Where There's Woke
Every single time the right, or even center-left, goes ballistic over a "woke" controversy, the slightest bit of investigation shows the scandal is almost entirely bogus. This is not a new phenomenon; it dates back decades. It's an intentional tool used to protect the powerful and preserve the status quo, while further scapegoating and otherizing those who push for political progress. This podcast digs into not just today's fake scandals, but those of yesterday and yesteryear. The terminology has changed some, but the pattern has not. Listen in as hosts Thomas and Lydia Smith shine a light on the panic, the fragility, the overreaction, and the lying that ignites 'Where There's Woke.'
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WTW76: Debunking the Deranged Blake Lively Hatestorm
Hey folks, big announcement!!! Our podcast, Gavel Gavel, is now available to the public! No longer is it only available on Patreon! This series on GG, we'll be covering the Blake Lively/Justin Baldoni legal battle. It is so fascinating for a million reasons. But this is a unique and standalone WTW episode, don't worry! The Blake Lively hatestorm that happened (Lydia will catch you up if you're not familiar) was absolute nonsense. It requires a debunk, just as any anti-woke scare story does. And debunk it, we shall! If you enjoy our work, please consider leaving a 5-star review! You can always email questions, comments, and leads tolydia@seriouspod.com. Please pretty please consider becoming a patron at patreon.com/wherethereswoke!
WTW75: Decades of Anti-woke Propaganda Has All Been to Get Us Here
To this administration and this moment. Today we discuss how Harmeet Dhillon plans to not just ruin the Civil Rights Division of the DoJ, but to actively point it in reverse. Lydia breaks it down for us, and along the way we learn about so many things we didn't appreciate enough while we had them. DOJ's Fulton County Jail Investigation, November 2024 Dhillon's piece in Hillsdale College's Imprimis Publication, August 2022 **If you enjoy our work, please consider leaving a 5-star review! You can always email questions, comments, and leads to lydia@seriouspod.com.** Please pretty please consider becoming a patron at patreon.com/wherethereswoke!
WTW74: The Woke Are Coming for Your DnD! - With Eli Bosnick
That's right, the woke are coming for YOUR Dungeons and Dragons! Look behind you, they're already here! These new woke rules are ruining the game and are actually the racists if you really think about it. Or maybe not and it's the same story of every fake woke controversy? We're not sure because we aren't NERDS*, so we invited an actual expert who is a huge nerd and host of an amazing DnD podcast, Eli Bosnick. Check out DnD Minus wherever podcasts are sold! Patrons get a very extended outtakes section! *we absolutely are nerds just not that kind. If you enjoy our work, please consider leaving a 5-star review! You can always email questions, comments, and leads to lydia@seriouspod.com. Please pretty please consider becoming a patron at patreon.com/wherethereswoke!
WTW73: Elon Musk Claimed to Be a Top PoE2 Gamer. Turns Out He Was Cheating
This is the best. It's just the best. Elon Musk is so pathetic that he tried to fake being a world class gamer, only to completely humiliate himself when he live-streamed himself gaming. Look, it's a dark day for our country as Trump is inaugurated, so treat yourself to something nice. A DOUBLE episode on Elon's catastrophic and very public failure, and with special guest Noah Lugeons! Please pretty please consider becoming a patron at patreon.com/wherethereswoke!
WTW72: Campus Reform Calls Out "Outrageous" Scientific Studies But Doesn't Understand How Science Works
Emily Sturge of Campus Reform is on the case, folks. Under her watch, the National Institute of Health will never misspend another dollar ever again. Lydia debunks the outrage from the Campus Reform article outlining 10 "outrageous" scientific inquiries funded with taxpayer money that the Right wants DOGE to "investigate." Shrimp on treadmills Crab on treadmills Louchébem - Parisian Butcher language Please pretty please consider becoming a patron at patreon.com/wherethereswoke!
WTW71: UN Report Says Women Have Lost "900 Medals to Trans-Athletes." It's Bullshit.
This episode also could be called "Jerry Coyne is wrong and a liar." The FFRF published Jerry Coyne's anti-trans lies and then had to apologize. I was going to talk about that and the nature of inadequate apologies, but then I saw one of the claims in Coyne's piece and I HAD to debunk it. The fact that it comes from the UN shows how pernicious and extensive the anti-trans misinformation has become. Read this excellent and heartbreaking piece on Hailey Davidson. Please pretty please consider becoming a patron at patreon.com/wherethereswoke!
WTW70: San Jose State University's Volleyball Season That Wasn't About Volleyball
The Right Wing media ecosystem is all over Lydia's alma mater, San Jose State University, for a very unserious (surprise) reason: volleyball. Lydia breaks down the "controversy" for us. If you enjoy our work, please consider leaving a 5-star review! You can always email questions, comments, and leads to lydia@seriouspod.com. Please pretty please consider becoming a patron at patreon.com/wherethereswoke!
