Here's The Thing, Tho with Soaliha

Hello everyone! This week we are off for the holiday season. Instead of the usual episode, please enjoy a 10 minute preview of our Patreon exclusive discussion on Spotify Wrapped and why we are long-standing haters. We talk about the data surveillance inherent to Wrapped, its exploitative origins, and how it relates to "conspicuous consumption." Check out the full conversation over on our Patreon...

This week we talk about celebrity culture, body positivity, and whether it’s ever okay to talk about other people’s bodies — no matter how famous they are. We discuss the Wicked press tour, the eating disorder to white supremacy pipeline, and the role celebrities play in our society. Content warning: this episode discusses disordered eating.    Check out Soaliha’s Substack Soaliloquy and Mitch’s S...

This week we discuss the power of storytelling as a tool for preserving history — and how that preservation is not only being undermined, but is actively under threat thanks to platform capitalism.  We talk about ‘the write side of history’ panel at Muslim Agenda, the way narratives are shaped and disseminated by mediators like news publications and streaming services, and the importance of having...

This week we talk about the rise of puriteens—a portmanteau of puritans and teenagers—and how their sexphobia, suspicion, and moral policing are shaping how sex is talked about and represented online. We discuss the prevalence of puriteenism across BookTok and other platforms, interrogating their criticisms of the dark romance genre, sex scenes in movies, and the wardrobe of Sabrina Carpenter, and...

This week we talk about feeling “uncomfortable” compared to feeling “unsafe”, and how these terms have become conflated in conversations around free speech and protests against genocide in Palestine. We discuss what it actually means to be unsafe, the way safety as a concept has been weaponised against marginalised folk, and the importance of sitting with discomfort for growth and reconciliation. ...

This week we talk about the concept of being “objective” in western media as discussed in Amy McQiure’s new book ‘Black Witness’: how objectivity is not only weaponised against marginalised folks, but is a state that isn’t even possible to reach in the first place.  We discuss the Australian media’s bias towards pro-Israel coverage, the systematic undermining of non-white journalists in matters of...

This week we talk about Barbie (2023) — was the endlessly hyped film a feminist masterpiece, or just a massive toy commercial? Or perhaps, something else? We discuss the history of Barbie, the film’s gender theory and the queerness of Allan, and line it all up against Judith Butler’s Gender Trouble.   Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree Email: heresth...

This week we talk about celebrities, PR disasters and the difference between what celebrities give us, and what they owe us.  We talk about the It Ends With Us film adaptation (and the surrounding drama), Blake Lively’s dumpsterfire of a press tour and Chappell Roan’s latest assertion of boundaries.   Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree Email: heresth...

This week we talk about ‘tradwives’: what are they, where did they come from, and why is their content so popular right now? We discuss the ahistorical nostalgia that tradwives are predicated on, the politics of their labor and the neocolonial nature of homesteading. Really, we ask the question: does the ‘tradwife’ as we know her actually exist, or is she a mythic projection?   Soaliha: @soalihaof...

We're back! This week we discuss the internet frenzy around presidential candidate Kamala Harris and our collective amnesia surrounding her previous (and conservative) policies.  We talk about her contradictory political history, the abject failure of US democracy and whether radical change can truly be enacted via electoral politics.    Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree Mitch: @mitchs.misc...

Hello friends! This week's episode is a repost from SBS's five-part podcast series My Ramadan, which Soaliha appeared on last week and we've added a preamble to. SBS has given us permission to reshare it here, the following is their description of the episode: From intermittent fasting to Sydney’s iconic Lakemba markets, Ramadan has developed a mainstream visibility and hipster cachet it didn’t us...

This week we discuss James Cameron’s infamous Avatar films, specifically focusing on the second film and its fetishisation of colonialism. Buckle up folks, it’s a wild ride. We talk about colonialism and environmental destruction as a spectacle, the myth of the Noble Savage and the White Messiah, nuclear families and heteronormative depictions of intimacy and domination, and of course, the usual t...

