Serious Fun

Serious 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).

If 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!

Serious 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?

It'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!)

Audio:

John Williams – A New Hope

The Dune Sea of Tattooine/Jawa Sandcrawler

Cantina Band

John Williams – The Phantom Menace

Duel of the Fates

John Williams – Attack of the Clones

Across The Stars

John Williams – The Last Jedi

Main Title and Escape

Finale

Christmas in the Stars – “What Do You Get A Wookiee for Christmas (When He Already Owns a Comb)"

Various Star Wars voice clips/SFX

Star Wars Holiday Special Intro (youtube.com/theobnoxiousweed)

Check out Not Exactly Radio at https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/not-exactly-radio-2/not-exactly-radio

In 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 Morgan to talk about all these issues and more as part of the 2019 Common CAHSS Human Rights conference.

Credits:

Thanks to Scott Berg for producing this episode.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare audio copyright Activision, presented under fair use.

Show notes:

Beyond the Call of Duty: why shouldn’t videogame players face the same dilemmas as real soldiers? - https://www.icrc.org/en/doc/resources/documents/article/review-2012/irrc-886-clarke-rouffaer-senechaud.htm

NPR - Red Cross Wants Video Game Companies to Get Real on War Crimes https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2013/10/12/232480753/red-cross-wants-video-games-to-get-real-on-war-crimes

Modern Warfare "Highway of Death" controversy: https://www.polygon.com/2019/10/30/20938550/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-highway-of-death-controversy

Modern Warfare White Phosphorous story: https://www.newsweek.com/call-duty-modern-warfare-white-phosphorus-killstreak-multiplayer-1451811

The DeepMind Starcraft 2 AI: https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/30/20939147/deepmind-google-alphastar-starcraft-2-research-grandmaster-level

Serious 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!"

Smell 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!

This 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/!

Serious 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.

Show notes:

Check out Gene’s work and get a copy of MAE at http://geneha.com/!

You can see the Marvel rejection letter he references here: https://twitter.com/Learnonaut/status/1182350618805133312

If 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 awards season. Plus, a lengthy discussion of the spate of classic rock-related films as well as Quentin Tarantino's latest, "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood"!

(Apologies for the audio, we had some technical issues that resulted in Bryan recording this on an iPad.)