Shows
Authors Die TwiceYou Would Expect SpidersBryan and Nathan finish up their conversation about Silent Hill 2 (2024), focusing especially on the game's final boss and discussing (again) the game's structures of repetition, the warehouse setting, and why spider enemies in games usually suck.Have questions or comments? Email us at authorsdietwice@gmail.com2025-07-141h 17Authors Die TwiceThis Guys Are Sick (with Christopher Jason Bell)Bryan and Nathan are joined by filmmaker Christopher Jason Bell (Miss Me Yet, Failed State) to discuss Final Fantasy VII. They touch on the generative capacities of technological limitation for gameplay and narrative, what motivates the various graphical iterations of the game's characters, and the role of paratext in the experience of playing.Find Christopher Jason Bell at https://linktr.ee/christopherjasonbellHave questions or comments? Email us at authorsdietwice@gmail.com2025-06-301h 21
The Virtual Jewel BoxAesthetic experience, with Bryan Counter and Nathan WainsteinThis episode features Bryan Counter (Framingham State University) discussing his new book Four Moments of Aesthetic Experience: Reading Huysmans, Proust, McCarthy, and Cusk (published by Anthem Press) with Nathan Wainstein (Department of English, University of Utah). Counter theorizes aesthetic experience as something that mediates between subjective judgment and objective art, emphasizing the role of chance, atmosphere, and embodied encounters with literature. Rather than focusing on formal analysis, he examines moments within texts where characters grapple with aesthetic experience, arguing that our experience of reading often transcends the content itself.
Episode edited by Ethan Rauschkolb. Named after our s...2025-06-2347 minAuthors Die TwiceSen's Forest (with Debbie Urbanski)Bryan and Nathan are joined by author Debbie Urbanski (Portalmania, After World: A Novel) to discuss her work and the 1963 novel The Wall by Marlen Haushofer. They touch on the gamelike qualities of narrative, environmental storytelling, and the metaphysics of invisible walls.Have questions or comments? Email us at authorsdietwice@gmail.com2025-06-161h 25Authors Die TwiceAbandoned Old Workshop: Joseph LaBine on Niall MontgomeryBryan and Nathan inaugurate a new series, "Abandoned Old Workshop," where they are joined by colleagues in a focused presentation of their recent or forthcoming academic work. In this episode, they speak with Joseph LaBine, editor of terminal 1: Arrivals (Flat Singles Press, 2025), a collection of poetry by the Irish architect, artist, and critic Niall Montgomery. Among other topics, they discuss Montgomery's status as a figure in modernism, and his friendship with and influence from authors like James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, and T. S. Eliot. terminal 1: https://www.flatsinglespress.com/shop/p/terminal-1-arrivals2025-06-091h 25Authors Die TwiceFormless Two: Immersed in SimsBryan and Nathan embark on another "formless one," discussing the coziness of survival horror games, different valences of horror in the metal genre, and American author Bennett Sims's short story "Portonaccio Sarcophagus."Have questions or comments? Email us at authorsdietwice@gmail.com2025-06-021h 24Authors Die TwiceEscape from Nathan Avenue (Wait...)Bryan and Nathan continue their conversation about Silent Hill 2 (2024), discussing the game's fascinating structures of repetition, déjà vu, and anonymity.Have questions or comments? Email us at authorsdietwice@gmail.com2025-05-191h 07Authors Die TwiceEscape from Nathan AvenueBryan and Nathan discuss Bloober Team's 2024 remake of Silent Hill 2. They talk about the game's incredible sound design, the multiple ways one can and cannot identify with a video game avatar, and why this might be the smelliest game of all time. They also debut a new segment on video game atmosphere called Wainstein and Smog. Have questions or comments? Email us at authorsdietwice@gmail.com2025-05-0555 minAuthors Die TwiceWanna See My Guy? (with Shane)It turns out Bryan and Nathan aren't done talking about Elden Ring. This time they're joined by Shane, a Living Success and the co-host of Reel Rap, a podcast about adaptations (you can find him at @crealoya on Twitter). Together they discuss the game's soundtrack and atmosphere, the irrelevance of its plot, and the question of a possible film adaptation.2025-04-211h 11Authors Die TwiceFormless OneIn their first grab bag episode, Bryan and Nathan talk about the games they've been playing and the texts they've been reading, including Monster Hunter: Wilds, Tomb Raider I-III Remastered, "House-sitting" by Bennett Sims, and After World: A Novel by Debbie Urbanski. They then discuss Jorge Luis Borges's 1939 short story "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote" and introduce their Enigma of the Week. Have questions or comments? Email us at authorsdietwice@gmail.com2025-04-141h 12Authors Die TwiceConsort Radahn's Valentine's Day SpecialBryan and Nathan conclude (for now) their discussion of Elden Ring and its DLC by talking about their hard-won victory over the DLC's final boss in co-op (spoilers), engaging with Souls multiplayer systems for the first time, and the jubilation of being "smooched" on stream.Have questions or comments? Email us at authorsdietwice@gmail.com2025-04-0753 minAuthors Die TwiceDraugr Ledgelord (with Sam Tett)In this week's episode, special guest Sam Tett (University of Utah) joins Bryan and Nathan to talk about The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011). We discuss open world boundaries, the game's (underrated?) combat, the joys of ledging, and why the Dragonborn might be his own dad.The Eurogamer essay mentioned by Nathan is "The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is Anything but Overrated" by Chris Tapsell: https://www.eurogamer.net/games-of-the-decade-the-elder-scrolls-5-skyrim-is-anything-but-overratedHave questions or comments? Email us at authorsdietwice@gmail.com2025-03-311h 07Authors Die TwiceThese Scadutree Fragments I Have Shored Against My RuinsBryan and Nathan continue their conversation about Elden Ring and Shadow of the Erdtree by discussing oversized objects, the DLC's strange sky, and why every Souls game might need a single un-openable door.Have questions or comments? Email us at authorsdietwice@gmail.com2025-03-2552 minAuthors Die TwiceUndungeoningNathan and Bryan talk about spatial design and wonder in Elden Ring and the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. Have questions or comments? Email us at authorsdietwice@gmail.com2025-03-181h 04Authors Die TwiceIntroductionBryan and Nathan introduce the themes of the podcast, take a stab at explaining the title, and touch on their shared history with games.2025-03-1811 min