The Games and Education podcast series by Keenan Kibrick is no small thing! I am very happy to be invited for a conversation there, and even more so about morality, explicit content, real-world emotions, and boundaries. That’s what my 2003 publication Sex & Sorcery was all about.
You see, I think the developments from there haven’t been so great. The X Card, in particular, seems to me to be both dull and crude (two different things), and ultimately ineffective toward its stated aim. I anticipated a lot of pushback about this, and possibly the negative outcome of being labeled retrograde. To my surprise and tiny, tiny hope, Keenan also has his observations and reservations about that, and … joy of joy, his intended topic turned out to be how Lines, Veils, and related techniques open up our interactions rather than shut them down.
Hence, “safe space” is not a preventative buffer, but rather a working vehicle or platform for going where we otherwise may not have done. A door. Un. Locked.
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March 2019 edit: the Games and Education site is down and the audio files are not directly available, so here is my restored edit of the interview. Keenan has been notified and has told me that his site is no longer active, indefinitely.
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8 responses to “Safe Spaces [Games and Education]”
Am I wrong or the podcast is
Am I wrong or the podcast is currently offline? I wanted to link this episode to some friends but it appears the link is broken.
That’s bad news. I do have my
That's bad news. His whole site seems to be down. I do have my own copy of the interview but I'll ask Keenan what's going on.
The demise of Google+ may be
The demise of Google+ may be part of the reason. I enjoyed the podcasts Kenan was putting together, but it was somewhat tied into the community he had built on Google +. There was some talk about migrating to Facebook, but I never received a confirmation of that move. It was an interesting podcast that was starting to get its feet under it.
To beat my drum: there is much untapped potential for roleplaying games in the classroom, but there are also some challenging design issues that need to be addressed. And, of course, the time demands of a full time teaching job make it difficult to carve out time. I'm taking some small steps at my fledgling blog (ludoverse.blogspot.com) and have some irons in the fire. A colleague in the history department and I are starting to take the idea to conventions. My dream would be to get some serious networking going with a summer workshop (involving teachers and game designers) as a centerpiece.
Well, it’s a real shame. I
Well, it’s a real shame. I hope the podcast could go back online as soon as possible because it really was a good listening.
I am patting myself on the
I am patting myself on the back for archiving everything carefully on external drives. However, since it was Keenan's interview, I only have the raw recording and will have to edit out irrelevant things like the opening sequence of confirming our recordings or interruptions. When it's ready I'll upload it to use here as a replacement (it won't be an exact copy; I can't possibly remember what Keenan chose to edit second-to-second) and send Keenan an email so he knows about it.
I really hope the Games and Education podcast library isn't departing from the internet. It's a goldmine.
The episodes are all
The episodes are all available here
https://player.fm/series/series-2367991
Unluckily, if you try playing
Unluckily, if you try playing them, the website gives you an error message.
I’ve uploaded the Safe Spaces
I've uploaded the Safe Spaces interview. See the addition to the post above.