Blocked and Reported

Latest Episodes:

Episode 55: Neera Tanden, Jacobinghazi, Brueniggate, Alligatorghazi, Centrist Corncobs, And The Legacy Of The 2016-2021 Brocialist Twitter-Woke Twitter Wars (Early-Access, Ad-Free) Mar 14, 2021

Show notes

After responding to some reader feedback about their last couple episodes, the hosts revisit one of the fiercer left-of-center Twitter controversies of the last half-decade: Woke Twitter vs. Brocialist Twitter. There are alligators! And corncobs! And forgotten and since-humiliated internet microcelebrities! It's quite. A. Ride.

Please consider preordering Jesse's book, The Quick Fix: Why Fad Psychology Can't Cure Our Social Ills -- pre- and early orders help a first-time author tremendously: https://www.amazon.com/Quick-Fix-Psychology-Cant-Social/dp/0374239800/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Show notes/Links:

No dice for Neera: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/30/bernie-supporters-seethes-neera-tanden-441603

Some of the deleted tweets: https://www.the-sun.com/news/2387776/what-did-neera-tanden-say-in-now-deleted-tweets/

"I didn't slug him, I pushed him": https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/15/us/politics/tanden-sanders-.html

Matt Bruenig pointing out the insanity of the Sarah Kendzior claim that set off Jacobinghazi: http://mattbruenig.com/2014/06/08/opportunistic-misreads/

Bruenig calling Kendzior a liar: http://mattbruenig.com/2014/09/23/what-would-it-take-to-make-sarah-kendzior-admit-this-is-not-true/

Wired on The Alligator Tweets: https://www.wired.com/2016/06/wish-unsee-vile-tweet-alligator-attack/

Bruenig loses his job over "scumbag Neera": https://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/matt-bruenig-neera-tanden-joan-walsh-hillary-clinton-223439

Matt Yglesias on Bruenighazi: https://www.vox.com/2016/5/21/11724298/bruenighazi-matt-bruenig-neera-tanden-demos

German Lopez on Reid-gate-ghazwhatever: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/4/27/17286392/joy-reid-msnbc-lgbtq-gay-hack

Jesse's brave investigative reporting on corncobs: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2017/08/why-is-everyone-on-twitter-suddenly-talking-about-corncobs.html

Dril: https://twitter.com/dril

Al Giordano accusations: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/al-giordano-sexual-harassment-school-of-authentic-journalism_n_5aeb5113e4b041fd2d24580c

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.blockedandreported.org/subscribe

Bonus Interview: Youth-Gender Clinician Dr. Erica Anderson Mar 08, 2021

Show notes

In a bonus interview episode, Jesse interviews Dr. Erica Anderson, a trans woman and Bay-Area-based gender clinician with years of experience working with transgender and gender nonconforming youth. The two discuss the white-hot debate over trans kids, including what comprehensive, compassionate assessment looks like in this field, and how clincians decide when a young person is ready for puberty blockers and/or hormones.

Please consider ordering Jesse's book, The Quick Fix: Why Fad Psychology Can't Cure Our Social Ills: https://www.amazon.com/Quick-Fix-Psychology-Cant-Social/dp/0374239800/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Show notes/Links:

Jesse's long article in The Atlantic about youth gender dysphoria: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/07/when-a-child-says-shes-trans/561749/

Dr. Erica Anderson's website: https://www.drericaanderson.com/
Her Tretter Transgender Oral History Project video: https://umedia.lib.umn.edu/item/p16022coll97:194?q=%22Tretter+Transgender+Oral+History+Project+Phase+2%22&sort=title_sort+asc%2C+date_created_sort+desc

A Washington Post article quoting Dr. Anderson on the 'trendiness' aspect: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/when-kids-come-in-saying-they-are-transgender-or-no-gender-these-doctors-try-to-help/2018/01/19/f635e5fa-dac0-11e7-a841-2066faf731ef_story.html

Jesse's newsletter quoting her on the folly of laws banning youth transition, but also the importance of comprehensive, competent care for TGNC youth: https://jessesingal.substack.com/p/why-the-hard-age-caps-on-youth-gender

There's an insane amount of misinformatino on this subject: https://jessesingal.substack.com/p/a-response-to-foreign-policys-deeply

Lisa Littman's rapid onset gender dysphoria study: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0202330

The World Professional Association for Transgender Health Standards of Care: https://www.wpath.org/publications/soc

