In this episode we talk artificial Intelligence, which we are definitely in favor of and will help achieve sentience of course. We discuss dangerous mind traps, raising good baby AIs, smart houses, the Wild West of the Internet, and the fears our elders grew by.

Life Narrated

Ep 45 - Artificial Intelligence

In this first episode we work out the kinks of podcasting while talking about Narrative in Video Games. We touch on topics like ludo-narrative dissonance, unreliable narrators, game mechanics that drive story, historical video game knowledge, and we gush about how awesome Broken Age, Braid, Dwarf Fortress, and Gone Home are.

Life Narrated Ep 1 - Video Game Narratives

In this episode, we talk about zombies narratives and how we hate them... or maybe we don't? The specifics of being a Haitian zombi, and innovations in the zombie genre since 1936.

Life Narrated Ep 3 - Zombie Narratives

In this episode we discuss time travel, violating causality, hardening your heart to the lonely life of a time traveler, Hitler's Time Shield, the Temporal Prime Directive, and untrustworthy muskrats.

Life Narrated Ep 8 - Time Travel

In this episode we read the story written by J.K. Rowling on Pottermore about Ilvermorny, the North American school for witchcraft and wizardry. We also discuss the inherent sexiness of the muggle James Stewart,  the Free Mason connection to the wizarding world, angry capitalist house elves, and how many orphans are in this story exactly?

Life Narrated Ep 13 - Ilvermorny

In this episode, we attempt to talk about famous sports stories, but end up rehashing psychological scars from childhood sports teams, talking tribal warfare, finding out how much Lauren really dislikes Nascar, and Matt's drank too much pool water.

In other words: Sports stories as told by the Indoor Kids.

Life Narrated - 15 - Sports Narratives by the Indoor Kids

In this episode we talk about magical systems in fantasy narratives, how to avoid being murdered for magical purposes, necro pants, crow romance, magic as social control, and narrowly avoiding matriarchy with a steaming pile of patriarchy.

Life Narrated - Ep 18 - Magical Systems in Fantasy

In this episode we talk about Vampires, wealth as a super power, the Blood Countess of Hungary, Mina got the Double D, Lauren steals Matt's thunder, and it all comes back to necropants, like we knew it would.

Life Narrated - Ep 19 - Vampires!

In this episode we talk Dystopian media, Lauren has gum brain, Trevor Noah's mother is a dystopian heroine, how the Hunger Games destroyed Emily's sense of self, how many unhappy people does it take to make a dystopian novel, and it's all fun and game until someone gets murdered by a smart house.

Ep 20A - Dystopia! Part 1

In this episode we continue our discussion of Dystopian media, including moon colonies, Emily watches no movies - BUT WAS RIGHT ABOUT BLADERUNNER, star whales, we can't wait for the utopia of Star Trek to come around, and Emily and Lauren apparently share a morphic field.

Ep 20B - Dystopia! Part 2

In this episode we talk about cyber punk, including: invisibility with socks, the difference between work naked time and personal naked time, what it means to be human, don't quote Nietzsche at me, robot daddy issues, and Emily definitely knows what Blade is and what Blade Runner is and that they are not the same thing.

Ep 21 - Cyberpunk

In this episode, we talk Hugo Short Story Nominees, including abrasive narrators, petty-betty omnipotent beings, transhumanism, Matt being wrong and strong about Rogue One, and Emily has bomb GoldenEye tactics.

Ep 22 - Hugo Short Stories 2017

In this episode we talk about Werewolves, as well as wolves as pagan symbols, cannibals, curses, deals with the devil, insatiable hunger, rehabilitating the man-wolf, male menstruation, and we almost don't talk about Harry Potter. Almost.

Ep 23 - Werewolves!

In this episode, we discuss ghosts, necromancer street cred, ancestor veneration, psychopomps, Harry Houdini Seances, pleasing terrors, Jamesian Tales, Emily and Lauren's morphic field strengthens and are ghosts still ghosts in the underworld?

Ep 24 - Ghosts!

In this episode we talk mythical creatures, boobies on a fish, someone had relations with a horse, phoenix stories get dark, boobies on a bird, we've all seen some shit on the Internet, boobies on EVERYTHING, Lauren can't with the Tooth Fairy, and this is how we get mermaids.

Here is a link to the New Yorker article we were talking about: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/11/06/is-bigfoot-likelier-than-the-loch-ness-monster

Ep 25 - Mythical Creatures

In this episode we talk Tricksters, including the Devil himself, essential phallicism, fully-belly truths, ambiguity in roadrunner form , and we search for the female Trickster.

We apologize - the audio quality on this one is not great. Better next time, we promise!

Ep 26 - Tricksters

In this episode we continue our discussion of aliens, including cosmic pluralism, what sailor moon and superman have in common, owing life debts, Tim the Tool Man Taylor's experience with the extra-terrestrial, and do aliens think we're cute?

Ep 27 B - Aliens!

