This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit femchaospod.substack.com Kat and Phoebe discuss the memory-holing of Kat's entire early career oeuvre, Phoebe's theory of eternal youth, and the culture critics who want every show to be an after-school special. LINKS: A reflection from Kat: The MTV News Archive Is Gone—and That's OK -Ph…

This month, two major elections have changed the European political landscape. In both France and the United Kingdom, progressive parties have overcome significant right-wing counterparts, overthrowing 14 years of British Conservative power and staving off Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party in a surprising result. Jews, as they often ar…

It was true before Oct. 7, but especially afterwards: an increasing number of progressive-minded people are viewing Jews as settlers in Israel. "Go back to Europe," some especially antisemitic ones chant at rallies. But it begs the question: if Jews are settlers in Israel, where aren't we settlers? Ben Wexler, a writer and academic who recently gra…

Kat and Phoebe do a post-mortem on the recent presidential debate. Links: Biden his time: Phoebe Maltz Bovy on watching the sorry state of U.S. politics from north of the border America Doesn’t Need Momala Harris | The Free Press This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fe…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit femchaospod.substack.com Kat and Phoebe discuss a kink-shaming incident in the Cyclades, a wife-seeking incident on Twitter, and a line of clothing that repels the sun, the men, or both. LINKS: -Who needs mail-order brides when there are truck-stop sweeties? https://x.com/shagbark_hick/s…

What does Palestine have in common with climate change, gender equality and indigenous rights? The Omnicause, that's what. In the modern era of left-wing protests, these issues become conflated—think queer Palestinians, viewed as indigenous to their homeland, fighting climate change with organic farming practices. Or something. Perhaps something no…

The trope of Hasidic women leaving their communities—particularly during a journey of queer self-discovery—is not exactly unique. And yet, memoirs and documentaries continue to come out, the latest being Kissing Girls on Shabbat by Sara Glass, who is now a therapist. After Phoebe Maltz Bovy reviewed the book for The CJN, she had more questions—so w…

We're taking the week off for Shavuot. Instead, we're airing a new episode of a podcast miniseries from our friends at the Jewish Public Library, called recollections. Avi and Phoebe will be back next week. May 2024 marks the 110th anniversary of the Jewish Public Library. Our opening season is a celebration of our Jewish Leftist roots in Montreal.…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit femchaospod.substack.com Kat and Phoebe discuss a traumatic tree takedown in Kat's neighborhood, a whisper network for women of a certain age, and a sundress that caused a civil war amongs online trad types. (Pictured: not the sundress, but a $10 doppelganger spotted in a local Charlotte…

Israel had some strange bedfellows in the news this week. The New York Times unveiled that country's Ministry of Diaspora Affairs created social media bots that posted AI-generated comments to influence American lawmakers and the general public; meanwhile, a rally against antisemitism in Manhattan drew headlines when it was revealed that the organi…

Phoebe apologizes for the print version of her bisexuals article appearing during Pride month, while Kat unpacks the controversy surrounding a certain judge's wife's flag-flying proclivities. Then: divorce! Does it make you hotter, or does it just make you sad? Links: When your wife is fond of flying flags: Inside the Clash That Prompted the Alitos…

When Israel's Judaica store, a prominent retailer in the Toronto area, announced it was closing after 40 years, it felt like another moment in an unfortunately increasing trend: the decline of Jewish "third spaces", places beyond the home and office where Jews feel comfortable and welcome. Synagogues are closing and merging; community centres are b…

Kat and Phoebe discuss a Catholic kicker's commencement-speech controversy, two literary autopsies of the Great Awokening, and whether communion wafers taste like flesh. LINKS: Harrison Butker is Catholic. So What? | The Free Press The speech in full : Bubba: A Cancel-Culture Casualty – but Not in a Town Without Pity | RealClearInvestigations Nelli…

Last September, Eitan Hersh, a political science professor at Tufts University in Boston, tried something that hasn't been done before: he created a class teaching conservative ideas to students of his private liberal college. He felt there was a gap in the school's poli-sci curriculum, sensing that graduates were leaving without understanding the …

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit femchaospod.substack.com Kat and Phoebe discuss a scandal in the pageant world, the disappearance of dick appreciation discourse, the relative dangers of men as versus bears, and the dating app that apologized for suggesting that people might want to use it to, uh, date. LINKS: Kat on th…

You may not know who Joe Roberts is. But some people online, who may or may not have ever met the man face-to-face, claim to know him extremely well—to the point that they are posting photos of his grandmothers' graves, scouring the web for his tweets and published articles, and making bold statements about whether he's really who he says he is. Wh…

College campuses have been heated spaces for Jewish students for a long time. The rapid spread of tent-in protests that began at Columbia University last month has only exacerbated the issue, giving an international platform to pro-Palestinian (and anti-Zionist) students and faculty members grounded in our post-secondary institutions. Jewish and no…