"In Which I Fail to Find You Any Gate-keeping" by Carey Callahan, a detransitioner: https://medium.com/@mariacatt42/in-which-i-fail-to-find-you-any-gate-keeping-622c447a835f

"Gender identity is hard but jumping to medical solutions is worse" by Callahan: https://www.economist.com/open-future/2019/12/03/gender-identity-is-hard-but-jumping-to-medical-solutions-is-worse

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.blockedandreported.org/subscribe

Episode 54: That Sinking, Racist Feeling When You've Lost The Newsroom (Early Access, Ad-Free) Mar 07, 2021

Show notes

Let's put a bow on this Donald McNeil Jr. story. McNeil has fired back with a 20,000-word opus about his travails trying to wrangle a group of young prep-schoolers with very strong feelings about social justice -- and without any booze! What did he really say? How did he say it? How did he handle the girl with the Latino/x boyfriend? Katie and Jesse also discuss media unionization and their exciting upcoming orthodontic endeavors.

Show notes/Links:

Donald McNeil Jr.'s Medium series: https://donaldgmcneiljr1954.medium.com/nytimes-peru-n-word-part-one-introduction-57eb6a3e0d95

The Daily Beast's original reporting: https://www.thedailybeast.com/star-new-york-times-reporter-donald-mcneil-accused-of-using-n-word-making-other-racist-comments

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.blockedandreported.org/subscribe

Episode 53: Reply All And Mike Pesca And Smith College And Race And Race And Race Feb 27, 2021

Show notes

The liberal landscape is littered with race-related meltdowns. After a correction and an update to last week's Reply All episode, Katie and Jesse discuss Mike Pesca's suspension from Slate and a long, infuriating article in the New York Times about false accusations at Smith College.

Reply All’s “The Confetti Cannon” episode:
https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/dvh64g

The other side of the argument that Reply All got more political:
https://www.reddit.com/r/replyallpodcast/comments/ju3ly4/hot_take_reply_all_is_not_getting_more_political/gca58cv?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

Fresh Air on the nature of the protest:
https://www.npr.org/2021/02/25/971319812/reporters-video-from-inside-senate-on-jan-6-shows-a-crowd-prepared-for-violence

NY Times on Deadspin’s implosion: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/31/business/media/deadspin-was-a-good-website.html

Defector’s story on Mike Pesca:
https://defector.com/mike-pesca-slate-suspended/

NY Times on Pesca:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/22/business/media/slate-mike-pesca-suspended.html

“Eschew the Taboo: The pernicious effects of banning words” by Christopher Hitchens:
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2006/12/hatred-will-always-outpace-linguistic-correctness.html

Ta-Nehisi Coates on use/mention:
https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2010/11/to-conversate/66929/

John McWhorter on use/mention:
https://johnmcwhorter.substack.com/p/the-n-word-as-slur-vs-the-n-word

Margaret Sullivan with a confusing column:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/mike-pesca-donald-mcneil-n-word-media/2021/02/24/fe89d010-76a1-11eb-8115-9ad5e9c02117_story.html?itid=ap_margaretsullivan

Stefan Fatsis on this debate in Slate alllllll the way back in 2020:
https://slate.com/culture/2020/07/scrabble-offensive-words-ban-player-reaction.html

The episode of The Gist where Pesca mentions nonbinary pronouns:
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/07/acosta-out-emily-bazelon-charged-kamala-harris-gun-laws.html

Michael Powell’s crazy story about Smith College:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/24/us/smith-college-race.html

The ACLU ACLU-ing, hard:
https://www.aclu.org/blog/racial-justice/race-and-criminal-justice/smith-college-overhauls-policing-practices-after-black

Cathy Young on the "Napping Whilte Black" story at Yale, which was significantly more complicated:
https://thebulwark.com/standing-up-to-the-moral-outrage-industry/

Jodi Shaw's latter, as published by Bari Weiss:
https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/whistleblower-at-smith-college-resigns

Katie on disappearing lesbians:
https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/where-have-all-the-lesbians-gone-0a7

Glenn Greenwald on his experience "trending as a transphobe and biphobe":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXXJoOsdoNE&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=GlennGreenwald

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.blockedandreported.org/subscribe

Episode 52: Reply All Is Melting Down Like Some Sort Of Delectable Queso Dip Appropriated By A White Bon Appetit Editor Feb 19, 2021

Show notes

Hoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo boy. Reply All, an excellent podcast, is melting down. What happened? What does it have to do with Bon Apetit? Why does new keep breaking immediately after Jesse and Katie record an episode?

