Just Talking Podcast

Continuing the conversation with Danny Peña to talk about Gamertag Radio past, present and future, his new show on TuDiscovery - Yo Soy Danny Peña and we compare marketing methods for our content. Danny is a highly motivated man and it's an honor to spend an hour picking his brain about this stuff. Enjoy. Follow Danny on Twitter @Godfree, keep up with Gamertag Radio at http://gamertagradio.com and be sure to check out his new show on TuDiscovery Yo Soy Danny Peña or Esou Danny Peña for those of you in Brazil. Run Time - 45:41 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

Kayla Brown joins the podcast this week to discuss her diabetes diagnosis, her initial exposure to the online community and how she has turned to Facebook and personal blogging to share her experiences with others. This is another classic story illustrating the importance of support, in whatever form it may come in and how the Internet is a key tool in dealing with the emotional strain of living with diabetes. Enjoy. Follow Kayla on Twitter @kaylas_notes, read her blog at http://kaylaslifenotes.blogspot.com and if you need a laugh be sure to check out Kayla's Type 1 Diabetes Memes Facebook Page. Run Time - 33:53 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

Ryan Payton joins me this week to talk about his years living in Japan, his journey from writing about games to making games, the differences between American and Japanese video game studios, his new company Camouflaj and his new game, République. To that last bit, we discuss his motivations for creating an iOS game and why he's gone to Kickstarter to fund the game's development. As you will hear, Ryan has some incredibly ambitious goals and it was an honor to get the opportunity to spend an hour picking his brain. Enjoy. Follow Ryan on Twitter @ryanpayton and if our conversation motivated you, please check out the République Kickstarter.. Run Time - 1:06:41 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

Leigh Alexander is my guest this week. We spend the hour discussing her career as a video game journalist, the value of long form articles, the evolution and impact of social media on society, her maturation as a games journalist and (perhaps more importantly) as a prominent woman in the industry. Enjoy. Follow Leigh on Twitter @leighalexander and read her blog at http://sexyvideogameland.blogspot.com. It's fantastic. Run Time - 1:01:32 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

Shawn Elliott is on this week talking about his work at Irrational Games, making the transition from covering video games to making them, his perspective on the popularity of podcasting, including GFW Radio and his journey to and through Games for Windows Magazine. This is another one of those conversations that could have gone on for much, much longer but the stories you will hear will be well worth the time spent listening. Enjoy. Irrational Games is working on a little game called Bioshock: Infinite. You should look in to that. Shawn also posts a lot of insanity on Twitter @ShawnElliot. Follow if you dare. Run Time - 1:10:56 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

Continuing the conversation with Kerri Sparling and her life with diabetes, life as a mother, life as the wife of a screenwriter, her perspective on the evolving relationships between bloggers and larger corporations, and why Spotify is great. Enjoy. Follow Kerri on Twitter @sixuntilme and read her blog at http://sixuntilme.com. It's fantastic. Run Time - 50:07 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

Meagan Marie, Communications and Community Manager for Crystal Dynamics joins me for the newest episode of Just Talking. We spend plenty of time talking about her path through the video game industry including her work at Game Informer, her approach to community management at Crystal Dynamics and the variety of platforms that Tomb Raider fans can connect on. We also dig into her experience with cosplay and how she was able to attend the Gears of War 3 launch event in Paris. And we finish up with some talk about how women are treated within the geek culture and why there's hope for the future. Enjoy. As is often the case with these podcasts, there's too much to talk about and not enough time to cover everything. The latest example is Meagan's Game Industry FAQ. If you're interested in what it takes to get invovled, you should give this a read. Meagan has a lot going on but the best places to keep up with her are on Twitter @MeaganMarie and her blog at meagan-marie.tumblr.com. Run Time - 57:19 Send your feedbac

The latest episode of Just Talking features Dan Hsu, Editor in Chief of Bitmob and GamesBeat. Dan's journey through the video game industry includes jobs like Associate Editor and eventually Editor in Chief for Electronic Gaming Monthly and Editorial Director of the 1Up Network. It also includes studying statistics at the University of Michigan. Most recently he founded Bitmob.com and announced its acquisition by VentureBeat. There's plenty of conversation about all of these topics, especially the VentureBeat acquisition over the next hour or so. Enjoy. Follow Dan on Twitter at @DanShoeHsu and check out the excellent work done at bitmob.com. Run Time - 1:05:53 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

Mike Lawson is on the podcast this week talking about his life with diabetes including his initial misdiagnosis and the impact of the online community on his life. We also discuss social media efforts of major pharmaceutical companies and how there's reason for hope, just not in the immediate future. There's also talk about his blog and podcast, What Some Would Call Lies, the origins of something he calls "Mirror Mantras", Glee and coming out to friends and family. Some of our talk gets quite real, but it's well worth the listen. Enjoy. Follow Mike on Twitter at @MrMikeLawson and keep up with his podcast at whatsomewouldcalllies.com. Run Time - 57:32 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

The latest episode of Just Talking features Len Peralta, his art, his history with podcasts, and an impressive list of Geeks he's illustrated and interviewed. What do you ask a man who's had the pleasure of interviewing Stan Lee? What does it take to stand out as an artist in this digital age? What the heck is "Geek a Week" anyway? There's lots to get to in this one but it's well worth the listen. Enjoy. Len is a very busy man. You can follow him on Twitter @jawboneradio. Keep up with his "Geek a Week" project at http://geekaweek.net and his newest venture, 50 vs. 50 at http://the50vs50.com. Run Time - 1:06:35 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

