Dice in Mind

Episode 163: Drs. Robert Hazen and Michael Wong Are Playing with Time

Robert M. Hazen is Senior Staff Scientist at the Carnegie Institution’s Geophysical Laboratory and Clarence Robinson Professor of Earth Sciences at George Mason University. He received the BS and SM in geology at the MIT, the PhD at Harvard University in Earth science, and was NATO Postdoctoral Fellow at Cambridge University.

Michael Wong is an astrobiologist and planetary scientist whose primary scientific interests are planetary atmospheres, habitability, biosignatures, and the emergence of life. He is co-authoring a revised edition of the textbook Astrobiology: A Multidisciplinary Approach. He also hosts a podcast that examines science, technology, and culture through the lens of Star Trek. He is working with Staff Scientist Bob Hazen to assess the network topologies of exoplanet atmospheres for potential biosignatures.

Please check out these relevant links:

Dr. Robert Hazen (Carnegie Science)
Dr. Robert Hazen (George Mason University)
Dr. Michael Wong (Carnegie Science)
Dr. Michael Wong (Website)
Time's Second Arrow: Evolution, Order, and a New Law of Nature
Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast

Welcome to Dice in Mind, a podcast hosted by Bradley Browne and Jason Kaufman to explore the intersection of life, games, science, music, philosophy, and creativity through interviews with leading creatives. All are welcome in this space. Royalty-free music "Night Jazz Beats" courtesy of flybirdaudio.

Episode 162: Marveling with Matt Forbeck

Matt Forbeck is an award-winning and New York Times-bestselling author and game designer with over thirty-five novels and countless games published to date. His projects have won a Peabody Award, a Scribe Award, and numerous ENnies and Origins Awards. He is also the president of the Diana Jones Award Foundation, which celebrates excellence in gaming. His latest work includes the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game, Hard West 2, Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus, Minecraft Legends: Return of the Piglins, and the Shotguns & Sorcery 5E Sourcebook based on his novels. He is the father of five, including a set of quadruplets.

Please check out these relevant links:

Matt Forbeck (website)
Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game: Core Rulebook
Shotguns and Sorcery: The 5E Sourcebook
Star Trek Adventures Second Edition: Species Sourcebook

Welcome to Dice in Mind, a podcast hosted by Bradley Browne and Jason Kaufman to explore the intersection of life, games, science, music, philosophy, and creativity through interviews with leading creatives. All are welcome in this space. Royalty-free music "Night Jazz Beats" courtesy of flybirdaudio.

Episode 161: Ethics of the Fathers: A Star Trek Adventures Actual Play

And now for something completely different...

Welcome to our first and only actual play episode! Join us as we embark on a homebrewed session of Star Trek Adventures titled "Ethics of the Fathers".

Please check out this relevant link:

Star Trek Adventures Second Edition

Welcome to Dice in Mind, a podcast hosted by Bradley Browne and Jason Kaufman to explore the intersection of life, games, science, music, philosophy, and creativity through interviews with leading creatives. All are welcome in this space. Royalty-free music "Night Jazz Beats" courtesy of flybirdaudio.

Episode 160: Keith Ammann is Making Enemies

Keith Ammann is an ENNIE Award–winning writer based in Chicago. He’s the author of several books of advice for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons players, including The Monsters Know What They’re Doing: Combat Tactics for Dungeon Masters, MOAR! Monsters Know What They’re Doing, How to Defend Your Lair, and most recently Making Enemies: Monster Design Inspiration for Tabletop Roleplaying Games, as well as the blog The Monsters Know What They’re Doing. He’s been a role-playing gamer and game master for more than thirty years. He likes to play outwardly abrasive helpers, out-of-their-element helpers, and genuinely nice, helpful helpers. Mostly, though, he plays non-player characters. And monsters.

Please check out these relevant links:

Making Enemies: Monster Design Inspiration for Tabletop Roleplaying Games
Spy & Owl
The Monsters Know What They're Doing (blog)

Welcome to Dice in Mind, a podcast hosted by Bradley Browne and Jason Kaufman to explore the intersection of life, games, science, music, philosophy, and creativity through interviews with leading creatives. All are welcome in this space. Royalty-free music "Night Jazz Beats" courtesy of flybirdaudio.

Episode 159: Ben Robbins of Lame Mage

Ben Robbins has spent most of his life elbow-deep in role-playing games. He created Microscope, Kingdom, and In This World, writes the ars ludi blog, and spent years running Story Games Seattle to bring total strangers together at the table. He's working on his new game, Rules of Law, as soon as he finishes writing this bio.

Please check out these relevant links:

Lame Mage Productions
Microscope RPG
Pioneer RPG

Welcome to Dice in Mind, a podcast hosted by Bradley Browne and Jason Kaufman to explore the intersection of life, games, science, music, philosophy, and creativity through interviews with leading creatives. All are welcome in this space. Royalty-free music "Night Jazz Beats" courtesy of flybirdaudio.

