The Popaganda Podcast

On this episode of The Popaganda Podcast, Tashmica guides Shannon through the American religious thriller film series, Left Behind. In what feels like an accelerated Vacation Bible School experience, they discuss how and why traditional Evangelical Christian teachings have been used to implement harmful legislation, institutional policies, and social practices that dishonor our relationship with o...

On this episode of The Popaganda Podcast, Shannon and Tashmica talk with Mathilda Zeller, author of "Kushtuka”, one of the 29 spine-tingling horror stories included in Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology . She also got in trouble with Tashmica at a tamalada for talking about transformative justice when they were supposed to be making tamales. Happens to the best of us!...

On this episode of The Popaganda Podcast Shannon and Tashmica discuss how we failed Amber Heard. Despite decades of work to disrupt the stigma and myths surrounding domestic violence, the Depp v. Heard trial gave us all a look at how the court of public opinion continues to demonize survivors seeking justice. Tune in for a conversation about what went wrong and what you need to know to support lov...

On this episode of The Popaganda Podcast Shannon and Tashmica are joined by special guest, Hoai An Pham, an abolitionist organizer, graphic designer, animator, public health student, and avid lover of Grey's Anatomy. Together they discuss the radical storytelling that pops up in the halls and on-call rooms of Seattle's Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital and @Grey'sAbolition, a new Instagram...

Our guest zara raven (zara/z), taught us a lot about conservatorship through their love of Britney Spears. Turns out, we were only scratching the surface of this important Disability Justice issue. Find out more on this week's episode of Lingo Plinko. Find the full show notes and links at www.popagandapod.com

Join Tashmica and Shannon as we discuss the Netflix drama Baby Reindeer. We explore the complexities of surviving domestic and sexual violence, the nuanced portrayals of male survivors and our deep love of the character Teri played by the fabulous and brilliant Nava Mau. Come for the pop culture. Stay for the abolition. For this week’s pop culture homework visit  www.popagandapod.com. Leave a 5-st...

True Detective Night Country was a massive success with not-so-great reviews. Led by Kali Reis, the first Indigenous lead of an HBO series, Hollywood legend Jodie Foster, and Issa Lopez, the Mexican Filmmaker who created, wrote, and directed this powerful supernatural thriller, this season had us - and a record-breaking 3.2 million viewers - on the edge of our seats for the season finale. So then...

In today’s episode of The Popaganda Podcast, Tashmica introduces Shannon to the Satanic Panic of the 1980s through the award-winning documentary, Satan Wants You.  To scare people back into a Sunday pew, the Catholic Church funded the publication of a book based on the account of a woman who claimed to have survived satanic ritualistic child abuse. Michelle Remembers was a bestseller and the survi...

Shannon Perez-Darby and Tashmica Torok discuss Britney Spears, the nuances of conservatorship, mad liberation, and the liberatory possibilities of dancing on the internet with our first guest ever - mad queer mama, Zara Raven. Zara Raven isn't just our premiere Abolitionist Britney building a world without prisons + policing, starting at home. They are the coordinator for Queenies Crew, an ini...

What do abortion and human trafficking have in common? Find out on this week's episode of Lingo Plinko. Read the full article at https://accountablecommunities.com/writing Find the full show notes and links at www.popagandapod.com

Tim Ballard is a lying, McLiar face (allegedly) but that doesn’t mean that he hasn’t had an indelible impact on how everyday Americans understand or misunderstand the sexual exploitation of children around the globe. But how did this qanon-tinged thriller become the 10th biggest domestic film of the year? Join Shannon and Tashmica for a conversation about Operation Underground Railroad, the scam b...

Why do Shannon and Tashmica say the criminal legal system instead of the criminal justice system? Tashmica breaks it down with a little help from the Bureau of Justice and the Vera Institute for Justice . Functions of Criminal Justice Why we say "criminal legal system," Not "criminal justice system" Season 2 of The Popaganda Podcast launched on Monday, April 22nd. Did you know that...

Tom Cruise once claimed Scientology had solved humanity’s greatest challenges. To which Shannon and Tashmica say, “What now?” The Popaganda Podcast kicks off season 2 with a conversation about “Tom Cruise on Tom Cruise, Scientologist” . An American actor, producer, and celebrity Scientologist, Tom Cruise is the lead in major blockbuster films like Top Gun and the spy series Mission: Impossible. As...