When former Talking About Gamers co-host Steven Hayward contacted me asking to come on my podcast to talk about depression and suicide I knew this was something that needed to get out to the masses. Steven spends a few minutes talking with me about his emotional and mental roller coaster over the past few months and how he has found support and a better direction in his life. The point is that the support you, or someone you love, may need is out there - all you have to do is look. If you or someone you love needs help or just someone to talk to, you can reach out to Steven on Twitter @Shayward23 or via email at shayward23@gmail.com Additional resources can be found at the International Suicide Prevention Wiki. Run Time - 12:59 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

Continuing the conversation with Chris Sparling to talk about life after his first movie 'Buried', the writing process and movie making experience of his second movie 'ATM', the business mind behind releasing a movie On-Demand before a theatrical release and life as a father. Enjoy. ATM will be available on Video on Demand channels March 2, 2012 and will hit theaters April 6, 2012. Chris was previously on Just Talking to discuss his movie 'Buried', you can find that episode here. Be sure to follow Chris on Twitter @chrissparling. Run Time - 51:09 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

A few years ago my mom introduced me to NFL RedZone and my football watching life has never been the same. This program highlights every touchdown, every field goal, every major play, and more during the 7+ hours the NFL is on Sunday afternoon. No commercials means there's no opportunity to leave your couch, but you wouldn't want to knowing that every significant play of the week will be shown to you. At the helm of this television masterpiece is my guest for Episode 124, Scott Hanson. We talk about his five hour audition for the role of host, the exponential growth in popularity of the program and why he has the most discussed bladder in television. It was a real honor having Scott on my podcast and I know you're in for a treat. Enjoy. Follow Scott on Twitter at @ScottHanson and learn more about NFL RedZone at nfl.com/redzonetv Run Time - 20:30 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

Jeff Green has had a lengthy career in the video game industry. Now he's the Director of Editorial and Social Media for PopCap Games - very impressive stuff. We talk about his work at PopCap, his nearly 20 years at Ziff Davis Media (from associate editor to Editor in Chief) and the continued popularity of GFW Radio, and we sprinkle in a lot of conversation about social media including the implict value of social media to mutli-million dollar companies and what it's like when your phone explodes with messages after a company like EA buys a company like PopCap. Enjoy. Follow Jeff on Twitter at @Greenspeak and be sure to check out the PopCast on iTunes. Run Time - 1:05:51 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

I'm going back to Blacksburg for Episode 122 with my good friend Jadd Adams (who has the best twitter name, Jaddams). I've known Jadd for most of my journey at Virginia Tech and it was a blast catching up and talking about why he chose Virginia Tech, what made his fraternity experience positively life-changing, and what made Halo 2 the definitive gaming experience of college for us. We also talk about life after an degree in accounting, new-job-jitters and his side project: Mistaken For Strangers and the incredible success it has had in its infantcy. Enjoy. Jadd tweets at @Jaddams and contributes regularly to Mistaken For Strangers. Run Time - 52:18 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

Bennet Dunlap joins me this week to talk about raising two children with diabetes, what makes Disney a special place, his favorite Top Gear episodes, sports in Philadelphia and most importantly, the power of community support. I often stand on a soap box and sing high praises of what the diabetes online community is capable of, Bennet provides plenty of examples over the next hour of how a network of apparent strangers can make all the difference in the lives of the people you care about most. Oh, and there's also some discussion about the shoes people wear at Disney World. You'll have to listen to understand what that one is about. Enjoy. Bennet blogs over at YDMV.net and tweets @BadShoe. Run Time - 1:05:45 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

The final piece of the Marvel.com team has arrived on Episode 120 in the form of its Assistant Editor Marc Strom. Marc lives on the west coast which means his job primarily revolves around the latest from Marvel's toys, video games, television and film developments. With the highly anticipated release of Marvel's The Avengers this summer, Marc is a very busy man. We also talk about traffic conditions in Los Angeles and Marc details how he almost ran into Samuel L. Jackson with a foam rock. Enjoy. You can find the latest Marvel happenings, including the 'This Week in Marvel' Podcast at Marvel.com and be sure to follow Marc on Twitter @Strommy Run Time - 1:04:15 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

Revisitng with Jose Betancourt to talk about the future of TalkingAboutGames.com, his motivations for podcasting as a 7-year veteran, his role as Community Manager of the Entertainment Consumer Association (ECA) and to preview Super Bowl XLVI. Your best bet to keep up with everything JVB is involved in is on Twitter @JVB. Run Time - 1:05:25 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

Quinn Nystrom has led an eventful life. In 2002, she was selected as the National Youth Advocate for the American Diabetes Association. About a year ago she quit her job to speak about and advocate for diabetes awareness as a full time job - we get into the scary reality of both quitting a job and starting fresh. And this week she was my guest on Episode 119. Along with the diabetes advocacy talk we spend some time talking about diabetes on television, accents and woodwick candles. That last one was a surprise on multiple fronts but it was a great conversation. Enjoy. Keep up with the latest in Quinn's world on her website at quinnnystrom.com and on Twitter @QuinnNystrom. Run Time - 57:38 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.

I had grand plans for Episode 118 featuring publicist Consetta Parker. I planned on talking about her career in PR, her motivations behind starting her own PR agency, Parker Publicity and hoped to get to Rancho Obi-Wan and the work done there. Instead we spent most of the podcast talking about the impact of Star Wars on her life and the lives of a generation of creative minds. Sure, we covered all those other topics (quite thoroughly too), but when you hear how passionately Consetta feels about the impact Star Wars had on her life, you'll know I made the right decision in how the conversation evolved. Enjoy. Check out Consetta's work at Parker Publicity and be sure to see what Rancho Obi-Wan is all about too. If you're a fan of Star Wars, this place needs to be on your bucket list. Run Time - 1:12:50 Send your feedback to feedback@justtalkingpodcast.com.