Feminists Without Mystique

We get into the hottest issue of the week, Chris Pratt's thoughtless Instagram post! But really, there are a lot of layers in his post to unpack, and then there are the other historic things about him which make us skeptical at best.   We see you: Paul Gosar, Bari Weiss's new university, Armstrong Junior-Senior High School Students, User01 from the comment section of Bari Weiss's substack, Madison...

After an exciting month of interviewing authors featured at the upcoming Miami Book Fair, we're back to our regularly scheduled programming!    We catch up and rant about some of the latest news and controversies - Dave Chappelle's Netflix special The Closer, The NY Times viral article titled "Who is the Bad Art Friend" and the absolutely unacceptable behavior from Manchin and Sinema which contrib...

We're excited to share our conversation with Paula Stone Williams on her memoir, AS A WOMAN.   Dr. Paula Stone Williams is an internationally known speaker on gender equity, LGBTQ advocacy, and religious tolerance. She is also a pastor and pastoral counselor in Boulder County, Colorado. Paula has been featured in The New York Times, TEDWomen, TEDSummit, TEDxMileHigh, Red Table Talk, The Denver Pos...

We're excited to share our great conversation with Rafia Zakaria on her latest book, AGAINST WHITE FEMINISM.   Rafia Zakaria is an attorney, political philosopher, the author of The Upstairs Wife: An Intimate History of Pakistan, Veil, and most recently Against White Feminism.  She also authored many essays for the Guardian, CNN, and the New York Times Book Review.  She is a regular columnist for...

We're so excited to speak with Zakiya Dalila Harris, the author of THE OTHER BLACK GIRL. We had so many questions for Zakiya, her book is riveting and nuanced and we can't wait for the adaptation on Hulu! (And, we not-so-secretly hope she writes a sequel!) We hope you enjoy this conversation!   Zakiya's debut novel, THE OTHER BLACK GIRL, is available now from Atria Books in the U.S., Bloomsbury in...

We're thrilled to interview Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar, authors of Still Mad: American Women Writers and the Feminist Imagination. The discussion is delightfully wide-ranging, from the most topical things on our mind (Kyrsten Sinema and Britney Spears) to the broadest questions we are grappling with "Will true equity ever be reached?" and "Why do so many white women regularly vote against t...

We discuss the two most recent documentaries cashing in on/exposing more details of Britney Spears' 13 year battle to end her conservatorship. The New York Times in partnership with Hulu produced their follow up to this spring's Framing Britney Spears aptly titled Controlling Britney Spears, while Netflix released Britney vs. Spears yesterday. The more we learn about this conservatorship, the more...

The (long) title says it all. We discuss the tragic death of Gabby Petito alongside the ongoing tragedy of the erasure of missing women of color. As Molly Jong-Fast emphasizes in her recent Daily Beast article, "In the same area that Gabby Petito disappeared, 710 indigenous people— mostly girls—disappeared between the years of 2011 and 2020 but their stories didn’t lead news cycles."   We see you:...

We cover a lot of news at the top - Britney Spears's engagement and departure from Instagram, and (hopefully!) nearing the end of conservatorship, AOC's decision to wear a "Tax the Rich" gown to the Met Gala, the confirmation that Olivia Munn is indeed pregnant with John Mulaney's child (WHY DO WE CARE SO MUCH?!), and Governor Newsom winning the CA recall race. And THEN we get into our main topic...

We're still furious about the rolling back of abortion rights so we're getting deeper into it today.  We discuss the Supreme Court's 5-4 decision to let the law stand for now, despite it being clearly unconstitutional and encouraging vigilante justice. This is a big moment and we're still processing - so it's getting a second episode!  We see you: Arizona dad who threatened the principal with zip...

We are enraged, frustrated, gutted (insert all the negative adjectives) at the new Texas law that went into effect today banning abortions after 6 weeks, well before most women even know they're pregnant. This law is unconstitutional on its face, and yet SCOTUS hasn't blocked it. We get into the other devastating, insidious aspects of this law, which allows private citizens to act as vigilantes an...

We discuss updates to COVID protocols, mask mandates, and our own risk assessments as we stare down another fall in this pandemic, thanks to the Delta variant and so many defiant morons ignoring public health advice, data and science.    We see you: Jonathan Mattingly, Julius Jones facing the death penalty in Oklahoma, Carrie Underwood, Tucker Carlson, federal government deliberately targeting BLM...