Kat delivers a traffic report from Norwalk, Conn., where a petroleum truck recently went boom. Then: Kat and Phoebe discuss the new sexy tennis movie Challengers, the undescended proverbial testicles of protesters, and the never-ending curse of being Harper's letter signatories. Links: The fireball that shut down the interstate! Kat at Unherd: Can …

As pro-Palestinian encampments pop up across Canadian campuses this week, protesting against university ties to Israel and threatening to keep their tents pitched until the war in Gaza ends, it helps to understand the broader context of how this all began. And if you ask the Columbia University students at ground zero of this movement how they feel…

Kat and Phoebe discuss a very horny theater critic, an uncommonly hot historian, and Uri Berliner's critique of NPR from inside the house. LINKS: Lea Ypi: "Advice for scholars: next time you lecture on Kant and revolutions at “Downing” Cambridge, make sure your hair is neatly tied and that you’re not blonde. Or else your research impact will be on …

For the third year in a row, Bonjour Chai is proud to present the Great Canadian Seder, a coming-together of notable and insightful Canadian Jews from across different demographics and denominations. Why is this year different from all other years? Because seders across Canada will likely be marred, like any good family gathering, by some kind of p…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit femchaospod.substack.com Kat and Phoebe discuss the mass bisexuality of Gen Z and the BookForum takedown of Lauren Oyler. LINKS: Kat on the bi boom: Gen Z-ers Are Identifying as Bisexual En Masse. Why? - Air Mail Phoebe on straight women: Straightness Studies | Who Do We Think We Are? | …

This week, the editor of Guernica resigned in protest of her own staff and publisher. The respected literary journal had recently published of an essay by an Israeli writer and translator, Joanna Chen, called "From the Edges of a Broken World". In the piece, Chen conveys Israelis, like their Palestinian neighbours, as human and worthy of compassion…

Kat and Phoebe discuss sexually adventurous podcasting, unwanted heirloom dining sets, the phenomenon of "divorce rings," the latest viral Cut essay about age gap relationships, and what to do when your foyer is too narrow to hold your collection of body parts in jars. LINKS: Kat and Phoebe on BARpod Twitter: Won’t someone think of the boomers’ fur…

Do your young kids have a smartphone? Most do. And parents have been witnessing the repercussions firsthand for years. This week, the subject came to the forefront when Jonathan Haidt, a Jewish writer, penned a piece in The Atlantic warning of the "terrible costs" of raising children with phones. A new mental health crisis, higher suicide rates, ev…

A slew of headlines came out this week, within Canada and beyond, warning of a rising tide of antisemitism within Canada. It's not just Fox News and the National Post—_when the Times of Israel is reporting on Canadian Jews worrying their "golden age" is over, and the _Globe and Mail warns of a "dangerous slide into antisemitism", you know things ha…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit femchaospod.substack.com Kat and Phoebe discuss the moral quandary of missing royalty. Links: Kate announces her cancer diagnosis: https://twitter.com/KensingtonRoyal/status/1771235267837321694 Everyone should be ashamed over Princess Kate but me | Ben Sixsmith | The Critic Magazine Opin…

Editor's Note: This episode was recorded one day before Kate Middleton revealed she had been diagnosed with cancer, and thus the episode makes no reference to her health issues. We wish her a speedy recovery. Kate Middleton, an English princess, made international headlines this past week for allegedly disappearing for a few weeks from the outside …

Malky Berkowitz wants a divorce. But the 29-year-old Orthodox woman, who lives in Kiryas Joel, north of New York City, can't get a _get—_a Jewish Orthodox divorce—because her husband won't allow it, even after four years of Berkowitz fighting for one. Her case is just one of many taken up by Adina Sash, a feminist Orthodox activist in Brooklyn who …

Kat and Phoebe discuss breast aesthetics, 90s nostalgia, and whether we're all taking too many drugs. Links: Are We Sunsetting Ass and Entering a Golden Age of Boobs? Sydney Sweeney has brought boobs back - The Spectator World Katherine Dee: “I think benzos and SSRIs are overprescribed for the same reason antibiotics and birth control are. Pharmace…

In the last month, several high-profile features have come out, in publications such as Time and The Atlantic, giving mainstream, non-Jewish audiences a glimpse into what life has been like for North American Jews since Oct. 7. One major point of coverage: pro-Palestinian (or anti-Israel) protests. The pictured painted by these articles and others,…

What is polyamory? It's the modern, glamorous, feminist version of non-monogamy that's branded as distinct from the old, patriarchal polygamy—often a man having multiple wives. Polyamory essentially refers to open relationships, in which couples are free to have sex with anyone they like, but remain fundamentally committed to each other. Co-host Ph…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit femchaospod.substack.com Kat and Phoebe talk about the sandwich anecdote that melted the internet, how they got jobs in journalism, and the one-way feud between two memoirists. Links: The origins of Sandwichgate: I Was a Heretic at The New York Times - The Atlantic Phoebe on sandwich dis…

The Jewish Public Library in Montreal came under fire last week when it pulled the books of Élise Gravel from its shelves, following a series of social media posts that the Montreal-born author and pro-Palestinian activist made that were critical of the Israeli government. The initial decision came after backlash from Jewish organizations—but, as h…

