Diabolical Lies

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.diabolicalliespod.comThis episode was named for Michelle Bowdler’s award-winning memoir, Is Rape a Crime?Omnibus content warning for this episode: We talk about the history of rape and sexual assault, with some detailed descriptions of past cases.When student journalists published a story in September about a reported gang rape at Cornell University, it became national news.The particular details of the lawsuit—the screenshots of the group chat, Jane Doe’s texts with the men afterward, and the consequences (or lack thereof) for the fraternity men involved—spawned a thinkpiece bonanza attempting to determine what, specifically, went wrong here. What, pray tell, is to blame for something so horrid?The darker half of the internet had a different question: Was this even a gang rape? The behavior was abhorrent, sure, of course, but rape?Maybe it was the ketamine and alcohol. Maybe it was the (seemingly consensual) threesome. Maybe it was the sexual revolution.But gang rape—particularly in this context—is not a mystery. We need not scour the case file for “what went wrong.” In fact, we’ve known for decades what drives this sort of behavior. And if we’ve known for decades, why is this a lesson we refuse to learn? What does it mean for every other victim of sexual violence if this event, of all events, is considered a particularly complex gray area? What does it mean to violate another person if this was not a violation? Diabolical Lies investigates.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.diabolicalliespod.com

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.diabolicalliespod.comCaro & Katie discuss your questions about:* Whether the “financial independence, retire early” movement is an effective way to Cordyceps-bug (visual below) capitalism for your own freedom or a gateway drug to the life-diminishing tendency to obsess about money* Why Katie would accept Fox News’s radical Marxist label* Caro’s Yesteryear experience and why success sometimes feels like failure* The creative process and whether creating from a place of defensiveness makes for shittier art* The future of Diabolical Lies if you people continue to tolerate us* Politically agnostic friends and the expectation that every element of your personal life conforms to your political ideals* Whether Christianity and feminism are compatible, and if feminism can really be “compatible” with any belief system that evolved under thousands of years of patriarchy * Conspiracy theories we believe in* How to feel generally better about your career under capitalism * The difficulty of “killing the (misogynist, capitalist, etc.) cop in your head” and choosing more fulfilling work that may earn less or no money* Whether we use PowerPoints to present our outlines to one another and how our research process has evolved from our glorified voice notes * Neutralizing the male gaze and self-objectification theoryWe’ll see paid subscribers again in October for a topical episode that will (probably) be about the never-ending breastfeeding vs. formula culture war.

A quick heads-up: Around 1:34:00, we discuss postpartum psychosis, depression, filicide, and the Lindsay Clancy trial (no graphic descriptions). If that’s not something you’re up for today, take care and skip ahead to 1:40:00.It only felt fitting to wrap up our pre-maternity leave regularly scheduled programming with a conversation that brings our very first episode full circle.Skeptics of the tradwife shtick have long observed that tradwife influencers aren’t actually exposed to the risks of the conservative, traditional lifestyle they’re aestheticizing, because they—presumably—have access to their own money and, with it, some degree of autonomy and optionality.This summer, the years-long discourse has finally landed where it started, with the accusation—you actually have a job—being wielded effectively as a defense—yeah, this is a job, why is everyone calling me a tradwife? The result is a discursive ouroboros.Many fellow Discourse Vultures have perceived Nara Smith and Hannah Neeleman’s disavowal of the tradwife label in recent interviews whilst wearing top-to-bottom denim as proof that this brand of motherhood is no longer in vogue, and that the reality of Smith and Neeleman’s family dynamics (50/50 partnerships, being a CEO) serve as evidence of that shift. The personal is political, as they say, but how effectively does personal experience really serve as a political defense? Can it nullify the ideological associations of powerful aesthetics, when those aesthetics are already central to American culture?This episode is a close read of three eerily similar themes that appeared across both recent interviews with some ~lite feminist theory~ layered atop them.THEORYOf Woman Born by Adrienne Rich (1977), the original source from which the “mothering as experience” and “motherhood as institution” framework was pulled“A review of Adrienne Rich’s Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution” by Alice Braun (2019)“Institution of Motherhood” from Encyclopedia of Motherhood, edited by Andrea O’Reilly, Andrea (2010)“Mothering and Motherhood: Experience, Ideology, and Agency” by Min Jao from Comparative Literature Studies (2019)“Racism and Patriarchy in the Meaning of Motherhood” by Dorothy E. Roberts from Journal of Gender & Law (1992)“Filicide in the United States” by Phillip J. Resnick from the National Library of Medicine (2016)Blue: A History of Postpartum Depression in America by Rachel Louise Moran (2024)“Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference” by Audre Lorde (1984)CLOSE-READ INTERVIEWS“Nara Smith: Stop Calling Me a Tradwife” from Call Her Daddy (2026)“Ballerina Farm is Happy with Her Choices” by Stephanie McNeal from Vulture (2026)OTHER REFERENCED PRESS HITS“Tycoon or Tradwife? The Woman Behind Ballerina Farm Makes Her Own Path.” by Julia Moskin for the New York Times (2024)Alyssa Grenfell, the ex-Mormon YouTuber referenced“The Un-Trad Rise of Nara Aziza Smith” by Bianca Betancourt for Harper’s Bazaar (2024)“How Lucky Blue and Nara Aziza Smith Made Viral Internet Fame From Scratch” by Carrie Battan for GQ (2024)“Meet the queen of the ‘trad wives’ (and her eight children)” by Megan Agnew for The Times (2024)“Ballerina Farm opens its door to visitors” from ABC News (2026)“The ‘trad wives’ leaving high-control Christian nationalist communities” from CNN (2026) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.diabolicalliespod.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.diabolicalliespod.com

