Best Chris Plunkett Podcasts (2025)

1
JoJo’s AI Adventure (With Ed Zitron) 1:50:09

4d ago1:50:09

1:50:09

On this week’s episode, Nathan and Gita engage in a savvy act of brand synergy by bringing on extremely vocal AI critic and friend of the show Ed Zitron to celebrate the release of Aftermath’s new “Destroy AI” shirt, which we made in conjunction with Kim Hu, an incredible (human) artist, and are very proud of. We eventually get around to talking ab…

1
In Conversation with…Jenna Lynch 49:41

10d ago49:41

49:41

A blind bloke just talking about life. In episode three, I talk about employment and the challenges that can face people with sight loss in the workplace alongside Jenna Lynch from Berkshire Vision. Jenna is their Employability Officer and works with members and local organisations to support the individuals in accessing work. You can find out all …

1
RIP Polygon and Giant Bomb 2:15:36

11d ago2:15:36

2:15:36

On a very special (for bad reasons) episode of Aftermath Hours, Nathan, Riley, Chris, and Luke convene to mourn the apparent – and horrifyingly sudden – passing of two games media institutions: Polygon and Giant Bomb. None of this was, strictly speaking, necessary, with the former an unqualified success in terms of traffic and regard while the latt…

1
BDS Vs TES (With Autumn Wright) 1:30:03

18d ago1:30:03

1:30:03

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

1
Weeb Been Watching Some Anime (With Isaiah Colbert) 1:39:39

25d ago1:39:39

1:39:39

This week Nathan and Chris are joined by Aftermath’s first-ever regular contributor, Isaiah Colbert, to talk about the latter’s speciality: anime. It does not take long for this to spiral into a fittingly multi-part conversation about JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, but we also manage to at least briefly tackle issues pertaining to labor in the anime and…

1
Inside Baseball Week II (With Defector, 404 Media, And Hell Gate) 1:53:11

1M ago1:53:11

1:53:11

To celebrate the return of Inside Baseball Week – during which we publish a barrage of stories about the lesser-known parts of game dev, the ins and outs of games journalism, and other topics so specific no other website would ever touch them – we put together a roundtable about worker-owned media featuring Aftermath’s Nathan Grayson and Riley MacL…

1
Donkey Kong Rap 2 (With Mike Drucker) 1:22:40

1M ago1:22:40

1:22:40

This week Nathan and Chris are joined by special guest Mike Drucker, comedian and writer on shows like Adam Ruins Everything, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, to talk about his new book, Good Game, No Rematch: A Life Made of Video Games. We discuss how games and people’s relationship to them have changed o…

1
Big Boy Size Nathan (This Title Was Gita’s Idea) 1:34:22

2M ago1:34:22

1:34:22

This week Nathan, Gita, and Riley briefly talk about their true passion, shirts, before elegantly segueing into a conversation about Ubisoft’s extremely eventful week: The embattled publisher announced that it’s spinning off its most successful series, including Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six, into a separate subsidiary thanks to a $1.2…

1
The Hills Are Alive With The Sound Of Stabbing (With Yussef Cole) 1:13:01

2M ago1:13:01

1:13:01

This week Chris is holding down the fort with Luke and is joined by writer Yussef Cole (@youmeyou.bsky.social) who reviewed Assassin’s Creed Shadows for The New York Times. We get into Assassin’s Creed generally and Shadows specifically, what we like and dislike about the game and if it makes good its narrative promise. Is it simply enough for a ga…

1
In conversation with…Lou Plunkett 58:44

2M ago58:44

58:44

A blind bloke just talking about life. This second episode introduces Lou Plunkett who runs an online accessibility consultancy called Impact with Lou. Lou was diagnosed with Stargardt’s Disease (a form of juvenile macular disease) in her teens. She now provides training for content creators and organisations on how to make their content as accessi…

