Right? Well, it certainly looked that way when the first gameplay trailer for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle dropped. But then I started hearing my activation phrases start to bounce aro…

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075_ Julie Drybrough: Transformation: From Moving Deck Chairs to Changing Ships 44:21

3M ago44:21

44:21

Julie Drybrough comes to the Swamp and shares her life wisdom fostering transformation. She is candid about her personal transformational path and how it shapes her coaching and group work. She learned how building a new narrative of trust can produce “magic” and people begin to shine. Hers is a story about how commitment, self-love, service to oth…

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171: El Paso, Elsewhere (with Jacob McCourt & Luke Lewis) 1:55:56

3M ago1:55:56

1:55:56

Support my work on Patreon Strange Scaffold is a rare game studio that gets as much, or maybe even more, positive attention for their workplace ethos and number of releases per year as they do for their games themselves. I found myself in that same position, with great respect for their process, but no experience with the games themselves....until …

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170: Lunacid (with Dave Cox) 2:36:04

3M ago2:36:04

2:36:04

Support my work on Patreon I was admittedly very late to the King's Field and Shadow Tower bandwagons, energized by my love for FromSoftware's modern titles and a desire to dig into their history some more. However, I didn't anticipate loving those games so much that I wanted more like them, and that's where Kira LLC's Lunacid (2023) entered the fr…

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E57 Connor Pierce: Upgrading Higher Education With AI And Gamification 1:22:03

3M ago1:22:03

1:22:03

Connor Pierce is a passionate lifelong learner who thrives at the crossroads of psychology, technology, and art. His career has been rooted in higher education, professional development, and learning experience design. With a solid background in psychological principles and learning theory, he currently specializes in creating innovative instructio…

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169: South of Midnight (with Kate Sánchez) 2:26:28

3M ago2:26:28

2:26:28

Support my work on Patreon Some games just grab your attention from the first trailer, and South of Midnight is one of those games. A breathtaking art style and a gothic Southern fantasy setting? South of Midnight jumped straight to the top of my to-play list, and it did not disappoint. Guest info: Kate Sánchez of But Why Tho? Check out all of the …

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168: Persona 4 Golden (with Flora Merigold) 3:17:57

4M ago3:17:57

3:17:57

Support my work on Patreon- https://patreon.com/realdavejackson Persona games are a tough sell for a guy who does a weekly podcast like this, so thank you to my wonderful patrons for voting Persona 4 Golden onto the show. While it has all of the pacing issues that you would expect an 80 hour game to have, I thought this is, in some ways, the best o…

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167: Lorelei and the Laser Eyes (with Jesse Guarascia) 2:19:17

4M ago2:19:17

2:19:17

What if Resident Evil 1 was just puzzles? What if it was also about eccentric artists and how they view their art and the creative process vs how their work is perceived? Lorelei and the Laser Eyes (Simogo, 2024) is that game! Tune in to find out how we felt about it! Guest Info: Jesse Guarascia Find Jesse's work on Noclip's YouTube channel https:/…

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E56 Sylvie Froncek: What Outdoor Education Teaches Us About Improving Education 1:01:33

4M ago1:01:33

1:01:33

Sylvie started working with Cornell’s Team and Leadership Center at the age of 15. Since then she has worked as an outdoor adventure guide for the Claremont Colleges in California, a rock climbing instructor in Colorado, a bicycle tour guide in New Zealand and the Northeastern USA, and a mountain instructor for the North Carolina Outward Bound Scho…

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166: Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown (with Derek Van Dyke) 1:50:52

4M ago1:50:52

1:50:52

Support my work on Patreon I can hear it now- "Another Ace Combat game? Didn't Dave just do one?" and the answer to those questions is "You bet your ass I'm doing another one, I'm IN IT NOW"....ahem, Ace Combat rules, and Ace Combat 7 (Bandai Namco, 2019) is the most Ace Combat that Ace Combat has ever been. Join us as we give it the deep dive! Gue…

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PAX East 2025 Wrap-Up 33:44

4M ago33:44

33:44

Support my work on Patreon- https://www.patreon.com/realdavejackson PAX East 2025 show floor was dominated by indie games, and here are all 17 of the indie games that I had a chance to play! Thank you to the folks at PAX for allowing me to cover the convention! TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 0:47 Tanuki: Pon's Summer https://store.steampowered.com/app/32185…