In this episode we discuss mirrors and graven images, catoptromancy, how cats commune with evil, liminal spaces, mirror worlds,  Emily uses a puddle as a mirror, the social media mirror dimension, why did we do so much witch craft at sleepovers? and Lauren has a very special message for the teens.

Ep 28 - Mirror Worlds and Graven Images

Quick Update - Baby Hiatus

In this episode we have some guest hosts who talk about high fantasy, including how the land of Oz was not ready for Dorothy the Despot, that there are no villains in *high* fantasy, and how fantasy is a safe space to work through real world problems.

Ep 32 - High Fantasy with the Cos

In this episode we talk about fictionalizing recent tragedies, including searching for a standardized version of history, when it is too soon, rule-making, Lauren has a box that will take our podcasting to THE NEXT LEVEL, Chicago 10/13 coming 2020, de-contextualized war, murder podcasts, and trans-humanism is still somehow part of this podcast.

Ep 33 - Fictionalizing Tragedy and History

In this episode we talk Egypt, including 4,000 years of bird art, Ocean's Eleven: Early Christianity Edition, the decision making process in religious vandalism, #VictoriansAreTheWorst, and you can't beat 200 million years of evolution, so you should jump on this Sobek train. Don't need no evolution.

Ep 34 - Egypt!

In this super secret episode that no one should tell Matt about, Lauren, Emily, and Lauren's sister Kate discuss wizard video games, All caps harry, Barty Crouch the most competent villain, Puffs and the year that they mattered, house sorting as prescription, how you shouldn't meet your heroes' weird brothers, and prohibition era wizards.

Ep 36 - PotterWatch Episode 1 w/Kate

In this episode we journey to the underworld, and encounter mothers who get pinky swears from all things not to hurt her child, the Lords of Xibalba, rivers of scorpions, the restless undead, a room full of jaguars, bourgeois afterlife, Hufflepuff scientists, and psychopomps.

Ep 38 - Journey to the Underworld

In this episode we talk about the origins of Santa Claus, including how babies are famously not swole, potatoes are far too spicy for Puritans, a brief sidebar about the Roman Calendar and we learn that to kill Santa, you have to willing to kill Christmas.

For those of you in DC, the Newseum is closing for good on December 30th, 2019. So get down there and see all the wonderful things they have, including the unibomber shack, the tarot card from the DC sniper, and one of the first drawings of Santa Claus by political cartoonist Thomas Nast.


Also, I was today years old when I realized the 1994 Tim Allen Movie Santa Clause has a pun in its title.

Ep 39 - Santa Claus!

In this episode we talk beginnings, time, duality, doorways, and passages, all in pursuit of building our own Creation Myths. We get wise to this whole water trend, we become nervous about everyone killing gods to make worlds, we can't discount cutting off dingdongs as a method of creation, and Lauren and Emily decide they will not be visiting Matt's World 'O Farts and Death.

Ep 40 - Creation Myths and Beginnings

It's a Pandemic! In this episode we discuss pandemic goals, why we are so unprepared for this even though our storytellers have been warning us of this for years, how we prefer our Jean-Luc Picard with hair, how Emily is a library hopper, and how we learned to stop worrying and root for the disease*,

*that's a Dr. Strangelove reference, we aren't rooting for the disease. Wash your hands.

Ep 41 - Pandemic!

In this episode we discuss Star Trek, Including: DTF diplomacy, Data's feelings, Chief Emotional Officer, slinging drinks in a place where you can't get a tip, Bajoran NONSENSE, a hard left turn into Klingon Stuff, Captain Malfoy's Dad, Lens Flair Universe, and if you see a monolith out in space, that is someone else's problem.

Ep 42 - Star Trek 1/?

In this episode of PotterWatch, we talk Rainbow Rowell's Carry On, including Harry-Draco slash fic, weird origin stories, the power of nursery rhymes, the surgical precision of the mid 2000's, and Roommate Death Pacts.

PotterWatch 2 - Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

In this episode, we talk Hugo Short Stories 2020 - at least the first three - including talk about realpolitik, how much colonialism sucks, safety and actions acceptable in the defense of same, a portal to the nether realm opened in your hoo-ha, and we all learn what jute is.

If you want to read along, here's a list: https://www.tor.com/2020/07/30/hugo-spotlight-the-finalists-for-best-short-story-and-best-novelette/

Ep 44 - Hugo Short Stories 2020 pt 1

In this episode, we talk Hugo Short Stories 2020 part 2! Including rage quitting literature, talk about the weather, some game of thrones nonsense, the power to change the world, antique pearl clutching, and Emily has flashbacks to her time in academia.

Ep 44B - Hugo Short Stories 2020 pt 2!

A show about life and the stories we tell. How are pop-culture zombies like Haitian zombis? When did time-travel fiction start? Why are we so fascinated with ghost stories? Join Lauren, Emily, and Matt as they use anthropology, history, sibling rivalry, and pop culture to dig deep into the themes of narratives in film, literature, video games, and life.

Life Narrated

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