Informed Dissent

We’ve decided to open up our polycule to guests! Today it’s Dr. Anna Hutchinson, the London-based clinical psychologist specializing in adolescent mental and physical health. From 2013 to 2017, Dr. Hutchinson worked at the Tavistock Clinic’s Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS), where she observed first hand the significant shifts in patient demographics and referral rates. She raised concer...

On this special episode, we discuss part four of the New York Times’s six-part series about the history of pediatric gender medicine. Episode 4, “The Whistleblower,” is about Jamie Reed, who blew the whistle on the pediatric gender clinic at Washington University in St. Louis in 2023. Jamie tells us what the Times got right, what they left out, plus a whole lot more. * “The Whistleblower” * Jamie’...

On Thursday evening, The New York Times released “The Protocol,” its highly anticipated podcast on the history of pediatric gender medicine. We do a deep-dive into the first two episodes of the six-part series: “The Beginning” and “The Gender Kids.” * Olson-Kennedy study * Olympus spa ruling * CA trans athlete wins * Loudon County update * The Protocol * Dept Q * The Golden Notebook * A Mother’s R...

Today we answer some listeners’ questions and then discuss Jonathan Cowan’s op-ed for Politico. And Eliza comes out! * CMS investigates GAC hospitals * breast cancer study * Kansas lawsuit * CA sports rules changes * Democratic Arizona senator’s comments about sports * Politico op-ed * Leor Sapir’s thread about the op-ed * goblincore * cottagecore * Furry event at UC Irvine * The View from Somewhe...

Today we discuss: * The 2016 CMS Report on Gender Dysphoria and Gender Reassignment Surgery . * NBC's reporting on the new bill prohibiting Medicaid from covering sex-trait modification procedures. * Jamie getting thrown out of the APA meeting , from which one gender session was leaked . * The FTC’s plan to investigate fraud in the gender-affirming care industry. * The MIT "Born in the Right Body"...

Cori, Eliza, and Jamie revisit the HHS report , “Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria: Review of Evidence and Best Practices.” They talk about the libertarian case for age limits on hormonal and surgical interventions and the homophobia underlying the entire enterprise of transition. Health and Human Services Report Sunday event in Cambridge: Born in the Right Body. Montana judge finds trans c...

This week we discuss the MAGA look, the low-down dirty tactics of Maine legislators, the sophistry of psychotic professors, and the moral dilemma of patronizing businesses that use WPATH’s standards of care to inform their medical benefits policies . * MAGA aesthetics * The Psychology of Totalitarianism * An Abundance of Caution * Maine LD380 * All of Us Strangers * Histories of the Transgender Ch...

Today we discuss the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ evidence review, “Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria Review of Evidence and Best Practices.” What did the review say? Is it unbiased and dispassionate? Was it a good idea for the HHS to withhold the authors’ names? Will it convince anyone on the other side of this debate? How have news outlets been reporting on it? All that a...

Ben and Jamie are off planning puppy pride parades, so this week, Cori, Eliza and Lisa digest the Supreme Court case Mahmoud v. Taylor . We also talk about Pam Bondi’s directive , Nike’s funding of a study on trans athletes, and the doctor, Allan Josephson, who received $1.6 million settlement after his colleagues destroyed his career for speaking out about youth gender transition. A little backgr...

The five of us discuss the outcome of the For Women Scotland case and how the situation across the pond compares to the US. Plus news headlines. * XX wrist bands are hate speech * Trump admin seeks to limit GAC coverage * Planned Parenthood Arizona * Trump admin sues Maine * World Pride might tell trans people “Do not come” * British newspaper front pages * Supreme Court decision coverage * third...

Today we discuss news headlines, a recent court decision in Australia, and the excruciatingly bad Last Week Tonight episode about trans athletes. * Colorado bills * Title IX investigation team * Female disc golfer protests * Ted Cruz opens investigation * UK pool tournament * Montana legislation * Maine sues * Trump admin pulls funding from Maine’s prison system * America First Legal refers Illino...

Today we debate whether “gender-affirming care” is child abuse and discuss the concept of trans exceptionalism, and Jamie and Lisa tell us about a recent debate between Marci Bowers and Brianna Wu. * ACLU sues Indiana * Transphobic toddler * Washington State blocks women’s sports proposal * CA Dems block women’s sports and spaces bills * Trans protester arrested in Florida bathroom * Nevada revers...

