Toxic

Larry Nassar, pedophila enthusiast who confused himself for a doctor once, sexually abused some 500 girls, many of whom were U.S. gymnasts and nine of whom were Olympic athletes. He's now spending the rest of his days in a place where he's likely finding out what the other side of abuse feels like but he could have started his stay there much earlier if only there weren't a slew of people who knew...

There are lots of reasons to learn self-defense: Being able to put some dude in a headlock when they think they can touch you without your explicit permission is one. Wrestling a bear is another. It's a skill all women should at least have a basic knowledge of because, you know, #men. Tara McClure (@TulsaTara) is a brown belt in jiu jitsu and teaches self-defense classes to women and law enforceme...

This week, a reporter from the Military Times broke a story of the Army's less-than-stellar response to domestic violence.... again. Army Private Jonathan Lauture liked to beat his wife, but what he didn't like was being interrupted while doing so. When 22-year-old Jason Lindsay came to Lauture's apartment one night in 2019 — witnesses say he was there to help Lauture's wife, who was being assault...

In this episode, Amanda talks about her 7-year-old daughter's hesitation to wear a dinosaur tee-shirt (aka, how to tell your kids gender stereotypes are a bunch of malarky) and then we delve into what the hell happens when men try to tell women they're not allowed to earn, keep or control their own money (spoiler alert: they're not supposed to do that). Financial Planner and survivor Saundra Davis...

In another tired attempt at victim-blaming, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, has proposed his country's rape crisis would be abated if us women would just stop showing so much of our provocative skin suits, but failed to explain why fully covered women, and also children, are raped on the daily. But hey, as long as men don't have to take accountability for anything, why logic? Next, Jen...

Britney Spears got her turn to speak and told us what we all feared -- her dad's on a major power trip and she's under his complete abusive control. This deserves discussion. In the second part of the episode, Jenna and Amanda discuss a dude named Lusbu Jean, an abusive murderer who killed his girlfriend Natasha Nazien and her 15-year-old son, and shot and injured her other three children in Flori...

Bill and Melinda gates announced plans to end their 27-year marriage this past May and allegations immediately begin to circle Bill surrounding his penchant for trying to hit on some of his female employees. Dirty, but not predatory. At least ... not yet. Then came some flight logs that showed Bill met with convicted rapist of teenagers, Jeffrey Epstein, on his private jet. Multiple times. And din...

Welcome to Season 2! Same format, new crop of toxic a-holes. In this episode, Jenna and Amanda give you an update on some of the abusive men we covered in previous episodes — I bet you're curious as to what Marilyn Manson is up to. Oh, just being accused of rape by a fifth woman. Meanwhile, Rep. Matt Gaetz still claims there's nothing wrong with having sex with children. After that, we delve in th...

What do Mara Wilson (of Matilda/Mrs. Doubtfire fame) and Britney Spears have in common? Both women—along with many, many more—have been targeted by the Hollywood fame machine that often takes cute, young stars, tries to turn them into sexpots and then watches their creations crash and burn, selling it all to us as entertainment. Earlier this year, Wilson penned an op-ed for the New York Times spea...

On June 10, 2016, while visiting friends in San Diego, former Marine Raymond McLeod strangled to death his 30-year-old girlfriend Krystal Mitchell before fleeing to South America. In Episode 16, we delved into McLeod's life on the run and how he's recently been put on the U.S. Marshal's Service 15 Most Wanted fugitive list. Krystal's badass mom, Josephine Wentzel, has been searching for McLeod sin...

Abusive partners can brainwash victims to a point where they don't even realize what they just endured was domestic violence until years after they've escaped. In this episode, we break down how it took a freelance writing gig about domestic violence for Shelley to realize a previous partner was actually more than just a toxic a-hole, he was a dangerous and manipulative abuser escalating his power...

In 2016, Phoenix-resident Raymond McLeod murdered his 30-year-old girlfriend, Krystal Mitchell, while they were visiting friends in San Diego. The scary-AF-looking heavily tatted ex-Marine bodybuilder then thought he could blend in seamlessly if he fled to South America ... and unfortunately, he may have been right. Or, people there don't follow true crime. He's managed to escape capture for five...

