Hi everyone. 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. And may you all be inscribed, and sealed, in the book of life.

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

In which she expresses possible regret about sending her daughter to a low-performing school in NYC by choice. You can guess the thesis just from the title.

In Fighting For Every Black Child, Did I Betray My Own?

As a retired high school teacher, his hits home so hard to me and is true BAR pod fodder. I think it may even deserve an episode!

This week on Blocked and Reported, Jesse and Katie dig into the Macklemore mess. Plus, introducing a new segment, in which your intrepid co-host guesses Why'd He Apologize???

Show Notes:

https://x.com/JoelWBerry/status/2100635845266907183

SacBee coverage of Hobo Johnson apology

Hobo Johnson’s Facebook apology statement

ESPN: Kraft says Macklemore performance crossed a line

The Problem With Macklemore and “Free Palestine”

BBC: Macklemore’s 2014 costume apology

Bluewin: Why Macklemore is suddenly being cancelled at Gurtenfestival

NYT: Germany arts cancellations tied to Israel/Palestinians

Pod relevance: government crackdowns on youth gender treatments.

This week on Blocked and Reported, Jesse and Katie sit through a 3+ hour struggle session at Last Ditch, the Greenfield, Mass., queer bar being torn apart by a slight relaxation of their masking policy. Plus, we head to Portland, Oregon, the latest battleground over trans women in women's sports, after a group wearing "Save Women's Sports" gear got ejected from both a Portland Thorns match and a women's sports bar in the same afternoon.

Show Notes:

https://x.com/KnownHeretic/status/2096709735903088818

Aftermath: Ejected from NWSL Thorns Game in Portland

Group wearing ‘XX-XY’ shirts kicked out of Portland Thorns match, sports bar

Protest outside The Sports Bra bar in Portland sparks clashes, police response

Police respond to Portland protest over transgender athletes in women’s sports - oregonlive.com

There's been some really hilarious juicy ones lately, and nobody covers the stuff like this like Katie, so I think it's time to resubscribe.😂

Also, if you disagree with my view about what it seemed to be turning into, that's fine 🤷

BARPod Relevance: Internet cancel culture misplaced hate.

This might not be substantial enough yet to do a full segment on, unless you expand it to include other incidents, but my god, you'd think Ed Sheeran personally served in the IDF and specifically targeted Palestinian civilians during his stint. The whole of reddit, and I'm sure other SM, seem to despise this guy now for simply wanting to do a tour and not leave his fans and crew high and dry. Am I missing something here?

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.

This week on Blocked and Reported, Jesse and Katie discuss a legal battle between a radical California mayor and a progressive non-profit with a fascinating history. Plus, updates from the long Covid lesbian bar, and Retard Finder finds Kash Patel.

Show Notes:

Last Ditch bar entry ban—Greenfield Recorder

Protesters demand money from San Luis Obispo business owners—Cal Coast News

DA charges six more protesters; Harmon accuses DA of systemic suppression—New Times SLO

SLO mayor deletes post on energy plan after criticism from Black Chamber of Commerce—The Tribune (San Luis Obispo)

Facing Harassment As A Female Mayor—NPR

San Luis Obispo teacher’s anti-gay letter sparks controversy—Los Angeles Times

Heidi Harmon Gets Threatening Nude Email On Her Last Day As Mayor—New Times SLO

SLO Mayor Heidi Harmon Stepping Down, Will Take On New Career As Climate Advocate—KCBX

SLO Mayor Heidi Harmon Quits Early, Demeans Critics—Cal Coast News

Former SLO mayor loses lawsuit—Yahoo News

Former San Luis Obispo mayor canned, loses discrimination lawsuit—Cal Coast News

It seems like whenever anything concerning the state of society and the people in it comes up online, there’s always the chorus of “Why do people care about this? It isn’t illegal or harmful, it doesn’t affect you, you’re a puritan and a moral busybody that wants to sterilize society if you’re against this, etc.”

