Jul 6, 202653 minS1
Ian Bogost joins me to discuss The Small Stuff , his book about finding gratification in physical things. We discuss his road from game studies to gratification, the place for gratification in games, and how something...
society
Plumbing Game Studies
Hosted by Graham Culbertson · society · EN
About this Podcast:
Philosophy is like plumbing for ideas - it makes connections and keeps everything flowing. In this podcast, Graham and his guests are doing some philosophical plumbing for game studies. We'll be asking questions like:Why are philosophers always talking about games? Is philosophy itself a game? How can we use games to understand philosophy - and how can we use philosophy to understand games?This podcast will use philosophy to study games and games to study philosophy. Anyone interested in philosophy, games, and how they interact should enjoy it!Remember: the unexamined game is not worth playing
Pitch Analysis
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Contact path
Verified email
Booking probability
30%
Guest openness
Selective
80/100
Required Score
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Signup to Generate a PitchQuestions about Plumbing Game Studies
What is Plumbing Game Studies about?
Philosophy is like plumbing for ideas - it makes connections and keeps everything flowing. In this podcast, Graham and his guests are doing some philosophical plumbing for game studies. We'll be asking questions like:Why are philosophers always talking about games? Is philosophy itself a game?
Who hosts Plumbing Game Studies?
Plumbing Game Studies is hosted by Graham Culbertson. The show has published 22 episodes to date.
What has Plumbing Game Studies covered recently?
Recent episodes include "Games Are More Like Toasters Than Movies -- Ian Bogost" (6 July 2026, 53 minutes), "Games Are More Like Toasters Than Movies -- Ian Bogost" (6 July 2026, 53 minutes), and "Is Science a Game?" (8 June 2026, 49 minutes).
How often does Plumbing Game Studies publish?
Plumbing Game Studies publishes roughly monthly, with episodes averaging 50 minutes across 22 episodes.
How hard is it to get booked on Plumbing Game Studies?
Booking probability for Plumbing Game Studies is 30%, and the host is rated Selective on guests. Plumbing Game Studies requires a Pod Score of 80 or higher. Plumbing Game Studies's contact route on record: verified email.
Who should pitch Plumbing Game Studies?
The strongest fits for Plumbing Game Studies are Universities & Colleges. Plumbing Game Studies has a society audience and around 220,000 subscribers on YouTube.
About the host
Graham Culbertson hosts Plumbing Game Studies, a society podcast with 22 episodes published.
Verified host email: ████████@████.comSign in to unlock →
Recent episodes
Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.
- Jul 6, 202653 minS1
<p>Ian Bogost joins me to discuss The Small Stuff, his book about finding gratification in things. We discuss his road from game studies to gratification, the place for gratification in games, and how something as small...
Episode #16
Is Science a Game?
Jun 8, 202649 minS1<p>Today I'm joined by two social scientists to address the question: is science a game? Michael Penkler, Stefan Sulzenbacher, and Stephan Voss recently published an article on this topic: Playing science: representing...
- May 14, 202645 minS1
<p>Molly Worthen joins me to discuss her recent NYTimes article "You Can't Game Your Way to a Real Education," which argues that the gamification of classroom learning stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of how...
- Apr 13, 202632 minS1
<p>Lex Play, a video game YouTube streamer, joins me to discuss her specialty: cozy games. We quickly figure out that cozy games are less about winning and more about creating, a trend that Lex identifies as having...
View More
- Nov 13, 20251h 8mS1
<p>This episode is co-hosted by David Hall, PhD Candidate in ECL at UNC. </p><p>David and I are joined by Rachael Hutchinson, Professor in Japanese Studies and Game Studies at the University of Delaware, to discuss what...
- Mar 13, 202540 minS1
<p>Sociologist Donald MacKenzie joins me to discuss his recent article in the London Review of Books, "Hey Big Spender: What Your Smartphone Knows About You."</p><p>Game Studies rarely focuses on phone games - but...
- Feb 27, 202538 minS1
<p>Game designer Bryan Bornmueller joins me to discuss his new game The Fellowship of the Ring: The Trick Taking Game. This game pushes narratology and ludology together in a way I had never seen before: an adaptation...
- Jan 23, 202546 minS1
<p>Simon Parkin, host of the podcast My Perfect Console and contributing writer (mostly on video games) to The New Yorker, joins Plumbing Game Studies to talk about his recent NYTimes article on modern video games...
- Nov 19, 202449 minS1
<p>Board game designer Amabel Holland joins me to discuss her recent board game The City of Six Moons. City of Six Moons isn't an ordinary game - the game is presented as an alien object, and the rules are in an unknown...
- Nov 6, 20241h 13mS1
<p>This episode is co-hosted by David Hall, PhD Candidate in ECL at UNC. David and I are joined by Morgan Pitelka, Professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and of History at UNC - Chapel Hill, joins us to discuss...
Episode #7
1.7 Graeber's Fun -- Aris Politopoulos
Aug 8, 20241h 3mS1<p>Aris Politopoulos joins me to discuss David Graeber's essay "What's the Point if We Can't Have Fun?" </p><p>We also discuss Aaron Trammel's recent book Repairing Play, which you can find here...
- Jul 22, 20241h 3mS1
<p>Martin Roth, of the Ritsumeikan Center for Game Studies at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, joins me to discuss Homo Ludens, Johan Huizinga's 1938 study of play and culture. Martin and I discuss the way that Homo...
- Jul 11, 202442 minS1
<p>Historian David Potter joins me to discuss the concept of agon, or competitive play, and how it animated everything in ancient Greek society from sports to education to politics to art. And Plato's The Republic...
- Jun 27, 20241h 2mS1
<p>Miguel Sicart, author of Playing Software, joins me for a playful, even anarchist discussion which was supposed to be about the work of Maria Lugones but ended up being about Lugones, Graeber, Almodóvar, Maradona...
- May 9, 20241h 7mS1
<p>Thi Nguyen joins me to discuss The Grasshopper, a work which takes up Wittgenstein's challenge to define a game and does so in a very productive way. Thi and I discuss the Suitsian definition of a game, how it can...
Plumbing Game Studies
Schopenhauer on Using Games Against Anxiety (Minigame 2)
Apr 23, 202421 minS0<p>Why do you feel anxious, according to Schopenhauer?</p><p>Excess energy!</p><p>What should you do about it?</p><p>Play a game!</p>
Plumbing Game Studies
Seeing Like a Game -- C. Thi Nguyen
Apr 3, 20241h 11mS0<p>Philosopher of games C. Thi Nguyen joins me to discuss his current work on the intersection of anarchism and games studies. The conversation was so much fun that I started this podcast to continue exploring this...
- Mar 28, 202449 minS1
<p>Jonne Arjoranta the of Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies joins me to talk about games and definitions in Ludwig Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations. You can find Jonne's articles on the topics...
- Mar 22, 202415 minS1
<p>How would you feel if you had to live life over and over again? Would it be like playing Slay the Spire? Or maybe Super Mario Bros?</p>
Recent guests
Recent guests on Plumbing Game Studies. Study who booked and why before you pitch.
I
Ian Bogost
professor and director of film and media studies, and professor of computer science and engineering at WashU, Washington University in St. Louis
M
Molly Worthen
associate professor of history, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
S
Simon Parkin
contributor to the New Yorker
A
Amabel Holland
author, Hollandspiele
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