EPISODE #2 - Ready player one
Geek culture writer, and host of the Blurbing It podcast, Monica Piluso joins the show to drink copious quantities of Pinot Grigio and discuss Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Topics include: geek culture, escaping reality, serial killers, cults, virtual reality, social identity, video game addiction, mythology, and being a woman in the geek culture dominated by men.
http://www.allgeektome.net/category/podcast/blurbing-it/
https://twitter.com/blurbingit
https://twitter.com/StoryInTheEnd
0:00:00 - Introduction
0:03:13 - Professional geek
0:05:46 - Nerd renaissance
0:06:44 - Booze: Pinot Grigio - Rex Goliath (cock and all), Turning Leaf, and Woodbridge
0:07:50 - Nostalgia sandwiches, the deep dark nonfiction abyss, and the need for fantasy
*Note: 400 books was inaccurate, it’s probably more like 300. Here’s my goodreads account which I started in May 2017. (Friend me and make recommendations!)
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/67724644-john-leven
0:10:57 - Serial killer videos, and more!
Richard Kuklinski HBO Interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjTYwZKuyBs
H.H. Holmes being exhumed in Philly!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._H._Holmes
The wiki page mentioned by John
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_serial_killers_by_number_of_victims
Jonestown suicide debate audio - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Peoples_Temple_Cult_Death_Tape_Q042.ogg
Heaven’s Gate Cult sign off videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=wHz9it70TdI
0:19:34 - Book intro, the OASIS, and the hunt for the Easter Egg
DICKS EVERYWHERE: Sexual references in early Disney films
http://www.movie-moron.com/wp-content/gallery/top-10/disney-subliminal-messages-2.jpg
0:24:16 - Star Wars and the Philadelphia Eagles Easter Egg
0:25:18 - Ready Player One Intro Attempt #2
0:27:34 - OFF-TOPIC: Harry Potter and the Fake Audiobook
0:28:42 - Ready Player One Intro Attempt #3 + Perzival
0:33:06 - Virtual Reality vs Real life
0:36:25 - Massive Multiplayer Online (MMO’s) and video game addiction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHmC2D0_Hdg
http://infinigeek.com/reality-vs-virtual-reality-the-fine-line-between-you-and-your-online-persona/
Supergamers Documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyPLVMPBUE4
Korean Couple lets child starve to death
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/mar/05/korean-girl-starved-online-game
http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1739601,00.html
Similar American Story: https://www.yahoo.com/news/mexico-mom-gets-25-years-starving-daughter-145411042.html
Grand Theft Auto Murderer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devin_Moore
0:44:15 - Facebook identity
Couple goes broke traveling quit jobs on facebook
https://www.buzzfeed.com/stephaniemcneal/reality-check
0:46:42 - On Virtual Reality being particularly attractive to the socially marginalized
0:50:06 - A 7 year old, minecraft, and John’s first uncomfortable brush with old age
0:53:04 - SEX! SEX! SEX!
http://mashable.com/2016/01/08/naughty-america-vr-porn-experience/#goKc2T40CPq7
Could awesome sex VR potentially save long-term relationships? Improve education? Prevent war?
0:59:34 - Nick Bostrom’s awesome work
https://www.amazon.com/Superintelligence-Dangers-Strategies-Nick-Bostrom/dp/1501227742
https://www.amazon.com/Global-Catastrophic-Risks-Nick-Bostrom/dp/0199606501/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
EVERYTHING (especially religion) in human history is a kind of VR/Escapism (inspired by Yuval Noah Harari’s amazing work)
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/08/virtual-reality-religion-robots-sapiens-boo
https://www.samharris.org/podcast/item/reality-and-the-imagination
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/15123488-religion-as-virtual-reality
1:02:40 - Joseph Campbell (badass), mythology, and the hero’s journey
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero%27s_journey#Criticism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLUgZhLJCHk
https://www.brainpickings.org/2015/04/28/what-makes-a-hero-joseph-campbell-monomyth/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqIJUJmnc-Y
https://www.amazon.com/Thousand-Faces-Collected-Joseph-Campbell/dp/1577315936
https://www.amazon.com/Power-Myth-Joseph-Campbell/dp/0385418868
1:12:41 - Monica: The Sequel - American Gods
1:13:25 - Art3mis, online dating, and being a woman in gaming
1:20:00 - Sixers, the secret plan, and the epic final battle (streamline?)
1:35:26 - Haliday’s regret
1:37:39 - Ready Player One - The Movie Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=k9r-zcCk6J8