Popaganda

This week, Dahlia and Amy get upset about student loans. Elizabeth Warren's campaign recently unveiled a student loan forgiveness plan as part of her platform, finally seriously centering the student debt crisis as something the government should help alleviate. How we talk about the student loan crisis is important because it can shift the focus from student responsibility to how predatory loaning is screwing us all. And we still want to know what you want to see re-booted in Amy vs Dahlia! Text “reboot” to 503-855-6485 to let us know what you think! WATCH Barry Jenkins's deeply moving "If Beale Street Could Talk" is now on Hulu and a must-watch of this James Baldwin adaptation about Black love against a harsh reality of structural anti-Black violence.

This week, Dahlia and Amy get into the newest marketing ploy around consent: condoms that require four hands to open. These kinds of throwaway, viral products commodify ideas around sexual violence without actually working to solve a problem (while hoisting the blame for sexual assault away from the perpetrator), and we’re sick of it. And in Amy vs. Dahlia, we argue about what blast-from-the-past TV show needs to make a comeback. Text “reboot” to 503-855-6485 to let us know what you think!  

Rebroadcasted from February 2017: History isn’t static—it’s the stories we tell ourselves about the past. And that story changes depending on who’s doing the telling. On this episode, we explore what it means to tell your own history in three different ways. Iranian-American comedian Negin Farsad talks with us being a super patriotic teen and her new book, How to Make White People Laugh. Then, writer Jessica Machado discusses the life and music of blueswoman Bessie Smith, who told her own story in song in the 1920s and 30s. Finally, we call up brilliant scholar Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz to dig into her work, An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States. Listen in! 

This week, Dahlia and Amy dig into Jordan Peele's latest horror film, "Us." Lots of spoilers while they talk about how the film fits into genre canons, symbolism, and what can it all mean? And in Amy vs. Dahlia, an argument about the worst of adulting. There are so many terrible things to choose from, but is it paying your bills on time or having to cook yourself? Let us know what you can't stand about being grown. Text “Adult” to 503-855-6485 to let us know what you think!

In this episode, we’re going to be talking about an emotion you’ve probably heard a lot about lately: empathy. The way we talk about it, it’s almost like a superpower: it’s like we want to believe that the cure to political divisiveness, racism, and even war lies in the act of imagining exactly how someone else feels. But is empathy really going to save the world? First, Dr. Carolyn Pedwell, associate professor in Cultural Studies at the University of Kent, explains how different people define “empathy” and use it to achieve various, and sometimes opposing, goals. One of those parties is the virtual reality industry, and tech journalist Rose Eveleth explains the potentials and pitfalls of empathic VR experiences. Then we go into another sort of empathy experience with cartoonist Ben Passmore, whose comic and animated short, “Your Black Friend,” tackles empathy in a different, sharper way. Finally, we talk with scholar and activist Frances Lee (of the Bitch 50!) about how we can practice empathy better: in a w

This week, Dahlia and Amy get into all things scammy. The recent news of what the FBI called “Operation Varsity Blues” has revealed a multi-million dollar college admissions scheme run by an organization to aid wealthy parents in bribing university administrators and college prep tutors to pay their way into elite schools. Another day, another story about the wealthy taking advantage of systems built to maintain their status! And Amy vs. Dahlia wants to know who’s the worse scammer: baritone Silicon Valley liar, Elizabeth Holmes, or Fyre Fest disaster bro, Billy McFarland! What’s your choice? Text “Scam” to 503-855-6485 to let us know what you think!

From the archive: Discussions of sex work often get mired in a couple basic questions: is it “good” or “bad”? Are sex workers empowered or not? But sex workers are a diverse group—their experiences aren’t all good or bad. On this show, we try to reframe the issue by exploring the legal and financial realities of sex work. For example: How does a dominatrix do her taxes? What kinds of healthcare do sex workers need? How would decriminalizing sex work change peoples’ lives?   

