The Unspeakable Podcast
Author, essayist and journalist Meghan Daum has spent decades giving voice—and bringing nuance, humor and surprising perspectives—to things that lots of people are thinking but are afraid to say out loud. Now, she brings her observations to the realm of conversation. In candid, free-ranging interviews, Meghan talks with artists, entertainers, journalists, scientists, scholars, and anyone else who’s willing to do the “unspeakable” and question prevailing cultural and moral assumptions.
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Playlist of Tears: The Catastrophe Hour Book Club Week 5
07/04/2025
Playlist of Tears: The Catastrophe Hour Book Club Week 5
The next meeting of The Catastrophe Hour Book Club is scheduled for Wednesday, July 9, at 3:00 p.m. ET. We will discuss the fifth essay of the collection, Playlist of Tears. The book club meets for 14 consecutive Wednesdays at 3:00 p.m. ET. The book club is for yearly paid Substack subscribers only, so if you want to join, please upgrade your subscription at . About The Catastrophe Hour "One of our most important essayists . . . The Catastrophe Hour is proof that writers and readers can choose to engage with their lives in a manner that is radically disengaged with the pointless noise of the day.” — Washington Examiner From the acclaimed author of The Unspeakable and The Problem with Everything comes a new collection of unputdownable essays. Written between 2017 and 2024, these essays are classic Meghan Daum, showcasing her wit, her intellect and her uncanny ability to throw new light on even the most ubiquitous of subjects. Arranged in the order that they were written, the essays touch on themes of aging, solitude, creative life, money, the changing media landscape, death, and the meaning of home. Daum’s unflinching honesty and exacting observations secure her reputation as one of our most important and enduring essayists.
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Species Of Grief: The Catastrophe Hour Book Club Week 4
06/30/2025
Species Of Grief: The Catastrophe Hour Book Club Week 4
The next meeting of The Catastrophe Hour Book Club is scheduled for Wednesday, July 2, at 3:00 p.m. ET. We will discuss the fourth essay of the collection, Species Of Grief. The book club meets for 14 consecutive Wednesdays at 3:00 p.m. ET, beginning June 11. The book club is for yearly paid subscribers only, so if you want to join, please upgrade your subscription. Species Of Grief was written in May of 2019 and appeared as one of my columns in Medium’s GEN Magazine. Want to hear the whole recording? . HOUSEKEEPING 📖 Order my new book, The Catastrophe Hour: Selected Essays, on or directly from the publisher . 📘 The Catastrophe Hour book club for yearly paying subscribers starts June 11 and will run for 14 consecutive Wednesdays, 3-4 pm ET. We will meet on Zoom. 📹 The Unspeakeasy Live takes place every Thursday at 3:00 p.m. ET. Look for a notification on your Substack app when we’re live. Stuff to read and listen to: New York Times, Jan 31, 2025: Recent(ish) solo episodes: January 9: January 16: January 27: February 5: February 13: March 2: March 31: 📺 Visit The Unspeakable on . ✈️ The Unspeakeasy’s 2025 season is underway. It includes a just-announced COED retreat with more attendees and multiple speakers. October 11-12 in New York City. Programming and ticketing info .
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Basically Dead: The Catastrophe Hour Book Club Week 3
06/19/2025
Basically Dead: The Catastrophe Hour Book Club Week 3
The next meeting of The Catastrophe Hour Book Club is scheduled for Wednesday, June 25, at 3:00 p.m. ET. We will discuss the third essay of the collection, Basically Dead. The book club meets for 14 consecutive Wednesdays at 3:00 p.m. ET. The book club is for yearly paid Substack subscribers only, so if you want to join, please upgrade your subscription at . How to Join The Book Club Yearly subscribers will receive a reminder email on Tuesdays. If you are only a monthly subscriber, you will not receive the email. To update your subscription: Navigate to your profile image in the top right corner and click. Go to “Manage Subscription” Next to your subscription type, select “Change.” Select yearly and confirm. About The Catastrophe Hour "One of our most important essayists . . . The Catastrophe Hour is proof that writers and readers can choose to engage with their lives in a manner that is radically disengaged with the pointless noise of the day.” — Washington Examiner From the acclaimed author of The Unspeakable and The Problem with Everything comes a new collection of unputdownable essays. Written between 2017 and 2024, these essays are classic Meghan Daum, showcasing her wit, her intellect and her uncanny ability to throw new light on even the most ubiquitous of subjects. Arranged in the order that they were written, the essays touch on themes of aging, solitude, creative life, money, the changing media landscape, death, and the meaning of home. Daum’s unflinching honesty and exacting observations secure her reputation as one of our most important and enduring essayists.
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What Illness Can Teach Us About Uncertainty - Jonathan Gluck on his new memoir about cancer and coming to terms with not knowing
06/16/2025
What Illness Can Teach Us About Uncertainty - Jonathan Gluck on his new memoir about cancer and coming to terms with not knowing
In his new memoir, An Exercise In Uncertainty, journalist and editor Jonathan Gluck chronicles more than 20 years of living with multiple myeloma, an incurable but treatable cancer. He joined me to talk about how he’s coped with illness, why he chose this moment to write about it, and, most importantly, how he’s learned to deal with a condition all of us face to one degree or another: uncertainty. Jon explains the concept of “predemption”—a mindset that’s helped him find something positive, even in the toughest moments—and describes the invisible aspects of cancer, how it affected family dynamics, and the honest conversations he’s had with his kids about his condition. He reflects on the strain illness can have on relationships, especially marriage, and how fly fishing became a crucial form of therapy and connection. GUEST BIO Jonathan Gluck is a writer and editor whose work has appeared in The New York Times and The Washington Post. He was deputy editor of New York magazine for ten years, after which he worked as managing editor of Vogue. His work has been recognized with multiple National Magazine Awards. Want to hear the whole conversation? . HOUSEKEEPING 📖 Order my new book, The Catastrophe Hour: Selected Essays, on or directly from the publisher . 📘 The Catastrophe Hour book club for yearly paying subscribers starts June 11 and will run for 14 consecutive Wednesdays, 3-4 pm ET. We will meet on Zoom. 📹 The Unspeakeasy Live takes place every Thursday at 3:00 p.m. ET. Look for a notification on your Substack app when we’re live. Stuff to read and listen to: New York Times, Jan 31, 2025: Recent(ish) solo episodes : January 9: January 16: January 27: February 5: February 13: March 2: March 31: 📺 Visit The Unspeakable on . ✈️ The Unspeakeasy’s 2025 season is underway. It includes a just-announced COED retreat with more attendees and multiple speakers. October 11-12 in New York City. Programming and ticketing info .
