Bloggingheads.tv: Feminine Chaos

Kat is joined by Batya Ungar-Sargon to talk about the Joe Rogan controversy, the Great Moon Hoax, and moving the media needle away from contempt for the working class. Links:Batya's book: Bad News: How Woke Media Is Undermining Democracy Kindle EditionKat's New Statesman article: The Joe Rogan controversy isn't about truth – it's about control - New StatesmanSpotify Quietly Pulls Over 70 Episodes of Joe Rogan's Podcast: ReportMore on the Moon Hoax: "The Great Moon Hoax" Is published in the "New York Sun" - HISTORY See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kat is joined by journalist Christie Smythe to discuss justice reform, trial by media, the Kyle Rittenhouse affair, and a one-year retrospective on the Elle article in which she talked about her relationship with Martin Shkreli. An extended cut of this interview is available on our Patreon.Links:The Journalist and the Pharma BroChristie at Business of Business: Latest ArticlesTucker Carlson's exclusive Rittenhouse interview draws nearly 5 million viewers to top CNN, MSNBC combine See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kat is joined by poet and cultural critic Alice Gribbin for a discussion about art, empathy, Succession, and Shakespeare. An extended cut of this interview is available on Patreon.Links:Alice's empathy essay: https://alicegribbin.substack.com/p/the-empathy-racketThe bad essay about political literature: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/22/opinion/fiction-poetry-trump.html See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kat is joined by reporter and author Nancy Rommelman to talk about who's getting paid for the Dave Chappelle controversy, who's getting hurt by Instagram, and who should repent, motherf***er, repent!Links:Chappelle coverage:Netflix made a mess of the Dave Chappelle controversy. It's a crisis of Netflix's own makingTV director compares transgender people's treatment to the HOLOCAUST‎Blocked and Reported: Episode 87: HE'S GOT A WEAPON! on Apple PodcastsDave Chappelle Addresses Netflix Controversy, Not 'Bending to Demands'Kat on Chappelle: The PR campaign at the heart of the war on Netflix - The Spectator WorldNancy's substack: Make More PieNancy's piece about J.T. Leroy: The Lies and Follies of Laura Albert, aka JT LeRoy See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kat is joined by Leigh Stein (novelist, poet) and Penny Lane (documentary filmmaker, kidney sharer) for a discussion about literary drama, organ donation, urban legends, and Bad Art Friends.Links:Who Is the Bad Art Friend?On the Internet, We're Always FamousWhere do I start?Penny Lane's website: https://pennylaneismyrealname.com/bio/Leigh Stein's website: https://www.leighstein.com/ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kat is joined by Katherine Dee, a.k.a. Default Friend, for a conversation about Tumblr's discursive power and lesser-known internet subcultures .Katherine's work:Default WisdomTumblr U.Satire in the cityKatherine Dee (@default_friend)Advertising campaign for American Horror Story illustrating the tumblr-to-TV pipeline: 15 Times "AHS: Cult" Did It's Best To Make You TrypophobicTumblr's proto-#MeTooing of John Green: John Green Responded On Tumblr To Accusations Of Sexual AbuseA NYT essay from the creator of the "problematic fave" callout blog: I Was Your Fave Is Problematic See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kat talks with poet and novelist Leigh Stein about the world of contemporary poetry scandals. An extended version of this episode is available for subscribers on Patreon.Links:Jia Tolentino poem archived https://archive.is/DzrjtPoetry magazine published a child porn convict in its prison issue, but did it deserve the backlash?Poetry Twitter Debates Whether 'After' Poems are PlagiarismA very unsympathetic (to Jia) account of the allegations against her family: NYT Bestselling Author Jia Tolentino Defends Her Human Trafficker ParentsLauren Oyler · Ha ha! Ha ha! Jia Tolentino · LRB 13 January 2020 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kat and Phoebe discuss the (dis)pleasures of being scolded by sitcoms, evolving norms surrounding office-appropriate hairstyles, and a bizarre controversy surrounding Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt star Ellie Kemper. A clip from Shrill: BBC Three on Twitter: "Yikes."NYT: Why 'Kim's Convenience' Is 'Quietly Revolutionary'Slate: Ellie Kemper, queen of the Veiled Prophet Ball: “KKK princess” controversy, explained.Kat's article about Ellie Kemper: Ellie Kemper and Twitter's Two Minutes Hate - The Spectator WorldDad Pulls Biracial Daughter Out of School After Classmate and School Employee Cut Her Hair See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kat and Phoebe discuss the scandalous allegations against Philip Roth biographer Blake Bailey and the eternally-creeping concept of "grooming."Links:Slate: Blake Bailey's former eighth grade student on being sexually assaulted by him years later.Also Slate: Blake Bailey's former Lusher students on how their eighth grade teacher groomed them.NOLA: Author Blake Bailey accused of abusing ex-Lusher students' trust for sex; denies illegal conductSexual Assault Allegations Against Biographer Halt Shipping of His Roth BookSome statistics: Clearance rate - crime by type in the US 2019 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kat and Phoebe talk about Prince William, pretender to the throne… of sexy baldness, that is. Is Prince William the world's sexiest bald man? Heck, is he sexy at all? And speaking of sexy, Naomi Wolf is kind of a weirdo these days, but does this mean that her 1990s feminist polemic, The Beauty Myth, is no longer good? Finally, we foray briefly into the weird, wonderful, and sometimes deadly world of gender reveal parties.Links:Stop trying to make 'sexy Prince William' happen - The SpectatorA tweet thread explainer: how the "sexiest bald man" study came to beDoes Naomi Wolf's The Beauty Myth hold up? What I think of it now that she's an anti-masker.Naomi Wolf's Book Corrected by Host in BBC InterviewWhat Would Phoebe Do?: The Beauty Myth, Part IPlane Crashes During Gender Reveal, Killing Two 3/31/2021 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kat and Phoebe discuss Oprah's big wild interview with Meghan and Harry, formerly of the British monarchy, now just a couple of normal dudes... sort of. Also: can the endangered species known as the Basic Straight Girl survive when there is literally one good man available to be mated with?Links:11 things we learned from Meghan and Harry's interviewI'm OK -- You're a RacistKat at Unherd: Hollywood's Cinderella has spokenPhoebe at Hedgehog Review: Straightness Studies | Who Do We Think We Are? | Issues See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kat and Phoebe discuss the mother of all privilege disclaimers and the cancellation of Mandalorian actress Gina