Hello everyone! This week we are off for the holiday season. Instead of the usual episode, please enjoy a 10 minute preview of our Patreon exclusive discussion on Spotify Wrapped and why we are long-standing haters. We talk about the data surveillance inherent to Wrapped, its exploitative origins, and how it relates to "conspicuous consumption." Check out the full conversation over on our Patreon.   Check out Soaliha’s Substack Soaliloquy and Mitch’s Substack DIAGRAMMA. Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha    Sources: The Intern Who Created Spotify Wrapped’s Story Format Never Got Her Due Gen Z's Fear Of Cringe Is Actually Making Dating Harder   

This week we talk about celebrity culture, body positivity, and whether it’s ever okay to talk about other people’s bodies — no matter how famous they are. We discuss the Wicked press tour, the eating disorder to white supremacy pipeline, and the role celebrities play in our society. Content warning: this episode discusses disordered eating.    Check out Soaliha’s Substack Soaliloquy and Mitch’s Substack DIAGRAMMA. Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha    Sources: https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSjqwYhB4/ https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSjqwXSB6/ https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSjqwCQpH/ https://x.com/MashaParty/status/1859618868194341249

This week we discuss the power of storytelling as a tool for preserving history — and how that preservation is not only being undermined, but is actively under threat thanks to platform capitalism.  We talk about ‘the write side of history’ panel at Muslim Agenda, the way narratives are shaped and disseminated by mediators like news publications and streaming services, and the importance of having physical media like books at a time where Palestinian stories are being lost to the ether.   Check out Soaliha’s Substack Soaliloquy and Mitch’s Substack DIAGRAMMA. Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha    Sources: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBgZ7Xlug2D/?igsh=dm5vemR5OTh1YW42  Spotify rockets past 640 million users, on track to achieve first full year of profitability | TechSpot The Battle Is For The Customer Interface | TechCrunch

This week we talk about the rise of puriteens—a portmanteau of puritans and teenagers—and how their sexphobia, suspicion, and moral policing are shaping how sex is talked about and represented online. We discuss the prevalence of puriteenism across BookTok and other platforms, interrogating their criticisms of the dark romance genre, sex scenes in movies, and the wardrobe of Sabrina Carpenter, and examine what they get wrong about sex and sexuality — and also what they get right.   Check out Soaliha’s Substack Soaliloquy and Mitch’s Substack DIAGRAMMA. Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha    Sources: Puritanism took over online fandom — and then came for the rest of the internet Are Sex-Negative 'Puriteens' Actually Taking Over the Internet?

This week we talk about feeling “uncomfortable” compared to feeling “unsafe”, and how these terms have become conflated in conversations around free speech and protests against genocide in Palestine. We discuss what it actually means to be unsafe, the way safety as a concept has been weaponised against marginalised folk, and the importance of sitting with discomfort for growth and reconciliation.     Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha    Sources: Students arrested at Western Sydney University during Palestine protest - Honi Soit Working for safety collectively - Overland literary journal  University responses to anti-Semitism 'woefully inadequate', but Labor-led committee rejects judicial inquiry - ABC News Right-wing pro-Israel agitators threaten free speech on campus  Blessed is the flame | The Anarchist Library 

This week we talk about the concept of being “objective” in western media as discussed in Amy McQiure’s new book ‘Black Witness’: how objectivity is not only weaponised against marginalised folks, but is a state that isn’t even possible to reach in the first place.  We discuss the Australian media’s bias towards pro-Israel coverage, the systematic undermining of non-white journalists in matters of race and white supremacy, and the allegations of racism in the ABC (specifically, Antoinette Lattouf’s court case and the recent episode of Media Watch that targeted Tony Armstrong).   Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha    Sources: Black Witness | UQP   Objectivity serves the powerful, and silences the oppressed  Failing Gaza: Pro-Israel bias uncovered behind the lens of Western media | Al Jazeera Listen Loudly, Act Strongly report  Secret WhatsApp messages show co-ordinated campaign to oust Antoinette Lattouf from ABC Tony Armstrong Was Spammed With Racist Abuse After His Own Employer (The ABC) Ran A Hit Piece  fast fashion inhibits creativity and personal style 🗣️ (with receipts... | TikTok