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The Catastrophe Hour Book Club, Week Two - Same Life, Higher Rent
06/12/2025
The Catastrophe Hour Book Club, Week Two - Same Life, Higher Rent
The next meeting of The Catastrophe Hour Book Club is scheduled for Wednesday, June 18, at 3:00 p.m. ET. We will discuss the second essay of the collection, Same Life, Higher Rent. The book club meets for 14 consecutive Wednesdays at 3:00 p.m. ET, beginning June 11. The book club is for yearly paid subscribers only, so if you want to join, please upgrade your subscription. To learn more about the book club and join, visit Same Life, Higher Rent was written in 2017, shortly after I returned to New York after nearly two decades away. At the time, I was 47 and, strangely, my life was a lot like it had been at 27, though of course I was older and the rent was higher. The essay also explores, among other things, the concept of the “situational setpoint,” which is the state of life I seem to find myself in no matter how long I spend trying to live a different kind of life. About The Catastrophe Hour "One of our most important essayists . . . The Catastrophe Hour is proof that writers and readers can choose to engage with their lives in a manner that is radically disengaged with the pointless noise of the day.” — Washington Examiner From the acclaimed author of The Unspeakable and The Problem with Everything comes a new collection of unputdownable essays. Written between 2017 and 2024, these essays are classic Meghan Daum, showcasing her wit, her intellect and her uncanny ability to throw new light on even the most ubiquitous of subjects. Arranged in the order that they were written, the essays touch on themes of aging, solitude, creative life, money, the changing media landscape, death, and the meaning of home. Daum’s unflinching honesty and exacting observations secure her reputation as one of our most important and enduring essayists.
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Where Do Serial Killers Come From? Caroline Fraser on America’s Murderland
06/09/2025
Where Do Serial Killers Come From? Caroline Fraser on America’s Murderland
This week I’m joined by Caroline Fraser, author of Prairie Fires, the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of beloved author Laura Ingalls Wilder. Fraser’s latest book, Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust In The Time Of Serial Killers, is a notable departure from the world of sunbonnets and covered wagons. This time, she explores the proliferation of serial killers—figures like the Green River Killer Gary Ridgeway, I-5 killer Randall Woodfield, and, of course, Ted Bundy—who haunted the Pacific Northwest during the 1970s to 1990s. Why were there so many serial killers during this time and in this region? Fraser points to the “lead-crime hypothesis,” which suggests that a spike in violent crime during this era can be traced back to widespread childhood lead exposure from gasoline, paint, and industrial sources. In the book, Fraser expands on this theory, connecting the ecological and societal dots between environmental toxins and waves of violent crime. She also draws on her own experience growing up in the Seattle area, giving personal context to a much larger story. GUEST BIO Caroline Fraser is the author of Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder, which won the Pulitzer Prize as well as the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Heartland Prize, and the Plutarch Award for Best Biography of the Year. She is also the author of God's Perfect Child: Living and Dying in the Christian Science Church, and her writing has appeared in the New York Review of Books, the New Yorker, The Atlantic, the Los Angeles Times, and the London Review of Books, among other publications. Want to hear the whole conversation? . HOUSEKEEPING 📖 Order my new book, The Catastrophe Hour: Selected Essays, on or directly from the publisher . 📘 The Catastrophe Hour book club for yearly paying subscribers starts June 11 and will run for 14 consecutive Wednesdays, 3-4 pm ET. We will meet on Zoom. 📹 The Unspeakeasy Live takes place every Thursday at 3:00 p.m. ET. Look for a notification on your Substack app when we’re live. Stuff to read and listen to: New York Times, Jan 31, 2025: Recent(ish) solo episodes: January 9: January 16: January 27: February 5: February 13: March 2: March 31: 📺 Visit The Unspeakable on . ✈️ The Unspeakeasy’s 2025 season is underway. It includes a just-announced COED retreat with more attendees and multiple speakers. October 11-12 in New York City. Programming and ticketing info . Housekeeping 📺 Visit The Unspeakable on . ✈️ The Unspeakeasy has new retreats for 2025. We’ll be in Texas, New York, Los Angeles, and more. 🥂 Join , my community for freethinking women.
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The Catastrophe Hour Book Club, Week One - The Broken-In World
06/05/2025
The Catastrophe Hour Book Club, Week One - The Broken-In World
The Catastrophe Hour Book Club begins June 11 with a discussion of the first essay in the book, The Broken-In World, an examination of divorce, loss, and finding unexpected peace and camaraderie in a world that “can no longer support pretense.” The book club runs for 14 consecutive Wednesdays from 3-4 p.m. ET. We will discuss one essay per week To learn more about the book club and join, visit About The Catastrophe Hour "One of our most important essayists . . . The Catastrophe Hour is proof that writers and readers can choose to engage with their lives in a manner that is radically disengaged with the pointless noise of the day.” — Washington Examiner From the acclaimed author of The Unspeakable and The Problem with Everything comes a new collection of unputdownable essays. Written between 2017 and 2024, these essays are classic Meghan Daum, showcasing her wit, her intellect and her uncanny ability to throw new light on even the most ubiquitous of subjects. Arranged in the order that they were written, the essays touch on themes of aging, solitude, creative life, money, the changing media landscape, death, and the meaning of home. Daum’s unflinching honesty and exacting observations secure her reputation as one of our most important and enduring essayists.
