Cover art for podcast Pixel Therapy Pod

Pixel Therapy Pod

76 EpisodesProduced by Pixel Therapy PodWebsite

New perspectives on video game culture and current events, every other Tuesday. We have fun, we go deep, and we explore the love of games within a broader social and cultural context while challenging conventional notions of what it means to be a "gamer"— and who gets to call themselves one.https://… read more

1:44:28

Games as Explorations of Desire with Writer and Adult Developer Ana Valens

Note: This episode includes discussions of sexuality, with some references to BDSM and kink.

Howdy, y'all! Spencer and Jamie kick things off this week with a little HOT, SPICY, and SPIRITED debate (for us) on Armature Games' new surreal narrative adventure: Where the Heart Leads! Tumble into the time sinkhole with us as we delve into this 600,000-word everyday epic about a family man who finds himself reliving the formative moments of his life, including his present and even his future- and gains the ability to change them.

Then we're joined by the wonderful Ana Valens, a writer and adult game developer who, in her words, "specializes in the intersection of sexuality and video games and what the two have to say about the other." UMM, how cool is that?! We unpack the capacity for games to engage with sexuality beyond providing titillation, from education, to self-expression, to helping us gain deeper understandings of our own desires and providing safe places to explore them. We interviewed Ana during Pride Month, so we also touch a bit on the last few decades of U.S. LGBTQ+ history and the importance of honoring and understanding kink's place in queer culture! It's truly an action-packed episode so thanks for reading this far but please stop and press play!

Check out Ana's queer adult games: https://acvalens.itch.io/

Follow Ana on Twitter (private, but listeners can request access): https://twitter.com/acvalens

Check out Ana's book, Tumblr Porn: http://www.instarbooks.com/books/tumblr-porn.html

Side Quest

Red Canary Song

Originally founded in 2017 to provide legal and healthcare support to the family of massage worker Yang Song who was killed during a police raid, Red Canary Song is today a grassroots massage worker coalition in the U.S. and organizes transnationally with Asian sex workers across the diaspora in Toronto, Paris, and Hong Kong. To learn more and support their work, please check out:

https://www.redcanarysong.net/

About Pixel Therapy

New episodes drop every other Tuesday. Learn more at pixeltherapypod.com or follow us on social media @pixeltherapypod. We're proud members of the But Why Tho? Podcast Network: visit ButWhyThoPodcast.com for everything pop culture in an inclusive geek community! If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate us, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (or your listening app of choice) & subscribe! Want more? Unlock monthly bonus episodes for $2/mo and help us save up for streaming equipment at patreon.com/pixeltherapypod !

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