The Popaganda Podcast : an award-winning social justice podcast about the pop culture we love and how it inspires us to build a safer, more just world for everyone. Hosts Shannon Perez-Darby and Tashmica Torok are former latchkey kids who grew up to become survivor activists and pop culture besties. Tune in for elevated unscripted commentary that normalizes transformative justice practices and pri...

Lingo Plinko is a minisode of The Popaganda Podcast with Shannon Perez Darby and Tashmica Torok. On Monday, we dropped a bonus episode about the HBO original documentary, Great Photo, Lovely Life that came with a trigger warning and an encouragement to listen with care. So instead of breaking down our working definitions of the transformative justice terms that we use throughout the podcast episod...

CW/TW: child sexual abuse. In anticipation of the Popaganda season 2 launch on April 22nd, cohosts Shannon Perez-Darby and Tashmica Torok reconnect to discuss the original HBO documentary, Great Photo, Lovely Life . This poignant film follows Photojournalist Amanda Mustard as she investigates her ‘touchy-feely grandpa’ and his role in decades of serial sexual abuse through archival photos, home vi...

Popaganda Season 2 launches on April 22nd but Shannon and Tashmica can’t wait that long to talk pop culture chisme and transformative justice. In this bonus episode, we talk about cults, communes, and the surveillance state through the experiences of the recently released but not quite free Gypsy Rose Blanchard and her husband, Ryan Scott Anderson, the docuseries Natalia Speaks , and HBO’s The Gar...

It takes more power to build than to burn and Shannon Perez Darby and Tashmica Torok want to build. In the season finale of The Popaganda Podcast, you are invited to jump into a time machine and look into their radical visions for a future where transformative justice practices and abolition frameworks are realized. Listen in as they reflect on how their lived experiences in childhood and within t...

In episode 5 of The Popaganda Podcast, Tashmica Torok guides Shannon Perez-Darby through where her love of True Crime began and how it has changed over time. The people who are the most interested in the True Crime genre are also those who experience the highest rates of sexual and domestic violence. How can this be? Listen in as we explore what may be our unhealthiest relationship with Copaganda...

Lingo Plinko is a minisode of the Popaganda Podcast with Shannon Perez Darby and Tashmica Torok. During these short and sweet segments, we'll be breaking down our working definitions of the transformative justice terms that we use throughout the podcast episodes. So far, you’ve heard us drop the acronym TERF at least twice. But do you know what a TERF is or what Shannon means by “TERF-y” talki...

One thing about  Shannon Perez-Darby  and Tashmica Torok is they're gonna get to the bottom of a TikTok beef. In episode four of Popaganda, join them as they scroll through a collection of bookmarked beefs and discuss cancellations that have pushed popular influencers into digital exiles. Whether we're creating parasocial or for real social relationships online, we are creating patterns th...

Lingo Plinko is a minisode of the Popaganda Podcast with Shannon Perez Darby and Tashmica Torok. During these short and sweet segments, we'll be breaking down our working definitions of the transformative justice terms that we use throughout the podcast episodes. Listen in as Tashmica talks about what we mean by the word 'Abolition' and offers real world examples of abolitionist practi...

In the third episode of Popaganda,   Shannon Perez-Darby  invites Tashmica Torok  for a hometown visit to one of her favorite pop culture stomping grounds -- Bachelor Nation ! Listen in as we reflect on examples of harm, accountability, and repair lived out by the Bachelor Nation contestants. And because we have a few extra roses to hand out, we'll throw in a conversation about a couple of our...

In the second episode of Popaganda, Shannon Perez-Darby and Tashmica Torok talk about what Copaganda is and how it impacts survivors as they attempt to seek out justice for themselves and their communities. Cops are always singing, whatcha gonna do when they come for you but we want to know, whatcha gonna do when they don’t.  As children, McGruff taught us to take a bite out of crime but something...

In the first episode of Popaganda, Shannon Perez-Darby and Tashmica Torok make some pretty big confessions. Shannon has spent hundreds of hours watching the Kardashians and as if that’s not bad enough, Tashmica spent much of 2022 soothing herself by secretly watching The Cosby Show. They say they’re abolitionists but, do they even go here? Listen in as they talk about how they discovered Transform...