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165: SUPERHOT (with Emily Merritt - No Small Games) 1:35:06

4M ago1:35:06

1:35:06

Support my work on Patreon https://patreon.com/realdavejackson Is it really the most innovative shooter I've played in years? SUPERHOT Team struck gold with this idea, did just enough with it, and got out before things got stale. Now that's what I call SUPER. HOT. Guest info: Emily Merritt aka aspecificegg Check out No Small Games https://nosmallga…

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164: Monster Hunter Wilds (with Brad Gallaway) 2:17:34

5M ago2:17:34

2:17:34

Support my work on Patreon Review code provided by Capcom. Thank you! Monster Hunter has been around for a long time, but has only recently fully broken into the mainstream. And with mainstream success comes grumbling from longtime fans. Is the game actually too streamlined? Does quality of life take away from quality of game? And what about the ne…

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163: Vagrant Story (with Aidan Moher) 2:34:58

5M ago2:34:58

2:34:58

Like many of Square's RPGs of the late 90's and early 2000's, Vagrant Story is an ambitious, flawed, divisive and fantastic RPG, full of big ideas that didn't get a chance to full develop into what was planned. What we got was only one part of a larger saga (see also: Xenogears from just a few years prior), a game that stands on its own, proudly di…

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E55 Professor Game: How Gamification Can Unsuck Higher Ed. 1:27:38

5M ago1:27:38

1:27:38

Rob Alvarez is a gamification wizard, learning experience designer, and host of the Professor Game Podcast. With a background in business and a passion for play, he helps educators and organizations craft meaningful, game-inspired learning and product journeys. In this podcast we talked about: How gamification can improve education How serious play…

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162: Prey (2006) (with Asa GreenRiver) 2:01:39

5M ago2:01:39

2:01:39

No, this isn't the Arkane Studios Prey, this is the one that Arkane was forced to name their game after for no good reason. In fact, that's what got me interested in Human Head Studios' Prey (2006) in the first place, even before I learned what the game is about. So what did we think of this shooter caught between two eras, with seemingly 10 differ…

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161: Wanderstop (with Matt aka Stormageddon & CGDannyB) 2:45:34

5M ago2:45:34

2:45:34

Review code provided by Ivy Road- thank you! I think we all viewed Davey Wreden's new project announcement, a "cozy game about making tea", with a bit of side-eye. Is it really just going to be about making tea? You sure there isn't going to be a subversion in there? Are you still reading this? Well, Wanderstop is here, and it may not have the type…

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E54 Sharon Tjaden Burkes: Mistakes And Tips For Better Learning Experience Design 50:43

5M ago50:43

50:43

Sharon is an eLearning professional and media designer with 13 years of experience teaching English learners at the university level. Her journey to the field of instructional design inspired her to host a monthly Zoom networking session to inspire other educators who are looking for advice on how to break into the field of instructional design. In…

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160: Sifu (with Ryan Juengling - List Off) 1:44:19

5M ago1:44:19

1:44:19

From the first trailer, I knew that Sifu (Sloclap, 2022) looked like a game I wanted to play. There was just one small thing- it released two weeks before Elden Ring, and I was clearing the decks in a big way. No mental bandwidth to get stuck in a demanding action game. And so I waited. And waited. And forgot about it. And waited some more. And now…

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159: Metaphor: ReFantazio (with Scott White) 2:13:51

6M ago2:13:51

2:13:51

Only one studio out there can inspire the following sentence- the first time I saw the menu UI in Metaphor: ReFantazio, I knew that Atlus and Studio Zero were cooking. They've mastered the art of making menu-based RPGs flashy and stylish, as well as mastering the "Persona" calendar-based structure in general. On several fronts, this is the best gam…

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E53 Yu-Kai Chou And Mark Diaz: How To Gamify Your Life In Six Steps 1:33:26

6M ago1:33:26

1:33:26

Yu Kai Chou: Yu-kai Chou, world-renowned designer and keynote speaker, created the Octalysis Framework, impacting 1.5B+ lives through gamification and behavioral design. He is the Founding Partner and Chief Creation Officer of the premium consulting/design firm The Octalysis Group. Recently he and his co-author Mark Diaz wrote 10,000 hours of play …