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Alma Deutscher's First Dance - The celebrated young composer collaborates with the American Contemporary Ballet
06/02/2025
Alma Deutscher's First Dance - The celebrated young composer collaborates with the American Contemporary Ballet
Alma Deutscher, often described as a modern-day Mozart, was a prodigy whose early accomplishments include composing a piano sonata at age six, a short opera at seven, a violin concerto at nine, and her first full-length opera at ten. At twelve, she was on 60 Minutes, and in 2021 began conducting studies in Vienna with Johannes Wildner. Now 20, Alma has just written her first ballet score—a collaboration with Lincoln Jones, founder and director of American Contemporary Ballet (ACB) in Los Angeles. Lincoln just over two years ago, offering unique insights into the complexities of running a dance company and the profound art of dance itself. In this episode, Lincoln and Alma discuss their new ballet, The Euterpides, inspired by Euterpe, the ancient Greek Muse of Music. This piece follows the Muse’s goddess daughters as they descend to dance with a mortal, exploring the age-old connection between inspiration and craft. We recorded this conversation on Memorial Day to get it out ahead of the ballet’s world premiere, which runs June 5–28 in Los Angeles. If you’re local (or can make the trip!), you’ll also hear about an audience support , offering a rare chance for the public to get involved in bringing this ballet to life. GUEST BIO has composed a number of acclaimed orchestral works, including a full-length opera, by the age of 10. Her music has been performed at Carnegie Hall and the Vienna State Opera. She’s earned the admiration of classical music luminaries like Zubin Mehta, who called her “one of the greatest musical talents of today.” Lincoln Jones is the founder, director, and principal choreographer of the American Contemporary Ballet in Los Angeles. Their collaboration, The Euterpides, premieres on June 5. Want to hear the whole conversation? . HOUSEKEEPING 📖 Order my new book, The Catastrophe Hour: Selected Essays, on or directly from the publisher . 📘 The Catastrophe Hour book club for yearly paying subscribers starts June 11 and will run for 14 consecutive Wednesdays, 3-4 pm ET. We will meet on Zoom. 📹 The Unspeakeasy Live takes place every Thursday at 3:00 p.m. ET. Look for a notification on your Substack app when we’re live. Stuff to read and listen to: New York Times, Jan 31, 2025: Recent(ish) solo episodes : January 9: January 16: January 27: February 5: February 13: March 2: March 31: 📺 Visit The Unspeakable on . ✈️ The Unspeakeasy’s 2025 season is underway. It includes a just-announced COED retreat with more attendees and multiple speakers. October 11-12 in New York City. Programming and ticketing info .
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Audio Essay: The End Of The Personal - Listen to an essay from The Catastrophe Hour
05/29/2025
Audio Essay: The End Of The Personal - Listen to an essay from The Catastrophe Hour
This week, I share an essay from The Catastrophe Hour. There’s no audiobook available (yet), so I offer this reading of the final essay in the collection, The End Of The Personal. It’s a meditation on first-person writing in a world that seems to have overdosed on oversharing. The era of the personal is over. The writer sees this now. One day, she just gets it. Everything is personal so nothing is personal. The erosion has been a long time coming. First, the personal became political. Then it became porn. Now it has become dust. The Catastrophe Hour book club begins on June 11 and runs every Wednesday from 3:00-4:00 p.m. ET for 14 consecutive weeks. We will read one essay each week, starting from the beginning of the book. Audio excerpts of each essay will be released every week as special podcast episodes. (They’ll be excerpts, so you’ll still want to get the book.) To join the book club, become a paying subscriber to the Substack at the annual level. More info . HOUSEKEEPING 📺 Visit The Unspeakable on ! 📖 Order my new book, The Catastrophe Hour: Selected Essays, on or directly from the publisher . 📘 The Catastrophe Hour book club for yearly paying subscribers starts June 11 and will run for 14 consecutive Wednesdays 3-4pm ET. We will meet on Zoom. I’ll make a post about it very soon with more info. 📹 The Unspeakeasy Live happens every Thursday at 3pm ET. Look for a notification on your Substack app when we’re live. ✈️ The Unspeakeasy’s 2025 season is underway. It includes a just-announced COED retreat with more attendees and multiple speakers. October 11-12 in New York City. Programming and ticketing info .
