In episode 19 of (Pop) Cultural Marxism, Isi and Ajay are joined by fellow BISR faculty Joseph Earl Thomas to discuss Ghost of Yotei, Sucker Punch Productions' much-anticipated sequel to Ghost of Tsushima. To kick off the episode, Isi and Ajay chat about recent cultural news and highlights, from the Japanese government calling on OpenAI to refrain from using anime and manga as training data, to the #SwiftiesAgainstAI campaign, to Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another (2025). Turning to Ghost of Yotei, Isi, Ajay, and Joseph consider where the game succeeds (its strong start, visual beauty, sharp soundtrack, and the satisfying chunkiness and texture of its combat scenes) and where it doesn't (its loadout system, simplistic puzzles, dearth of opportunities for stealth mode, and social and political quandaries its narrative and design raise). They explore the films and television shows that influenced Yotei—from Lady Snowblood and Samurai Champloo to the films of Takashi Miike, Akira Kurosawa, and Sergio Leone) and ask whether and where the game successfully incorporates cinematic techniques and conventions into its storyline. Along the way, they discuss the game's dicey depiction of the Ainu and the colonization of Hokkaido, consider whether the pleasure of open-world gaming has diminished or transformed in the years between Yotei and Tsushima, and interrogate the shape of the game's revenge plot.

(Pop) Cultural Marxism is produced by Ryan Lentini.

Learn more about upcoming courses on our website.

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Show notes

On Japan and OpenAI: https://www.ign.com/articles/japanese-government-calls-on-sora-2-maker-openai-to-refrain-from-copyright-infringement-says-characters-from-manga-and-anime-are-irreplaceable-treasures-that-japan-boasts-to-the-world

One Battle After Another, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (2025)

Other Paul Thomas Anderson films mentioned: Phantom Thread (2017), Inherent Vice (2014), The Master (2012), There Will Be Blood (2007)

Ghost of Yotei (Sucker Punch Productions, 2025)

Ghost of Tsushima (Sucker Punch Productions, 2020)

Way of the Samurai (Acquire, 2002)

Tenchu (Acquire/K2/FromSoftware, 1998-2009)

Samurai Champloo (2004)

Forspoken (Luminous Productions, 2023)

South of Midnight (Compulsion Games, 2025)

Infamous (Sucker Punch Productions, 2009-2014)

Blue Eye Samurai (2023)

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo, 1998)

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004)

Parul Sehgal, "The Case Against the Trauma Plot" (2021): https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/01/03/the-case-against-the-trauma-plot

Kuroneko, directed by Kaneto Shindo (1968)

Lady Snowblood, directed by Toshiya Fujita (1973)

Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance, directed by Toshiya Fujita (1974)

The Samurai Trilogy, directed by Hiroshi Inagaki (1954-1956)

In this shortcast edition of the Podcast for Social Research, BISR's Isi Litke and Jude Webre discuss Fritz Lang's Hangmen Also Die! (1947). Loosely based on the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, and conceived by Lang and Bertolt Brecht mere weeks after his death, the film follows members of the Czech resistance as they attempt to shield Heydrich's killer from Nazi authorities in occupied Prague. Conversation ranges from Lang and Brecht's fraught collaboration to Hanns Eisler's unconventional score, the film’s attempts to sell a war-averse American public on the antifascist cause, the nature of Popular Front cultural objects, and the film’s connection to the Hollywood blacklist. To what extent does Hangmen Also Die! succeed as propaganda, as procedural, and/or as epic theater? How does the film embody the tensions intrinsic to Popular Front coalitions? And what might the film teach us about antifascist politics and propaganda in our current moment?

The Podcast for Social Research is produced by Ryan Lentini.

Learn more about upcoming courses on our website.

Follow Brooklyn Institute for Social Research on Twitter / Facebook / Instagram / Bluesky.