After going over the week’s gender-related news headlines, the gang discusses Tuesday’s “listening session” with New Hampshire Rep. Jonah Wheeler (D), hosted by the League of Women Voters. Jamie and Cori attended the listening session (i.e., struggle session), as did a lot of very angry New Hampshirites. It all made for some prime gender-culture-war podcast material. * U.S. DoE investigates Califo...

This week, Lisa tells us about a surreal conversation she had with a NYC school principal. This leads us to a discussion on how to reach people who interpret all gender heresy as cruelty. Lisa’s Substack Eliza’s Substack Ben’s Substack Cori’s Substack Jamie’s Substack The White Lotus AGP scene Lisa’s piece on The White Lotus for UnHerd Delaware legislation Cori’s encounter in Delaware Cori’s Monta...

This week, Jamie, Cori, and Ben discuss Detrans Awareness Day and view a recording of Jamie’s recent testimony in Wisconsin. That takes us down a long and winding path into politics, authoritarianism, postmodernism, queer theory, and anarchy. * Detrans Awareness Day * Jamie’s testimony * Dutch protocol * Citizens United * Mahmoud Khalil * Making misgendering a crime * Derrick Jensen * Queer theory...

This week we chat about Trump’s address to Congress, Jamie’s and Cori’s testimonies in New Hampshire, and the tragic story of Sam Nordquist, whose murder has been compared by the press to Matthew Shepard’s murder in 1998. We revisit that event and discuss how news outlets and activist organizations misrepresent the facts to fuel specific narratives. We plan to make this the first part of a series...

First, Jamie updates us on some West Virginia legislation, and we discuss the transgender military ban as well as Chris Rufo’s reporting on leaked discussions from an LGBTQ chatroom within the NSA. Then it’s on to the main topic of this week’s episode: pronouns. * ‘ Health committee targets loopholes in West Virginia’s gender affirming care ban ’ * Clip from Jamie’s testimony * Trans military ban...

After discussing some recent developments in Kansas and Colorado (including a proposed law that would prohibit deadnaming dead people), we delve into last night’s event at Vermont’s Middlebury College. There, Manhattan Institute fellow Leor Sapir and the activist Brianna Wu debated the question, “What is the right public policy approach to transgender medicine?” The debate had everything—Leor’s sm...

This week, we break down The New York Times ’ recent coverage of the trans debate, and the market and technological forces that transformed the journalism industry. We wonder and worry about which kids will continue to identify as trans after the trend has gone from cool to… whatever the complete opposite of cool is. Speaking of cool: Did you know that conservative is the new punk? Also: a trip to...

This week, Lisa, Eliza, Ben, and Cori discuss the current state of things, now that the American public has had some time to digest Trump’s executive orders on gender. We talk about the schools, the hospitals, the protests, and the media’s dogged insistence on reporting inaccurately about this topic. Finally, we brainstorm ways to talk to those who are dismayed and/or confused by recent developmen...

This week, we discuss Jamie’s trip to Kansas, where she testified in support of ban on blockers, hormones, and surgeries for minors; and the implications of Trump’s executive order on “gender-affirming care”/“chemical and surgical mutilation”/pediatric sex trait modification. * Jamie’s testimony * Kansas Senate bill * Kansas House bill * Executive order “ chemical and surgical mutilation ” * Execu...

This week, we break down Trump’s Executive Order on “gender ideology extremism,” weigh the benefits of conformity versus nonconformity, discuss the ongoing prison controversy, and much more. * “ Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government ” * New York Times article about transwomen in female prisons * Hannah Barnes’s piece for The New Sta...

This week, the whole crew is back to discuss a recent NYC Community Education Council meeting, where Lisa, Cori, and Ben spoke with Maud Maron (and some hostile audience members) about gender identity ideology in public schools. Then it’s on to AOC’s nonsensical argument against a bill to protect women’s sports, plus some disappointing news about The Free Press. With a whole lot of stuff in betwee...

This week, Cori, Eliza, Jamie, and Lisa discuss strange bedfellows, political realignments, and Lisa's readiness to accept any and all prayers. Ben put the finishing touches on his manuscript as we were recording! * The New York Times frames judge's rejection of Title IX changes as "scrapping protections for trans students" * Janice Raymond's The Transsexual Empire (1979) * Sandy Stone's The Empir...

Ben is off crafting his masterpiece memoir this week. In the meantime, Cori, Eliza, Jamie and Lisa dig into a troubling new article from the Amsterdam gender clinic that lays out a survival strategy for the embattled field of youth gender medicine. Show notes: * Gender-affirming medical treatment for adolescents: a critical reflection on “effective” treatment outcomes (open access) Background on t...