Other Podcasts

I finished this last night.  7 eps at about an hour each, and she said there will be an epilogue coming out in about a month too.

It was, as you predicted it might be, really interesting.  I would say the host is definitely "on Rowling's side" but I didn't find her coverage to be biased.  She's a very thorough and thoughtful interviewer, asking probing questions to really make Rowling defend her take instead of just lobbing softballs at her.  And she also made sure to include the perspective of some of Rowling's critics, with an entire episode centered on her interview of 2 trans people who've been outspoken about her.  One of them (a 17-year-old female to male trans) made a lot of good points about his perspective on her comments; not nearly enough to change my mind about whether or not she's a transphobe, but he was at least thougtful.  The other one (a YouTube-famous male to female trans) had a decent theory about direct vs. indirect bigotry, but her application of the theory to Rowling's comments was a rambling mess that left me disliking her and thinking she's not actually paying attention to what was said and is just doing the "everyone who disagrees with me is a transhobe" thing.


The final ep - titled "What if You're Wrong?" - was particularly good, as both Rowling and Phelps-Roper were very open and honest about the way they challenge themselves and question their convictions.  One nugget from that episode that really stuck with me is that Rowling said she has listened to her critics' arguments, and read books and articles by trans activists to try to understand their side and see if there's any evidence to disprove her own concerns.  But despite this effort, they continue to scream, "We just want you to listen to us!"  She made the point that what they really mean is "We just want you to agree with us."  Which to me is probably my biggest gripe with trans activists specifically and a lot of "the left" generally.  They are just so utterly consumed with blind faith that they're "on the right side of history" that they can't possibly fathom that anyone could think differently.  So if you aren't aligned with them, you're dangerous/bigoted/whatever.  It's so exhausting.

Anyway, twas a good pod.  I think some of you would like it.