Best USC Game Innovation Lab Podcasts (2025)

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Tracy Fullerton at Playthink: 4/16/25 1:02:34

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6M ago1:02:34

1:02:34

On this episode of Playthink, we welcome game designer and scholar Tracy Fullerton as we explore her book, The Well-Read Game: On Playing Thoughtfully — co-authored with Dr. Matthew Farber. Game designer and USC Games alumnus Maynard Hearns hosts this conversation about the themes of the book, which invite us to examine the ephemeral, emotional, an…

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TreaAndrea Russworm at Playthink: 3/26/25 1:02:36

7M ago1:02:36

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On this episode of Playthink, Professor TreaAndrea Russorm, Director of the Radical Play Game Design Lab at USC Games, and Post Doctoral Scholar M. Coopilton discuss how games shape civic engagement, power structures, and democracy. We dive into the ways that interactive media can challenge or reinforce social hierarchies and inspire new forms of P…

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Sam Roberts at Playthink: 2/19/25 48:21

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On this episode of Playthink, Game Designer Sam Roberts and Eric Park discuss Robert's essay on class systems in Final Fantasy Tactics and other RPG's. The conversation ranges far and wide from the narrative potentials for system designs around class to the ways that playing with class in games can offer real world opportunities for change.…

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Christal Rose Hazelton at Playthink: 11/12/24 58:27

11M ago58:27

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Playthink is back after so much time away! Please join us for a wonderful conversation between Narrative Designer Christal Rose Hazelton and Bryan Sng Yong about Hazelton’s work on Apex Legends, crafting authentic characters from diverse backgrounds, and using feedback to refine portrayals of characters. She has some great advice for young creative…

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Eric Zimmerman at Playthink: 9/15/20 1:09:19

5y ago1:09:19

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Playthink is back and Zoomier than ever!! Please join us for a Zoom conversation between Eric Zimmerman and Tracy Fullerton about the recently released “The Infinite Playground,” the final book by visionary game designer Bernie De Koven, written with Holly Gramazio and edited by Celia Pearce and Eric Zimmerman. Eric and Tracy Fullerton will be disc…

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Bonnie Ruberg at Playthink: 9/10/19 55:56

6y ago55:56

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Bonnie Ruberg, Ph.D. is an assistant professor in the Department of Informatics and the Program in Visual Studies at the University of California, Irvine. Their research explores gender and sexuality in digital media and digital cultures with a focus on queerness and video games. They are the author of Video Games Have Always Been Queer (2019, New …

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Liz Ryerson at Playthink: 4/23/19 1:06:29

6+ y ago1:06:29

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Liz Ryerson is a composer, critic, and occasional game designer and podcaster. She is an avowed leftist and a co-founder of Game Workers Unite. She believes strongly that the power of action of people, both collectively and by individuals, against large corporate conglomerates is crucial to preserving and forwarding digital culture for the better o…

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Paul Slocum at Playthink: 3/26/19 1:01:35

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Paul Slocum is an artist, software developer, curator, and musician based in Pasadena, California. He is director of a new media art gallery called And/Or Gallery that exhibits digital art and develops software for digital art displays and music. He has performed music and exhibited artwork internationally at numerous venues including The New Museu…

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Magalis Videaux-Martinez at Playthink: 2/26/19 54:37

6+ y ago54:37

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Videaux-Martinez’s work lives at the intersection of experience design, immersive storytelling and experiential learning. She creates projects and cultivates spaces that harness story, design, and technology as tools for critical play and social dreaming. She is currently serving as a Designer-in-Residence at the Critical Design and Gaming School (…

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Capital W at Playthink: 11/20/18 1:08:46

7y ago1:08:46

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Lauren Ludwig is an LA-based multimedia director and writer who grew up outside of Syracuse, NY. She regularly helms the Los Angeles comedy show Lost Moon Radio, which she co-founded in 2009. With Lost Moon Radio, she created the television sketch comedy show Passive Aggressive History which aired on truTV last year. Lauren's immersive theater sho…

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Brian Upton at Playthink: 10/16/18 1:16:27

7y ago1:16:27

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Brian Upton is an internationally-known game designer and game theorist with over 20 years of professional experience in the game industry. For 14 years he worked as a senior game designer at Sony’s Santa Monica Studio where he collaborated with external teams on titles such as Fat Princess,Warhawk, Sorcery, Everybody Has Gone to the Rapture, Bound…

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Adam Badawy at Playthink: 9/18/18 57:38

7y ago57:38

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Adam Badawy is a computational social scientist and a PhD candidate in the Political Science Department and Information Sciences Institute (ISI) at the University of Southern California (USC). Working at the Machine Intelligence and Data Science Lab, Adam uses machine learning, network analysis, and natural language processing to study and measure …