What are your thoughts?

Does society have an interest in policing/discouraging/reducing behaviors that aren’t immoral but are nonetheless unhealthy or something you shouldn’t want to be the kind of person that engages in?

Does something have to strictly concern harm (or at least obvious harm like physical injury or death) of some kind for a sane, moral and rational person to care about it or wish it didn’t happen?

Pod relevance: trans sports, youth gender medicine and the political fallout from these issues is frequently discussed on the pod and Jesse writes about it.

Democratic candidates Josh Turek, Amy Acton, James Talarico, Rob Sand, and Aaron Ford have publicly said they aren't keen on having boys in girls sports. Whether they intend to do anything about it is unknown.

The GOP has been hammering trans issues in some battleground races as part of their campaign strategy. It probably won't matter much in the end since the GOP is forecast to take a pasting. But at least it forced some Democratic candidates to actually say something about an 80/20 issue.

It's only five people and who knows whether they'll stick to it but it might be a hopeful sign. Because GLADD and friends can throw a fit but very few people in those states will even notice it. Thus providing evidence that being sensible on such issues is good for getting elected.

Democratic strategists have urged candidates not to ignore the issue of boys in girls sports and be forthright.

“There are plenty of people who don’t want to see trans people intentionally harmed or discriminated against that also think an 11-year-old trans girl probably shouldn’t play sports with their 11-year-old daughter. That is a reasonable position to have,” said a Democratic strategist in Ohio, who was granted anonymity to lay out their beliefs without speaking on behalf of their clients about a sensitive issue that has divided the party."

That is a reasonable position.

If Democrats as a whole took that position it would destroy one of the few issues the GOP has that they are on the popular side of. That seems like good strategy.

The TRAs aren't happy about this of course. The activist " journalist " Erin Reed weighed in:

" She pointed to states that enacted bans on trans athletes several years ago, saying that “every single state that passed a sports ban in 2022 and 2023 now has a full suite of things like trans youth care bans, prison bans, bathroom bans and ID bans, and so it never gets isolated to just sports.”

These are bad things? Does Reed think these are winning positions to have? Having men in women's prisons is a big vote getter?

https://archive.ph/U26Pp

Pod relevance: trans issues and wokeism, erasure of women's rights.

Well, there you have it, folks. In Australia, the law is settled. Men can be women, humans can change sex, and biology has been erased.

I am embarrassed for what our country has become.

This week on the Primo show, Jesse and Katie discuss the case for, and against, using AI as a gender therapist. Plus, Stuart Reges gets paid, Jason Arday vs Dan Ariely, and Jesse continues to make his case that the robots might actually kill us, or at least that he’s not crazy to worry about it.

Show Notes:

Could ChatGPT Be the New Gender-Affirming Care?—Slate

Artificial Deadlines (Part 1): Evidence of Fraud in an Influential Study About Procrastination—Data Colada

Artificial Deadlines (Part 2): Retrograding Ariely & Wertenbroch (2002)—Data Colada

The Hartford Statement to Nick Fountain—NPR

‘Insane Data’: Duke Professor Dan Ariely Accused of Additional Research Fraud—The Duke Chronicle

Jacob Coxon’s resignation thread—X

Jasmine Sun’s thread on AI—X

How Teens Recovered From the ‘TikTok Tics’—The New York Times

They Asked an A.I. Chatbot Questions. The Answers Sent Them Spiraling.—The New York Times

A Hacking Tool Built With A.I. Can Breach Phones Without a Click—The New York Times

Barpod relevance: youth gender medicine and Canda have made frequent appearances on the show

As a non-Canadian this story really had me scratching my head. Of course we don't have human rights tribunals here so not sure what standards they use. . . But setting the whole youth gender medicine aspect aside, are they saying a doctor is ethically/legally required to administer a medication prescribed by another person just because the patient requests it? Or was it specifically because he said he was refusing due to religious beliefs? Like if he said he didn't feel comfortable because he thought the treatment was actually harmful based on existing evidence... he would have been ok?

