On tonight's show, I welcome Gwendolyn Marshall to the show. We’ll be talking about her book, "Ancestry & Culture: An Alternative to Race in 5e," that’s the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons. You mean THAT Dungeons & Dragons? Yes, that one. As the #BlackLivesMatter movement has brought renewed attention to the centrality of race in American history and contemporary capitalism, fans of tabletop role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons have been looking for ways to ensure the games they love don't reproduce exploitative and oppressive discourses on race. During the COVID-19 pandemic, D&D has seen an explosion of new players and a renewed energy to take the rules of the game into the 21st century. "Ancestry & Culture: An Alternative to Race in 5e," is a standout example of this work. 

Gwendolyn Marshall is an associate professor of philosophy at Florida international University, where she works on early modern philosophy and feminist history of philosophy. As co-owner of Arcanist Press, she is also a game designer and publisher, having published the award-winning "Ancestry & Culture: An Alternative to Race in 5e," and the upcoming "S5E: Superheroic Roleplaying for 5th Edition." She is also a parent, punk, leftist, and all-around geek, as well as a trans woman.

Check out all Arcanist Press publications: https://arcanistpress.com/products