Carano.Links:Ashley Judd's hospital interviewThe BBC interview Neglecting Yourself Doesn’t Make You a Better MotherBehind Disney's Firing of 'Mandalorian' Star Gina CaranoGina Carano and Crowd-Sourced McCarthyism See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kat and Phoebe get together on the day of the Capitol coup attempt to talk about the most important political and cultural event of our lifetimes: the Bean Dad Thread. And speaking of cans of beans, how about that cheerleader who said the N-word?Links:The original Bean Dad thread, screencapped: https://twitter.com/ManiacalV/status/1345870405085573122Bean Dad apologizes: http://www.johnroderick.com/an-apologyThe NYT cheerleader story: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/26/us/mimi-groves-jimmy-galligan-racial-slurs.htmlKat's essay on The Word: How Could She Not Know?. Language is a moving target, but some… | by Kat Rosenfield | Jan, 2021 Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kat and Phoebe discuss the controversy over a "vitriolic, violent" Twitter thread that resulted in a YA author's cancellation (no, not the worms guy), before answering burning questions from listeners about who's causing all this drama, the impact of young adult fiction shenanigans on the culture at large, and the craziest MeTooing Kat ever witnessed in her years on the YA beat.Links:The inaugural article on all things YA Twitter:  The Toxic Drama on YA TwitterKat in Refinery29: How The OwnVoices Movement Is Changing YA LiteratureAnother rundown of the Jessica Cluess/ Lorena German beef: What is #DisruptTexts?The Sarah Dessen controversy: Sarah Dessen & Brooke Nelson Twitter Controversy, ExplainedOne book blogger's writeup on the Tristina Wright debacle:  Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kat and Phoebe discuss the jailbird-journalist love affair between reviled "Pharma Bro" Martin Shkreli, and former crime reporter Christie Smythe. (Production note/apology: Kat's mic went wonky at about 30 minutes in, this slightly tinny result is the best we could do on short notice.)Links:The original Elle storyChristie Smythe's Twitter accountFollowup interview with Smythe at ElleThe Cut story on Shkreli's harassment of female journalists  Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kat and Phoebe are joined by Jessa Crispin, literary critic and culture writer, to talk about dewy ingenues, the young-adultification of literature, and why that one guy on Book Twitter was screaming about worms.Links:Jessa on age gaps in the Boston Review: Pathologizing DesireJessa's essay on the Underground Railroad vs Normal People, both for childrenDavid Bowles' epic "disgusting worms" Twitter meltdownKat's 2017 (but still relevant) primer for understanding YA's internecine conflicts: The Toxic Drama on YA TwitterJessa's website  Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Phoebe and Kat discuss Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States, now cancelled for intellectual pick-up artistry. Is putting your best foot forward a violation of consent? Will the stigma against duplicity-in-dating usher in a new era of unwashed, farting suitors who start every relationship by confessing their worst sins? Then, the ladies talk about the liberal feminists who are forcing women everywhere to endure lousy sex, and the murder mysteries that soothe the soul in the midst of dreary quarantine.Links: The Obama-as-predator take that broke TwitterRefinery29: We Need To Know Who The “Ethereal Bisexual” Woman Was In Barack Obama’s MemoirLouise Perry at Unherd: Is casual sex immoral?Phoebe at The Globe and Mail: Surviving the pandemic with murder mysteries Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kat and Phoebe discuss the cultural appropriation controversy surrounding a Toronto-based broth bar, and whether having your lunch made fun of in fourth grade is a source of permanent trauma. Then: is this equal pay controversy between two LA Times food critics as simple as it seems? (Spoiler: Nope, it never is.)Links:Phoebe on the cultural appropriation of broth: No Soup For You. Can you even culturally appropriate… | by Phoebe Maltz Bovy | Nov, 2020LA Times Responds to Accusation of Paying Discrimination Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Great (and not-so-great) tits are having a big week in the news cycle. In this episode, Kat and Phoebe discuss the nude homage to Mary Wollstonecraft that devolved into a gross body-shaming backlash of the nicely-shaped "everywoman." Then: you can have pronouns in the bio, or you can call yourself a "wife," but to do both looks like carelessness... or calculated political strategy.Links: The Guardian: 'Insulting to her': Mary Wollstonecraft sculpture sparks backlash Kat on the Wollstonecraft statue: The naked, famous feminist Image: Maggi Hambling's Oscar Wilde statue The hunky Goethe: Chicago Public Art blog Phoebe on pronouns: Vice President-elect, “Wife,” “She/Her” | by Phoebe Maltz Bovy | Nov, 2020 Zara Anishanslin on Twitter: "In honor of #VeteransDay here's a #ContinentalArmy soldier's wedding gown. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It's all over but the shouting in the 2020 Presidential Election! While we wait for Trump to offer what is sure to be a mature and generous concession speech (lol), Kat and Phoebe come to you from a state of reasonably optimistic limbo to discuss solid gold bathroom fixtures, déjà vu exit poll backlash, and the non-legacy of Melania Trump.Links:Charles Blow at the NYT: Exit Polls Point to the Power of White PatriarchyA Cupcakes & Cashmere reader explains her vote for Donald TrumpKat's article: Melania Trump, the invisible First Lady See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In a special pre-election bonus episode, Kat and Phoebe discuss their respective worries about the vote, the culture wars, and what part of a cat Donald Trump's mouth resembles. Also, our favorite supermodel makes a naked writhing pregnancy announcement.Links: What Makes a Man Manly? Trump and Biden Offer Competing Answers Phoebe's essay on the election and the culture wars Kat's essay: Culture war forever The Bernie Sanders DGAF interview: Opinion | Bernie Sanders Wants to Change Your Mind Emily Ratajkowski on Pregnancy and Why She Doesn’t Want to Reveal the Gender of Her Baby See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Two Amys, both alike in dignity… except that one is a cancelled writer and the other is a Supreme Court justice. Kat and Phoebe discuss how the sad state of contemporary journalism puts "privileged" writers in a bind (to pitch or not to pitch, that is the question), then turn to some of the more bizarre so-called feminist critiques of Amy Coney Barrett.Links:Kat on the cancellation of Amy Roost: White Women Need Not ApplyCathy Young's good explainer on all things Amy Coney Barrett: The Handmaid and the Feminist See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