Kat and Phoebe discuss a fun philosophical question about desire, a fine literary essay about not getting divorced, and the sacred gossip machine known as the whisper network. Is it better to desire or be desired? Many journalists, etc weigh in: The Desire Question｜Dirt Emily Gould decompensates, turns decompensation into literature. Should I Leave…

In recent years, Jewish seminaries and synagogues have faced a problem: there aren't enough young people looking to become rabbis. This shortage has resulted in institutions becoming more lax about who they accept—bending, for example, denominational lines for a young rabbi who at least actually wants to be there. But then the question of Israel co…

Does Judaism need a rebrand? In the wake of Oct. 7—against a backdrop of rising Jew hatred, rampant anti-Zionism and more antisemitic conspiracy theories than ever before—some would argue we do. It's through that lens that Avi and Phoebe have noticed a number of organizations shift their marketing strategies. Speaking to the broader public, we've s…

Kat tells a story about accidentally installing a public toilet in her home, while Phoebe uncovers a conspiracy within the New York Times real estate section. Then: Taylor Swift! Is she old? Fat? Mineral? Vegetable? We may never know. Links: Nobody will ever know what you’re doing behind this door (just as long as you draw the curtain first)… The l…

Since Oct. 7, Jewish media outlets have skyrocketed in popularity. Comparing website traffic in November 2023 against November 2022, we here at The Canadian Jewish News saw visitors nearly double. What's more—those new heights have held strong ever since. It's a bittersweet byproduct of Israel's war with Hamas, and the subsequent spikes in antisemi…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit femchaospod.substack.com Kat and Phoebe discuss the cringiest response to Barbie's semi-snub at the Oscars, one lady's viral tweetstorm about the scourge of Zionists in the literary world, and the multifarious polyamorous discourse du jour. Links: We've had Kenough of this sort of thing:…

For much of the last century, Judaism became intertwined with Zionism—the belief that Israel is our homeland and being a good Jew requires support for, if not a migration to, the nascent State of Israel. But in the aftermath of Oct. 7, a sharp uptick of North American Jews have also begun speaking out more clearly against Israel—not just its govern…

Kat and Phoebe discuss the big gay intrigue over Taylor Swift, the contemporary contours of Mean Girl World, and the missing Jews of Only Murders in the Building. Links: Kat talks awards season and royal drama on Piers Morgan: Oscars may experience a ‘vibe shift’ with actors avoiding politics and virtue-signalling | Sky News Australia The Gaylor Ma…

Late last year, the newsletter startup Substack came under fire when an article in The Atlantic boldly proclaimed the tech company "has a Nazi problem". Nazis, it was reported, were starting newsletters on Substack and spreading their hateful propaganda. While the existence and quantity of said Nazis remained the core issue, writer Shalom Auslander…

In case you've been living underground the past week, a major story broke about police being called to break up a fight happening around a secret tunnel that was dug beneath the Chabad world headquarters in New York City. Justifiably, plenty of questions were raised: who made this tunnel? Why? How long ago? Why were police called? Is any of this go…

Kat and Phoebe discuss a provocative underwear ad, a post-wall woman, and the stolen valor of a new book about fatphobia. Links: Mr. Underpants https://twitter.com/CalvinKlein/status/1742901431185584252 Soooo… what is that building back there? Does anyone know? Phoebe on Mr. Underpants Senior: Kat's review of Kate Manne’s Unshrinking (and why is Ma…

In an extra-long, very special episode, Kat and Phoebe finish out the year with a retrospective on the death (or was it?) of journalism, a discussion of Soup Discourse, and a debate on the foolishness (or is it?) of tradwives. Links: James Bennett's essay: When the New York Times lost its way Phoebe on the death of swashbuckling: Kat on tradwives…:…

Last week, a video from the Toronto Eaton Centre depicted a heated exchange between an individual and one of about 150 pro-Palestinian protesters chanting slogans in front of the Zara clothing store. The clip shows police keeping apart the protestors and the person filming; trying to keep the situation calm in the midst of the bustling shopping sea…

Last week, the U.S. Congress grilled several top university professors about antisemitism on their campuses—and the scrutiny on these institutions has never been more intense. The hearings were, in some ways, the culmination of years of backlash against so-called "elitist" institutions, attacks and assumptions by right-wing critics who have long co…

This past week, a Jewish feminist movement has gained serious momentum across the world. Under the hashtag #MeTooUnlessUrAJew, critics have been calling out the hypocrisy of democratic institutions and progressive activists, who were almost certainly extremely vocal during the #MeToo movement, downplaying or denying the rape of Israeli women and se…

Kat and Phoebe unsheath their wooden swords to discuss an all-hemp house featured in the NYT's "Living Small" column, and the latest galaxy-brained takes about sexual violence in Gaza. Links: Their Cape Cod Home Isn’t Small, but Its Carbon Footprint Is Accounts of Sexual Violence by Hamas Are Aired Amid Criticism of U.N. - The New York Times Phoebe…