1
108 Out Of 10 (With Aidan Moher) 1:22:42

2M ago1:22:42

1:22:42

This week Nathan and Chris are joined by freelance writer Aidan Moher to discuss his upcoming book about Suikoden I and II, a pair of sneakily influential JRPGs from the PS1 era that, yes, are very much worth writing an entire book about. Then we discuss news from the eye of the pre-GDC storm: Next week thousands of game developers will convene in …

1
Dry January For Waifus 1:28:08

2M ago1:28:08

1:28:08

This week Nathan, Chris, and Riley overcome a slew of technical issues to bring you the latest news about guys who suck. First we discuss two Twitch dramas that broke containment and produced consequences that reverberated into the wider world: Several female streamers, Valkyrae, Cinna, Emiru, and Amouranth, found themselves in severe mortal peril …

1
RIP Monolith 2:04:20

2M ago2:04:20

2:04:20

This week Nathan and Gita accidentally burst the dam on another wellspring of Riley Lore – perhaps the wildest yet – before we all move on to a discussion of more sobering matters: WB recently closed three video game studios, including Monolith, the makers of quietly revolutionary games like No One Lives Forever, F.E.A.R., and Shadow of Mordor, as …

1
Exchanging (Opinions About) Avowed 1:21:18

3M ago1:21:18

1:21:18

This week Nathan, Chris, and Luke find themselves champing at the bit to talk about Avowed, which they can’t stop playing, but first, The News: NetEase shocked the game-playing public by laying off members of the team behind Marvel Rivals, the biggest breakout success story to come out of the live service sector in years. What happened? Well, decay…

1
The Downfall Of Civilization 1:30:51

3M ago1:30:51

1:30:51

This week Nathan, Chris, and Luke convene on the eve – if we’re measuring in podcast time – of Nathan’s book release (Stream Big, available wherever books are sold) to talk mostly about other stuff. First up, Activision and former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick both got into dustups with CWA, the union that represents over 1,000 workers across Microso…

1
Lovable Rascals (With Rowan Zeoli) 1:41:35

3M ago1:41:35

1:41:35

This week Nathan and Riley are joined by special guest Rowan Zeoli of Rascal, an independent, reader-supported, worker-owned outlet for journalism about tabletop roleplaying games not unlike Aftermath. The site is celebrating one year of life on the increasingly tumultuous planet Earth with a subscription drive, so we ask Rowan how things are going…

1
In conversation with…Chris Webb 53:15

3M ago53:15

53:15

A blind bloke just talking about life. This first episode is with my good friend Chris Webb who is an artist and volunteer. Chris’ work has taken him in so many directions and he now volunteers at a local nature reserve near Portsmouth. He has become an active campaigner and advocate for sight loss and works with both Royal National Institute of Bl…

1
BioWare-fore Art Thou (With Kat Bailey) 1:21:35

3M ago1:21:35

1:21:35

This week Nathan and Riley are joined by special guest Kat Bailey, former news director at IGN and current host of the Axe of the Blood God podcast, to discuss a news week that’s certainly been… interesting. First we talk about the entire staff of long-running video game site God Is A Geek quitting after its now-ex-priest owner threw up a Nazi salu…

1
In conversation with…Me 5:44

4M ago5:44

5:44

A blind bloke just talking about life. A short intro to the podcast series and a little bit about me. Read more at https://blindmanwithabackpack.uk Follow me at: https://facebook.com/blindmanwithabackpack, https://www.instagram.com/blindmanwithabackpack/ or https://www.tiktok.com/@blindman.with.a.b?_t=ZG-8tNxc95j756&_r=1 Credit: Intro music “Gravey…

1
Da Movies Baby! 1:39:40

4M ago1:39:40

1:39:40

This week Gita and Chris talk about the most exciting entertainment news of the day: the announcement of a new Ninja Gaiden game! Oh yeah, and the Oscars. For some reason, Emilia Perez has been nominated for a ton of awards and Chris and Gita fear that this dogshit movie may indeed sweep the Academy Awards. As they go through the nominations, they …

