A Word: The Privilege of Play

Slate Books

Slate Podcasts

Arts

3.8 • 546 Ratings

🗓️ 12 May 2023

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The persistent stereotype that role-playing, tabletop game players are overwhelmingly white is rooted in race, housing, and history. The suburban homes where people could dedicate a surface to a sprawling, multiplayer board game used to be almost exclusively white. And the knights, wizards, and other fantastic creatures in these games were closely tied to European mythology. But a more diverse world of game playing is rising, with more people of color getting a seat at the creative table. On today’s episode of A Word, Jason Johnson discusses diversity in hobby games with Aaron Trammell, a professor of informatics at U.C. Irvine. He’s also the author of the new book The Privilege of Play: A History of Hobby Games, Race and Geek Culture. Guest: Aaron Trammell, author of The Privilege of Play: A History of Hobby Games, Race and Geek Culture Podcast production by Kristie Taiwo-Makanjuola You can skip all the ads in A Word by joining Slate Plus. Sign up now at slate.com/awordplus for $15 for your first three months. Make an impact this Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month by helping Macy’s on their mission to fund APIA Scholars. Go to macys.com/purpose to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is a word, a podcast from Slate.
0:02.8	I'm your host, Jason Johnson.
0:04.5	Those of us who love games like Dungeons and Dragons or Settlers of Catan don't love the stereotypes about who we are.
0:10.4	One of the most enduring stereotypes about these gamers is that they're all white men.
0:14.5	But a new generation of players is correcting that image and the misunderstanding of game history at its core.
0:20.6	Today we have a little bit of a different story where we do have sort of different
0:24.8	environment and people are starting to generate role-playing games and tabletop games
0:29.1	that are authentically from the cultures that they come from.
0:32.6	The privilege of play coming up on a word with me, Jason Johnson.
0:36.6	Stay with us. Welcome to a word, a podcast about
0:45.7	race and politics and everything else. I'm your host, Jason Johnson. When someone talks about
0:49.8	playing Dungeons and Dragons, what do you picture and who do you picture sitting around the
0:53.8	table?
0:59.0	Is it a bunch of guys in their late teens and early 20s? Are they all dressed in sweats and grubby t-shirts?
1:03.5	Did it look like the comic book guy from The Simpsons? And of course, are they all white?
1:10.0	The comedy series Key and Peel played off this stereotype in their sketch when hip-hop and Dungeons and Dragons collide. Uh, greetings, adventurers.
1:12.6	Greetings.
1:13.6	As you all can see here, we have a new traveler in our ranks.
1:18.6	This is my cousin Tyrell, and he will be controlling the player character.
1:23.6	His name is Kanye. He's a giant, yo.
1:29.8	Dear cousin, traditionally a giant is not assumed by a player.
1:34.5	It is a chaotic evil.
	...

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