Episode 2.4 Bringing Yourself to Work with Baharak Yousefi

Secret Feminist Agenda

Content warning for references to sexual violence.

We’re back with another interview episode, and this week I’m chatting with the smart and cool and smartly cool Baharak Yousefi. We tackle what it means to bring your (whole) self to work, why emotional labour can transform a workplace (and why it might be threatening to white supremacist heteropatriarchal capitalism), and why some of us are drawn raccoon-like towards dumpster fires. And oh my gosh we reference so many things in this episode so this is basically just a works cited list:

• First and most importantly, here’s Baharak’s book, The Feminists Among Us, which is an incredible title and you should all go buy it.
• Second, we reference the work of the brilliant and amazing Sara Ahmed, specifically her book On Being Included. If you don’t know her work, her blog feministkilljoys.com is a great starting place.
• I haven’t had a chance to read this article yet, but the title is pretty much the best? “For Slow Scholarship: A Feminist Politics of Resistance through Collective Action in the Neoliberal University”
• And here’s the article by Fred Moten (and Stefano Harvey, it turns out!) on the university’s incredible ability to absorb critique. (If any of this stuff is paywalled and you want to read it, let me know.)
• Finally, I really want to link to Jess Zimmerman’s incredible piece on emotional labour that she wrote for The Toast, except The Toast archives have been taken down and it’s just the saddest thing in the world. RIP The Toast. I miss you every day.

https://secretfeministagenda.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/sfa-2-4.mp3

Download Episode / Read Transcription

The podcast theme song is “Mesh Shirt” by Mom Jeans off their album “Chub Rub.” Listen to the whole album here or learn more about them here. Baharak’s theme song is “Borders” by MIA. Watch it!