An accidental masturbation incident (Phoebe: Was it, though?) on a New Yorker Zoom call prompts a very serious, very special discussion about all things weenie and wang.Links: New Yorker Suspends Jeffrey Toobin for Masturbating on Zoom Call Phoebe Maltz Bovy: Getting hands-on with the #MeToobin Dickscourse "Don't act like you're not impressed!" See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Frilly dresses, dollhouses, and a relentless horde of thirsty men attempting to woo you at all times: such is the life of a woman. Any woman, every woman, all day, every day. ...Or is it? Phoebe and Kat explore a non-binary writer's unusual notion of la vie d'une femme, which is just as relatable (i.e. not very) as Emily Ratajowski's essay about supermodel selfhood. Then, a special bonus for Patrons: a real-time attempt to make sense of the controversy surrounding Gal Gadot's casting as Cleopatra. Look, we tried.Links: HuffPo: I'm Not A Woman Or A Man And Existing In This Binary World Is Really, Really Hard The Cut: Emily Ratajkowski on Reclaiming Her Own Image Phoebe in Arc Digital: Beyond Photogenic Feminism Guardian: Gal Gadot as Cleopatra is a backwards step for Hollywood representation See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kat and Phoebe discuss Matthew Mayhew, the professor who apologized (and apologized, and apologized!) for co-authoring an article in defense of college football — which has some surprising parallels to outraged commenter culture on the Cupcakes and Cashmere blog. Is frivolity simply off limits until the new year? Also: an author responds to a critical book review by blocking the publication on Twitter, sparking the week's most enjoyable miniature controversy over anonymous reviews and the definition of "snitch-tagging."Links: Why We Need College Football, the original Why We Need College Football, Part 2: An author apologizes for an Inside Higher Ed article he recently wrote Additional outrage over college football: College football is a symptom of many of society's worst problems, not central to the democracy (letter) Kat's tweet about the genital-destroying laser beam The original laser beam Cupcakes and Cashmere's surprisingly controversial post, A Tour of My New Closet Get Off My Internets, the original lifestyle hatereading forum The book review that earned a block: Mannesplaining, by Oliver Traldi | Sep, 2020 Jill Filipovic's tweet about anonymous book reviews See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kat reviews the very controversial French film Cuties ... Sexuality without sex ... The hypothetical specter of a pedophile watching this movie ... “Photogenic feminism” and the stories about women the media ignores ... Phoebe: Being constantly chased by men is not feminism’s main concern ...