This week we talk about Barbie (2023) — was the endlessly hyped film a feminist masterpiece, or just a massive toy commercial? Or perhaps, something else? We discuss the history of Barbie, the film’s gender theory and the queerness of Allan, and line it all up against Judith Butler’s Gender Trouble.   Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha    Sources: Mattel, Inc. History  Meet Lilli, the High-end German Call Girl Who Became Barbie  Guys Who Think The Barbie Movie Hates On Men Clearly Didn't Watch It Judith Butler, Gender Trouble, 1989 Patriarchy According to The Barbie Movie

This week we talk about celebrities, PR disasters and the difference between what celebrities give us, and what they owe us.  We talk about the It Ends With Us film adaptation (and the surrounding drama), Blake Lively’s dumpsterfire of a press tour and Chappell Roan’s latest assertion of boundaries.   Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha    Sources: Blake Lively on Fame, Family, Good Fortune—And Becoming a Glamorous Jewel Thief for Baz Luhrmann  Blake Lively's hair care secret is using no conditioner! Should you skip it too?  Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively apologize for plantation wedding  https://www.bustle.com/articles/44052-blake-lively-website-preserve-editorial-called-allure-of-antebellum-is-absolutely-inexcusable  Blake Lively says she's 'so proud' of It Ends With Us and that she 'took playing domestic violence victim seriously' amid backlash to her 'tone deaf' press tour | Daily Mail Online  Alcohol/drug-involved family violence in Australia (ADIVA): key findings  Factors associated with FDSV - Australian Institute of Health and Welfare  Ryan Reynolds and Justin Baldoni’s ‘It Ends With Us’ Drama The Screenwriter Of "It Ends With Us" Reacted After Blake Lively Said Ryan Reynolds Wrote A Key Scene  

This week we talk about ‘tradwives’: what are they, where did they come from, and why is their content so popular right now? We discuss the ahistorical nostalgia that tradwives are predicated on, the politics of their labor and the neocolonial nature of homesteading. Really, we ask the question: does the ‘tradwife’ as we know her actually exist, or is she a mythic projection?   Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha    Sources: Kamala Harris selects Tim Walz, pro-Israel Minnesota governor, as her running mate | The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle  I'm a trad woman. I think other women secretly wish they were too | SBS Insight From Scratch | Verso Books 'Don't do this to yourself': Meredyth warns young 'trad wives' they could be on a risky path | SBS The Feed Unpacking The Ballerina Farm Discourse & What it Means For The Tradwife Movement – Centennial World  Far-right 'tradwives' see feminism as evil and push back against what they see as 'the lie of equality' - ABC News

We're back! This week we discuss the internet frenzy around presidential candidate Kamala Harris and our collective amnesia surrounding her previous (and conservative) policies.  We talk about her contradictory political history, the abject failure of US democracy and whether radical change can truly be enacted via electoral politics.    Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha    Sources: Report: The War on Marijuana in Black and White | American Civil Liberties Union How Kamala Harris Fought to Keep Nonviolent Prisoners Locked Up - The American Prospect   Opinion | Kamala Harris Was Not a ‘Progressive Prosecutor’ - The New York Times  Kamala Harris’ A.G. Office Tried to Keep Inmates Locked Up for Cheap Labor  Kamala Harris laughed about jailing parents over truancy. But it's not funny | Nathan Robinson | The Guardian  Twitter thread of Kamala Harris' speeches on truancy and criminal justice reform  Kamala Harris Takes 'Responsibility' for Opposing Trans Surgeries  US to allow migrants from Mexico as critics slam ‘kids in cages’ | Migration News | Al Jazeera  The Pitfalls of Liberalism (1969)  Woke Scientist on Instagram.

Hello friends! This week's episode is a repost from SBS's five-part podcast series My Ramadan, which Soaliha appeared on last week and we've added a preamble to. SBS has given us permission to reshare it here, the following is their description of the episode: From intermittent fasting to Sydney’s iconic Lakemba markets, Ramadan has developed a mainstream visibility and hipster cachet it didn’t used to have. How do Gen Z Muslims in the West square this with historic Islamophobia? Journalist and podcaster Soaliha Iqbal and writer Lina Ali discuss the hipsterfication of Ramadan with host Sarah Malik. Enjoy!   Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/soaliha Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha  Facebook Group: Here’s The Thing, Tho With Soaliha Podcast Group   

