Best Social Justice Critique Podcasts (2024)

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Ep. 04 | Transgender Agenda: Empowering Choice or Manipulative Influence? 54:53

3d ago54:53

54:53

In this episode, we delve into the intense debate surrounding the transgender movement, particularly its impact on children and teenagers. Are societal efforts to blur gender distinctions genuinely empowering, or do they wield undue influence over young minds? We’ll explore the complexities of gender identity in youth, examining the motivations and…

1
Saru Jayaraman on Taxing Tipped Wages 29:58

4d ago29:58

29:58

CounterSpin provides a critical examination of the each week’s major news stories, and exposes what the mainstream media may have missed in their own coverage. Produced by the national media watch group FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting). The post Saru Jayaraman on Taxing Tipped Wages appeared first on KPFA.…

1
Up the Down Staircase: How to Build Up When Everything Seems to be Falling Down? 52:44

7d ago52:44

52:44

In a polarized world, where the public square has become increasingly hostile, how do we continue to make progress on the things we are called to build? Is it even possible to build anything at the moment? With a strong track record of working under challenging circumstances to bring about societal change, Baroness Philippa Stroud, Member of the Ho…

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Ep. 03 | Schooling: Foundations for Success or Factories for Conformity? Featuring Breanna May 46:39

8d ago46:39

46:39

In this fiery episode of 'Controversial as Fuck,' I sit down with Breanna May, an educator turned trailblazer who dares to challenge the status quo of our education system. Breanna brings her dynamic insight as we dissect whether schools are nurturing grounds for young minds or merely factories churning out conformists. Tune in as we explore the pr…

1
Ep. 02 | Gender Pronouns: Progress or Performative AF? 57:58

9d ago57:58

57:58

Are gender pronouns truly paving the way to progress, or are they just another performative badge in the social media parade? This episode dives into the fiery debate between gender and sex, examining whether the push for pronoun visibility is empowering or merely cosmetic. I'll be sharing my unfiltered take on whether these practices actually enco…

1
Ep. 01 | Lead The Way Thought Leaders, Let's Redefine The Conversation 30:39

10d ago30:39

30:39

Dive into 'Controversial as Fuck' with me, Hollie Wild, where we rip the veil off the unspoken and the uncomfortable. In our debut episode, I unpack the fire behind our launch, explore the razor-thin line between tolerance and people-pleasing, and dissect the clash between beliefs and opinions. This isn’t just a podcast; it's a challenge to the ech…

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Welcome to Controversial as Fuck-The Trailer 1:47

11d ago1:47

1:47

Welcome to 'Controversial as Fuck'—the space where thought leaders like you are not just participants but pioneers reshaping the discourse. Dive into the depths of each episode as we expose the misleading narratives served up by a compliant society. I'm Hollie Wild, calling out to those fed up with the sanitised, spoon-fed crap that passes for publ…

1
Matt Gertz on Trump Trial Verdict / Kandi Mossett on Dakota Access Struggle 29:58

11d ago29:58

29:58

This week on CounterSpin: Surprising no one, Donald Trump and his sycophants responded to his 34-count conviction on charges of lying in business records by claiming that the trial was “rigged,” the judge and jury corrupt, and that it was somehow Joe Biden’s doing. We’ll talk with Matt Gertz, senior fellow at Media Matters, about press response to …

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Katherine Li on Corporations’ First Amendment Dodge 29:58

18d ago29:58

29:58

This week on CounterSpin: In 2023, the California legislature passed legislation that said that big corporations doing business in the state have to tell the public how much pollution they’re emitting throughout their supply chain. But this past January, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other industry groups challenged those laws, claiming that mak…

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Ellen Schrecker on the Attack on Academic Freedom 29:59

25d ago29:59

29:59

This week on CounterSpin: As an historic catastrophe, the deep and myriad impacts of Israel’s assault on Palestinians will not be fully understood until years from now, if then. That only adds urgency to present-day resistance to the collateral assault — on the ability to witness, to record, and to remember. When we spoke with historian Ellen Schre…

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Talking Shit with David Chambers: Toward a Happy Healthy Masculinity 1:48:39

27d ago1:48:39

1:48:39

In Episode 67 we are joined by David Chambers, a relationship expert, thinker in the field of men and masculinities, and podcaster from the UK. We chat with David about the concept of ‘toxic masculinity’, the gendered patterns in attachment styles, and the appeal of reactionary masculinism among the youth. We also discuss the promise of an emerging…

