On the Ground for the 2018 Midterms in Wisconsin with Rebecca Lynch

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Rebecca Lynch returns to our podcast. She spoke to us from Wisconsin where she’s working with the Working Families Party to turn Wisconsin blue. We talked about Wisconsin and what’s going on with the midterm elections coming up this November nationwide.

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Feminist Coffee Hour is now on Patreon.

This episode was edited by Brianna Carpenter.

Our theme song is composed by Bridget Ellsworth, check out her sound cloud page!

We’ve joined the Apple affiliate program. If you’re going to sign up for Apple Music, please do so by using this link.

Kathryn Moeller and The Gender Effect

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We interviewed professor Kathryn Moeller about her new book, The Gender Effect: Capitalism, Feminism, and the Corporate Politics of Development.

Note: Yes, this interview was done in two sessions, one of which had much better sound quality. Sorry if this is distracting!

Discussed in this episode:

The Nike Foundation

The Girl Effect

Forging the Ideal Educated Girl: The Production of Desirable Subjects in Muslim South Asia by Shenila Khoja-Moolji

Unjust Conditions: Women’s Work and the Hidden Cost of Cash Transfer Programs by Tara Patricia Cookson

The Gender Effect at University of California Press

Buy The Gender Effect at Indie bound

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Feminist Coffee Hour is now on Patreon.

This episode was edited by Brianna Carpenter.

Our theme song is composed by Bridget Ellsworth, check out her sound cloud page!

We’ve joined the Apple affiliate program. If you’re going to sign up for Apple Music, please do so by using this link.

Taking the DSM out of BDSM

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In time for Valentine’s Day and the release of Fifty Shades Freed, we interviewed psychologist Dr. Sarah Fraser about her dissertation “Taking The DSM out of BDSM: Sexuality, Personality, and Stereotypes of Psychopathology.” We talk about stereotypes, stigmas and popular representations of BDSM in popular culture and psychology.

Discussed in this episode:

Naked, Tied-Up Paul Ryan Tells Staff He Can’t Prepare For Debate Unless They Slap Him Harder

Ohio Lawmaker Who Backed Family Values Resigns Over ‘Inappropriate Behavior’

Jenny Trout novel series in response to 50 Shades

Bound

Sarah Fraser, Psy.D.

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Feminist Coffee Hour is now on Patreon.

This episode was edited by Brianna Carpenter.

Our theme song is composed by Bridget Ellsworth, check out her sound cloud page!

We’ve joined the Apple affiliate program. If you’re going to sign up for Apple Music, please do so by using this link.

Like last year, I am not optimistic about the future of the United States. However, I’d still like to share these links with you.

Culture

RIP Rose Marie. Before she passed she gave this fantastic interview about her life, career and sexism in Hollywood.

If Cat Person made you want to read more short fiction, try this – “So Much Cooking” by Naomi Kritzer. It’s an apocalyptic story in the form of a cooking blog.

Queens Bookshop Initiative Opens Brick and Mortar Store

Mel Brooks, The Producers and the Ethics of Satire about N@zis

Surround Yourself with Books, Save Humanity

‘Gwyneth glows like a radioactive swan’ – my day at the Goop festival

Garfield creator Jim Davis finds “dog semen” theory hard to swallow

This Moment Isn’t (Just) About Sex. It’s Really About Work.

Politics

My favorite ad of the year. Feminist Circlejerk is now mainstream political discourse. Dana Nessel 2018.

Undercover With the Alt-Right

The Airport Bomber From Last Week You Never Heard About

Why you should stop telling people to “just adopt.” The ‘orphan’ I adopted from Uganda already had a family

This is darkly funny. The Convicted Con Artist Of The Winter White House

Even if you hate him, this is worth it. A Guide to Understanding Ben Garrison’s Political Cartoons

The Quiet, Revolutionary Act of Working at Planned Parenthood

Professor Jody Freeman on Trump’s “2 for 1” Executive Order

Stay Classy, Long Island Republicans! Long Island Village Clerk Says Women’s Marchers ‘Probably Should Have Been Aborted’

We should probably still keep an eye on this. Washington Post Trump Nominations Tracker.

