Gender: A Wider Lens

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In this episode, hear a personal first-hand whistleblower account of the harmful practices taking place inside an American gender clinic. Jamie Reed, a former Case Manager at the Washington University School of Medicine Pediatric Transgender Center at St Louis Children’s Hospital reflects on her experiences inside the clinic that ultimately lead to her profound decision to file for whistleblower p...

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In honor of Helen Joyce’s keynote appearance at the 2023 Genspect Conference: The Bigger Picture, we wanted to revisit our conversation with her from 2021 shortly after the release of her book, Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality. So this episode is a replay of her prior appearance on our show. And now we find ourselves almost two years later from this recording and she continues her work around se...

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Until recently in many parts of Europe, and currently in the United States and Canada, the affirmative model of care is the primary practice in place for working with gender-nonconforming and gender-diverse youth and children. In this episode, Stella and Sasha put some intention into a deeper exploration of what affirmation therapy is exactly. They take time flushing out not just what it is but al...

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.widerlenspod.com

It seems like, in Western culture at least, we went from a place where, years ago, mental health issues were never talked about and often dismissed or hushed, to a place today, where it’s so ubiquitous to talk about mental health. And while it’s important that mental health is de-stigmatized, and a good thing that it’s been relatively de-pathologized, in many ways, it has shifted into some kind of...

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.widerlenspod.com

This episode is a powerful and important conversation exposing the increasingly devastating impact of the conflation between gender identity theory and the experience of living with gender dysphoria. In this episode, Sasha & Stella speak with Rose who wishes to remain anonymous. Rose is the mother of two young sons and lives in the United States. In August of 2022, she published the piece “Tru...

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.widerlenspod.com

In this episode, Stella & Sasha talk with Joe Burgo and Alasdair Gunn about the Genspect’s new direction and the upcoming first-ever live event. As you will hear them discuss, the Genspect Conference, themed “The Bigger Picture,” will bring together experts from many fields holding a myriad of perspectives: eminent scientists, researchers, lawyers, doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, psycho...

A parent writes in seeking helping with figuring out where their son’s gender confusion originated. Sasha and Stella dig into the reality that often there is not “one big reason” or a single “smoking gun.” This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.widerlenspod.com

In this episode, the Wider Lens duo takes a slight detour from gender to explore teenage years from a developmental approach and how parents can better connect with and support their teen children through a challenging but powerful season of life — adolescence. Sasha interviews Stella about her latest book, What Your Teen is Trying to Tell You. The book empowers parents to distinguish between oppo...

Sasha and Stella try to give a worried mom advice on how to speak to her teenage daughter who is displaying negative health complications that could be a result of chest binding. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.widerlenspod.com

This episode is dedicated to spreading awareness about the existence and experience of detransitioners — those who pursued a medicalized gender transition and later came to feel it wasn’t the right path for them. The detransitioner community is growing faster than ever as more young people realize they received inadequate and inappropriate healthcare. The complex experience of detransition is not...

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Victoria Smith is a regular contributor to The Critic, writing on women’s issues, parenting, and mental health. Her work has also appeared in The New Statesman, The Independent, and UnHerd. Her book Hags looks at the demonisation of middle-aged women in politics and popular culture. In this episode, Stella and Sasha chat with Victoria about the depths of body hatred and body loathing. Victoria sha...

Sasha and Stella respond to a parent’s question by exploring how some kids are socially vulnerable and can get swept up in all kinds of “make overs.” This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.widerlenspod.com

Hannah Barnes is Investigations Producer at the BBC’s flagship television news and current affairs program, Newsnight. She has spent the last 15 years at the BBC, specializing in investigative and analytical journalism for both television and radio. Hannah led Newsnight’s coverage of the care available to young people experiencing gender-related distress at the UK’s National Health Service’s (NHS)...

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.widerlenspod.com

Many young people who first claim to be bisexual will later identify as pansexual and then trans. Sasha and Stella discuss this common but contemporary pathway to trans identification and analyze why this might be happening and what it could mean subconsciously. They offer parents some ideas for how to engage their child during this time of exploration. Sasha and Stella both have parent coaching m...

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.widerlenspod.com

The development of the Dutch protocol, and the research conducted from its practice, has become the basis for gender-related medical intervention in children all over the world; specifically, using drugs to block children's puberty and subsequently using cross-sex hormones and surgery to medicalize their 'transition.' The Dutch model has the reputation of being the “gold standard of care” for yout...

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.widerlenspod.com