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How To Solve Crime - Peter Moskos on New York City’s policing triumph
05/19/2025
How To Solve Crime - Peter Moskos on New York City’s policing triumph
✌️Upgrade your subscription if you want to hear the full conversation: 🔔 Did you like this episode? Don’t forget to like, subscribe and leave a comment down below. [DESCRIPTION] You can upgrade your subscription here: ————————— GUEST BIO Peter Moskos teaches in the Department of Law, Police Science, and Criminal Justice Administration at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. Moskos, a Princeton and Harvard-trained sociologist, is a former Baltimore City Police Officer and is the director of John Jay College’s NYPD Executive Master’s Leadership Program. Also, check out Peter’s previous Unspeakable interviews: Can We Get Smarter About Policing? A conversation with Professor of Police Science (and former Baltimore cop) Peter Moskos: How Are We Feeling About Policing These Days? ————————— HOUSEKEEPING ✈️ Unspeakeasy Retreats: 🥂 Join The Unspeakeasy, my community for freethinking women:
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Why Joni Mitchell Matters - Henry Alford on his book, "I Dream Of Joni: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell in 53 Snapshots”
05/09/2025
Why Joni Mitchell Matters - Henry Alford on his book, "I Dream Of Joni: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell in 53 Snapshots”
In this much-anticipated interview (at least by me), humorist and journalist Henry Alford joins me to discuss his recent bestselling book I Dream Of Joni: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell in 53 Snapshots. In a Joni nerd-off that may be unrivaled in podcast history, Henry and I talk about his research and reporting for this book, what he learned about Mitchell’s contradictions and complexities, why he thinks she might be on the autism spectrum, and, above all, why Mitchell’s music holds such a profound place in so many people’s emotional and even intellectual lives. GUEST BIO is a humorist and journalist who has contributed to the New Yorker since 1998. He is the author of seven books, including Big Kiss, which won a Thurber Prize, and the recent I Dream of Joni: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell in 53 Snapshots, a national bestseller. Want to hear the whole conversation? . HOUSEKEEPING New feature! The Unspeakeasy Live is a twice-weekly livestream featuring casual, spontaneous conversations with guests, friends, and sometimes just myself. Tuesdays and Thursdays at 3 pm ET. Recordings of livestreams are posted the next day (or soon thereafter) for paying subscribers. 📖 Order my new book, The Catastrophe Hour: Selected Essays, on or directly from the publisher . May 17 I’ll be in Denver at discussing my new book, The Catastrophe Hour. 7pm. Info . Stuff to read and listen to: New York Times, Jan 31, 2025: Recent solo episodes : January 9: January 16: January 27: February 5: February 13: March 2: March 31: 📺 Visit The Unspeakable on . ✈️ The Unspeakeasy’s 2025 season is underway. Find out where we’ll be! 🥂 Join , my community for freethinking women. 🔥 Make a donation of any amount to help me recover from the fire by using the .
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Louise Perry’s Counter-sexual Revolution
04/24/2025
Louise Perry’s Counter-sexual Revolution
Writer and podcaster Louise Perry returns to the pod to discuss her new book, A New Guide to Sex in the 21st Century, in which she takes ideas from her 2022 book The Case Against The Sexual Revolution and adapts them for teenagers and young adults. In this conversation, we pick up from where we left off in our 2022 , catching up on the evolving discourse around the winners and losers of the sexual revolution and trying to parse what’s going with the “online right” and its Little House On The Prairie fantasies and overall fixation on homestead life. (News alert: People on the American frontier did suffer from depression. There was even a name for it: Prairie Madness.) We also talk about the 4B movement (what does “B” stand for anyway?), conservative matchmaking initiatives (has Louise crowdsourced her own yenta business?), and the need for a more interventionist approach to relationships and family life. Guest bio: Louise Perry is a writer and activist based in London. This year, she co-founded a non-partisan feminist think tank called The Other Half, where she serves as Research Director. Her debut book is The Case Against the Sexual Revolution: A New Guide to Sex in the 21st Century.
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What's A Conservative To Do? Undercurrents' Emily Jashinsky on Trump, DOGE, and how worried we should be
03/10/2025
What's A Conservative To Do? Undercurrents' Emily Jashinsky on Trump, DOGE, and how worried we should be
Journalist and political commentator Emily Jashisnky, host of Undercurrents and co-host of Counterpoints, is a 31-year-old Evangelical Christian from Wisconsin. She’s also (for my money) one of the sanest, smartest, and most principled voices in the information landscape these days. In this conversation, we talk about Emily’s philosophical and political roots, her college years during the height of the woke era, and her thoughts about the state of the Republican party (she considers herself a conservative but not a Republican), the perils and promise of the Trump agenda, and what’s driving Elon Musk—not to mention keeping him awake. Emily Jashinsky is an American journalist based in Washington, D.C. She is the D.C. Correspondent at UnHerd and co-host of the show "Counter Points" with Ryan Grim on the Breaking Points channel, a Top 10 Politics podcast. Housekeeping Listen to my recent audio essays about the Los Angeles wildfires and (moving right along) the state of public discourse in the new Trump era. Read my recent essay in The New York Times about accepting help. Pre-order my new book The Catastrophe Hour: Selected Essays (which is unrelated to the current catastrophe). Either from you-know-where or (even better) directly from the publisher, Notting Hill Editions. Visit The Unspeakable on YouTube. The Unspeakeasy has new retreats for 2025. We’ll be in Texas, New York, Los Angeles, and beyond. Join The Unspeakeasy, my community for freethinking women.
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Is The Online Right Eating Itself? The Free Press’s River Page deconstructs the trolls
03/06/2025
Is The Online Right Eating Itself? The Free Press’s River Page deconstructs the trolls
For the last several years, we yelled about the left eating itself. Is the right now feasting on the same poisonous meal? This week Meghan is joined by reporter River Page, whose February 19 article , articulated a phenomenon she’d long observed but could never quite parse; the phenomenon of right-wing trolls making antisemitic and misogynist memes as well as other forms of rage bait in order to own the libs. River explains the origins and effects of this rising movement, dispelling Meghan's preconceptions that most of these trolls are bots or teenagers (alas, many are grown men). Speaking of grown men, the conversation wanders into an exploration of why young males are so obsessed with their bodies and physical appearance. Should we blame Instagram and TikTok? Maybe. But River thinks there’s a connection between income inequality and male vanity. When you believe you’ll never be able to afford a house or a middle-class family life, controlling your own body may be the only control you have. Guest Bio: is a reporter at The Free Press. Previously, he worked as a staff writer at Pirate Wires, covering technology, politics, and culture. His work has also appeared in Compact, American Affairs, and the Washington Examiner, among other publications. You can upgrade your subscription here: HOUSEKEEPING Unspeakeasy Retreats: Join The Unspeakeasy, my community for freethinking women: Pre-order Meghan's new book, The Catastrophe Hour: Selected Essays. Coming April 15, 2025.