If you want to know the history of those “In this house we believe Black Lives Matter, Women’s Rights are Human Rights, Love is Love, Science is Real, etc” signs – These Moms Are Inspiring Us To Spread Kindness, And You’ll Want To Be Part Of The Movement

Police shoot far more people than anyone realized, a VICE News investigation reveals

I spoke my mind on guns. Then my Senate confirmation was put on hold.

Inauguration Protesters Found Not Guilty On All Charges In Jury Trial

Good News

Teamsters Win 82 Day Strike at Clare Rose, Long Island’s Largest Beer Distributor

School bus driver hailed as “true hero” after bus bursts into flames

Dutch electric trains become 100% powered by wind energy

My Recommendations

Television
Lady Dynamite
The Defenders

Books

Warnings: Finding Cassandras to Stop Catastrophes by Richard A. Clarke, R.P. Eddy My favorite book of the year. An excellent piece of policy writing that attempts to create a model for thinking about the future. More than statistical forecasting, Clarke and Eddy want citizens and decision makers to think critically about possible disasters and act to avert them.

Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook by Mark Bray This book fills in a lot of history I never got in school. They don’t tell you socialists and communists and anarchists have been fighting Nazis in the streets for decades in Europe. Because then they’d have to admit that sometimes communists are the good guys

On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder Harrowing but necessary – if you liked that piece by Masha Gessen about autocracy, read this too. It’s quick and thought provoking.

Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America by Michael Eric Dyson An excellent read with the bonus of a list of books for further reading on the American Civil Rights movement.

A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution by Jennifer A. Doudna, Samuel H. Sternberg I liked this book even though the science part wasn’t as clear to me as I hoped it would be and the policy suggestions were even more confused. (Doudna and Sternberg ignore the powerful politics of abortion while pretending that no one can know why stem cell research is so controversial.) However, it’s probably the best primer on an incredibly important topic that exists or will exist for a while.

Testosterone Rex: Myths of Sex, Science, and Society by Cordelia Fine In her followup to “Delusions of Gender,” Fine explains what the evidence shows testosterone is and isn’t capable of doing. A myth busting book you don’t need an advanced degree to understand. Fascinating.

See All Books I’ve Read in 2017

Happy New Year!

Previous Year End Posts

2016
2015
2014
2013
2011

Self Care In The Age Of Trump

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How are you doing? We check in with each other and share our favorite ways to take care of ourselves, and how we like to help others. Also some podcast updates!

Discussed in this episode:

Stumbling Stones

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

Equal Justice Initiative

The Memorial To Peace and Justice

Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit

Lindsay Ellis – “Mel Brooks, The Producers and the Ethics of Satire about N@zis”

“We aim to try!” is a quotation from Reno 911!

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Feminist Coffee Hour is now on Patreon.

This episode was edited by Brianna Carpenter.

Our theme song is composed by Bridget Ellsworth, check out her sound cloud page!

We’ve joined the Apple affiliate program. If you’re going to sign up for Apple Music, please do so by using this link.

Anastasia Bodnar, GMOs, and Gendered Food Panic

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We interviewed Anastasia Bodnar of Biofortified to talk about the Science March, GMOs and the way food panics target women in general and mothers specifically.

Discussed in this episode:

Anastasia’s blog

Genetically Modified Foods Revisited

North Carolina Hog Farms Spray Manure Around Black Communities; Residents Fight Back

Popular Remington 700 rifle linked to potentially deadly defect

Panic Free GMOs by Nathaniel Johnson – Grist

Genetically Modified Broccoli Shrieks Benefits At Shopper

Farmworker Justice: Pesticide Safety

Millennials want more facts about their food

Science Moms Documentary

Bottled Up

Senate confirms Perdue as agriculture secretary

5 Sketchy Facts About Trump’s Pick for USDA Chief

Sociology of the March for Science

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Feminist Coffee Hour is now on Patreon.

