Aaron TrammellEvery podcast appearance, updated as new ones drop

First released in 1974, Dungeons & Dragons revolutionized game design and interactive media by allowing players to create and perform their own fictional characters in a fantasy world as expansive as their imaginations would allow. That freedom, and the rules that governed it, weren’t a creative coincidence. In How Dungeons & Dragons Changed the Way We Play (Duke University Press, 2026), Dr. Aaron Trammell excavates the game as an artifact of a burgeoning counterculture obsessed with individualism as well as quantification. Mapping the world onto a grid, building characters whose every trait is assigned a point value, and advancing the game’s narrat...

First released in 1974, Dungeons & Dragons revolutionized game design and interactive media by allowing players to create and perform their own fictional characters in a fantasy world as expansive as their imaginations would allow. That freedom, and the rules that governed it, weren’t a creative coincidence. In How Dungeons & Dragons Changed the Way We Play (Duke University Press, 2026), Dr. Aaron Trammell excavates the game as an artifact of a burgeoning counterculture obsessed with individualism as well as quantification. Mapping the world onto a grid, building characters whose every trait is assigned a point value, and advancing the game’s narrat...

In today’s episode, I interview games researcher Dr. Aaron Trammell, who is an Associate Professor of Informatics at UC Irvine. We touch on our personal writing challenges, writing as pedagogy, and ultimately decide we want to… work at a video rental store? You’ll have to hear why!

In today’s episode, I interview games researcher Dr. Aaron Trammell, Associate Professor of Informatics at UC Irvine, about his recent trifecta of books published for NYU, MIT, and Duke. We touch on how themes cut across books and why academics can be our own worst critics! (Pt. 2 is coming next week.)

This month, we open discussing the new canon autistic character being introduced in D&D, and how meaningful representation is for traditionally marginalized groups. ​​ https://www.polygon.com/23850698/dnd-dungeons-dragons-autistic-character-asteria Then Dale talks with Aaron Trammell, Associate Professor of Informatics at UC Irvine, about improving representation for people of color in tabletop RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons. Key topics covered: How fantasy RPGs have historically lacked racial diversity and inclusion Racial stereotypes associated with classic fantasy races like orcs Colonialist attitudes reflected in fantasy language use Steps publishers and designers can take to improve racial representation in RPG products Making your gaming table welcoming for new and diverse players Aaron provides insight into issues around race in RPGs, and offers suggestions for how the hobby can become more inclusive. This is an important discussion about seeing diversity reflected in the games we play. 0:00 Introduction: Asteria, the first canon autistic D&D character6:10 Interview: Aaron Trammell, Associate Professor of Informatics at UC Irvine54:21 Patreon Showcase & closing Manually captioned. Transcript available at our website. Aaron Trammell Links Aaron Trammell’s work: http://aarontrammell.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/aarontram Wyrmworks Publishing The Lair: https://cutt.ly/LairYT Wyrmworks Publishing: http://wyrmworkspublishing.com