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Steven Rosenfeld on Election Transparency / Ian Vandewalker on Small Donors 29:58

1M ago29:58

29:58

This week on CounterSpin: Steven Rosenfeld reports on election transparency, among other electoral issues, for Voting Booth. We hear from him about kinds of election interference we ignore at our peril. Some elite media-designated “smart people” have determined, “Citizens United, what? It’s folks who give ten bucks to a candidate that are really me…

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Why Law Requires Love: A Reflection on Genesis and Cicero 49:05

1M ago49:05

49:05

How do we, as a people, hand down love, one generation to another? Is that the role of the law? What did previous generations know about this tradition of love and law that we, today, may have forgotten? Dr. Matthew Mehan, Associate Dean and Assistant Professor of Government at Hillsdale College joined us for a reflection on possible answers to the…

1
Ahmad Abuznaid on Rafah Invasion 29:58

1M ago29:58

29:58

This week on CounterSpin: CNN’s Jake Tapper is mad about college students protesting their institutions’ and their government’s support for Israel’s horrific attacks on Palestinians in Gaza — because they’re preventing him, by his account, from covering Israel’s horrific attacks on Palestinians in Gaza. Tapper and CNN, we’re to understand, are powe…

1
Joseph Torres & Collette Watson on Media for Social Justice 29:58

2M ago29:58

29:58

We’re now seeing the impacts of the reality that corporate media, as well as corporate-funded universities, will always side with official power — as they present students sitting quietly in tents in protest of genocide as violent terrorists. But in fact, we’ve been seeing it for decades, as corporate media spin narratives about people of color as …

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Sam on Students for Justice in Palestine / Sally Dworak-Fisher on Delivery Workers 29:58

2M ago29:58

29:58

This week on CounterSpin: Many college students appear to believe that learning about the world means not just gaining knowledge but acting on it. Campuses across the country — Rutgers, MIT, Ohio State, Boston University, Emerson, Tufts, and on and on — are erupting in protest over their institutions’ material support for Israel’s war on Palestinia…

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Unlocking Second Chances: Balancing public safety with successful reentry for the 1 in 3 American adults with a criminal record 48:01

2M ago48:01

48:01

Over 70 million adults in the U.S. have a criminal record. These individuals face over 44,000 government-imposed barriers to work, housing, education, and civil rights that limit their efforts to become responsible stewards of their families and communities. How can churches, businesses, law enforcement, and policymakers better unlock second chance…

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Subsidiarity as a Framework for Care of the Elderly 50:56

2M ago50:56

50:56

In the United States – and, indeed, around the world – changing demographics reflect a steadily aging population. As families grow smaller and more far-flung and as care costs escalate, conversations about elder care are complex and, often, heart breaking. While in the past it was generally presumed that care of elders was a family obligation, toda…

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Baher Azmy on Abu Ghraib Lawsuit / Dave Lindorff on Spy for No Country 29:58

2M ago29:58

29:58

This week on CounterSpin: The long-fought effort to get legal acknowledgement of the abuses of Iraqi detainees during the Iraq War is coming to a federal court in Virginia, with Al-Shimari v. CACI. Since the case was first filed in 2008, military contractor CACI has pushed some 20 times to have it dismissed. We got a reading on the case last year f…

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Nobody's Getting Cancelled: Loving (and Leaving) Your Cancelled Boyfriend 17:22

2M ago17:22

17:22

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.fuckingcancelled.com In Episode 66, Jay and Clementine discuss the impact of cancel culture on the partners of men cancelled for abusive behaviours. We consider how the increased isolation of being cancelled along with your partner increases the risk of domestic violence. We note tha…

1
Chris Bernadel on Haiti 29:58

2M ago29:58

29:58

This week on CounterSpin: U.S. corporate media’s story about Haiti is familiar. Haiti, according to various recent reports, has “whipped from one calamity to another.” The country is a “cataclysm of hunger and terror,” “teetering on the brink of collapse,” “spiraling deeper into chaos” or else “descending into gang-fueled anarchistic chaos.” It’s “…

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Rakeen Mabud on Greedflation / Rachel K. Jones on Mifepristone 29:58

2M ago29:58

29:58

This week on CounterSpin: In the final quarter of 2023, after-tax corporate profits reached an all-time high of $2.8 trillion. As reported by Popular Information, corporate profit margins were at a level not seen since the 1950s, as increases in prices have outpaced increases in costs. Capitalism 101 says this shouldn’t happen, because competing co…