This week we discuss James Cameron’s infamous Avatar films, specifically focusing on the second film and its fetishisation of colonialism. Buckle up folks, it’s a wild ride. We talk about colonialism and environmental destruction as a spectacle, the myth of the Noble Savage and the White Messiah, nuclear families and heteronormative depictions of intimacy and domination, and of course, the usual topics of sexism, racism, misogyny and cultural appropriation.   Recommendations:  It’s Not About The Burqa — a collection of essays edited by Mariam Khan. My favourite chapters:  On The Representation Of Muslims: Terms and Conditions Apply by Nafisa Bakkar Between Submission And Threat: The British State’s Contradictory Relationship With Muslim Women by Malia Bouattia A Woman Of Substance by Saima Mir   Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/soaliha Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha  Facebook Group: Here’s The Thing, Tho With Soaliha Podcast Group    Sources: 'Avatar 2' Production Designers Explain Every Vehicle in 'The Way of Water,' From SeaDragons to Skel Suits 'Avatar 2' VFX Team on the Evolution of the Tulkun and Simulating Water for Performance Capture   'Avatar 2' Cast: What 'The Way of Water' Cast Really Looks Like - Variety  Indigenous people slam Avatar (again) for tropes and inaccuracies  Opinion | The Messiah Complex - The New York Times Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation, 1981

Warning: This episode contains discussions of sexual assault and image-based abuse. This week we discuss the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in recent months and its political implications with respect to labour, capitalism, racism, and sexism.  We also discuss how new AI technologies are being used to perpetuate violence against women in the case of deepfake pornography.   Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/soaliha Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha  Facebook Group: Here’s The Thing, Tho With Soaliha Podcast Group    Sources: Vic Police Defends Protective Services Officer Who Slapped 11YO Across The Face During Arrest  Yes, Black officers killed Tyre Nichols. What is the correct response to that? | Reverend William Barber and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove | The Guardian  AI generated image wins Australian photo comp  Why Don’t We Treat Non-Consensual Deepfake Porn Of Women As Rape?  How an Evil Clown, a Haitian Trickster Spirit, Two Wizards, and a Cast of Dozens Turned a Database Into a Society   Researcher Says Her Avatar Was Raped On Meta's Metaverse Platform  Where Does Meaning Come From? | Alexander R. Galloway Soaliha’s book recommendation: Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone   

This week we discuss the pervasive notion of “reproductive futurism” and how it relates to current issues such as abortion rights, queerphobia, and climate change. We talk about how reproductive futurism – the dominant political order which privileges future children over everything else – structures all aspects of our society and shapes both progressive and conservative thought.   Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/soaliha Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha  Facebook Group: Here’s The Thing, Tho With Soaliha Podcast Group    Sources: No Future: Queer Theory and the Death Drive, Lee Edelman, 2004 1 in 3 American women have already lost abortion access. More restrictive laws are coming. - The Washington Post  How 1970s Christian crusader Anita Bryant helped spawn Florida's LGBTQ culture war

This week we discuss a series of alarming recordings that were leaked by a Queensland police officer, and a scandalous recycling story which revealed just how precarious recycling is. We talk about the broader culture of racism in our police institutions, the girlbossification of policing, identity politics and the fundamental links between our recycling industry, consumerism and capitalism. Oh, and we discuss Love Is Blind S3 of course.   Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/soaliha Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha  Facebook Group: Here’s The Thing, Tho With Soaliha Podcast Group    Sources: Police dog bite sparks outrage as 13-year-old WA boy Jayden Abraham suffers severe injuries  Leaked audio reveals Queensland police staff in racist conversations, joking about violence to black people and protesters  Head of Queensland police First Nations unit investigated for alleged racism  For Fuck's Sake: The Boss Of Qld Police's First Nations Unit Is Under Investigation For Racism  Queensland police promoted officer who called colleague a ‘towelhead’ and had history of bullying REDcycle's collapse is more proof that plastic recycling is a broken system - ABC News

