Episode 166: Civilizations with the Fireside Alliance

Hello Podwalkers! Today Alex is joined by Amy and Hunter of Two Shrinks Pod, and Dan of Leftover Army Monster podcasts in our first major collaboration with the Fireside Alliance, to discuss the Civilization video game series (turn based strategy games where your goal is to bring a civilization from a single city to global dominance through any of a number of different types of victories).  This wide ranging conversation includes topics around problematic elements in a game that is supposed to represent real history to some degree, and more technical aspects. There is also general goofiness and fun stories/favorite strategies.  While this episode does not discuss Magic elements, the topics of community and mental health are present.  It’s a fairly big departure from our normal topics, but was a way to higlight collaboration with other creators who are part of the Fireside Alliance. We hope y’all enjoy it! Again we would like to state that Black Lives MatterWe also are proud to have partnered with Grinding Coffee Co a black, LGBT+ affiliated and owned, coffee business that is aimed at providing coffee to gamers. You can read more about their mission here.We also finally have a Linktree with all of our discounts/resources____________________________________________As promised, we keep Mental Health Links available every episode. But For general Mental Health the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has great resources for people struggling with mental health concerns as well as their families. We also want to draw attention to this article on stigma from NAMI's site.If you’re thinking about suicide or just need someone to talk to right now, you can get support from any of the resources below. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988 Veteran's can Press 1 at anytime to be taken to the Veteran's Line Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741-741 International suicide hotlines: A comprehensive resource list for people outside the US. IMAlive: Click Chat Now to access a live online network of volunteers through instant messaging. TrevorLifeline, TrevorChat, and TrevorText (LGBTQ+ crisis support): 1-866-488-7386, or text “Trevor” to 1-202-304-1200 Trans Lifeline (US): (877) 565-8860____________________________________________Opening and closing music by Wintergatan (@wintergatan). Logo art by Steven Raffael (@SteveRaffle)