My 6-hour interview with the New York Times

This is the story of how I ended up getting interviewed by the New York Times for six hours right around New Year 2020, and how God threw my life into disarray in order to prevent me from becoming a career author.

---

My former passion

Since 2004 I was a fan of a certain video game franchise, the Metal Gear series. The series is still technically going, with an HD remake of a classic PS2 game being promoted just recently at a game show convention:

I always enjoyed its complex storylines, political commentary on US hypocrisy, and the philosophical themes that ran throughout. I decided to write articles about some of its more controversial topics, and find out whatever I could about its enigmatic creator, a Japanese employee of Konami named Hideo Kojima. This was my passion.

Before I published my first eschatological hypothesis, Maybe Everyone Is Wrong: Revelations, Conspiracy, and the Kingdom of Heaven, I was a video game and pop culture columnist. I wrote guest articles for Metal Gear fan sites and debated topics in the message boards. I became well-known in the community—some would say notorious—as a polarizing expert on the topic of what the series represented culturally. Conspiracy theories, meta-commentaries, and allegories were my forte. Most gamers saw the series as a tribute to Hollywood action movies with a Japanese flair for the philosophical, but I saw a more complex side. I had theories.

I feel no shame about this period of my work, despite it being quite meaningless compared to the big questions of religion, geopolitics, and the prophecy. It was a very formative process for me, helping me become a better writer and dip my toes into the kind of weighty subjects I still talk about today. Plus, it got me comfortable with having fans, getting into debates, and being a podcast guest.

How did this lead to me getting interviewed by the New York Times? That’s a weird story.