Conversations with legendary game designers, creators, and the people who made Magic: The Gathering. Hosted by former Magic R&D lead and game executive Brian Schneider, Alternate Worlds explores game design, the history of Magic, creativity, and the people behind the games we love.
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BONUS EPISODE: Bing Gordon, Skaff Elias & Mike Turian
It is quite fortunate to get to record the Alternate Worlds podcast, and today especially did not disappoint — here we have Bing Gordon, the legendary CMO/CCO from the first decades at Electronic Arts (and legendary VC in Silicon Valley thereafter), Skaff Elias, who helped spearhead Magic: the Gathering through its initial design into eSports, and Mike Turian, current Sr. Executive Producer of Magic: the Gathering today.
A lot of wisdom dropped in this one. :)
Bing’s interests are in systems where Everybody Wins (https://www.amazon.com/Everybody-Wins-Making-Products-People/dp/B0GK6L4HRJ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=VEJPWKL4Y8C9&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.VrphUFkx19DPoRKosQc73HHYm9W7PLkSOGdZVgnzMYw.SUMYvTBsDs6CRQyDtIZaBXZ6Lkr1EEL6_ISn0VBYwIk&dib_tag=se&keywords=everybody+wins+bing+gordon&qid=1792019124&sprefix=bing+gordon%2Caps%2C185&sr=8-1), or in designs & communities that figure out how to build value for all who engage with them.
He has a book coming out to that end in the next week or two (see: the link above), and he’s been curious to learn more about ecosystems like Magic: the Gathering’s, which have figured out how to provide “outsized good” to “outsized many.”
It’s hard not to appreciate the benefits Magic has added to many of our lives, and it was a joy to revisit the principles that helped TCGs & other great games find a long-term home in the world of entertainment.
My microphone breaks about halfway through this recording, but fortunately, the guests were so fun to listen to it wasn’t such a bad thing.
Alternate Worlds, Alternate Hosts.
A fine one to sit back and just take in the conversation.
A special session, is this one — enjoy!
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13 Oct 2026
David Bartholow
I met David Bartholow at Cornell University before pro Magic: the Gathering was a thing, and we faced off & supported each other in tournaments for many years afterwards.
David was a member of Team Deadguy, one of the top early MtG teams consisting of Chris Pikula, David Price, David Bartholow, Tony Tsai, Worth Wollpert and over time, many others.
Deadguy was often positioned as “the good guys” in the early Magic scene, which fought cheating as the pro game got its footing.
Today, Dave is a math teacher at a Montessori school near Cleveland, and his adventuresome spirit remains intact.
By the time this podcast releases, he may or may not be newly married. :)
He’ll have to less know in response to the video’s release.
(Congrats, Dave!)
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6 Oct 2026
Jeremy Cranford
Jeremy Cranford was the Art Director on Magic: the Gathering during my time as an R&D lead, and in my opinion, totally rocked the house.
Mirrodin was incredibly stylish and like nothing we’d done before — which one could say about Kamigawa & Ravnica, too. Ravnica, in particular, feels like the first concrete art style & world that maps to what the game has used for the last twenty years.
Since Magic, Jeremy has been a steward for Hearthstone, WoW TCG, Storybook Brawl and is currently focused on Marvel Snap, a very well-made mobile card game by Second Dinner.
Jeremy’s got a really cool & adventurous vibe — he knows he’s only going to live once & does things he really wants to do without sweating it too much.
He’s an artist, a visionary, a surfer, and a badass.
And he wants to make great things.
Hard not to love that. :)
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