This episode was edited by Brianna Carpenter.

Our theme song is composed by Bridget Ellsworth, check out her sound cloud page!

We’ve joined the Apple affiliate program. If you’re going to sign up for Apple Music, please do so by using this link.

I’ve written before about how Saturday Night Live’s politics are maybe not as liberal as you think, in their choice to have Donald Trump host the show during the Republican primary and to blunt criticism of his racism.

I want to talk now about a sketch in which Tina Fey encourages people to eat cake instead of protesting Nazis.

Heather Heyer is dead but cake is delicious.

Saturday Night Live is what Jon Stewart insists he is: entertainment, not political commentary. However, many people, including people I respect and love look to it for analysis and catharsis. (My alternative suggestion – The Majority Report with Sam Seder. It’s funny but also provides in depth information.) If you like SNL because it’s funny, great! But if you watch it for political commentary, you need to know this: Lorne Michaels doesn’t want the show to be liberal (or conservative). He wants it to appeal to all Americans, and he’s aiming for the middle. He said so during an interview with Marc Maron in 2015.

So with that in mind, let’s think about how this cake sketch meets that standard. On one hand liberals can see themselves in Tina Fey, angry, righteous, feeling helpless. And conservatives can laugh at the paranoid liberal chick getting fat because she doesn’t like that someone challenged her PC notions. And the “middle” if there is one, can feel good about doing nothing. Because that’s what Tina Fey is saying here, she’s affirming complacency and inaction, as long as there’s some guilt mixed in, it’s ok. She’s telling people to channel their outrage into self indulgence. As entertainment, it’s funny. But as praxis, it’s terrible. Now, I’m all for self care. So here’s what I propose instead:

School Based Health Centers and Girls Inc

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We interviewed our friend Robin who works in a school based health center and the awesome nonprofit Girls Inc.

Discussed in this episode:

School Based Health Centers

Girls, Inc.

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Feminist Coffee Hour is now on Patreon.

This episode was edited by Brianna Carpenter.

Our theme song is composed by Bridget Ellsworth, check out her sound cloud page!

We’ve joined the Apple affiliate program. If you’re going to sign up for Apple Music, please do so by using this link.

Lindsay Beyerstein’s Care in Chaos

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We interviewed Lindsay Beyerstein about her upcoming documentary “Care in Chaos” which is the story of two abortion clinics in red states and how their relationships with police impact access to reproductive healthcare.

Discussed in this episode:

Rewire

Tape Reveals Nixon’s Views On Abortion

Lindsay’s new podcast, The Breach

Lindsay Beyerstein on Twitter

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Feminist Coffee Hour is now on Patreon.

This episode was edited by Brianna Carpenter.

Our theme song is composed by Bridget Ellsworth, check out her sound cloud page!

We’ve joined the Apple affiliate program. If you’re going to sign up for Apple Music, please do so by using this link.

Voices Of The Resistance

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Greetings listeners, it’s been a while, but we are back!

In this episode hear interviews Karen did at the Women’s March.

Discussed in this episode:

‘Learning Curve’ as Rick Perry Pursues a Job He Initially Misunderstood

Science Is For Everyone

Neil deGrasse Tyson: When Science Becomes A Partisan Issue, It Is The Beginning Of The End Of Informed Democracy

What Do I Say When I Call My Representative?

The 65

The Women’s March Take Action Page

The Congressional Docket

Find Your Community Board

New York State Independent Democratic Conference

Our Interview with Rebecca Lynch

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Feminist Coffee Hour is now on Patreon.

Our theme song is composed by Bridget Ellsworth, check out her sound cloud page!

We’ve joined the Apple affiliate program. If you’re going to sign up for Apple Music, please do so by using this link.