Grooming! It's not just that thing you stopped doing during quarantine; it's also a thing done to women of a certain, nay, any age. In this episode, Kat and Phoebe discuss safe sex (as in, it is never safe to have sex, ever) and the grooming of consenting adults, followed by a dip into the latest spat between the Ivy Leagues and Donald Trump's Department of Education. Links:  Kat's Persuasion essay on the reboot of old-school purity concerns as consent culture Princeton's racism confession letter... ...and a report on the DOE's response Background on the "Sokal squared" hoax  The Savage Lovecast caller whose wife fantasizes about being a man See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In what may be the silliest episode of Feminine Chaos yet recorded, Phoebe and Kat unpack the mysteries of a particularly excellent Refinery29 money diary, including a debate on exactly how many boobs a modern woman should have (it's more than you think.) Then: FASHION. In our pandemic times, is getting dressed even a thing anymore? Are bespoke face coverings the new black? And who, exactly, is allowed to wear the famous Tik-Tok-trendy strawberry dress? Links: Refinery29 money diary: The family lawyer in Salt Lake City with more money, and energy, than god  Johnny Ryan's Beavis and Butthead homage to Romulus and Remus  Phoebe at The Line, on fashion in the time of covid The Strawberry Dress That Ate Tik-Tok, by Isabel Sloane for the New York Times Designer Lirika Matoshi's website Jezebel on the strawberry dress: "On thinner bodies, the dress skews a tiny bit fascist."  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It's been a banner month for fakers, imposters, poseurs, and actors of all varieties. Kat and Phoebe discuss the peculiar phenomenon of academic hoaxsters assuming transracial identities, which may have a surprising parallel in the aspirational machismo of Phoebe's high school classmates. Then: is it "queer" to think women are interesting? And what's the deal with the Oscars' new diversity guidelines?Links: Jessica Krug's confession on Medium  CV Vitolo: Another academic racial fraud?  CV Vitolo's confession on Medium  Becky Albertalli's "late" coming-out essay, on (guess where) Medium  The Oscars announces new diversity standards Kat's Reason article about the Oscars diversity standards  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Special for subscribers: our Bloggingheads discussion of The Youth continues here, with a dissection of the Aaron Coleman saga. Do the 19 year-old Coleman's terrible acts as a middle schooler disqualify him from holding public office? Does his obvious political incompetence render the middle school misbehavior irrelevant? Can a Canadian raccoon be elected to the U.S. presidency? Links: Kat's RocaNews article on the progressive implications of Aaron Coleman's candidacy Coleman's interview with The Intercept Aaron Coleman's ex-girlfriend alleges physical assault (also The Intercept) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Can a 30-year-old be "too young to know better"? ... Typecasting young people as woke political radicals ... The revolution devours its adults ... The inevitable disaster of reopening residential colleges ... The strange case of Aaron Coleman ...