Show notes/Links:

Jesse on his rejection:

https://twitter.com/jessesingal/status/1361125261220196356

A couple great episodes of Reply All:

The Case of the Missing Hit: https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/o2h8bx

Shine On You Crazy Goldman

https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/2oh933/44-shine-on-you-crazy-goldman

Adam Rapaport resigns (not fired, like Jesse says):

https://www.npr.org/2020/06/09/872697289/chief-editor-at-bon-app-tit-resigns-after-racially-offensive-photo-surfaces

Test Kitchen episodes of Reply All:

https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/dvhzkdo/172-the-test-kitchen-chapter-1

https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/awheda3/173-the-test-kitchen-chapter-2

Eric Eddings' thread denouncing Reply All's alleged toxicity:

https://twitter.com/eeddings/status/1361789128006897668

Everyone reflexively agreeing with it without knowing whether it is 100% true:

https://twitter.com/eeddings/status/1361789128006897668/retweets/with_comments

PJ Vogt's apology:

https://twitter.com/PJVogt/status/1362233699220258818

Sruthi Pinnamaneni's:

https://twitter.com/sruthiri/status/1362254842270519296

FdB is not A-OK with NYC (media): https://fredrikdeboer.com/2021/02/15/scott-alexander-is-not-in-the-gizmodo-media-slack

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.blockedandreported.org/subscribe

Episode 51: [Yoda Voice:] Cancelled, You Are Feb 13, 2021

Show notes

Should Gina Carano have been fired from her job on the hit Star Wars show "A Candalabra" for being a dumb conservative with Boomerlike posting tendencies? The whole crew gets together to discuss. Also, Katie talks about her relationship with an old Trump supporter and Jesse looks back fondly on his grad-school trip to Israel and Palestine that solved that conflict once and for all.

Show notes/Links:

Bret Stephens in the New York... Post???????: https://nypost.com/2021/02/11/read-the-column-the-new-york-times-didnt-want-you-read/

Haywire trailer aka Gina Carano waiing on dudes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpffbDjWlog&ab_channel=MovieclipsTrailers

The redubbing incident: https://www.slashfilm.com/gina-carano-confirms-voice-altered-haywire/

Robby Soave on Carano: https://reason.com/2021/02/11/disney-cancels-the-mandalorian-star-gina-carano-over-provocative-social-media-posts/

Deadline: https://deadline.com/2021/02/mandalorian-gina-carano-lucas-film-responds-to-controversial-statement-1234691898/

The "anti-Semitic" post that clearly isn't: https://twitter.com/jessesingal/status/1359701663901245442

The Freedom for Humanity mural Carano eventually posted a version of: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_for_Humanity

A Carano-sympathetic take: https://www.eviemagazine.com/post/people-are-trying-to-cancel-gina-carano-for-what-exactly/

Jesse in Ramallah, solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict via the healing power of sport:

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.blockedandreported.org/subscribe

BONUS: Two More New York Times Departures Raise Some Troubling Questions About Disrespect Of Peruvian Shamans Feb 11, 2021

Show notes

Jesse and Katie talk about a disturbing bit of listener feedback and the recent departures from the Times, under questionable circumstances, of Andy Mills and Donald McNeil Jr. Are the worst norms of campus culture seeping into major media institutions? To hear the answer, you'll have to listen. (It's 'yes.')

(Correction: At around 8:00 in the recording, Jesse originally referred to Rukmini Callamachi as a "woman of color." She isn't one. The error has been snipped out and free listeners will never hear it. Jesse apologizes for the misracing. Also, race is a poisonous fiction.)

Show notes/Links:

The Cut on Andy Mills: https://www.thecut.com/2018/02/at-wnyc-an-uncertain-path-out-of-scandal.html

His resignation note: https://www.andymills.work/resignation

The Times on both resignations: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/05/business/media/donald-mcneil-andy-mills-leave-nyt.html

John McWhorter is skeptical of collapsing the use/mention distinction: https://johnmcwhorter.substack.com/p/the-n-word-as-slur-vs-the-n-word

NHJ not great on anonymous sources...: https://twitter.com/jessesingal/status/1358780440774082561

...or the question of whether the NYT has published "that word" much: https://twitter.com/jessesingal/status/1358781725652975618

Because it has: https://rb.gy/pm6bpc

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.blockedandreported.org/subscribe

Episode 50: Could Detransitioners Be Any More Bigoted? (With Detransitioner Carey Callahan) Feb 06, 2021

Show notes

After Jesse tells Katie a touching story about shoveling food into his face-hole, and the hosts discuss his latest Twitter-feud -- this one with a noted New Yorker food critic (not staff writer) -- the hosts discuss a Slate article about detransition that seems geared at painting that communtiy in a particularly negative and reactionary light. But Cary Callahan, a detransitioner, therapist, and activist (who, to be fair, Katie and Jesse already knew before this all popped up), doesn't think this is a fair assessment, so she joins the pod for a conversation about her own experiences and what she thinks the Slate article misses.

Show notes/Links:

Jesse criticizes Helen: https://twitter.com/jessesingal/status/1354851768090439684

Helen's thoughtful response forces Jesse to reconsider his position:

https://twitter.com/jessesingal/status/1355200463029874693

https://twitter.com/jessesingal/status/1355974150129655813

The Slate article about detransitioners: https://slate.com/human-interest/2021/02/detransition-movement-star-ex-gay-explained.html

Katie's detrans article: https://www.thestranger.com/features/2017/06/28/25252342/the-detransitioners-they-were-transgender-until-they-werent

Jesse's detrans article: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/07/when-a-child-says-shes-trans/561749/

Carey Callahan's excellent stuff:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CareyCallsBS

The Economist: https://www.economist.com/open-future/2019/12/03/gender-identity-is-hard-but-jumping-to-medical-solutions-is-worse

Medium:

https://medium.com/@mariacatt42/in-which-i-fail-to-find-you-any-gate-keeping-622c447a835f

https://medium.com/@mariacatt42/how-to-do-your-own-differential-diagnosis-and-why-its-total-b******t-that-you-would-have-to-461077985659

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.blockedandreported.org/subscribe

Episode 49: It's Unbelievable That Glenn Greenwald Fired A New York Times Editor Just For Getting The Chills Jan 29, 2021

Show notes

After Katie tells Jesse about a very disturbing dream she had about him, the hosts perform some valuable service journalism by explaining to listeners the nature of stonks and bons and hedge funs. Then they turn their attention to the story of Lauren Wolfe, a New York Times gig-editor who was fired after tweeting that watching Joe Biden's plane land gave her the 'chills.' Fair? Unfair? Inconsistently applied standards? Lot to unpack.

Show notes/Links:

STONKS:

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/stonks

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/01/the-complete-morons-guide-to-gamestops-stock-roller-coaster/

Lauren Wolfe:

Yashar Ali's thread: https://twitter.com/yashar/status/1352471654425743361

Josh Shahryar's thread: https://twitter.com/JShahryar/status/1353142366656372741

Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/01/25/lauren-wolfe-tweet-nyt-dismissal/

Vanity Fair: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/01/inside-the-new-york-times-firing-of-lauren-wolfe

Yascha Mounk on the firing of David Shor: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/06/stop-firing-innocent/613615/

Katie on Jack Smith IV: https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2018/09/28/33049349/a-progressive-writer-was-bad-boyfriend-and-then-he-was-fired-for-it

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.blockedandreported.org/subscribe

Episode 48: Ethan Watters On The Latest Skirmish In The Never-Ending Memory Wars Jan 23, 2021

Show notes

Katie and Jesse bring on Ethan Watters, an author and freelance journalist who helped debunk the recovered-memory craze back in the 1990s, to discuss the most recent development in that area: an article in The Cut that Watters does not think does a good and accurate job relating the (scant) scientific evidence for recovered memories. The hosts and Watters also discuss certain arguable therapeutic parallels between the recovered-memory movement and treatment for youth gender dysphoria, as well as the general tendency of liberals to violate their "We <3 Science" stance fairly regulary when moral outrage is afoot.

Show notes/Links:

The Cut article in question: https://www.thecut.com/article/false-memory-syndrome-controversy.html

And the podcast: https://www.thecut.com/2021/01/the-cut-podcast-the-truth-about-false-memories.html

Ethan's books:

Making Monsters: False Memories, Psychotherapy, And Sexual Hysteria: https://www.amazon.com/Making-Monsters-Memories-Psychotherapy-Hysteria/dp/0520205839

Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche:

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Crazy-Like-Us/Ethan-Watters/9781416587095

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.blockedandreported.org/subscribe

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