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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WTW62: January Littlejohn, Big Activist
Part 6 of our series Jon Ronson's Things Fell Apart Falls Apart The horrible both sidesing of trans people's lives continues. January Littlejohn sucks a lot and Jon is completely credulous. 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!
WTW61: That Time Jon Ronson Both Sides'ed Trans People's Lives
Part 5 of our series Jon Ronson's Things Fell Apart Falls Apart Alright, this episode of Things Fell Apart is what really did it. S2E5. This is the one that made us absolutely certain we had to do this series. Jon Ronson introduces listeners to January Littlejohn, a "concerned mother" in Florida, and what happened when her child began questioning their gender identity. However, in his neverending quest to both sides literally every topic, Ronson misses some major plotholes to the story, and allows harmful rhetoric and misinformation to stand virtually unchallenged; thankfully we have Lydia to help fill in the gaps that Things Fell Apart listeners didn't get to hear! 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!
WTW60: The Left Wing Media, in Their Way
The 4th part of our series Jon Ronson's Things Fell Apart Falls Apart It's time to move on to... episode 3 of season 2 of Things Fell Apart. This episode features the worst example of both sidesing I've ever heard. It's astonishing. An interracial family was driving in the woods to go camping during the pandemic. A group of angry right wing racists, with guns and dogs, follows them and cuts down trees to block the road and prevent their escape. You might be wondering how in the world someone could "both sides" this event. Welp, Jon Ronson finds a way. And it's... oof. Just yikes. 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!
WTW59: Oh Is Stealing Things a Crime Now?
The 4th part of our series Jon Ronson's Things Fell Apart Falls Apart Jon Ronson's grand theory of Judy Mikovitz is that she was a normal, accomplished scientist, until she was "arguably mistreated," after which she became the kind of person who would be the subject of Plandemic. This final episode completely disproves this theory. It also shows how incredibly dishonest Judy has been about her arrest, and why it was actually entirely reasonable that she was held for 5 days. (and, it was more like 4). Also, make sure to not fall for the fake endings. 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!
WTW58: Just Hand Over the Cell Line
Part 3 of of our series on Jon Ronson's Things Fell Apart. On the podcast Knowledge Fight, Jordan asks Jon Ronson a good question: if there were a bunch of people involved in this bogus Judy Mikovits study, why was she the only one who had the cell line? Jon had no answer. Jenessa does. How the hell did everyone miss this? 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!
WTW57: Judy Mikovits, the Most Unreliable Narrator
Part 2 of our series on Jon Ronson's Things Fell Apart. A chance encounter at a yacht club? Or... a not at all chance encounter at a convention for quackery? Dr. Jenessa Seymour takes us through it. 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!
WTW56: Jon Ronson's Things Fell Apart Falls Apart
At long last, we're releasing our series on how Jon Ronson both sidesed the truth into oblivion in the 2nd season of Things Fell Apart. The show, just like its host, is engaging and entertaining. The reporting, however, is not good. It is incredibly favorable to the anti-woke brigade, and as a result, is . And it's also just lazy and false in many ways. First up: Dr. Judy Mikovits. Ronson paints her as a one-time serious scientist who got a raw deal and therefore turned conspiratorial and eventually became the subject of the anti-vax propaganda Plandemic. Or... what if she was actually always full of shit? 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!
WTW55: The Best Trump Verdict Meltdowns
With Matt Cameron! Trump was found guilty by a jury in the Southern District of New York for all 34 charges of falsifying business records in furtherance of a crime. The Right immediately lost their mind. We visit some of our usual suspects around the WTW-verse in this historic moment. And we'll be playing just a selection of this in the episode, but if you're crazy like us, you can watch Trump's full speech from this morning here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iszZq7x3La8&t=78s Side note - for your viewing pleasure: https://x.com/TheRightMelissa/status/1796521491682443536 ...do you think they know? 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!
WTW54: Tucker Carlson Interviews Aaron Rodgers
We've finally attained our complete PiaT/CogDis crossover goal with our guest today, Noah Lugeons! We all suffered through more than 2 hours of Tucker Carlson interviewing Aaron Rodgers so you don't have to. Yes it's insane, but it's also scary how not insane it feels, too. Debunking Right Wing Rhetoric is even more important when it's coming out of the mouths of seemingly "normal" people with platforms; it's a slippery slope and Rodgers is apparently deep in it. 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!
WTW53: The Griftiest Grift To Ever Grift
New College, Part 4: A Business Plan and a Comedy Show In our final episode of the series, Lydia walks us through New College's search for a permanent President, and stumbles on a lot of questionable fiscal shenanigans that are happening with seemingly zero accountability or oversight. To close it out, Lydia subjects Thomas to torture via the comedy stylings of New College's Dean of Students. https://savenewcollege.org/ New-College-Business-Plan Aug 2023.pdf NCF-Business-Plan-Nov 2023.pdf 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!
WTW52: New College's Unqualified, Teacher-Hating President
New College, Part 3: The Florida GOP's Attack on Public Schools is Really, Really Bad We continue investigating the New College takeover by looking into the man who was appointed Interim President by the DeSantis Board of Trustees. Who is Richard Corcoran and how did he get this job? How many public school skeletons could this guy have in his closet? For more on the Florida Department of Education-Jefferson County scandal: https://billytownsend.substack.com/p/the-floridadesantisdoe-jefferson https://chartered.wlrn.org/ 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!
WTW51: A New New College
New College, Part 2: The Transition, or How New College of Florida Got a Baseball Team DeSantis didn't just take over a college, he fundamentally disrupted the lives of New College students, faculty, and staff. In this episode we talk about those impacted, and the DeSantis Cronies' push to prioritize student athletes. As promised in the episode, attached is the student thesis from one of the more notable alumni. 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!
WTW50: New College Was a Progressive University. Then Ron DeSantis Took It Over
New College, Part 1: The Takeover Last year, Governor Meatball DeSantis successfully launched a takeover at the New College of Florida by appointing like-minded folks to the Board of Trustees, who swiftly enacted several significant "culture war" changes. This is Part 1 of a series where we walk you through what happened at New College, who was involved, and the impact to the students, faculty, and staff who experienced their entire world changing in a matter of weeks. 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!
WTW49: Anti-woke Law Professor Swears DEI Took His Job
Folks, there are anti-woke crybabies, and there are anti-woke crybabies, and then there is Scott Gerber. Scott Gerber may be the new leader in the WTW clubhouse for pathetic, egomaniacal anti-woke manbabies. You might not recognize the name, but you likely will recognize this joke of an article he wrote defending Clarence Thomas, "Supreme Court justices are allowed to have friends." Believe us when we say, Scott Gerber's victim complex when it comes to his own life makes the Clarence Thomas article look like the dudes from The 300. Lydia's got the story for us, and you won't want to miss it. Feel free to email us at lydia@seriouspod.com or thomas@seriouspod.com! Please pretty please consider becoming a patron at patreon.com/wherethereswoke!
WTW48: There Once Was a Jordan Peterson MBA Program. What Happened to It?
This wild ride into JBP's dealings wouldn't be the same without a deeper dive into the MBA Fellowship he "founded" and a look into how he conducts the rest of his businesses. Spoiler: like the man himself, it's all just really strange. And we talk about Mikhaila Peterson, the OG meat-eater, for the first time in this series! Wired Investigation into Registered Agents, Inc. Lawsuit RA Inc Named Feel free to email us at lydia@seriouspod.com or thomas@seriouspod.com! Please pretty please consider becoming a patron at patreon.com/wherethereswoke!