1
Woke 2: Good, Switch 2: ??? 1:29:06

4M ago1:29:06

1:29:06

This week Nathan, Chris, and Luke break down Nintendo’s long-awaited reveal of the Switch 2 – although we use the term “reveal” loosely. After months of speculation, we now know… what it will look like. And it looks like a Nintendo Switch! Some people, Chris included, are disappointed by this. Nintendo used to swing for the fences with its hardware…

1
The Gaming Angle (With Chris Bratt) 1:42:26

4M ago1:42:26

1:42:26

This week Nathan and Gita are joined by Chris Bratt of People Make Games – one of the best investigative outlets in all of video games – to discuss his new video about workplace abuse at outsourcing studios in southeast Asia. We try to get to the bottom of why big video game companies turn a blind eye to these sorts of incidents, which in this case…

1
Deck The Halls With Balatros Of Holly 1:28:26

5M ago1:28:26

1:28:26

This week Nathan, Chris, and Riley convene just before the holidays for the final show of the year. We discuss a little of everything: Our favorite Game Awards reveals (Onimusha, an orb game exemplar, is back, and so is Okami!) as well as some that have us less thrilled (more Neil Druckmann nihilism in Intergalactic: The Heretic, Borderlands 4’s co…

1
Is Indiana Jones Good Or Not? 1:24:40

5M ago1:24:40

1:24:40

This week it’s just Chris and Riley as Nathan has flown off to LA for The Game Awards. We discuss the continued state of the Ziff Davis empire, the United Healthcare shooting suspect's gaming history and what that says about him (mainly nothing) and the mostly positive but sometimes polarizing reaction to Indiana Jones and The Great Circle. We also…

1
Video Game History Hour(s) (With Frank Cifaldi) 2:08:50

5M ago2:08:50

2:08:50

This week, Nathan, Chris, and Luke are joined by Frank Cifaldi of the Video Game History Foundation, but not until near the end of the episode, because Frank had multiple other podcasts to be on that day (he’s very important). We discuss the unique needs of a video game archive – for example, remote access to games, something the US Copyright Offic…

1
The Sky Is Bluer On The Other Side (With Ryan Broderick) 1:55:30

6M ago1:55:30

1:55:30

This week, Nathan and Gita are joined by Ryan Broderick of the fantastic Garbage Day newsletter to discuss all the latest trends in the world of Online. We begin by talking about Bluesky and the potentially fatal blow Twitter has sustained at its hands. Or, well, more accurately, at Elon Musk’s hands, but Bluesky has far and away been the main bene…

1
One Year Down, One Million More To Go 1:57:11

6M ago1:57:11

1:57:11

This week, Nathan, Luke, and Chris are, despite the state of the world, in a celebratory mood, because Aftermath just turned one! When we launched this site a year ago, we had no idea how it’d go – we thought it’d either crash and burn or succeed beyond our wildest dreams, neither of which have happened – but we’re exceedingly pleased with where we…

1
The Horse Is Back In The Hospital (With Mel Buer) 1:33:25

6M ago1:33:25

1:33:25

This week, Nathan and Riley are joined by special guest Mel Buer of The Real News Network, a very good nonprofit newsroom, to discuss what we, as normal people, can do in the wake of Trump’s reelection and the rise of fascism in the United States. The short version? Organize! Not just your workplace, but also your local community. Meet your neighbo…

1
More Like Fan-Dumb [Loud Incorrect Buzzer Sound] 1:22:57

6M ago1:22:57

1:22:57

This week, Nathan, Luke, and Riley lament the untimely end of Firewalk, the studio that made Concord to Sony’s specifications and then promptly got dumpstered for it. Once again, creatives are suffering for executives’ poor decision making, and everybody’s worse off for it. Will the industry actually learn from this? We can only hope. Then we move …

1
Interview With The (Person Making A) Vampire (Video Game) 1:53:17

7M ago1:53:17

1:53:17

This week, Nathan and Gita are joined by special guest LB Hunktears, formerly of Fanbyte and Blaseball fame, who is now working on a reality show queer romance horror comedy game called Fledgling Manor. We discuss the reality TV shows that inspired it, as well as the strange lack of games about reality TV, given just how game-y those shows’ structu…