This week, Dahlia and Amy dig into the world of YA drama. Recently, two YA authors have chosen to cancel their own debut novels after being called out by some readers for "problematic" issues in the text. Dahlia and Amy talk about the effects of cancel culture that demands perfect art. Also, a Petty Political Pminute on what may be the road ahead to 45's impeachment. And Amy vs. Dahlia are debating the worst of the worst: manspreading vs mansplaning! What’s your choice? Text “Man” to 503-855-6485 to let us know what you think!

This week, Dahlia and Amy are back! They’ve got pop culture picks! They’ve got read, watch, and listen recommendations! They’ve got so many rage-induced opinions! In recent months, controversies have popped up in the news with the discovery of prominent politicians and actors donning blackface and prestige design houses releasing couture designs with unmistakable references to blackface. Amy vs. Dahlia wants to know who should win the Oscar’s Best Picture award! Amy thinks the beautifully-filmed “Roma” is the winner and Dahlia’s brilliant pick is “The Favourite.” What’s your choice? Text “Oscars” to 503-855-6485 to let us know what you think!

In this episode, Dahlia, Amy, and special guest Soleil share their pop culture faves that got them through this year, from Shirkers and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, to online hoaxes, sandwich outfits, and Queer Eye. We've celebrated the best of this year's pop culture, and now we're ready for you, 2019.

This week, Dahlia and Amy round up some of the big hits of bad takes. From Lena Dunham's letter from the editor where she admits to lying to protect a rapist to a weird piece dissecting Ariana Grande's "thank u, next" music video, who gets to make mistakes over and over again? Writers get the brunt of the backlash, but how much responsibility should the editor take when they're the ones who click "publish"? Amy vs. Dahlia wants you to weigh in on the best winter flick! Amy can watch "Home Alone" every year and Dahlia loves Nora Ephron's classic "When Harry Met Sally." Who do you wanna chill with more? Kevin or Sally? Text “winter” to 503-855-6485 to let us know what you think!

This week, Dahlia and Amy talk about what real allyship can look like in Hollywood and beyond. Recently, Porter magazine hosted a roundtable with Gabrielle Union, Gina Rodriguez, Ellen Pompeo, and Emma Roberts where Pompeo called on white folks to do better and Rodriguez brought up the issue of pay inequity. Who gets uncomfortable in these conversations and does it create real change? And, as promised, Amy's fave pop culture moment is this the Black Mirror-esque anti-Amazon ad. In this week’s Amy vs. Dahlia, we’re hashing out the holidays: Are you Bah! Humbag! or Merry Everything? Text “Holiday” to 503-855-6485 to let us know what you think! 

At the end of summer, when the super hot days get rarer, the signs of fall appear: reddish leaves, leather jackets, people talking about football, and pumpkin spice lattes. Like death and taxes, the pumpkin spice latte seems inevitable, and it takes up an incredible amount of space in the public consciousness. So yes, we’re succumbing to the siren song and devoting a whole episode to the PSL. So why are we so obsessed with pumpkin spice? And why is it so easy to hate on the drink and the people who consume it? How did this assortment of spices from the Indian subcontinent become the hallmark of basicness, and what can its autumnal popularity tell us about capitalism, misogyny, and the need to belong? On this episode, we have a special guest! Backtalk’s Amy Lam reads an excerpt of a spicy ode to squash. In our first segment, you’ll hear from Tiffany Midge, a poet and humorist who wrote “An Open Letter to White Girls Regarding Pumpkin Spice and Cultural Appropriation.” After that, you’ll get the specialty coffe

On this episode of the show, we’ll be talking about the Middle Ages: that period in European history that most of us learned about through Game of Thrones and Robin Hood. We think of it as racially homogenous, rigidly gendered, and brutish, but scholars like the ones Soleil talks to in today’s show have more nuanced interpretations. And yet, white supremacists within the alt right are attempting to claim the Middle Ages for their own political ends. What is the truth, and why does it matter? First, you’ll hear from Dr. Tory Pearman on the lives and public perception of people with disabilities in Medieval Europe. Then, Dr. Dorothy Kim elaborates on the connections between the alt right and Medieval Studies and what scholars like her are doing to take back control over the field they love.