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Special Episode Part 4 Los Angeles Fires: What Is A Catastrophe?
02/18/2025
Special Episode Part 4 Los Angeles Fires: What Is A Catastrophe?
Recorded February 13, 2025 On my birthday, with my laryngitis almost gone, I share some audio reflections about my recent New York Times opinion essay about losing my home in the fire, my current housing situation, and my former housing blunders. Most importantly, I offer a sneak preview of my ironically-titled forthcoming book, The Catastrophe Hour. New York Times, Jan 31, 2025: Earlier fire dispatches. January 9: The First 24 Hours — January 16: The Immaterial World — January 27: Housing Wars — How to help? Become a paying subscriber to this podcast on Substack or leave a donation of any amount in the tip jar. Your support is deeply appreciated: HOUSEKEEPING Unspeakeasy Retreats: Join The Unspeakeasy, my community for freethinking women: Pre-order my new book, The Catastrophe Hour: Selected Essays. Coming April 15, 2025.
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How Not To Go Insane: Chloé Valdary on leaving Twitter, the new Puritanism, and the virtues of reading aloud.
02/12/2025
How Not To Go Insane: Chloé Valdary on leaving Twitter, the new Puritanism, and the virtues of reading aloud.
February 10, 2025 edition Recorded December 16, 2024 Chloé Valdary was last on the podcast in May 2021, talking about Theory of Enchantment, an enterprise devoted to more nuanced and art-focussed approaches to DEI. She’s back to discuss what she’s been up to since then. A lot! In this conversation, recorded in December, Chloé talks about her journey from prolific tweeting to long-form writing and the impact of social media on mental health and creativity. She talks about psychosomatic work, the influence of Elon Musk on Twitter, and the cultural response to Luigi Mangione's killing of a health insurance executive. In her view, Luigi fandom connects to themes of Puritan heritage, as she discusses in her (then) recent piece . GUEST BIO Chloé Valdary, educator, artist, and founder of the Theory of Enchantment, is on a mission to address the shortcomings of DEI by teaching love and harmony. Chloé received her bachelor’s in international studies with a concentration in conflict and diplomacy from the University of New Orleans. She has been published in the WSJ, the New York Times and the Atlantic Magazine, and she spends her days helping schools and businesses build trust in their organizations. In her spare time, she enjoys bird watching, reading, and DJing. Want to hear the whole conversation? . HOUSEKEEPING 📰 Read my recent in The New York Times about accepting help in the wake of the L.A. wildfires. 📖 my new book The Catastrophe Hour: Selected Essays (which is unrelated to the current catastrophe). 📺 Visit The Unspeakable on . ✈️ The Unspeakeasy has new retreats for 2025. We’ll be in Texas, New York, Los Angeles, and more. 🥂 Join , my community for freethinking women.
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Special Episode Part 3 Los Angeles Fires: Housing Wars
01/28/2025
Special Episode Part 3 Los Angeles Fires: Housing Wars
It’s been three weeks since my house burned to the ground in the Los Angeles wildfires. Here are some thoughts on rent gouging, couch surfing, and the lifestyles of the rich and unhoused. A note on this photo. I took it from Farnsworth Park in Altadena on New Year’s Day, one week before the fire. That thing in the sky is the Goodyear Blimp hovering over Rose Bowl Stadium during the game. Earlier dispatches. January 9: January 16: How to help? Become a paying to this podcast on Substack or leave a donation of any amount in the . Your support is deeply appreciated. The podcast resumes its regular schedule very soon! Thanks for your patience. Housekeeping Visit on YouTube. Learn about , a community for freethinking women. Pre-order my new book, . Coming April 15, 2025.
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Special Ep Part 2 Los Angeles Fires: The Immaterial World
01/21/2025
Special Ep Part 2 Los Angeles Fires: The Immaterial World
In the hours of January 8, my house burned to the ground in the Eaton Fire in Altadena, CA. Here are some thoughts I recorded on January 15. How to help? Become a paying to this podcast on Substack. Or leave a in any amount in the tip jar. Housekeeping Visit The Unspeakable on YouTube. The Unspeakeasy has new retreats for 2025. Find out where we’re going. Join The Unspeakeasy, my community for freethinking women.
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Special Episode: Letter From the Los Angeles Fires
01/09/2025
Special Episode: Letter From the Los Angeles Fires
I’ve lost my home. I am safe. HOUSEKEEPING Visit ! Unspeakeasy 2025 . We’re going to Texas, Los Angeles, upstate NY and beyond. See where we'll be! Join , my community for freethinking women.
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Topaz Adizes On How To Ask Questions (And Sell Them, Too.)
01/09/2025
Topaz Adizes On How To Ask Questions (And Sell Them, Too.)
This week, Meghan is joined by filmmaker, YouTuber, and “experience design architect” Topaz Adizes. He is the founder of The Skin Deep, an experience design created to foster connection in human relationships, often through innovative products and curated live events. In this conversation, Topaz discusses the evolution of relationships in the digital age, the importance of asking the right questions, and how he built a sustainable business model around his project, The And, a video series in which two people sit face to face and engage with a series of simple yet surprising questions. He also explains the concept of experience design and how it shapes human interactions in a technology-driven world. Finally, he and Meghan talk about building a business, the meaning of “intimacy,” the changing rules of the dating market, and why he’s (theoretically) willing to accept that his grandchildren might never meet their spouses in real life. GUEST BIO is an Emmy Award-winning writer, director, and the founder and executive director of the experience design studio , which has a popular YouTube channel. Topaz studied philosophy at UC Berkeley and Oxford University. He speaks four languages and currently lives in Mexico with his wife and two children. HOUSEKEEPING Visit The Unspeakable on ! Unspeakeasy 2025 retreats. We’re going to Texas, Los Angeles, upstate NY and beyond. ! Join , my “women’s shelter for the politically homeless.”
