Popaganda

This week, Dahlia and Amy talk about how mainstream media upholds white supremacy by continually casting white, male, mass murderers as “lone wolves.” This week marked the deadliest mass shooting in recent US history, where Stephen Paddock gunned down 58 people and injured 500 more, yet there have been headlines humanizing him and how he “enjoyed gambling, country music; lived quiet life before massacre.” Let’s not kid ourselves, the story about the killer would be much different if he wasn’t white. Then they discuss the latest in pro-athletes protests as the NFL season gets underway, and how no one respects Trump the “bum.” Speaking of him, in the Mr. Toad Trump’s Wild Ride segment, they dig into his purposeful and racist inaction in the face of a natural disaster in Puerto Rico.

This week, Dahlia and Amy talk about the very factual statement: Donald Trump is a white supremacist, as tweeted by sports journalist and truth-teller Jemele Hill, and the highs and lows of this year’s Emmys. Last week, Trump supporters were in an uproar over Hill’s tweets calling Trump out for exactly who is and the White House did not take kindly to it—Sarah Huckabee Sanders remarked that Hill should lose her job over the tweets! Then they celebrate some of the great Emmy wins and groan about the Sean Spicer cameo no one asked for. In this week’s Mr. Toad Trump’s Wild Ride, they talk about the impact of taking away DACA status from its recipients and what’s on the forecast for the policy.

We've got something to share this week and a special interview. Bitch Media Editorial Director Lisa Factora-Borchers talks with Sarah Mirk about her favorite memories over her four years hosting the show and what's next for her work-wise.

This week, Dahlia and Amy go back to school! They talk about some of their fave school memories like Dahlia and chicken mummies (!!), and Amy and wearing her first-day-of-school clothes for all the days of the week. And they dig into some of their favorite pop culture that helped them get through school. Dahlia was a baby riot goth who loved bands like Jack off Jill and telenovelas on Univision. Amy can’t stop talking about the 90’s teen drama, My So Called Life. Then they discuss the Trump administration's latest attack on equity by investigation alleged race-based discrimination due to affirmative action in university admissions. And to close out this week’s special episode, they’re listening to Hop Along’s “Young and Happy.”

This week, Dahlia and Amy dive into the two of the most awful and inadequate responses to the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Beginning with Trump’s comments that there was “blame on both sides” when violence erupted at the “Unite the Right” rally last week, resulting in the murder of Heather Heyer when a white supremacist plowed his car into a group of counter-protestors. Then they discuss Tina Fey’s latest segment on a special “SNL Weekend Update” where she suggests fighting white supremacy by eating sheet cake. Really. But not all hope is lost, especially when people left the sheet cake at home and hit the streets to show up against white supremacists, like in Boston when a massive group of counter protestors greatly outnumbered the alt-right rally.

Chow down on food politics. On this episode, three food writers of color talk about reshaping food media. It's often tricky to discuss race, gender, and class in the food industry! We hear from chef and "Racist Sandwich" podcast host Soleil Ho, Eater and A Hungry Society writer Korsha Wilson, and Thrillist editor Khushbu Shah.

This week, exemplifies the question that Frank Ocean’s t-shirt asked: “”Why be racist, sexist, homophobic or transphobic when you could just be quiet?” Dahlia and Amy talk about the terribly misguided memo from a Google employee and the deplorable transphobia on the Breakfast Club. Recently, it was reported that a senior software engineer at Google decided that he needed to spread the good word around biological determinism as the reason behind the low number of women working in tech. This 10-page manifesto was leaked to the public and quickly went viral. They discuss how popular radio show, the Breakfast Club, is under fire for an interview where the hosts laughed as their comedian guest, Lil Duval, spewed harmful, violent transphobia—just a few days after writer Janet Mock had appeared on the show. This radio segment comes with the latest report that Dave Chapelle’s residency at Radio City Music Hall opens with transphobic jokes. And in this week’s Petty Political Pminute, we talk about the latest wors

Every body is a beach body, amiright? On this episode, we hit the sands of a nude beach, travel through the woods, and chat about eating cheeseburgers poolside in discussions about learning to love our bodies. Featuring fat-positive fashion blogger Jessica Torres, artist and model Sawyer DeVuyst, Jenny Bruso of Unlikely Hikers, and an oral history of the racial segregation of American pools.