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Christians after Christendom: Our Present Challenge 48:53

3M ago48:53

48:53

The days of Christianity providing a unifying moral vision for our culture (Christendom) are over. Dr. W. Robert Godfrey, Chairman of Ligonier Ministries joined us to discuss how Abraham Kuyper anticipated this contemporary problem facing American Christians and can help us develop a persuasive and public Christian program. Support the Show.…

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Phyllis Bennis on Gaza Ceasefire Resolution / Robert Weissman on Boeing Scandal 29:58

3M ago29:58

29:58

This week on CounterSpin: A senior UN human rights official told the BBC that there is a “plausible” case that Israel is using starvation in Gaza as a weapon of war, which is a war crime. Meanwhile, US citizens struggle to make sense of White House policy that seems to call for getting aid to Palestinians while pursuing a course of action that make…

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Evlondo Cooper on Climate Coverage / Rick Goldsmith on Stripped for Parts 29:59

3M ago29:59

29:59

This week on CounterSpin: Climate disruption is the prime mover of a cascade of interrelated crises. We’re told that, when it comes to problems people need solved, rule number 1 is “follow the money.” Yet even as elite media talk about the climate crisis, they still … can’t … quite …connect images of floods or fires to the triumphant shareholder me…

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Gay Gordon-Byrne on Right to Repair / Suyapa Portillo Villeda on Honduran Ex-President Conviction 29:59

3M ago29:59

29:59

This week on CounterSpin: About this time seven years ago, John Deere was arguing, with a straight face, that farmers shouldn’t really “own” their tractors, because if they had access to the software involved, they might pirate Taylor Swift music. Things have changed since then, though industry still gets up and goes to court to say that even thoug…

1
2026 and the 250th anniversary of the American revolution: Is this America’s expiration date or a challenge to renew the great experiment in freedom? 45:42

3M ago45:42

45:42

Declinism is in the air in certain circles, and it coincides with the conclusion of some historians that 250 years is roughly the lifespan of great superpowers. How do Christians understand such cyclical views of history, and what are the genuine grounds for confidence in the possibility of renewal. Christians are not called to be Pollyannas, but w…

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Ian Millhiser on Supreme Court Trump Protection / Alfredo Lopez on Radical Elders 4:41

3M ago4:41

4:41

This week on CounterSpin: Donald Trump, if he should become president again, could order the Department of Justice to drop any charges against him stemming from his fomenting of an insurrection aimed at overturning the results of the 2020 election. That’s just been enabled by the Supreme Court, which put off until April the legal case wherein Trump…

1
Victor Pickard on the Crisis of Journalism 15:37

4M ago15:37

15:37

This week on CounterSpin: Years ago, when media critics called attention to ways corporate media’s profit-driven nature negatively impacts the news, many would respond, “But what about the internet?” Nowadays, more people understand that constraints on a news outlet’s content have little to do with whether it’s on paper or online but on who owns it…

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Is Renewal Possible? Peering past outrage, war and critique 52:23

4M ago52:23

52:23

We live in times when low-grade nihilism simmers just beneath the surface of everyday conversation, the desire for impact birthed in secular zeal soon stymied by chokeholds of institutional breakdown and pixelated trust. We call out injustice in public but feel squeamish about acknowledging our contributions to it. We text expressions of care to on…

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Book Club: We Will Not Cancel Us by adrienne maree brown 17:17

4M ago17:17

17:17

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.fuckingcancelled.com In Episode 65, Jay and Clementine discuss We Will Not Cancel Us by adrienne maree brown. We discuss the context this book enters into, the courage it took to write it, the response the book received, and how this work significantly differs from our own thinking o…

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Greg Shupak and Trita Parsi on the Assault on Gaza 29:58

4M ago29:58

29:58

Every day the US falls more out of step with the world in its support for Israel’s violent assault on Gaza. As International human rights lawyer Craig Mokhiber said, US vetoes of ceasefires in the UN Security Council, after which thousands more were killed, mean the US is directly responsible for those deaths: “Complicity is a crime.” Many in the U…

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Talking Shit with Amber A'Lee Frost: The Bourgeoisie Have All the Carrots and Potatoes 1:05:15

4M ago1:05:15

1:05:15

In Episode 64, we are joined by writer, organizer, and Chapo Trap House co-host, Amber A’Lee Frost to discuss her new book, Dirtbag. We talk about socialist memoirs, Occupy, the Bernie Sanders campaigns, the necessity of organized labour, and how to deal with wreckers. This is part of the Talking Shit series. Show Notes Amber’s new book, Dirtbag Ch…