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Is Your Media Consumption Making You Sick? Ruby Warrington’s “content diet” for better living
12/30/2024
Is Your Media Consumption Making You Sick? Ruby Warrington’s “content diet” for better living
As you make your new year’s resolutions or plan for Dry January, returning guest Ruby Warrington has another idea for better living in 2025: go on a “content diet.” In this conversation, Ruby describes the overwhelming nature of content consumption and its impact on mental health and wellbeing. She draws parallels between the “sober curious” movement, which she spearheaded, and the need for conscious content consumption, emphasizing the importance of awareness in our media engagement. We also talk about the pressures of content creation, the role of intimacy in communication, the rise of AI-generated content in the digital landscape, and the important of reading novels and listening to music. GUEST BIO Ruby Warrington is the author of Women Without Kids: The Revolutionary Rise of an Unsung Sisterhood and is the creator of the term “sober curious." Author of the 2018 book Sober Curious and million-download podcast of the same title, her work has spearheaded a global movement to reevaluate our relationship to alcohol. Other works include Material Girl, Mystical World (2017), The Numinous Astro Deck (2019), and The Sober Curious Reset (2020). With 20+ years’ experience as a lifestyle journalist and editor, Ruby is also the founder of the self-publishing incubator Numinous Books. Get her book here: . Want to hear the whole conversation? . HOUSEKEEPING Visit The Unspeakable on ! Unspeakeasy 2025 retreats. We’re going to Texas, Los Angeles, upstate NY and beyond. ! Join , my “women’s shelter for the politically homeless.”
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Ana Kasparian Falls Out of Alignment: A political awakening brings a personal reckoning
12/16/2024
Ana Kasparian Falls Out of Alignment: A political awakening brings a personal reckoning
Do journalists ever regret the way they cover events? This week, veteran YouTube journalist and political commentator Ana Kasparian discusses her journey from the progressive left to finding herself politically unaligned, the regrets she still harbors, and the complexities of navigating controversial issues with nuance. She also discusses her thoughts on the election and on Biden's mental decline, the appeal of Trump, and how cultural shifts within the Democratic party affected the election. Meghan and Ana also discuss motherhood (or in their cases, non-motherhood) and new discourse surrounding the trad movement, pro-natalism and the dark side of the pressure campaign to get people to have more children. GUEST BIO Ana Kasparian is a political journalist and media personality with nearly two decades of experience in news and analysis. Beginning her career as an assistant producer at CBS Radio in Los Angeles, she later became Executive Producer and co-host of The Young Turks. She now writes a Substack newsletter chronicling her political realignment journey and exploring key political and cultural issues. Follow her on Substack . Want to hear the whole conversation? . HOUSEKEEPING 📺 Visit The Unspeakable on ! ✈️ The Unspeakeasy has new retreats for 2025. ! 🥂 Join , my community for freethinking women.
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Is Wokeness An Elite Boondoggle? Sociologist Musa al-Gharbi drops a truth bomb
12/09/2024
Is Wokeness An Elite Boondoggle? Sociologist Musa al-Gharbi drops a truth bomb
What purpose does “wokeness” really serve? Is it a way of thinking that helps lift up marginalized groups? Or is it a convenient way for elites to pay lip service to social justice while maintaining the status quo that benefits them? This week, I’m joined by sociologist Musa al-Gharbi to discuss his new book We Have Never Been Woke: The Cultural Contradictions Of A New Elite. In addition to distilling his ideas about wokeness as “cover for elites,” we talk about Musa’s love for French theorists, the value of his community college education, and the culture shock he experienced when arriving at Columbia University. We also explore whether women are overrepresented in elite workplaces and how this might affect perceptions of gender inequality and male dominance. GUEST BIO is a sociologist and assistant professor in the School of Communication and Journalism at Stony Brook University. His research primarily focuses on the political economy of knowledge production and the “social life” of scholarly and journalistic outputs. He is a columnist for The Guardian, and his writing has also appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and The Atlantic, among other publications. al-Gharbi’s first book, , was published by Princeton University Press in October 2024. Follow him on . Want to hear the whole conversation? . HOUSEKEEPING 📺 Visit The Unspeakable on ! ✈️ The Unspeakeasy has new retreats for 2025. ! 🥂 Join , my community for freethinking women.
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Is Sports Betting More Addictive Than Porn? Alex Grodd on the latest scourge affecting young men
12/02/2024
Is Sports Betting More Addictive Than Porn? Alex Grodd on the latest scourge affecting young men
Until 2018, sports betting was almost a sport unto itself. To place a bet, you had to call your bookie, go to the race track, or make a trip to Las Vegas. But in 2018, the Supreme Court put an end to a longtime federal ban on sports betting, and it is now legal in most states and accessible on smartphones. For years, we’ve been hearing alarm bells about the addictive qualities of online pornography, which many experts believe has dulled the senses and hindered the relationship prospects of generations of young men. But according to Alex Grodd, founder of , a media and education company that puts out a podcast of the same name, sports betting in its current incarnation poses an even greater threat. In this conversation, Alex describes how compulsive betting and predatory marketing is leading to financial ruin for countless users, many of whom he spoke with for a recent episode of The Disagreement. He also talks about how this connects with the “masculinity crisis” as well as the overall drop in attention span for just about everyone. Listen to The Disagreement . GUEST BIO Alex Grodd is the founder and CEO of The Disagreement and hosts its podcast. Prior to starting The Disagreement, Alex founded and ran BetterLesson, an edtech company that provides professional development tools to teachers. Alex forged his love for disagreement by facilitating debates among students during his days as a middle school teacher at public schools in Atlanta and Boston. Want to hear the whole conversation? . HOUSEKEEPING 📺 Visit The Unspeakable on ! ✈️ The Unspeakeasy has new retreats for 2025. ! 🥂 Join , my community for freethinking women.