Your hosts discuss the controversy surrounding Holyhoke mayor Alex Morse, the sex scandal that... wasn't. What does the attempt to gin up outrage about Morse's Tinder matching (sometimes with students as young as Legally Adult!) tell us about the current state of #MeToo? What's the difference between unwanted overtures and a bad chicken sandwich? Do Zoomers even know what love is?! Then, a viral tweetstorm ignites a debate on the merits of dissing other people's relationships (and butts), and Kat recaps the complicated history of Ren & Stimpy in light of its upcoming reboot. LINKS: The Daily Collegian: College Democrats allege inappropriate behavior between Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse and college students The Intercept's Alex Morse scoop: COLLEGE DEMOCRAT CHATS REVEAL YEAR-OLD PLAN TO ENGINEER AND LEAK ALEX MORSE ACCUSATIONS Dan Savage on sexual risk and chicken salad A complete (we think) archive of the tweetstorm on interracial dating and flat butts Rolling Stone on the Ren & Stimpy revival Buzzfeed's expose on Jon Kricfalusi Ren & Stimpy, Season 2, "Rubber Nipple Salesmen" See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Phoebe's lurking in Facebook mom groups inspires a deep dive on tone policing: what it is, why it's used, and whether it killed Alexander Hamilton. (It definitely did.) Then, a discussion of language conventions: the Washington Post's controversial decision to capitalize the "w" in white, and one college graduate's disavowal of her family wealth complete with brutal disemvoweling of her Ivy League credentials. Also, Kat finally went to IKEA, and it was really depressing.Links: A definition of "tone policing" The Washington Post announces White-with-a-capital-W Karen Attiah's "Friends is white culture" tweet The Weather Underground member who blew up her parents’ townhouse  Phoebe on pandemic shopping  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The latest online dating scourge: "wokefishing" ... When your boyfriend confesses to you that he used to be a Nazi ... "Media Thirst Guys," the men who want to date women who know Ezra Klein ... Should the Very Online only date the Very Online? ... A portrait of a woman who went from white supremacist to Muslim convert ... Why is the media always shocked when a woman is a racist? ...

In this new patrons-only episode, Kat returns from the Maine woods to discover some shocking news: Bari Weiss and Andrew Sullivan have quit their jobs, gotten married, and embarked upon a cross-country murder spree… right? (Phoebe: "No.") After discussing this latest installment in the ongoing media revolution and debating the existence of the guillotine emoji, we turn our attention to a bleak portrait of interracial friendships offered by Ann Friedman and Aminatou Sow's new book — and Kat confronts Phoebe about her flagrant refusal to acknowledge her privilege in having the more beautiful poodle.Links: Bari Weiss's resignation letter Andrew Sullivan's last NYMag column The article Kat remembered reading about NYT staffers earning a six figure base salary ($104,000, to be exact) The Cut: There’s a Divide in Even the Closest Interracial Friendships  Phoebe's Medium post: "The Work of Friendship" Kat's advice column: January 25, 2017, "Auntie SparkNotes: The Privileges of Postmodern Crushing" See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