WTW69: Trump's MSG Rally Was a Preview of What Is to Come
It is very unfortunate that we weren't able to release this 4th and final part of Trump's MSG rally before the election, because a lot of the analysis was extremely prescient. But it is perhaps even more relevant now, because it features several characters who will be a part of the incoming fascism. And then, of course, the Führer himself. If you enjoy our work, please consider leaving a 5-star review! You can always email questions, comments, and leads to lydia@seriouspod.com. Please pretty please consider becoming a patron at patreon.com/wherethereswoke!
WTW68: MSG Trump Rally Part 3 OH MY the Hits Keep Coming
A series of amoral grifters each more grifty than the last. Tulsi Gabbard, Tucker Carlson (who sounds INSANE), Terry Bollea, RFK Jr., and somehow more. If you enjoy our work, please consider leaving a 5-star review! You can always email questions, comments, and leads to lydia@seriouspod.com. Please pretty please consider becoming a patron at patreon.com/wherethereswoke!
WTW67: When Nazis Came To NY (Again)
It's part 2 of the Trump Madison Square Garden NYC rally, and this one features the funniest thing to ever happen on any of my shows, as we had a very special guest call in short notice! If you enjoy our work, please consider leaving a 5-star review! You can always email questions, comments, and leads to lydia@seriouspod.com. Please pretty please consider becoming a patron at patreon.com/wherethereswoke!
WTW66: Dissecting Trump's Madison Square Garden Rally
Part 1! Lydia watched 6 hours of this "not a Nazi" rally to drill down to the highlights (lowlights?) among the speakers, who may very well hold positions in a Trump administration if he's elected. There are hilarious moments, and also quite a lot of really horrible racism and misogyny that we can't allow to be swept under the rug. Please vote. If you enjoy our work, please consider leaving a 5-star review! You can always email questions, comments, and leads to lydia@seriouspod.com. Please pretty please consider becoming a patron at patreon.com/wherethereswoke!
WTW65: A Coin Flip from Fascism - Are the Polls Rigged?
We interrupt our Yale Law series because this election has us too stressed the f$#% out. It seemed like we'd be ok. It seemed like we were going to win. Now the polls do not look good. What changed? I wanted to talk about the very real possibility that in a few short days, MAGA fascists will have won control of... everything. Absolutely everything. The Presidency, Congress, and of course the Supreme Court is already in their hands. The polls are in their favor. Should we believe them? If you enjoy our work, please consider leaving a 5-star review! You can always email questions, comments, and leads to lydia@seriouspod.com. Please pretty please consider becoming a patron at patreon.com/wherethereswoke!
WTW64: Did Students Shut Down Bipartisan Free Speech Event at Yale Law School?
This is -sort of- part 8 of our series, Jon Ronson's Things Fell Apart Falls Apart S2E6 of Things Fell Apart has yet more anti-woke propaganda and credulous reporting. But before we even get to the meat of that, Ronson plays a few audio clips of some anti-woke scare stories. I decided it would be a good idea to focus on those and do some side quests, which are also still relevant to his BS framing but allow us to take some detours and a break from 100% Ronson. This first one: Did students at Yale Law shut down a free speech event? Were police called? Why did they do that? How snowflakey could these woke snowflake students get? Orrrrrrr was maybe something else was going on... If you enjoy our work, please consider leaving a 5-star review! You can always email questions, comments, and leads to lydia@seriouspod.com. Please pretty please consider becoming a patron at patreon.com/wherethereswoke!
The Right's Obsession With Taking Down Tim Walz (feat. Heath Enwright)
Hey folks, please enjoy this free preview of the September bonus! On Debate Night Eve, we share the Tim Walz stories that the Right desperately hope will stick and hurt Harris/Walz in the polls. Have they found one to combat Governor Walz's impeccable BDE (Big Dad Energy)? Heath Enwright (The Scathing Atheist, Citation Needed, God Awful Movies, etc.) joins us as we journey through - and debunk - some of these insanely ridiculous scandals. Get the full episode as a 2nd tier patron or above at patreon.com/wherethereswoke!
WTW63: This Is Her Story To Tell... But I'm Telling It
Part 7 of our series Jon Ronson's Things Fell Apart Falls Apart The finale on the awful anti-trans chapter of Jon Ronson's pocdcast series. It continues to get worse, and we finally get to hear Lydia's bombshell clip. If you enjoy our work, please consider leaving a 5-star review! You can always email questions, comments, and leads to lydia@seriouspod.com. Please pretty please consider becoming a patron at patreon.com/wherethereswoke!