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PREMIUM: Did The Trans Debate Get Trump Elected? Ben Ryan on TERF wars, the fallout of the Cass Review, and gender's role in the election
11/25/2024
PREMIUM: Did The Trans Debate Get Trump Elected? Ben Ryan on TERF wars, the fallout of the Cass Review, and gender's role in the election
Journalist Ben Ryan returns to the podcast to reflect on the role of the trans debate in the recent election as well as discuss the impact of the Cass Review on pediatric gender medicine and on journalists covering the issue. He also talks about various aspects of gender transition treatments, explains what is known about rates of surgeries among minors and to what extent medical care for trans adults could be affected by Trump administration policies. Finally, he and Meghan discuss the TERF Wars, aka infighting within the “gender critical community.” Is using preferred pronouns a harmless courtesy? Or does it imply acquiescence to the slippery slope of reality denial? Ben’s May 2024 interview can be found . GUEST BIO Benjamin Ryan is an independent journalist who focuses on health care and science. He contributes to several major publications, including The New York Times, The Guardian, and NBC News. He has a particular interest in public health, medicine, and psychology, and has spent years reporting on HIV. His work has received multiple awards from NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists, including the Excellence in HIV/AIDS Coverage Award. Benjamin is a cancer survivor and enjoys reading, theatre, movies, biking, cooking, and photography in his spare time. Want to hear the whole conversation? . HOUSEKEEPING 📺 Visit The Unspeakable on ! ✈️ The Unspeakeasy has new retreats for 2025. ! 🥂 Join , my community for freethinking women.
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Can Middle Aged Women Save Theater? Playwright Sandra Tsing Loh on invisible women, wokeness in theater, and taking your own show on the road.
11/18/2024
Can Middle Aged Women Save Theater? Playwright Sandra Tsing Loh on invisible women, wokeness in theater, and taking your own show on the road.
Playwright and performer Sandra Tsing Loh returns to the podcast (after four years!) to discuss her surprise hit play Madwomen of the West, which featured a superstar cast including Caroline Aaron, Marilu Henner, Melanie Mayron, and JoBeth Williams. After the Los Angeles theater establishment deemed the show too woman-centric, Sandra mounted an independent production, which she eventually took to New York and London. She now has a new one-woman show — a 70-minute "You’ll Never Eat Lunch In This Town Again”-style rant — about the “journey” of that production called . I’ll Burn That Bridge When I Get To It will be performed for just two nights at the Odyssey Theater in Los Angeles. November 16 and November 23. Info and tickets . GUEST BIO Sandra Tsing Loh is the author of several books, including "The Madwoman in the Volvo: My Year of Raging Hormones," which was selected as one of the New York Times' 100 Most Notable Books. Her previous book, "Mother on Fire," was inspired by her hit solo show about Los Angeles public education. Her off-Broadway solo shows include "Aliens in America" and "Bad Sex With Bud Kemp." Her comic memoirs include The New York Times New and Noteworthy "Madwoman and the Roomba"; The New York Times 100 Notable Books "Madwoman in the Volvo"; "Mother on Fire"; "A Year in Van Nuys"; and "Depth Takes a Holiday." The Los Angeles Times named her 1998 novel "If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home By Now" a 100 Best Fiction Book. An Atlantic contributing editor, Loh has been heard on NPR's Morning Edition, PRI's Marketplace and This American Life. She currently hosts the LAist/NPR daily radio science minute “The Loh Down on Science.” Want to hear the whole conversation? . HOUSEKEEPING 📺 Visit The Unspeakable on ! ✈️ The Unspeakeasy has new retreats for 2025. ! 🥂 Join , my community for freethinking women.
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Is Kamala Harris Secretly Relieved? Lionel Shriver on the repudiation of wokeness, the volatility of a Trump presidency, and the newly relaxed Kamala Harris.
11/12/2024
Is Kamala Harris Secretly Relieved? Lionel Shriver on the repudiation of wokeness, the volatility of a Trump presidency, and the newly relaxed Kamala Harris.
🔔 Did you like this episode? Don’t forget to like, subscribe and leave a comment down below. ✌️Upgrade your subscription if you want to hear the full conversation: For this first post-election episode, Meghan welcomes back author Lionel Shriver, who is arguably America’s (and the U.K.’s) most controversial woman of letters. They talk about the over/under on the end of democracy, whether J.D. Vance is following a Trump-mandated script, how trans issues replaced abortion rights as a priority for many female voters, and whether Kamala Harris is secretly relieved that she doesn’t have to be President of the United States. They also discuss why writers must oppose Israel to remain in good standing in the literary world and how they feel about the current pronatalism movement with respect to their own reproductive choices. You can upgrade your subscription here: ————————— GUEST BIO Lionel Shriver is a columnist for The Spectator and the author, most recently, of Mania, a novel. Her fiction includes The Mandibles, Property, So Much For That, the New York Times bestseller The Post-Birthday World, and the international bestseller We Need to Talk About Kevin. Her journalism has appeared in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Harper's, and the London Times, and she currently writes a regular column for The Spectator in the UK. A longtime American expat in the U.K, she now lives in Portugal. Hundreds Of Authors Pledge To Boycott Israeli Institutions: Lionel Shriver contributed an essay to Meghan’s 2015 anthology “Selfish, Shallow and Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers On The Decision Not To Have Kids”: Lionel’s previous interviews on The Unspeakable: and ————————— HOUSEKEEPING ✈️ Unspeakeasy Retreats: 🥂 Join The Unspeakeasy, my community for freethinking women:
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Premium: How To Get A Book Deal The Easy Way - Leigh Stein's secrets for book publishing success.