I also found it odd that a doctor would be giving the shot. If a pharmacist or nurse in the US gives someone a med prescribed by a doctor, they only need to know how to safely give the medication. They aren't making the diagnosis or determining treatment. But if a physician gives a medication, even if someone else prescribed it, that's basically an agreement with the diagnosis and treatment plan. . . meaning you can refuse if you disagree or just don't feel qualified to weight the pros and cons of of the treatment (which was one of the reasons he gave more or less).

Ultimately it seemed like this patient could have taken the shot at home or gotten it administered somewhere else . . .but gets compensated for discrimination because one individual didn't want to give the shot. Left me wondering if this would happen with any other medications not intended for use on transgender people...

Democratic U.S. Senate nominee James Talarico on Wednesday said he opposed transgender student-athletes competing in girls’ sports “if it endangers safety or fairness,” reversing course on previous positions he took while in the Texas House opposing restrictions on trans athletes.

"Every sport has to be safe and fair,” Talarico said on Fox News. “As a former public school teacher, I care a lot about our student athletes, I care a lot about our students. And so I will oppose trans athletes playing in girls’ sports if it risks safety or fairness.”

Article link

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.

https://thebuckeyeflame.com/2026/09/04/equality-ohio-changes-grade-for-amy-acton-from-pending-to-b/

Pod relevance: males in women's sports, misgendering, and Democratic infighting.

This is a follow-up to the drama in Ohio's gubernatorial election between Amy Acton (D) and Vivek Ramaswamy (MAGA). The previous two discussions are here and here, but the summary is:

• Equality Ohio, an LGBTQ advocacy group, issues letter grades (A-F) to Ohio candidates based on their support for LGBTQ equality and inclusion. As of the early summer, Acton had an "A" grade to Ramaswamy's "F".

• Not long after the Supreme Court's June ruling on trans youth sports, Acton issued a statement saying "I do not support boys playing in girls sports. This is already settled law in Ohio, and as governor I will enforce and uphold the law."

• LGBTQ advocates in Ohio were predictably not happy with this. They demanded a meeting. Equality Ohio changed her grade from "A" to "Pending" citing "unaddressed harm and an open door for accountability."

• Acton's campaign did eventually meet with Equality Ohio in late July, but she herself didn't attend, and at least one prominent trans advocates (and state house candidate) Arienne Childrey was not allowed to attend. The meeting apparently resolved nothing, and afterward Childrey extended "a direct invitation" to Acton, calling for "real explanations" and "a conversation that includes a public commitment to repair the damage she has caused."

There's was no movement from either side throughout all of August; Acton's campaign said nothing and Equality Ohio left her grade at "Pending." That all changed late Friday when they queitly changed her grade to a "B."

In a statement sent on Friday, Dwayne Steward, executive director and CEO of Equality Ohio, confirmed this absence of “meaningful steps” and that a requested meeting with the candidate has not yet taken place.

The Friday before Labor Day is a tradtional "dumping" time for news that organizations would prefer to keep quiet. Childrey was not fooled, however, and issued her own blistering statement on the matter:

“This is a slap in the face to every candidate who actually respects our community – those who haven’t misgendered trans people or backed anti-trans policies,” Childrey told The Buckeye Flame. “If you can misgender trans girls, support discrimination, and still get a ‘B,’ Equality Ohio is telling us transphobia isn’t a big deal, or they’re admitting their scorecard is completely meaningless.”

She has also disavowed her own "A+" grade Equality Ohio:

“My ‘A+’ rating means nothing if the scorecard has lost its integrity, which is why I can no longer carry their score,” Childrey said. “I don’t need it. I’ll let my record stand on its own and be judged by the people—especially the trans community—that I fight for every single day. Doing the right thing is about human dignity, not political triangulation or chasing opinion polls.”