Warning: This episode contains discussions of sexual assault and image-based abuse. This week we discuss the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in recent months and its political implications with respect to labour, capitalism, racism, and sexism.  We also discuss how new AI technologies are being used to perpetuate violence against women in the case of deepfake pornography.   Soaliha: @soalihao...

This week we discuss the pervasive notion of “reproductive futurism” and how it relates to current issues such as abortion rights, queerphobia, and climate change. We talk about how reproductive futurism – the dominant political order which privileges future children over everything else – structures all aspects of our society and shapes both progressive and conservative thought.   Soaliha: @soali...

This week we discuss a series of alarming recordings that were leaked by a Queensland police officer, and a scandalous recycling story which revealed just how precarious recycling is. We talk about the broader culture of racism in our police institutions, the girlbossification of policing, identity politics and the fundamental links between our recycling industry, consumerism and capitalism. Oh, a...

This week we discuss representation, toxic identity politics and celebrity queerbaiting.  We talk about the cancellation of Constance Wu, the way we punish actors for not representing their communities perfectly, and how fandom weaponised the term “queerbaiting” to punish Kit Connor.    Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/soal...

This week we discuss a controversial article about sustainability in the bedroom, Lydia Thorpe’s ‘conflict of interest’ and ethical issues around Netflix’s Jeffrey Dahmer series.  We talk about consuming our way out of climate change and the sexist nature of sustainability marketing, the hypocrisy and suspicious timing surrounding Lydia Thorpe’s relationship with a bikie, and the growing issue of...

Today we talk about Jordan Peele’s latest film ‘Nope’ and explain why we liked it.  We discuss the film’s subversion of colonial anxieties, its themes of exploitation and spectacle, and answer the burning question: what was up with the chimp? This episode was recorded Saturday, October 8, 2022.   Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree Patreon: https://www.patreo...

This week we discuss three major news stories from the last two weeks: Black Ariel, Iranian protests against Hijab mandates and a bombshell report about the chemical imbalance myth.  We talk about white supremacy and the concerning emergence of digitally-erased Blackness, white feminists and their gleeful demonisation of hijab (which is actually a praxis, not a clothing) and a suss shift in discou...

We're back!!! This week we discuss two topics: the death of the queen and gossip surrounding Harry Styles. We talk about the way monarchists tone police people of colour and downplay the impacts of colonialism. We also examine the recent shift in people’s perception of Harry Styles amid accusations of queerbaiting and the drama around the Don’t Worry Darling premiere at Venice. This episode was re...

We have an announcement: we're taking a little hiatus to rest, recuperate and refresh our little brains. In the meantime, listen to our backlog and hit us up on Instagram! Bye for now, not forever :)   Soaliha:  @soalihaofficial  & Linktree Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea  & Linktree Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/soaliha Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha  Facebook Gr...

This week we talk about #TraumaTok, aka a corner of TikTok where people openly share their harrowing traumas to the app with little concern about where their stories will end up. We discuss the normalisation of “trauma dumping”, trauma bonding as a modern means to friendship, trauma as an identity or in-group, and how TikTok actively benefits from the #TraumaTok community.   Soaliha:  @soalihaoffi...

*NOTE: This is a reshare of a previous episode. But! The first 20 minutes is a discussion on recent events. This week we talk about the rise of ‘ecofascism’ and its concerning prevalence in left wing circles.  We talk about what it is, why it’s so convincing and how to spot ecofascist myths.    Soaliha:  @soalihaofficial  & Linktree Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea  & Linktree Patreon: https://www.patre...

This week we talk about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – not the geopolitics, but the impact these events have had on the boundaries of Australian news media.  We discuss the racist coverage of the invasion and the double standards it exposed, some unprecedented events in our own country’s media, and how all of this has totally shifted the limits on what kind of racism is acceptable to call out.   S...

CW: This episode briefly discusses suicide. This week we talk about one of our favourite topics – government propaganda. But not the type fed to civilians like us. This time, we’re talking about Australia’s various international anti-refugee ad campaigns, which are specifically aimed at people seeking asylum. We discuss the human rights abuses asylum seekers face in Australia, the morally corrupt...