Paul Ennis has been publishing interviews with a number of contemporary thinkers working in and around the area of speculative realism, on his website Another Heidegger Blog.

So far, participants have included Lee Braver, Graham Harman, Levi Bryant, Adrian Ivakhiv, with Jeffrey Malpas to come this week.

I was honored to be included among the group, and Ennis has just published his interview with me.

We cover a lot of things, from my intellectual background to deconstruction to speculative realism to platform studies to the role of games in philosophy. I think it should be interesting reading for most of my readers, whether more videogame-oriented or more theory-focused.

I enjoyed having the opportunity to think about a number of questions, thinkers, and issues that I haven't had a chance to consider in detail for some time. In some ways it's quite a personal interview, and I've said things there that I don't think I've said "in public" before.

An amusing part of the interview that Graham Harman took special note of is this:

"Speaking of Zizek, I’ve had a silent fear for some time that he might someday discover videogames, and then there goes the neighborhood. But the more I think about it, it seems unlikely. He’s got film already, that old, tired medium of the 20th century. He wouldn’t want to come out and play."

Soon after, Robert Jackson sent me this short article about Zizek published in New York Magazine last autumn. It describes his summer playing Grand Theft Auto IV with his 8-year-old son. And what does he say about it? "If anything, playing Grand Theft Auto is more of a superstition. In order not to do something in reality, you play it virtually." Hmm, I do believe I remember saying that same thing a few years ago in Unit Operations, I don't think I have anything to worry about after all ;-).

The last few months have been a refreshing return to my philosophical roots, and I'm looking forward to spending more time under the tree they have grown into.

Oh, and there's currently a light discussion brewing about my thoughts on Derrida in particular over on Bryant's blog, if that's the sort of thing that interests you.