Pat's Labor is a podcast about Patlabor and also labor

Welcome to the first episode of Rogue’s original podcast Pat’s Labor, hosted by Patrick Gill, Toussaint Egan, and Clayton Ashley. Unbelievable as it may sound, this podcast was born from a simple idea Clayton had years ago: wouldn’t it be funny to do a podcast with Pat about the giant robot anime Patlabor and call it “Pat’s Labor.”  Well, maybe funny isn’t the word for it. More like, briefly amusing.

Then our time at Polygon regrettably came to an end, and as sad as it was, it was also an opportunity to finally act on this idea. And more importantly, actually make it more than a joke podcast. We brought the idea to Rogue, a worker owned cooperative, and thought we could discuss labor history alongside our thoughts on Patlabor.  Toussaint Egan, formerly one of Polygon’s foremost anime experts, joined the cast and immediately pointed out Patlabor’s own intriguing connection to anime labor history: the Patlabor property is owned by Headgear,  one of the few artists collective in anime and manga. Headgear allows its writer/artist members to retain copyright over their works and license the IP out to different studios, a considerably better set up than the often exploitative anime industry.

Which brings us to Pat’s Labor, The Podcast. Every other week, we will discuss an episode or movie from the Patlabor series, and Pat (Gill's) labor will be to bring us a related labor issue to talk about. No expertise is required here: we will be learning too! We also know that Patlabor, the series, is not exactly easy to watch online, but we think it’s an important series to document. As one of the original “big three” mecha series, its influences are wide and its cultural critique of military, civilian policing, and workplace bureaucracy is every bit as relevant today as it was then.

We kick things off with Episode 1 of the original Patlabor OVA, which was later renamed “The Early Days”. While much of the series is tricky to watch without physical media, you should be able to at least find this episode on YouTube.