“Born to be Bad” - Evil Races in Media

Three Black Halflings | A Dungeons & Dragons Podcast

Three Black Halflings

Leisure, Games

4.8 • 531 Ratings

🗓️ 16 October 2025

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week! Join Candace, Liv and Jeremy for a much-needed conversation about one of fantasy’s laziest tropes: “evil races.” From the reductive storytelling of Good vs. Evil to the way TTRPGs treat so-called monster races as throwaway enemies, used more for easy combat than meaningful storytelling, the Halflings break down how these shortcuts feed into fantasy racism, and why it’s time to move past them. Plus, a look at how Star Trek gets it right by exploring difference without defaulting to moral absolutes. Media in this episode https://jamesmendezhodes.com/blog/2019/1/13/orcs-britons-and-the-martial-race-myth-part-i-a-species-built-for-racial-terror - James Mendez Hodes “Orcs, Britons, And The Martial Race Myth, Part I” https://jamesmendezhodes.com/blog/2019/6/30/orcs-britons-and-the-martial-race-myth-part-ii-theyre-not-human - James Mendez Hodes “Orcs, Britons, And The Martial Race Myth, Part II” Blood on the Clocktower - ⁠⁠⁠https://bloodontheclocktower.com/buy⁠⁠. Also - did you miss out on our first 🎉FULLY FUNDED🎉 Kickstarter, the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠City of the Black Rose Campaign setting⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, in collaboration with ⁠⁠⁠Roll and Play Press? Well, good news! In the next few weeks, it'll be open to late pledges and pledge manager edits! So everyone gets a chance to grab a copy of the book and any extras you'd like! Follow the halflings: Jasper William Cartwright: @JW_Cartwright Jeremy Cobb: @JeremyCobb1 Liv Kennedy: @livkennedy Candace: @candacethemagnificent Find all of our links here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/tbhalflings⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ You can buy all our lovely merchandise ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠as featured on Critical Role! Connect with us on Instagram, Bluesky and Facebook @3blackhalflings, on our Discord, or email. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	We all love a good meal, but there's no feeling quite like cooking one,
0:04.0	whether it's everyone at yours for a Sunday roast, or after-school sausage and mash.
0:09.0	Quick, simple, gone in minutes.
0:12.0	One thing brings it all together.
0:15.0	Ah, Bisto, the original gravy.
0:20.0	Rich, smooth, and unmistakable since 1908. When the gravy makes the dish, make the gravy. Ah, Bisto.
0:30.2	What happens when two people who grew up in a very strange corner of Los Angeles look back and realize just how bizarre their upbringings really were.
0:39.1	They start a podcast, of course.
0:41.2	I'm Ashley Johnson.
0:42.4	And I'm Talison Jaffe. Before we became the internet people we are today, we spent our
0:46.8	childhoods as working actors, appearing in shows like growing pains and films like Mr. Mom.
0:51.5	And our podcast, Weird Kids, we're diving deep into our unique upbringings, our friendship
0:56.6	with each other, and all the delightfully odd interests we still carry with us today.
1:02.0	In each episode, we get to share stories of our youth, the things that bring us joy, the problems
1:07.1	that we face, and occasionally the friends we've collected along the way.
1:11.2	If you're a misfit, an outcast, or just a weirdo who loves all things nostalgic and unconventional,
1:16.6	come take a seat at our table.
1:17.7	Each week, we'll be releasing previously members-only episodes on YouTube and all major podcast platforms,
1:24.3	with new episodes dropping exclusively and ad-free on beacon.tv.
1:29.6	Hello, Halflings! It's me. Candice, also known as Candice of Magnificent. My pronouns are
1:36.9	they, she, and a little sprinkle of he, and I'm joined today by...
1:41.3	Hi, I'm Olivia Kennedy, but you can call me Liv, and used she her pronouns. That was a terrific Hello Halflings. Thank you. I think that was your best one so far. Thank you. I'm working on it. Yeah. Very good. Aw. Thanks, guys. Have you been practicing, like, doing warmups for Hello Halflings? I have. My cats do not like it. Do you do, do, like, daily vocal warmups as part of your VA work? Yes. Yeah, I love it. I mean, honestly, though, it's like a reverse siren. Oh, it is a siren almost. You get all the tones in there. Yeah, it makes perfect sense. Exactly. And I'm also joined by.
	...

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