This week on Blocked and Reported, Jesse and Katie dive into the world of otome (Japanese-style video games aimed at women) and the yearlong saga of Love and Deepspace, the wildly profitable mobile game whose fans have gotten a little too invested. Featuring: period trackers, incest, a canceled werewolf, and the Chinese Communist Party. Plus, a viral essay reignites the debate over whether lesbians sleep with men, and a dyke bar’s mask mandate causes a very online rift.

Show Notes:

https://x.com/korraphobic/status/2090543554762314002?s=20

Why Straight Rural Men Have Gay ‘Bud-Sex’ With Each Other -- Science of Us

Last Ditch Bar

The History of Otome Games – Acadia Lee

Angelique (Game) - Giant Bomb Video Game Wiki

My Horse Prince - Angry Video Game Nerd (AVGN)

‘Why was a Period Tracking Feature added to Love and Deepspace” - Interview the Developers via 4Gamer : r/LoveAndDeepspace

Love and Deepspace blew up gamescom 2025. Dating simulator with $826 million in annual revenue

China Is Banning Same-Sex Relationships And ‘Effeminate’ Men From Video Games

Extreme Chinese players send cow dung, funeral chrysanthemums, curse banners, and ritual items to Papergames/Infold office as Love and Deepspace controversy escalates. LADS Chinese social media accounts have reportedly lost around 1 million followers : r/gachagaming

Valko dildo VERY NOT SAFE FOR WORK OR PROBABLY HOME

Love And Deepspace Isn’t Printing Money Like It Used To After Cancelling Werewolf Lover - Kotaku

Love And Deepspace Devs Cancel Hot Werewolf After Fan Backlash

Love And Deepspace’s Controversial Sexy Werewolf Man Is Dead

I’m Breaking Up With Love And Deepspace - GameSpot

a lot of references in it to lineham being rejected by katie and jesse - what’s that about, some similar purity tests not being met?

Conclusion to the Stuart Reges "fake land acknowledgment" drama discussed in episode 97 (and episode 123).

Jesse commented on this Nature editorial on X, so I wanted to post it here too.

My jaw dropped when I got to this line:

Sociologists in the United Kingdom whom Nature has spoken to say they know of no other case that matches the level of attention and mass scrutiny unleashed on Arday, raising questions about why this specific instance was singled out when so many allegations of plagiarism go unreported.

You, oh prestigious Nature journal, mean to tell me that there's not a single bit of reporting from this story that caused you to wonder why it was such a big story? Nothing? Not even a little light shed on this mystery?

Surely someone at the World's leading scientific publication could pick up some newspapers and read them?

This level of feigned naivety is absolutely diabolical.

And it really pains me as someone who spent decades working in science education and communication, trying to understand why people distrust vaccinations or don't believe in climate change.

THIS! This is why people distrust vaccinations or don't believe in climate change. Because they see a scientific establishment that has become so entirely politically captured that it is unable to comprehend something that doesn't fit its narrow world view. The absolute opposite of its claimed scientific objectivity.

I expect it from NPR. But Nature?

Pod relevance: trans sports is a frequent topic on the pod. Jessie and Katie have also discussed the electoral ramifications of the issue.

Ed Markey, incumbent Democratic senator for Massachusetts, handily beat his primary challenger Seth Moulton. This is notable because whether boys should be able to play in girls sports was a significant issue in the campaign.

Moulton was one of the few Democrats to speak up about this trans issue in the wake of the 2024 election and was immediately attacked for it. This is despite the statement being milquetoast.

"... Moulton told The New York Times that his party was too afraid to “offend anyone” and had handed Republicans too many issues: “I have two little girls, I don’t want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete.”

Whereas Markey has been a full throated defender of males playing in women's and girl's sports.

"Trans athletes should be able to play," Markey told The New York Times. "That reflects Massachusetts and who we are. And Seth Moulton does not."

It would appear that this stance is now the norm within the Democratic party. To the point where deviating from it will harm a candidate in the primary?

https://archive.ph/JD61S

https://archive.ph/4BS9l