We discuss the horrific crisis the US caused in Afghanistan as the Taliban regains control of the country. As we near the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the events of this weekend are particularly sad and frustrating. We get into what Taliban rule means for women, girls, and other minority communities in Afghanistan, and Biden's defiant, out-of-touch defense of this poorly executed withdrawal. So much...

Andrew Cuomo resigned! Praise be. We discuss the accusations against him and what (if any) the implications are for the #metoo movement going forward.  Just another prominent public figure being held slightly accountable for years of bad behavior, we love to see it. We also address whether there's hypocrisy in this instance on the Democratic side, but since we don't see Republicans calling for the...

We discuss the need to mask back up in public places, defend Simone Biles's decision to withdraw from the Olympics for mental health reasons, and then complain about Brett Kavanaugh because the more we learn about his confirmation the more disgusting and unfair it becomes, even with 3 years of distance. The FBI's most recent report on how they handled their "investigation" into the sexual assault...

This episode is a day-ish late being released due to life interferences. We slow things down in this conversation and discuss some of the day to day challenges of trying to balance our highest priorities. Balancing a full time job, partners, pregnancy, caretaking and a passion project (this podcast!) takes a lot of time, energy, patience and intentionality. This felt like an appropriate moment to...

We discuss the billionaire boys club space race! Wasteful, self-indulgent, tone-deaf and a grotesquely perfect example of capitalism gone awry... is there anything redeeming about these trips? Are we seriously about to let the one percent spend a quarter of a million dollars to float around for five minutes in what is ~barely~ considered technically space while the Earth burns? Seems like it! Jeff...

We're both on vacation this week, so we've pre-recorded a conversation about our most prominent quarantine squabbles with our partners throughout the pandemic. From dishes to politics, we hope you enjoy this lighter episode!  'We see you' segment will return next week!   Feminists Without Mystique is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Find more podcasts you’ll love at Frolic.media/podcasts!   -  ...

Last week Britney Spears addressed the court directly for the first time regarding her conservatorship. Her testimony was devastating. If something this unjust is happening to one of the most prominent superstars in the world, there are certainly more abuses of conservatorship happening to those with less power and visibility. We discuss the updates to the case since our February episode (Ep 119:...

We discuss the first two episodes of the new AMC series, Kevin Can F Himself, starring Annie Murphy. Spoiler alert: we're fans, and can't wait to watch and discuss the rest of the series!   We see you: Shoreline Jr High School, William Braddock, Security at Nellie’s, Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, Jair Bolsonaro, Rita Moreno   Feminists Without Mystique is part of the Froli...

We discuss West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin and his incredibly frustrating and destructive insistence on bipartisanship in a world where bipartisanship just doesn't exist. (Thanks, Mitch McConnell!) Manchin refuses to acknowledge this reality, respect the will of the majority of voters, and join his Democratic colleagues in voting for wildly popular bills like the HR1 For the People Act and the J...

In light of the recent revelations that Chrissy Teigen cyberbullied Courtney Stodden, we discuss who deserves forgiveness, and under what circumstances. Did Donald Trump promote an environment where many feel that if they apologize they're showing weakness, and opening themself up to criticism, so better to just gaslight everyone and move on? Yes, yes he did. CC: Aziz Ansari, Brett Kavanaugh, Loui...

We discuss Bo Burnham's stunning, existential Netflix film, INSIDE.  We see you: Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin, UNC Chapel Hill, Sutton Stracke, Nikki Haley, unruly flight passengers, Bloomberg article on "sparing a thought for the billions of people who will never exist"  Feminists Without Mystique is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. Find more podcasts you’ll love at Frolic.media/podcasts! - femin...

Last week the Supreme Court announced it will hear Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case that poses a direct challenge to the nearly 50 year precedent of Roe vs Wade. With the new conservative supermajority, it's the worst case scenario for reproductive rights advocates, and all of us, tbh. Even if you think it doesn't affect you directly it does // it will! It's all on the line.   ...

Human Rights Watch recently released a report that " Abusive Israeli Policies Constitute Crimes of Apartheid, Persecution ." We discuss the tragic/frustrating/unconscionable violence in Israel and Palestine. Yes, certain parts of this conflict are complicated but other parts of it very much are not. We should all be able to hold more than one truth in our minds at once, and unequivocally call for...