This week, Dahlia and Amy dig into the latest in Trump BS and the controversy around an upcoming project from the Game of Thrones showrunners. Earlier this week, Trump announced via three tweets (how presidential!) that he intends to ban transgender people from serving in the military. What are potential impacts of this policy, will it come to fruition, and is this just another inflammatory announcement meant to rile everyone up? They also talk about latest news around a television project in the works from the showrunners of the Game of Thrones, which is tentatively titled Confederate and will supposedly present a vision of the USA if the Union had lost and the enslavement of Africans continued. Smdh forever.

Seeing the unseen. We talk about the often-invisible work that goes into emotional labor with Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha and hear from Andrea Ritchie, the author of Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color. Plus: new music from artist Julia Weldon. 

This week, Dahlia and Amy get into the latest in Hollywood shenanigans. First up is the potential prosecution of the sole Kardashian brother, Rob Kardashian, for posting revenge porn against his ex-fiancé and mother of his infant daughter, Blac Chyna. Revenge porn is another realm of online harassment that often targets women and Rob Kardashian’s online meltdown might bring greater awareness to how posting nude photos of other people is illegal in 34 states. Then they dig into the latest conversation around unequal pay in Hollywood spurred by the news that Hawaii Five-O stars Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park did not renew their contracts because they weren’t being paid as much as their white male costars, and Emma Stone shares a story of how her white male costars have had to take a pay cut so that she can have pay equity on her films. Such shenanigans, much misogyny. Also another Petty Political Pminute covering the latest in Russian collusion leaving Dahlia and Amy wondering if Trump has ordered a U-Haul yet b

We hear three stories about the ways capitalism seeps into our ideas of success, failure, and freedom. Disability rights activist Stephanie Woodward tells us what it's like to occupy a Republican senators' office with a crew of wheelchair-using protesters. The co-founder of POOR magazine breaks down ways the United States makes it illegal to be poor. And a youth mentor shares her perspective on being a first-generation American who's expected to put her paycheck above all else.

This week, Dahlia and Amy discuss the disappointing verdicts in both the mistrial in the sexual assault case against Bill Cosby and the acquittal of the police officer who murdered Philando Castile. They also get into the beguiling whiteness of “The Beguiled,” a film set during the Civil War with an all-white main cast. We get to rub our petty hands in this week’s Petty Political Pminute since there’s been a delay in voting for Trumpcare—a healthcare plan to ensure the rich remain alive and richer, while working folks try to figure out basic healthcare needs.

Let's talk about sex! And also not having sex! This episode looks at how there's no such thing as "traditional" dating. Dating norms have evolved over our history and continue to grow and change as we have more freedom to define happiness for ourselves. We talk with Moira Weigel, the author of the book Labor of Love: The Invention of Dating, and the founder of NYC's meetup group for asexual and agender folks. Plus, sex positive selfie enthusiast Ev'yan Whitney interviews a very special person about dating: her mom.

This week, Dahlia and Amy get really, very, super frustrated about Megyn Kelly’s new NBC show where she’ll feature fake news, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. They also dig into how Bustle is trying to hustle their readers into giving up their personal information under the guise of delivering more personalized content—all the while ripping off Bitch Media’s donor circle name. And in the Petty Political Pminute, it’s all about Comey’s hearings and the lying, liar-ness of Trump.

Our Final Fantasy characters, ourselves. Writer Sam Riedel walks us through the ramifications of Gamergate and how role-playing games helped her articulate her trans identity. Then, we talk with scholar Saud Al-Zaid about the connection between massively popular first-person-shooter games like Call of Duty and the U.S. military.

This week, Dahlia and Amy talk about the horrific attack in Portland by a known white supremacist and the newly-leaked documents that reveal that counterterrorism tactics were used against water protectors at Standing Rock to protect corporate interests. And in this Petty Political Pminute: What is going on with Trump’s handholding and handshakes?

Behold! Using the power of science to interrogate societal assumptions around race and gender! We talk with experimental physicist Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein about the physics of melanin and then biologist and sociologist Shay-Akil McLean about decolonizing science—and the physical marks that inequality leaves on our bones.

This week, Dahlia and Amy talk about what accountability looks like for two recent stories: the sexual assualt allegations against the queer punk band PWR BTTM and the murder of teenager Jordan Edwards at the hands of a police officer. They dig into what it looks like to be held responsible for one’s actions. In Mr. Toad Trump’s Wide Ride, they talk about Trump’s scandal around the firing of FBI director James Comey and the hearings with former Attorney General Sally Yates.

Hate the capitalist system, still have to earn a living. It's the way life goes. We talk with feminists about squaring their feelings about our exploitative economy with each person's need to make money and feel stable. This episode features real talk from Michelle Tea, Ashley C. Ford, Roan Boucher, and the crew behind the podcast Criminal.