1
All That Glitters Is Not Asmongold (With Nico Deyo) 2:08:41

7M ago2:08:41

2:08:41

This week, Nathan and Riley are joined by a very special guest, the Aftermath Discord’s own head moderator Nico “Apple Cider” Deyo (who is also a longtime freelance games journalist), to discuss the trials and tribulations of Asmongold, a Twitch star who found himself in hot water this week when years of escalating reactionary rhetoric culminated i…

1
Metaphor Out Of Five Refantazio 1:41:34

7M ago1:41:34

1:41:34

This week, Nathan, Chris, and Riley convene to increase their social links by discussing the latest basically-Persona game, Metaphor: Refantazio, which is – at least, so far – Metaphor Re(ally)fantastic. It’s Persona in a Shakespearean fantasy setting with a lot of irritating friction removed. Then we talk about an issue near and dear to Riley’s he…

1
Starfield And Friends 1:57:19

7M ago1:57:19

1:57:19

This week, Nathan, Luke, and Riley do their best impression of that one meme where Jonathan Frakes asks you things: What’s going on with Starfield’s new, poorly-received DLC? Why is Star Citizen – a crowdfunded testament to one man’s hubris that’s been in development for more than a decade – forcing developers to crunch in the year 2024? In light o…

1
What’s Wrong With The French (With Jacob Geller) 1:58:36

8M ago1:58:36

1:58:36

This week, Nathan and Gita are joined by games and culture video essayist Jacob Geller ahead of his 24-hour stream to raise money for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. We discuss video game criticism in the age of drive-by culture wars on social media and conclude that – despite how bleak things might seem – there’s still a hunger for truly sub…

1
Grand Theft Audible Sigh (With Tom Walker) 1:39:31

8M ago1:39:31

1:39:31

This week, Nathan, Chris, and Luke are joined by comedian and streamer Tom Walker to discuss the latter’s self-made nightmare: an ongoing Grand Theft Auto IV playthrough in which traffic speed is cranked up to max. We talk about how livestreaming comedy differs from traditional forms of comedy like standup and how Twitch chat facilitates a unique s…

1
The Back To School Week Special (With Emanuel Maiberg) 1:50:28

8M ago1:50:28

1:50:28

This week, Nathan, Gita, and Riley are joined by Emanuel Maiberg of 404 Media – another fantastic worker-owned website – for a special episode tied in with the Back To School theme week we’ve been running on the site, which focuses on changes, nostalgia, and learning new things. First, we talk to Emanuel about 404’s first year of existence and all …

1
Concord’s Bad Fur Day 1:33:54

8M ago1:33:54

1:33:54

This week, Nathan, Chris, and Riley marvel at the speed with which Sony pulled the plug on its latest live service offering, Concord, a game so focused-grouped for everyone that it ended up being for no one. Are live service games as a whole doomed? Probably not. But the way triple-A publishers approach them – toiling away for years and then releas…

1
[To The Tune Of “Vindicated” By Dashboard Confessional] Defenestrated 1:11:30

9M ago1:11:30

1:11:30

This week, Nathan, Gita, and Luke discuss the first big game of the “fall” video game season: Star Wars Outlaws. Despite an enormous budget and a four-year development cycle, reviewers were given just a week to play the gargantuan game before embargo. Not ideal! We discuss how that impacts the way reviewers play and perceive games. Then we move on …

1
Did You Myth Me (With Makena Kelly) 1:49:04

9M ago1:49:04

1:49:04

This week, Nathan and Chris are joined by Wired’s Makena Kelly to discuss content creators at the Democratic National Convention. Was it a savvy move on Democrats’ part to give them press access? Did they do a better job of shining light on protesters and their causes than traditional press? And what was the deal with all the rumblings of conflict …

