#mattbudke

[wilwheaton]

Your recent post about the intentional hurdles of hiring a professional actor got me thinking. In a given moment, perhaps even this very moment, how many non-disclosure agreements are you actively a part of? Do they eventually expire? Even after expiration, is there etiquette, formal or informal, about NDA work?

So many. There are so many, I’ve lost count.

Which, I gotta be honest, is really awesome. I’m part of a lot of really cool stuff that’s on my horizon.

[wilwheaton]

Hey, before 171218, wanted to thank you for #butts and generally being sex positive. I kind of got it into my head that seeking out and admiring attractive people doing sexy things was, well, not something you should do. But Tumblr helped change that. You introduced me to April O’Neil and Dita vonTease, and modeled a happy marriage that includes looking at sexy people doing sexy things. I’m going to miss that casual positivity on Monday.

You are describing what will be the worst thing to lose tomorrow: the community of kind and positive people who gathered here because it was, largely, safe for us. It’s interesting to know that, in the service of Vulture Capitalists and other 1%ers, Tumblr will drive away a substantial number of good people who happen to be sex-positive, who may be something other than CIS hetrosexuals, and their friends and loved ones who are here to be with them. It’s further interesting to note that, while Tumblr does this -- by design -- it is leaving every single hateful, racist, Nazi, white supremacist, incel, misogynist, cruel and destructive blog and their followers untouched.

There’s a strong and dangerous Libertarian ideology that runs deep in Silicon Valley that directly and indirectly supports actions that quite tellingly never affect CIS white hetero men, but have profoundly dangerous and harmful consequences for literally every other group of people. 

Through actions like Tumblr’s upcoming ban that will (through post flagging) disproportionately affect LGBTQ people, like Jack Dorsey’s refusal to address the hate and white supremacy on Twitter, like Facebook’s decision to use right-wing anti-Semitic dogwhistles to deflect attention from its systemic privacy violations, like Reddit’s embrace of right-wing and white nationalist users, it is impossible to deny that the decision makers in the board rooms at the biggest social media platforms are at the very least sympathetic to the voices and ideas of white supremacists and misogynists, and at worst in total agreement with their positions. Every choice these people make moves what should be fringe voices and ideas further and further into the mainstream, while they marginalize and punish nonviolent voices that call for justice and equality.

Social media is broken and it’s the fault of the failed leaders at the main social media platforms, who will be remembered with disdain and contempt by history.

Wow ..... uh .... this answer sort of spun off into a rant, so let me bring it back to what you initially said: I don’t know Dita (though it would make my LIFE to meet her) but April is a very good friend of mine, and I love that you found her work, her nerdiness, and her awesomeness through this Tumblr thingy I run. I’m so sorry that you’re going to be losing a platform and a place where you felt at home and safe. I hope that those of us who stay can use our privilege to move Tumblr back to the place it was yesterday.

I’ll do my best to carry on casual positivity and as many #BUTTS as I can get away with.

[wilwheaton]

You posted recently that your audiobook recording is a team effort. I’m reminded of an article Scalzi wrote about his team (from agents to editors) who make his books possible. If it isn’t too much of an ask, could you run through the roles involved in getting your voice matched up with Scalzi’s words?

John tells his publisher that he would like me to narrate his work, and then my agent works with the publisher to make a deal that we’re all happy with.

Once that’s done, I coordinate with the director and studio to do the actual recording, which typically takes between five and seven days to complete.

[wilwheaton]

I enjoy listening to your audiobook narration of John Scalzi's novels. When you know you are going to be reading a book professionally, are you able to read it as a fan first? Or does your professional brain kick in and start finding cadence, tempo, etc.? I've been trying to increase my reading speed lately as I have a habit of listening to words on a page instead of reading them. I'm wondering if you suffer that effect in the opposite direction, hearing the words when you just want to read.

I read everything first, to see if it’s something I want to do, and something I think I can do well. Then, if the answer to those questions is YES, I go over it a second time to get a feel for the book’s voice, as well as the narrative voices involved. The only one I didn’t do that for was Ready, Player One, because I read the first few chapters, and decided that there was something about it that would make my discovery as a reader translate in a meaningful way to my performance as a narrator. In retrospect, that was super risky and not the best idea.