We recorded a fun (sort of) @theloopcast this week on dystopia (both our current real and past fictional). Especially fun to team up with @athertonkd on this topic. Ahead of it posting, I am pushing out some content related to our discussion. 1/x

"Let the Game Do Its Work" is my 11K-word monograph on the history of "spectacle" dystopias from 1878's The New Ordeal to The Running Man to The Hunger Games and beyond. Through Wednesday, it's FREE on @AmazonKindle https://amzn.to/33hgAUs 

Many of you know I've been working on a more comprehensive history of the dystopian genre and its effect on real-world politics. I've written 50K words plus (plus working on my diss, partly why you don't see me here so often these days). This is an excerpt.

It's also a hugely-expanded take on a subject I've tackled in shorter form before, in this piece and elsewhere https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/07/03/isis-roller-ball-hunger-games-cinema/ For more related content, see this as well https://icct.nl/publication/the-turner-legacy-the-storied-origins-and-enduring-impact-of-white-nationalisms-deadly-bible/

If this short piece generates enough interest and positive feedback on Kindle, I'm sitting on more dystopia content I may be able to push out, including more of this book, some reading/viewing resources, and a novel(!).

I finished the novel in January, copy-edited it in February and then started submitting right as COVID-19 blew up the industry. Still trying to work traditional routes, but starting to think about alternatives.

So I'm dipping my toes in self-publishing with this monograph, and we'll see whether it looks like a viable route for other material. One way or another, it's all coming out. Maybe Kickstarter, Patreon, Kindle Select, we'll see. But it's happening.

So if you're interested in seeing more from me in this vein, please download, read, review, borrow, buy and/or share "Let the Game Do Its Work." And if you're a publisher interested in any of these projects, please do reach out. Thanks! https://www.jmberger.com/ 

Will add @theloopcast link to this thread once it's live.