You know how it is: one moment you're hanging out in a hot tub full of intellectual luminaries, and the next thing you know, someone passes you... an open letter. What're you gonna do, not sign it? In front of all these people? In this hastily-produced episode (ed note: sorry about the dog barking), Kat and Phoebe discuss the now-notorious Harper's open letter in defense of free expression, the hidden illuminati messages therein, the massive blowback against its normie signatories, and how our membership in this elite intellectual club has (not) changed our lives.Links: The infamous Harper's letter  Freddie deBoer, Ending the Charade  Phoebe's Washington Post article on the paradox of celebrity signatories Kat's "chalet" tweet  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In a new subscribers-only episode, Kat and Phoebe discuss the appeal of self-helpy handbooks for social justice before diving into a vigorous debate over TV cops (and, to a certain extent, TV's COPS). Are cops too often portrayed as unambiguous heroes? Does a  clip from a 1969 episode of Dragnet reveal an additional layer of complexity? Why do murderers keep moving to Midsomer?! Relevant links: Kat's Tablet article on social justice as self help  Time magazine on cops and cancellation: "We're reexamining how we portray cops onscreen" Dragnet 72, "Intelligence" See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Leigh's new satirical novel, Self Care ... Leigh's viral essay on the fall of the girlboss ... The life-changing magic of tidying up your whiteness ... Activism as self-improvement ... Are activists inadvertently promoting racial segregation? ... Why are women's spaces prone to unraveling? ...

We're pivoting to audio here on the Feminine Chaos Patreon, but rest assured, we still look fantastic (and the poodles are still COMPLETELY NUDE.) In this episode: Phoebe educates Kat on the conceptual and spiritual definition of "himbo," a recent source of Twitter controversy  We discuss BIPOC, which might be a useful acronym, or not, as its precise meaning remains a mystery Was the WaPo article about a private citizen's blackface Halloween costume necessary? Are blackface meta-jokes always offensive, or do certain 1970s French films get a pass? Plant parenthood: a matter of necessity and identity, or, alternately, a weird way to describe the condition of having houseplants See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Due to technical difficulties, we're audio-only for this round -- but no less chaotic! In the immediate aftermath of a Bloggingheads discussion, Kat and Phoebe regroup for a more intimate Patrons-only chat. Could anti-racist reading lists be the secret to COVID immunity? Is coronavirus even a thing anymore? Who has more credibility: our nation's public health experts, or our respective poodles? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

"Lean In" feminism and the Karen meme ... What does it mean to call the cops? ... The politics of quitting your job ... Amid the protests, past microaggressions are aired online ... Brands agree that black lives matter. Hooray? ... Examining the apology of a pretty, white lifestyle influencer ...

A close look at the Central Park birder incident ... Isn't asking someone to leash their dog a typical Karen move? ... Is there any upside to an online shaming? ... Obligatory Canadian angle ... A strange article on working mothers and childcare during the pandemic ... Phoebe recommends talking to a marriage counselor before a journalist ...

For the audiophiles!After a week of unrelenting terrible bad news, nothing soothes the soul like a fluffy lifestyle blog built around aspirational, tasteful, aesthetically curated consumption… if only there were any left. But in these unprecedented times, staying socially aware while socially distant is a full-time job. In this episode, Kat and Phoebe take a look at:Cupcakes and Cashmere's long-awaited (or was it?) pivot toward woke self-improvement, which was either too much or too-little-too-late depending upon who you askThe headless, dickless torso that sparked this week's greatest meme. Dear men, what is preventing you from looking like this? Or this? Or, particularly, this?! While social distance warriors patrol public parks with a meter stick to ensure that folks stay six feet apart, the youth are starting to rebel. What to make of this viral (possibly literally) CTV kiss between two strangers? We unpack it all. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The audio version of our latest episode. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

"Cool girl" food writer Alison Roman sparks racial hullabaloo ... Crass, classist, xenophobic...racist? ... Kat: A lot of the anti-Romanism is "why not me?" resentment ... The sorrows of supermodel Chrissy Teigen ... Cultural erasure, childhood resentments, and coconut curry ... Would you actually want a "Nancy Meyers kitchen"? ... Rants of the week: Ms. Monopoly and postpartum sex ...

For your listening pleasure. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Kat on today's intermixing of public life, private life, and inner life ... Gawking at the inside of the homes of coworkers and celebrities ... What does "being seen" by art mean? ... Phoebe on the high ethical stakes of grocery shopping ... "If you were really a good person, you would find a way to stop eating" ... Is "Karen" a slur? ...

The strange argument that Pete Buttigieg is not gay enough ... You don't know what you are, but you know you're not straight ... Phoebe's essay critiquing "ugh-men" feminism ... Phoebe: We can't rationally explain our sexual preferences ... Do women in America have it better than ever? ... Personal experiences of sexism ... A very odd Elizabeth Warren tattoo ...

For your aural pleasure. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The audio-only version of our latest podcast. Sorry about all the barking. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

For those who like aural, the audio of our latest podcast. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.