This week, Dahlia and Amy update on the latest horrifying policies the Trump administration are hoping to force into law. Beyond the midterm elections, the monsters in the White House are working overtime to push through harmful legislation, including limiting gender to being recognized to what one is assigned at birth, an end to birthright citizen, and more terribleness. In this week’s Amy vs. Dahlia, we’re debating the worse fake politician: Veep’s Selina Meyers or Idiocracy’s President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho! Text “Politician” to 503-855-6485 to let us know what you think!

This episode is all about how cool the Devil is, especially for people of marginalized genders and sexualities. The devil is all over popular media, not as a straight symbol of absolute evil, but as something a little more nuanced and approachable—and sometimes even a little queer. Is this a sign of the end times and the moral degradation of humanity? Or does the character’s appeal to young people speak to a greater rejection of good vs. evil binaries? To find out, Soleil spoke with two experts. First, you’ll hear from Megan Kennedy, the executive director of Utah’s Religious Education Series, on the political side of evil. Then you’ll hear from Holly Lyman Antolini, the rector at St. James’s Episcopal Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on what it means to disregard the idea of absolute evil. We hope you enjoy the show!

This week, Dahlia and Amy get creepy and ghouly about screen horror (as opposed to the horror of our everyday lives). In this Halloweeny episode, we dig into the role of horror film and TV and how it helps us cope with our lived realities. We've also got a Petty Political Pminute starring our least favorite ventriloquist dummy, Jared Kushner. In this week’s Amy vs. Dahlia, we're debating the metaphor of the Haunting of Hill House: Is it all about childhood trauma or white supremacy? Text “Haunting” to 503-855-6485 to let us know!

Even if you’ve never heard of Rebecca Solnit, you know who she is. It was Solnit’s 2008 essay at the blog TomDigest that identified the concept we know today as mansplaining. (“Most women fight wars on two fronts, one for whatever the putative topic is and one simply for the right to speak, to have ideas, to be acknowledged to be in possession of facts and truths, to have value, to be a human being.”) But long before Solnit became a patron saint of the extremely online, she was an activist, a historian, a mapmaker, and a prolific author of books on a dizzying breadth of topics: the history of walking (2000’s Wanderlust); the motion-photography pioneer Eadweard Muybridge (2004’s River of Shadows); the emerging evidence of climate change (2018’s Drowned River); and ambient cultural misogyny (2015’s essay collection Men Explain Things to Me). Solnit’s new book of essays, titled Call Them By Their True Names: American Crises (And Essays), connects the Trump administration, economic inequality, Indigenous history,

On this episode of the show, we’ll be talking all about veganism and the politics of eating plants and meat. Is it possible to reduce it to a diet or wellness thing, or is it inherently political? What is the connection between industrialized meat production and patriarchy? And why does Western culture conflate eating meat with masculinity, and what does that have to do with climate change? Soleil will talk to two folks about the place of veganism in politics. First, you’ll hear from Carol J. Adams, author of The Sexual Politics of Meat and a recent cookbook, Protest Kitchen, on masculine anxieties around meat-eating and the progressive case for veganism. Then, Alicia Kennedy, a food and spirits writer and host of the Meatless podcast, on the complex relationships all people have with their own food choices.

This week, Dahlia and Amy are tired, depressed, and angry—what are we supposed to do with all these awful feelings? In the wake of the Supreme Court confirmation for Brett Kavanaugh, we’re thinking about who gets to display feelings and what it tells us about where our feelings belong. Mostly, we feel rage, but it isn’t enough and we’re thinking about what productive anger can look like. And in this week’s Amy vs. Dahlia, we want to know what’s more annoying about feminist marketing: all the vaginas or the faux self-care? Text “Marketplace” to 503-855-6485 to let us know!