10/29/2024
Premium: How To Get A Book Deal The Easy Way - Leigh Stein's secrets for book publishing success.
In this premium episode, writer, editor, and friend of the pod Leigh Stein returns to talk about the state of book publishing, including the importance of promotion via digital platforms like YouTube and TikTok. Leigh may be the Jane Goodall of BookTok. She has spent countless hours in the wild, studying the platform’s users and creators for insights into its addictive magic. As a book coach who helps authors sell their manuscripts to publishers and then (hopefully) sell lots of copies, she understands the changing landscape of publishing and sees endless potential and opportunity. Where many authors and editors feel only fear and dread, Leigh feels joy. Recently, she helped literary agent turned novelist . Want in on more of Leigh’s secrets? On November 14, The Unspeakeasy is offering a one-time webinar with Leigh called . It’s open to everyone (not just ladies) and may change your life. And it’s only $150! Visit the course in The Unspeakeasy for more details and to sign up. GUEST BIO Leigh Stein is a writer exploring the impact of the internet on our identities, relationships, and politics. She has written five books, including the satirical novel Self Care (Penguin, 2020) and the poetry collection What to Miss When (Soft Skull Press, 2021). Her non-fiction work has been featured in publications such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Allure, ELLE, Poets & Writers, BuzzFeed, The Cut, Salon, and Slate. Leigh founded Out of the Binders/BinderCon, a feminist literary nonprofit organization that supported women and gender variant writers. BinderCon events in NYC and LA welcomed nearly 2,000 writers to hear speakers such as Lisa Kudrow, Anna Quindlen, Claudia Rankine, Jill Abramson, Elif Batuman, Effie Brown, Leslie Jamison, Suki Kim, and Adrian Nicole LeBlanc. Leigh also moderated a Facebook community of 40,000 writers. She is no longer on Facebook. Leigh’s . Leigh’s . Want to hear the whole conversation? . HOUSEKEEPING 📺 Visit The Unspeakable on ! ✈️ The Unspeakeasy has new retreats for 2025. ! 🥂 Join , my community for freethinking women.
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A Feminist In Genderland: Legendary feminist Julie Bindel on the sex trade, surrogacy, and her new podcast about gender madness
10/21/2024
A Feminist In Genderland: Legendary feminist Julie Bindel on the sex trade, surrogacy, and her new podcast about gender madness
This week, journalist and legendary feminist activist Julie Bindel talks about her new podcast series, , which explores the complexities surrounding gender identity, particularly from the perspective of parents of children who’ve become caught up in gender ideology. Julie discusses the role of social services and educators in shaping children's understanding of gender, the intersection of class and gender issues, and the parallels with social justice movements around the sex trade and surrogacy. She also reflects on her reporting of grooming gangs in the UK, linking it to broader issues of misogyny and systemic failures in protecting vulnerable girls. GUEST BIO Julie Bindel is a British journalist, broadcaster, author and a feminist campaigner against male violence towards women and girls. Her latest book, Lesbians: Where Are We Now? will be published by Swift Press in Spring 2025 and her new podcast, Julie In Genderland, premiered in September 2024. Follow Julie on . Listen to Want to hear the whole conversation? . HOUSEKEEPING 📺 Visit The Unspeakable on ! ✈️ The Unspeakeasy has new retreats for 2025. ! Learn about our upcoming Unspeakeasy School of Thought coed in fiction, memoir, and “How To Get A Book Deal The Easy Way.” 🥂 Join , my community for freethinking women.
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How To Win An Argument With Yourself: Stephanie Lepp’s Latest Integration
10/14/2024
How To Win An Argument With Yourself: Stephanie Lepp’s Latest Integration
Stephanie Lepp is a video artist and producer whose work focuses on bringing together different viewpoints to arrive at a perspective that goes beyond “common ground” and emerges as a true integration, or synthesis. She was on the podcast in to talk about a project called Deep Reckonings. In it, she considered the cases of public figures who’d responded to personal controversy in less-than-ideal ways and reimagined responses that would have conveyed genuine learning. Now she’s back with a new video series, , which illustrates an argument using a single performer to act out the three parts of the thesis, antithesis, synthesis schematic. Those performers include Buck Angel, Liv Boeree, Magatte Wade, and herself. In this conversation, I talk with Stephanie about why it’s so hard to check your confirmation bias (even — and maybe even especially — when you pride yourself on being able to do so), the difference between synthesis and “both sidesism,” and why she’s optimistic about the future of public discourse about complicated issues. GUEST BIO Stephanie Lepp is the founder of Synthesis Media, a production studio devoted to integrating perspectives into a bigger picture. In 2022, she debuted Reckonings, a narrative podcast that explores how we change our hearts and minds, and , a series of explicitly-marked deepfake videos that imagine morally courageous versions of our public figures. Her new project is Faces of X. Watch . Watch . Listen to Stephanie Lepp’s Want to hear the whole conversation? . HOUSEKEEPING 📺 Visit The Unspeakeasy on ! ✈️ We have new retreats for 2025. ! ✏️ Learn about our upcoming Unspeakeasy School of Thought coed in fiction, memoir, and humor writing. 🥂 Join , my community for freethinking women.
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