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The Spirit of Our Politics 50:05

4M ago50:05

50:05

The kind of people we are, has much to do with the kind of public life we have. Spiritual formation is central to civic renewal. Michael Wear, Founder, President and CEO of the Center for Christianity and Public Life, joined us to share ideas outlined in his new book, The Spirit of Our Politics: Spiritual Formation and the Renovation of Public Life…

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Ariel Adelman on Disability Civil Rights 29:58

4M ago29:58

29:58

People with disabilities are meant to be grateful, excited even, for whatever access or accommodation is made available for them to participate in daily life. Often, it’s implied that any violation of the rights of disabled people is an individual matter, to be fought over in the courts, instead of something to be acknowledged and addressed societa…

1
Rakeen Mabud on Greedflation 2:50

4M ago2:50

2:50

This week on CounterSpin: The rate of inflation is down. Prices, though, are still high, and Americans are struggling to afford food, cars and housing. Speaking of people having trouble affording basic necessities, “cut up the credit cards” is the sort of advice that politicians and pundits dole out and that corporate news media presents as a respe…

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Book Club with Tara and DJ: 'The Ministry for the Future' by Kim Stanley Robinson 1:33:30

4M ago1:33:30

1:33:30

In Episode 63, we get together with DJ Fraser and Tara McGowan-Ross for the second episode of Book Club. This month’s book was The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson, a brutal (and hopeful) near-future 'climate-fiction’ novel published in 2020. We’ll announce the next Book Club book shortly! This is part of the Book Club series. Show N…

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Aron Thorn on Texas Border Standoff 29:58

5M ago29:58

29:58

This week on CounterSpin: The Supreme Court ruled that federal agents can remove the razor wire that Texas state officials have set up along parts of the US/Mexico border. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said that ruling “allows Biden to continue his illegal effort to aid the foreign invasion of America.” Elite news media, for their part, suggest…

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Agency vs Equity: An Empowering Alternative to the Victimhood Narrative 43:20

5M ago43:20

43:20

Every child is capable of being an agent of their own uplift provided they are given the resources to inform the decisions that will make them successful adults. Ian Rowe, Sr. Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute discussed four factors that are crucial for children to overcome the victimhood narrative and discover their pathway to power: fam…

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Talking Shit with Katherine Angel: Tomorrow Sex Will Be Good Again 1:26:52

5M ago1:26:52

1:26:52

In Episode 62, we are joined by London, Uk based writer, Katherine Angel, author of Tomorrow Sex Will Be Good Again. We discuss the affirmative consent model, the expectation that women should “know what they want”, and how this framework holds desire hostage to violence and misunderstands the emergent nature of desire. We discuss heterosexuality, …

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Monifa Bandele on Reimagining Public Safety / Svante Myrick on Roadblocks to Voting 29:59

5M ago29:59

29:59

This week on CounterSpin: Elite media can give the impression that problems wax and wane along with their attention to them. So it is with police brutality. The news media has moved on, yet 2023 saw killings by law enforcement up from the previous year, which was up from the year before that. More than 1,200 people were killed, roughly three people…

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Trials and Tribulations of Living an Ethical Life on Capitol Hill 2024 35:55

5M ago35:55

35:55

Faith and Law hosted our yearly panel discussion with Capitol Hill veterans to explore ethical issues encountered by Hill staff, especially as they reach senior leadership positions. Panelists including John Cusey, Melika McKinnis, and John Shelton shared their stories of success and failure as they navigated the complicated ethical waters of the H…

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Gregory Shupak on Gaza and Genocide 29:58

5M ago29:58

29:58

This week on CounterSpin: US corporate news media’s initial response to Israel’s terror campaign against Palestinians, unleashed in the wake of the October 7 attack by Hamas, was characterized largely by legitimization, a rhetorical blank check for whatever Israel might do. Israel, the New York Times editorial board said, “is determined to break th…

1
Sebastian Martinez Hickey on Minimum Wage; Saru Jayaraman on History of Tipping 29:58

5M ago29:58

29:58

This week on CounterSpin: The journalists at Yahoo Finance tell us that a Connecticut McDonald’s charging $18 for a combo meal has “sparked a nationwide debate” on escalating prices in the fast food industry. The outrage, readers are told, is “partly attributed” to a recent raise in the minimum wage — which has not yet gone into effect. From there,…

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