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Pragmata Is Uncle-Core (With Rebekah Valentine)

April 24, 2026 · 1 h 28 min

Show notes

On this week’s episode, Nathan, Chris, and Riley are joined by games reporter extraordinaire Rebekah Valentine, formerly of IGN and now (very) newly of Kotaku—which of course none of us have ever heard of. We ask her about the whys and hows of her big move to a site that—fingers crossed—seems to be in the midst of a renaissance, as well as little things like The State Of Games Journalism. We also discuss the way discourse around games has evolved as games journalism’s influence has waned, handily exemplified by the absolutely deranged takes that Capcom’s otherwise great new action game, Pragmata, is generating. Chris argues that a) it’s not (ew) “pro-natalist propaganda,” and b) that it’s actually uncle-core, which is different from a dad game in several crucial ways. Finally, we decide how many rooms in a house is too many, not that anybody who works for Aftermath knows much about that.


Credits

- Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod & special guest Rebekah Valentine

- Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude

- Subscribe to Aftermath!


About The Show

Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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