Shia LaBeouf was recorded on video in 2015 telling complete strangers that he would have killed his now-ex-wife, Mia Goth, if they hadn't intervened during an argument. The viral video watched by over a million became entertainment. A shocking did-you-see-that? moment seemingly forgotten days later. In 2019, LaBeouf strangled girlfriend FKA Twigs, only one facet of more than two years of his abusi...

In this episode, Amanda and Jenna try to cover the latest headlines around men being toxic but there are SO MANY. From Derek Chauvin to the Minnesota Supreme Court saying "Go for it, Rapists!", to an astounding number of mass shootings committed by men so far in 2021, to Matt Gaetz buying teenage girls to have sex with and then bragging about it, it's just a toxic masculinity jackpot up in here la...

Talking dating and sex with your pre-teen or teenager can be nerve-wracking, and your inclination may be to avoid it altogether — after all, won't TikTok and P*rnhub teach them eventually? Ugh, no, stop it. Shafia Zaloom, author of "Sex, Teens & Everything in Between" (www.shafiazaloom.com) tells us we should consider changing the focus from drowning our kids in warnings and scary stuff to talking...

Last Tuesday night, Robert Aaron Long, instead of dealing with his own mental health issues like a responsible grown-up person, decided it made more sense to murder seven women and one man he claims are responsible for him not being able to stop thinking dirty thoughts and police are all, "He had a bad day." After we break down that mess, we tell the story of "The Army Dude" who abused his wife fo...

Are some men born without a filter? The answer is yes, yes they are. In another episode of Why Some Men Don't Know How to Human Decently, we discuss men in positions of power who are just, frankly, awful. Bosses who have think "leaning in" means something entirely different than it actually does. We break down the slew of toxic bosses Amanda's had to deal with early in her career and how she actua...

A very married Piers Morgan has been shaming the brave and brilliant Duchess Meghan Markle on Good Morning Britain for almost five years because he believes she "ghosted" him after she drank an alcoholic beverage in his vicinity at a pub in 2016. Thankfully, Morgan fired himself from the show on Monday after being called out by an amazingly brilliant, non-toxic male coworker on air (clip included!...

My, my, my, how fast they fall. Governor Andrew Cuomo is going down, but not in that way. Five women have now come forward to talk about how creeptastic and inappropriate Gov. Cuomo is as a human being, alleging unwanted touching, kissing and questions about their sex lives. Gov. Cuomo has decided to play the "who, me?" card and refuses to resign, suggesting all future subordinates will very much...

What constitutes male consent, and do they have different guidelines than women when it comes to being victims of sexual assault? If the victim is stronger than the perpetrator, then why don't they simply stop an assault from happening? In Netflix's No. 1 show, Bridgerton, a scene in Episode 6 shows what some people are calling rape of the main male character while others are calling it "just more...

After her father and uncle severely abused her as a child, Marielle's brain, in an effort to protect her from the extreme trauma, developed dissociative identity disorder at just 4 years old. Over the next three decades, she would come to develop more than 100 unique personalities, each one breaking off at another traumatic point in her life. As an adult, an abuser found her, preyed on her vulnera...

If a dude is good with balls, does he get a pass on being violent toward women? It seems to be that way in much of the pro-sports world, where pro-athletes are repeatedly accused or arrested for domestic violence or assault, only to find themselves giggling all the way to the bank after their multimillion-dollar payday. In this episode, we look at guys including Floyd "Money" Mayweather, Jr., Denn...

In news that will surprise very few, musician Brian Warner, aka, Marilyn Manson, has been abusing his partners for years. Oh, and his mom, too. Stellar. After actress Evan Rachel Wood bravely stepped forward with her public disclosure last week, additional victims found the courage to follow suit. Manson denies everything, because, well, male entitlement, and victims now face backlash and death th...

When famous dudes are revealed to be toxic, it's super disappointing. We face a different kind of conundrum—can we separate art from artist? Should we? And what are the criteria for whether or not we forgive? In this episode, we talk about some of the celebs who've been accused of toxic offenses including Harvey Weinstein, James Franco, Matt Lauer, Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, Casey AND Ben Affleck,...

After escaping abuse, she believes she's safe ... until the court system fails to protect her child. When her dangerous ex-boyfriend does the unthinkable, she's forced to make the only choice that's left: run. Now, she's wanted for kidnapping. It's a terrifying reality for so many—when an abuser can no longer control a victim, they often come for the kids.