UnMuted: the TransMuted Podcast

I first became aware of Brandon Showalter when I read his book review of The Reckoning by Kara Dansky. I asked him for permission to republish the review on my Substack because I was struck by the empathy it showed both for feminist activists like Kara and for parents who feel targeted by the totalizing societal pressure that comes with having a child who identifies as ‘trans.’ It was also clear B...

I have the distinction of being the first person outside McGill University (or maybe the second, after Eliza’s mother) to read the masters thesis that’s about to launch its highly regarded author into what should rightfully be a promising position of influence in the ‘gender’ discourse. Eliza’s research breaks new ground in an aspect of ROGD that has woefully lacked attention but for her contribut...

I’d already scheduled my December 16 interview with Bev Jackson when Malcolm Richard Clark published a brilliant history of the LGB Alliance and its critical role in bringing about the puberty-blocker ban that was announced in the UK on December 11. That article, published on the 15th, confirmed my opinion that Bev Jackson and Kate Harris should be better known in America. It also supplied me with...

This episode goes coast-to-coast as I catch up with Karen, author of the Hippiesq Substack and my first-ever guest on the podcast. We are joined by Karen’s neighbor and compatriot Maud Maron, who’s recently made headlines in the New York Times with her ‘right-wing’ stance on merely discussing whether to have public-school sports that are reserved for girls only, as the U.S. has done without incide...

Glenna was kind enough to visit the old ‘hood just a day after making her Gender: A Wider Lens debut to go over the finer points of the Skrmetti arguments as well as some little known details about the players which are at least as interesting as the legal stuff (more, if you ask me), such as the beauty-pageant bona fides of the US Solicitor General and the Tennessee “Crotch Doctor” who taught us...

He just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwich. (I’m kidding; you know I kid!) Bernard Lane’s encyclopedic knowledge of the global footprint of ‘trans’ activism, ideology, medicine and law is truly something to behold. We discussed the US election, the state of journalistic freedom in Australia vs. America, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Jessica Yaniv (for the uninitiated, Bernard gamely explai...

I was not quite three sentences into my Substack writing career when I made this admission: “ I get stupidly star-struck, when the star in question is someone I believe to be famous for being very smart. ” At the time, I was referring to Chris Hayes of MSNBC, who didn’t deserve the praise, but you know who does? Today’s guest, Meghan Daum! Meghan has written for magazines ranging from Vogue to The...

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

I was introduced to my guest Jocelyn Davis when I happened upon an essay she wrote for DIAG (Democrats for an Informed Approach to Gender), about how she came to question gender identity ideology even though doing so put her at odds with her political tribe. It’s something she and I have in common, and it’s the problem DIAG exists to solve. Jocelyn had a successful 25-year career in professional l...

Kristopher Kaliebe is a board-certified General, Forensic, and Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and a professor in the Psychiatry Department at the University of South Florida. He is a Distinguished Fellow at the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), where he challenged so-called ‘gender affirming care’ by publishing a courageous op-ed in its journal, which is read by clini...

Arienne has a bird’s eye view from two different windows on ‘trans’. She’s a tenured teacher in what might be the most progressive region of the most progressive state in the US. And, she’s the mother of a teenaged boy who was seduced by ‘trans’ mythology during the Covid lockdown, when kids in our state were asked to please just spend all-day-every-day alone with the internet for two years, so as...

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Matt is a military historian, US Army veteran, prolific writer and ‘recovering political scientist,’ just for starters. For me, because I was raised with no religious influences, Matt also serves as an interpreter of the spiritual drivers of human behavior, including the “God-shaped hole” idea that may help explain some of what confounds us when we talk about gender, ego and identity. We discuss t...

This episode features the esteemed writer and legal mind known on Substack as Unyielding Bicyclist — “UB” for short. She’s a practicing attorney in New York, and her advocacy in ‘gender war’ issues stems from her concern for children and adolescents who are ‘transed’ to prevent them from growing up gay or lesbian. Many linkable things are discussed here, such as: Katie Herzog’s 2017 article in The...

Sarah Barker writes one of my favorite Substacks. It’s called TheFemaleCategory, and it’s a great place to learn about the history of men competing as women in sports, which has been going on for much longer than I realized. Her bio reads: “I've been a journalist for forty years, a runner and a woman for longer than that, and am increasingly seeing the need to be actively feminist. Women's sports...

I recently had the honor of joining the board of directors of DIAG — Democrats for an Informed Approach to Gender — and I’m excited to interview the organization’s co-directors, ‘Ellie’ and ‘Eliza,’ on this episode. All three of us were, in the words of my friend Mrs. Miller, ‘Assigned Democrat at Birth.’ For reasons we will discuss today, each of us feels more or less obligated to try and rescue...

Here’s the text of my intro: I’ve been thinking about queer theory, which is basically a repudiation of reality and a rejection of accepted social norms. Every time I’ve ever had to think about queer theory, it’s been in response to something ugly and downright crazy-making: like watching Democrats fight to eradicate competitive sports for women; or hearing anyone argue for rapists in women’s pris...

To donate to the lawsuit in which Cheryl and some of her reality-based KKG friends are the plaintiffs, mail a tax-deductible check to: NDCME 10841 Highway 73 Watford City, ND 58854 North Dakota Coalition for Member Education is a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation. Thanks to William A Ferguson for the theme music, and Anne Gibbons for the UnMuted logo This is a public episode. If you would like to disc...

I’m excited to bring you one of the most eloquent and candid commentators I’ve found on the impact of gender ideology on the family system. In the ‘Before’ times, she published two novels, so the eloquence comes naturally. Her candor is unusually revealing, sometimes self-critical, often darkly funny, and always honest. Because she uses a pseudonym [it’s less pseudonymous than I thought, as I lear...

ML is the author of the recent guest post here on the WPATH Files, and before that an essay titled ‘A View from the Ivory Tower,’ which we discuss in the episode. He is a scholar and STEM professor with a profound appreciation for the power of what he calls ‘wondrous’ research to elevate, inspire and transform humanity. He describes an acute crisis in scientific rigor and objectivity as a threat n...

Dr. Lewis (not his real name) is both a practicing clinical physician and a professor of medicine. He works with an important advocacy group called Do No Harm, which we discuss here, and also with a group of volunteers who deliver screening care to poor communities where certain preventable diseases are epidemic. It’s worth noticing that an MD with a resume’ this impressive and praiseworthy requir...

I’m happy to present this conversation on Detransition Awareness Day, as my guest has an unusual and thought-provoking story of cross-sex confusion in childhood, and its eventual resolution. She speaks eloquently about her experience, as you’ll hear. She also writes poignantly, as you may already have seen if you happened upon her moving six-part essay, ‘ A Desistor’s Manifesto, ’ which appeared r...

Find Hippiesq's Newsletter on Substack here This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jennypoyerackerman.substack.com

Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria and its Discontents, by Jenny Poyer Ackerman  (Adapted from the book Women’s Rights: Gender Wrongs , published by WDI.) Imagine you’ve just hung a painting on your living-room wall. You step back to take a look, and  realize it should be a few inches to the left. Just then a neighbor pops in and tells you how to solve the problem: hire a builder to move the chimney, th...