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158: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (with Geoff Moonen - "Fun" and Games) 2:49:47

6M ago2:49:47

2:49:47

In my ongoing first-time playthrough of the Metal Gear Solid series, we've arrived at the canonical end of Solid Snake's story, while seeing series creator Hideo Kojima at his most self-indulgent (yet) and most creative. Metal Gear Solid is a series of multitudes, and 2008's Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is no different. Listen in to fin…

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157: Unpacking (with Kate Hunter - No Small Games) 1:59:57

6M ago1:59:57

1:59:57

Ever since the podcast started in 2021, I always knew I'd do an episode about Unpacking (Witch Beam, 2021) someday. John Fogerty sang that someday never comes, but here we are, and Unpacking is on the show! Unpacking is a great example of using the interactivity of video games to tell a story in a unique, gameplay-forward way. Through the ONE SIMPL…

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E52 Farhan Quasem: Leveraging Community To Create Effective Learning Experiences 51:58

6M ago51:58

51:58

Farhan has 12 years of experience driving innovation and delivering scalable digital solutions, He specializes in leading transformative product teams that exceed client expectations. His expertise spans multiple industries, including AI/ML, education, finance, healthcare, and hospitality, where he's successfully implemented strategies leveraging b…

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156: Mouthwashing (with Ash Parrish) 1:51:06

6M ago1:51:06

1:51:06

Mouthwashing (Wrong Organ, 2024) is a rare horror game that gets scarier after you finish the game. Its nonlinear structure, reality-blurring presentation and subtle (at times) storytelling leave you to put the pieces together yourself. Once you do that, you'll find a strikingly real story where the most unbelievable thing is the fact that it takes…

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155: Shenmue (with Luis Aguasvivas) 1:52:58

7M ago1:52:58

1:52:58

I remember reading about Shenmue (AM2 of CRI, Sega, 2000) in the magazines back in the day and really marveling at how cool it all sounded- a revenge/investigation story, a town with characters that live their own lives outside of interacting with you, life in small-town Japan...but I didn't have a Dreamcast, so I never got to play it and eventuall…

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E51 James Washok: Creating Learning Experiences As Fun And Effective As Video Games 1:20:16

7M ago1:20:16

1:20:16

James Washok is a Learning Experience Designer with over two decades in IT and HR Services. He’s honed his skills in creating immersive, scenario-based eLearning modules that resonate across various levels of an organization. His role as an Instructional Designer and Content Developer involves a symbiotic relationship with management, subject matte…

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074_CK and Clif McKenzie: Having The Right People Matters 48:26

7M ago48:26

48:26

Clif and CK McKenzie come to the Swamp and talk about their generational leadership transition of Watson Furniture. They discuss their different approaches to the work, how they make decisions and how they each lead. Clif has led Watson for a great many years. He didn’t start out loving office furniture. That quickly changed. He sets the high stand…

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154: Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector (with John Rogers - Gaming in the Wild) 2:23:27

7M ago2:23:27

2:23:27

When Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector (Jump over the Age / Gareth Damian Martin, 2025) was announced, it was a surprise, but it also jumped straight to the top of my most anticipated games list. And while it fulfills the promise of a sequel by doubling down on the strengths of the first game, it also introduces some harsh mechanics that took a lo…

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153: Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War (with MarcoMeatball) 1:56:33

7M ago1:56:33

1:56:33

Sometimes I think I know about video games, and then a series that I'd been ignoring for years absolutely blows me away. Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War (Namco, 2004) is one of those games. Exhilerating air combat, the best spectacle that the PS2 could offer, and a grand and amazing soundtrack all set the hooks, then a surprisingly good story pulls yo…

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073_Wendy Tyner: I Am One Who Listens 44:11

7M ago44:11

44:11

Wendy Tyner visits the Swamp to share her wisdom gained from leading philanthropic organizations and building communities. She begins our conversation sharing what she learned teaching children with learning disabilities. We then discuss how she guided three not-for-profit organizations to become significant community assets that support bluegrass …