1
Deadlock On Arrival 1:56:09

9M ago1:56:09

1:56:09

This week, Nathan, Chris, and Riley examine the aftermath (lol) of the drama surrounding Deadlock, Valve’s new hero shooter that hasn’t been officially announced yet, and one brave (read: normal) reporter’s decision to, well, report on it. Why, in an industry where regularly unreliable leakers amass hundreds of thousands of followers, did so many p…

1
RIP Game Informer 1:59:47

9M ago1:59:47

1:59:47

This week, Nathan, Gita, and Riley gather to reflect on the legacy of Game Informer, a magazine whose 33-year run unexpectedly came to an end late last week when GameStop unceremoniously laid off its entire staff and took down its website’s archive. Then we discuss the parasocial pivots of both the Trump and Harris campaigns, with the former appear…

1
You Don’t Need That Many Cars, Man 1:32:56

9M ago1:32:56

1:32:56

This week, Luke, Riley, and Chris talk news, sports, sports games, non-sports games, and geography. We start by discussing Wednesday’s layoffs at Destiny developer Bungie, which saw 220 people lose their jobs and other people and teams shuffled into parent company Sony. But throughout all this upheaval, Bungie CEO Pete Parsons has managed to hang o…

1
Hot Labor Summer: Video Games Edition 1:38:42

10M ago1:38:42

1:38:42

This week, Nathan, Riley, and Chris tackle a very eventful week, beginning with news that broke mere minutes before we started recording: video game voice actors and mocap performers are going on strike. Major companies – including EA, Epic, and Activision – aren’t guaranteeing them necessary AI-related protections, so they’re taking to the picket …

1
You’ll Kick Yourself If You Miss This One 1:30:29

10M ago1:30:29

1:30:29

Nathan, Luke, and Chris gather to discuss a week that feels like it’s lasted ten years, largely due to an assassination attempt against Donald Trump, the aftershocks of which have rattled every corner of the internet, including the world of video games. Almost immediately after it all went down, players of games like Fortnite, Roblox, and Minecraft…

1
Rotten To The Xbox Game Pass Core 1:50:00

10M ago1:50:00

1:50:00

This week, Nathan, Luke, and Riley reconvene after a holiday weekend to discuss everybody’s favorite, inescapably pervasive topic: enshittification, defined by writer Cory Doctorow as the process by which "the services that matter to us, that we rely on, are turning into giant piles of shit.” This week alone, it happened to both Xbox’s Game Pass se…

1
Ain’t No Party Like A LAN Party Because LAN Parties Don’t Happen Anymore (With Merritt K) 1:04:30

10M ago1:04:30

1:04:30

This week, everybody’s on break because of the Fourth of July, but we don’t intend on leaving you high and dry. A couple months ago, we hosted our first live event at Wonderville in Brooklyn alongside Merritt K, author of “LAN Party: Inside the Multiplayer Revolution.” We spent our time on stage discussing the golden age of LAN parties and why they…

1
And He’s Not Even A Real Doctor (With Ash Parrish) 1:33:35

11M ago1:33:35

1:33:35

On this week’s episode, Nathan and Riley are joined by Ash Parrish of The Verge to discuss the reason behind Dr Disrespect’s Twitch ban and how it finally came to light after all these years. We answer one of the major questions the recent torrent of information has produced: Why did it take journalists – some of whom had known the reason for years…

1
Link’s Awokening (With John Warren) 1:39:44

11M ago1:39:44

1:39:44

On this week’s episode, Nathan and Riley are joined by John Warren, formerly of Fanbyte and now of the just-launched VGBees. First we discuss John’s new reader and listener-supported website, which aims to provide a home to good writing about video games. The more the merrier, we say. Then we hop on the endless merry-go-round that is the question o…

1
Summer Game Feast Or Famine 1:50:35

11M ago1:50:35

1:50:35

On this week’s episode, Nathan and Luke are joined by some guy they know named Ethan Gach to discuss the aftermath (lol) of Summer Game Fest. Ethan was on the ground at the show in LA, so he fields questions about the Geoff Keighley-powered husk that E3 left behind. We ultimately arrive at the same question people do after every single one of these…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Chris Plunkett Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen