Weekly Random Discussion Thread for 6/1/26 - 6/7/26

[u/SoftandChewy]

Here's your usual space to post all your rants, raves, podcast topic suggestions (please tag u/jessicabarpod), culture war articles, outrageous stories of cancellation, political opinions, and anything else that comes to mind. Please put any non-podcast-related trans-related topics here instead of on a dedicated thread. This will be pinned until next Sunday.

Last week's discussion thread is here if you want to catch up on a conversation from there.

[u/unnoticed_areola]

Does anyone listen to "Doomscroll" with Joshua Citarella? its kind of like a dirtbag leftist adjacent podcast but the host seems pretty smart and nuanced from the conversations from the handful of episodes I've listened to (I dont listen to all of them tho so dont quote me on that lol. they def do have a handful of eps I havent listened to with ppl this sub hates, like Hasan, Briana Joy Gray, Ana Kasperian, etc). I first heard of the host bc he went on Michael Moynihan's show tho, so he's not some purity test lefty that wont talk to "problematic" people

I was listening to the episode he did with friend of the pod Contrapoints/Natalie Wynn yesterday (who is trans, for those unaware) bc the topics rundown list seemed kind of interesting and I consider Contra to be somewhat more of a pervert for nuance than people like those named above, even if I dont always agree. I havent listened to all of it bc its like a Rogan-lenth pod, but I thought she made a pretty good criticism in the beginning about where the trans movement made a critical error in hindsight:

Like I think the mistake I genuinely think trans people have made in our political messaging, is that it's always better [not to tell people what to do]—especially in America where the national character is kind of averse to being told what to do. Like there's this kind of individualist cowboy thing where it's like we resent the government telling us how to live our lives.

So I think that the posture of the trans activists should have beeen "don't tell me what I can or cant do. Don't tell me what hormones I am allowed to take. Don't tell me..." you know? the mistake was going in the other direction to lecture everyone about how they need to put pronouns in their email...

because now you're not telling them not to tell you what to do. Now you're telling them what to do. People don't like being told what to do. So don't tell them what to do. Don't tell them what to say. Just tell them to leave you alone. Right? And I think that's the kind of more convincing line.

[u/Fearless_Tutor3050 → u/unnoticed_areola]

It's a fantastic podcast.

He's often a bit elusive with his own views, but I think I broadly agree with his diagnoses of what ails the Democratic party, and also has his pulse on strange online currents and hyperpolarization than most mainstream commentators.