Episode 158: The Epistolaries of W.M. Akers

W.M. Akers is a novelist, playwright, editor, game designer, copywriter and, well, just about any other kind of writer you might require. He is the author of Westside, Westside Saints and Westside Lights, the creator of Deadball: Baseball With Dice and Comrades: A Revolution RPG, and too many plays to mention here. He is also responsible for Strange Times, a weekly newsletter that investigates the weirdest news 1921 has to offer, and Strange Pulp, an irregular journal of weird fiction.

Please check out these relevant links:

Website
Deadball: Baseball with Dice
Letters to the Stars

Welcome to Dice in Mind, a podcast hosted by Bradley Browne and Jason Kaufman to explore the intersection of life, games, science, music, philosophy, and creativity through interviews with leading creatives. All are welcome in this space. Royalty-free music "Night Jazz Beats" courtesy of flybirdaudio.

Episode 157: Dr. Jason von Stietz and Mental Health in Our Games

Dr. Jason von Stietz is a licensed psychologist and cognitive behavior therapist who specializes in the treatment of people with OCD, Panic, Insomnia, and Sport/Performance related issues.

Please check out these relevant links:

Dr. Jason von Stietz (website)
Movie House Sports Psychology (podcast)
The Mentally Fit Athlete (podcast)

Welcome to Dice in Mind, a podcast hosted by Bradley Browne and Jason Kaufman to explore the intersection of life, games, science, music, philosophy, and creativity through interviews with leading creatives. All are welcome in this space. Royalty-free music "Night Jazz Beats" courtesy of flybirdaudio.

Episode 156: Aaron Pollyea and Al Spader are REDACTED!

Aaron Pollyea has a background in astronomy and physics, but currently has a day job dealing with climate change and its intersection with agriculture. He has been a life-long Star Trek fan, and has been working as a freelance writer for Star Trek Adventures since it began. In his free time, Aaron may be found gazing through his telescope, reading a good book, or doing historical reenacting with his wife.

Al Spader is a middle school science teacher, father of five-year-old twin boys, and a freelance RPG writer and game designer. As a regular writer for Star Trek Adventures and lead designer of the Sentience 2d20 RPG, Al brings his knowledge of neurodivergence and social-emotional learning to the TTRPG community.

Please check out these relevant links:

REDACTED! Core Rulebook (coming soon!)
Saucer Squadron Core Rulebook
Pioneer RPG Kickstarter

Welcome to Dice in Mind, a podcast hosted by Bradley Browne and Jason Kaufman to explore the intersection of life, games, science, music, philosophy, and creativity through interviews with leading creatives. All are welcome in this space. Royalty-free music "Night Jazz Beats" courtesy of flybirdaudio.

Episode 155: Dr. Aaron Peterson and the Second Star to the Right

Dr. Aaron Peterson comes to Converse University from the North Star State of Minnesota. He holds an EdD in Educational Leadership with a focus on higher education administration from Minnesota State University, Mankato, an M.S. in Negotiation and Dispute Resolution from Creighton University’s School of Law and a B.S. in a double major of Communication Studies and Aviation Operations from St. Cloud State University. Dr. Peterson is the Director for the Doctorate in Professional Leadership and Assistant Professor of Leadership. He teaches in the Doctorate in Professional Leadership and the Master’s in Management programs. He is also currently developing graduate courses focusing on higher education leadership. He previously worked as an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership with emphases in higher education and student affairs at Minnesota State University, Moorhead. Prior to faculty roles, he served in multiple leadership roles in higher education and student affairs. These areas include residential life, financial aid, and student advising.

Please check out these relevant links:

Faculty Website
Second Star to the Right: Essays on Leadership in Star Trek
Call for Chapter Proposals: Beyond the Next Star

Welcome to Dice in Mind, a podcast hosted by Bradley Browne and Jason Kaufman to explore the intersection of life, games, science, music, philosophy, and creativity through interviews with leading creatives. All are welcome in this space. Royalty-free music "Night Jazz Beats" courtesy of flybirdaudio.

Episode 154: Derek Tyler Attico on Writing, RPGs, and More!

Derek Tyler Attico is a speculative fiction author, essayist, and award-winning photographer. In fiction, Derek has won the Excellence in Playwriting Award from the Dramatist Guild of America, and he is a two-time winner of the Star Trek Strange New Worlds short story contest (“Alpha & Omega,” “The Dreamer and the Dream”) published by Simon and Schuster. Derek is also the author of the bestselling, critically acclaimed Star Trek novel The Autobiography of Benjamin Sisko by Titan Publishing.

Please check out these relevant links:

Website
The Autobiography of Benjamin Sisko

Welcome to Dice in Mind, a podcast hosted by Bradley Browne and Jason Kaufman to explore the intersection of life, games, science, music, philosophy, and creativity through interviews with leading creatives. All are welcome in this space. Royalty-free music "Night Jazz Beats" courtesy of flybirdaudio.