A Life Well Wasted

A Life Well Wasted is an internet radio show about videogames and the people who love them. Each episode focuses on a specific subject and employs interviews, music, writing, and fast-paced editing to create something unique in the podcasting space .

Last refreshed: February 21st, 2026 at 12:47 PM ⓘ

Follow this podcast in the Metacast mobile app to refresh it and see new episodes.

Follow on

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

RSS

Podcasts are better in Metacast mobile app

Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more

Episodes

Game Over

Robert Ashley catches up with former guest Darius and interviews eleven developers from a studio whose ambitious game project failed spectacularly and was removed from all platforms. The episode delves into their initial optimism, the pressures of the industry, the devastating public reception, and the profound personal and professional impact of creating something that no longer exists. Despite the project's demise, the developers share their pride in the team, the unique bonds formed, and the resilience needed to navigate a volatile industry.

Sep 04, 2025•1 hr 5 min

Memory

Robert Ashley finds out what it takes to speedrun games in a blindfold, visits a museum in Moscow dedicated to Soviet-era arcade machines, and talks to a group of friends about a childhood summer spent dreaming up a game of their own.

Dec 12, 2022•1 hr

Work

Robert Ashley talks to a developer at a big game studio about his strange trip from blue collar work to video game work, gets a lesson in work ethic from legendary game designer John Romero, finds out what can happen when you give your work away for free, and profiles Nick Smith (aka Ulillillia), whose body of work includes one of the Internet's most monumental--and strange--personal websites.

Mar 20, 2013•1 hr 5 min

ALWW update: Eternal Life Vol 2

Robert Ashley returns from the mysterious deep with another musical offering that won't satisfy your desire for more episodes of A Life Well Wasted, but might hold you off for a while longer.

Mar 20, 2012•25 min

ALWW update: Eternal Life Vol 1

Robert Ashley checks in with you to see how you've been. Oh, did you hear that he has a new album coming out? Want to hear it?

Jul 11, 2011•23 min

Big Ideas

Robert Ashley edits listener-submitted game ideas into one big, crazy game, talks to the guy who owns the rights to Tetris about his plans to save the world, gets a lecture on the future of games from a New York University professor, and meets a struggling game blogger who happens to possess freakishly enormous genitalia.

Jun 23, 2010•58 min

Help

Robert Ashley helps people in videogames instead of helping people in real life, meets a comedy group who spend hundreds of hours every year playing the most boring videogame ever created, talks to a guy who quit playing games for a year, and profiles the best selling pinball designer of all time.

Nov 25, 2009•45 min

Artists, Fans and Engineers

Robert Ashley visits a cosplay enthusiast, talks to the founder of an art show about videogames, discovers the strange world of fan fiction radio plays, and profiles a self-taught computer chip designer racecar driver/roller derby bruiser.

Aug 31, 2009•1 hr

B-Side: Why Game?

Listeners tell stories about why they play videogames.

May 28, 2009•26 min

Why Game?

Robert Ashley wonders why he spends his free time playing videogames, asks random people on the street about it, talks to a researcher whose work attempts to harness the brain power wasted on gaming, gets to know an eccentric, forward-thinking game designer who lives sustainably with his family of four on $14,000 a year, and gets a first-hand account of what it's like to work on terrible games (and what it's like to get terrible reviews) from an anonymous game developer.

Apr 29, 2009•53 min

For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android