This week we discuss representation, toxic identity politics and celebrity queerbaiting.  We talk about the cancellation of Constance Wu, the way we punish actors for not representing their communities perfectly, and how fandom weaponised the term “queerbaiting” to punish Kit Connor.    Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/soaliha Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha  Facebook Group: Here’s The Thing, Tho With Soaliha Podcast Group    Sources Selena Gomez Wasn't Sure She Was Ready To Tell This Story HotD Needs More Female Directors Because *That* Finale Scene Was Needlessly Traumatising For Viewers Just Gonna Say It: Constance Wu's Heartbreaking Sexual Harassment Story Is Familiar To All WOC  What is 'queerbaiting' and how did the internet turn it into a weapon? | SBS The Feed  Queerbaiting and Fandom, edited by Joseph Brennan, 2019 “The Queer Public and its Problem with Representation,” Tyler Quick, The Velvet Light Trap No. 86, 2020

This week we discuss a controversial article about sustainability in the bedroom, Lydia Thorpe’s ‘conflict of interest’ and ethical issues around Netflix’s Jeffrey Dahmer series.  We talk about consuming our way out of climate change and the sexist nature of sustainability marketing, the hypocrisy and suspicious timing surrounding Lydia Thorpe’s relationship with a bikie, and the growing issue of victims who have their stories co-opted and stolen in the name of the true crime genre.   Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/soaliha Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha  Facebook Group: Here’s The Thing, Tho With Soaliha Podcast Group    Sources The Beige Index  How to have environmentally friendly sex - triple j  A First Pregnancy May Be Difficult to Achieve After Long-Term Use of an IUD | Guttmacher Institute  Triple J Is Getting Slammed For Claiming The IUD Is An 'Eco-Friendly' Alternative To The Pill  Staunch or stubborn? Lidia Thorpe on the voice, the treaty and real power | Indigenous Australians | The Guardian Alan Tudge: Government won’t comment on $500,000 payout to former staffer Rachelle Miller | Australian election 2022 | The Guardian  Is Ryan Murphy’s Jeffrey Dahmer show the most exploitative TV of 2022? Jeffrey Dahmer Victim's Mom Slams Folks Who Wear 'Evil' Halloween Costumes Surviving victims of Kim Kardashian's podcast murder say she never called them | Daily Mail Online

Today we talk about Jordan Peele’s latest film ‘Nope’ and explain why we liked it.  We discuss the film’s subversion of colonial anxieties, its themes of exploitation and spectacle, and answer the burning question: what was up with the chimp? This episode was recorded Saturday, October 8, 2022.   Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/soaliha Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha  Facebook Group: Here’s The Thing, Tho With Soaliha Podcast Group    Sources The Current Debate: “Nope” and the Society of the Spectacle on Notebook | MUBI Review: “Nope” Is One of the Great Movies About Moviemaking | The New Yorker  

This week we discuss three major news stories from the last two weeks: Black Ariel, Iranian protests against Hijab mandates and a bombshell report about the chemical imbalance myth.  We talk about white supremacy and the concerning emergence of digitally-erased Blackness, white feminists and their gleeful demonisation of hijab (which is actually a praxis, not a clothing) and a suss shift in discourse around the role serotonin plays in depression.   Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/soaliha Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha  Facebook Group: Here’s The Thing, Tho With Soaliha Podcast Group    Sources: Little Mermaid: Disney Made Non-White Mermaids Canon Nearly 30 Years Ago  Protests over Mahsa Amini's death spread in Iran, authorities issue warning as death toll from clashes with police grows - ABC News The serotonin theory of depression: a systematic umbrella review of the evidence | Molecular Psychiatry  Is the chemical imbalance an ‘urban legend’? An exploration of the status of the serotonin theory of depression in the scientific literature - ScienceDirect 

We're back!!! This week we discuss two topics: the death of the queen and gossip surrounding Harry Styles. We talk about the way monarchists tone police people of colour and downplay the impacts of colonialism. We also examine the recent shift in people’s perception of Harry Styles amid accusations of queerbaiting and the drama around the Don’t Worry Darling premiere at Venice. This episode was recorded on Friday, September 9, 2022.   Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/soaliha Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha  Facebook Group: Here’s The Thing, Tho With Soaliha Podcast Group    Sources: Aborigines Welfare Ordinance 1954  Pose star Billy Porter: ‘Did I ever think I’d be this successful? No, because I’m gay’ | Style | The Sunday Times Billy Porter apologises to Harry Styles: "I didn’t mean no harm"   Harry Styles’ comments on gay sex and sexuality are frustratingly coy