The Democratic Party was facing an identity crisis when Donald Trump began his second term in January 2025. Just two months later, Democratic media Thinkboiz Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson published Abundance.Their theory of the case: We could “solve our problems with supply,” and that to do so, we needed to pursue “a liberalism that builds,” an idea that meant aspiring to “more than redistribution […], more than parceling out the present.” The text of Abundance focuses almost exclusively on examples of government proceduralism and self-defeating obstruction, while at times quoting books like Fully Automated Luxury Communism and even Karl Marx.There’s just one difference between the productive capacity imagined in Fully Automated Luxury Communism and Abundance: only one of these books sees this vision as compatible with capitalism.Over the months that followed its publication, an “intra-left” fight emerged between the “populist left” (represented by figures like Bernie Sanders and the DSA) and the “abundance left.” For a while, it looked like Abundance would set the vision for the future of the party. What happened?Diabolical Lies investigates.All citations and references can be found at diabolicalliespod.com. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.diabolicalliespod.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.diabolicalliespod.com

Alex Cooper is one of the most successful podcast hosts in the country. Alix Earle is one of the most popular TikTok stars in America. The women, who appear to be separated by a single vowel and little else, have become central to a slow-burning pop culture feud representing two distinct, radically divergent archetypes: the Mean Girl™ and the Girl’s Girl.™Cooper’s storied past includes a messy, public split with her former Call Her Daddy cohost, Sofia Franklyn, which she parlayed into an enormous deal with Spotify and, later, SiriusXM. Earle’s background is simpler and cleaner, involving a seemingly overnight ascent on TikTok and a Teflon-like immunity to controversy.Today’s episode is ultimately a story about the manipulation of discourse and how double standards don’t just exist between women and men, but between women who are, for all intents and purposes, functionally identical. It’s a deep dive into the characters populating the latest girl-on-girl morality play, a spectacle uniquely suited to demonstrate the skill of those seated atop the modern attention capture content creation industry. Enjoy this valiant effort to extract a takeaway other than “wow, maybe the internet really is making all of us stupider.” “Call Her Daddy’s Alexandra Cooper Made Her Name Talking About Sex. With Her Massive Spotify Deal, She’s Pushing Beyond That” by Eliana Dockterman for Time (2021)“Daddy Issues: Trouble Behind the Scenes of Alex Cooper’s Unwell Media Empire” by Clara Molot for Vanity Fair (2026)“Noticing Emily Ratajkowski’s New Essay, Gwyneth Paltrow’s Politics, and Alex Cooper’s Leadership Skills” from Good Noticings (2026) “Inside Alex Cooper’s Unwell: Tears, Screaming and Employees Looking for the Exit” by Ashley Carman for Bloomberg (2026)“Alex Cooper, Husband Skip Team Meeting After Behavior Complaints” by Ashley Carman for Bloomberg (2026)“Alex Cooper Went From Raunchy Podcaster to Gen-Z’s Barbara Walters” by EJ Dickson for Rolling Stone“The ‘Call Her Daddy’ Feud: What Happened?” by Taylor Lorenz for The New York Times (2020)Dave Portnoy’s obnoxious video to “Suitman” on the Call Her Daddy Instagram account during the negotiation breakdown“The truth about Call Her Daddy” on Alex Cooper’s YouTube channel“After Leaving ‘Call Her Daddy,’ Sofia Franklyn is Back with a New Podcast of Her Own” by Andy Meek for Forbes (2020)“Dave Portnoy Hates The Way Alix Earle Has Handled The Alex Cooper Controversy,” also known as a 50-year-old man hosting his favorite series, “Tea by the Sea” Brianna Chickenfry entering the chat “‘Call Her Daddy’ Host Alex Cooper Launches the Unwell Network, Inks Development Deals with Influencers Alix Earle and Madeline Argy” by Todd Spangler for Variety (2023)“The Alix Earle Effect” by Véronique Hyland for Elle“Alix Earle’s ‘Hot Mess’ Podcast Dropped by Alex Cooper’s Unwell Network (EXCLUSIVE)” by Tatiana Siegel for Variety (2025)“The Art of the Alix Earle Deal” by Sara Ashley O’Brien for The Wall Street Journal (2025)The first direct shot, fired by Alex Cooper“Alix Earle is Bringing Your FYP to TV with New Netflix Reality Series” by Melanie Whyte for Tudum, the Netflix site (2026)“The Conservative Star Who Wants to Host the ‘Call Her Daddy’ of the Right” by Ashley Carman for BloombergYou know we’re in some rich pop culture territory when the right-wing reactionary framing almost exactly matches the mainstream framing“Alex Cooper’s Netflix Problem” by Natalie Korach for Status (2026) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.diabolicalliespod.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.diabolicalliespod.com

RESTOCK ALERT: Just in time for your summer vacation, the Banned Books tote is back in stock.Alt. title: Katie finally bites off more than she can chew and attempts a nuanced exploration of the Lean In, Girlboss cultural era.13 years ago, Sheryl Sandberg published Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. The following year, Sophia Amoruso published #GIRLBOSS.The broad understanding of this period was that—for a few solid years—we widely embraced the edicts of “corporate feminism” or “Lean In feminism” or “Girlboss feminism,” so named for a societal shift that saw a recognition and celebration of women’s career ambition as a decidedly positive thing worthy of support and encouragement or, at the very least, a collection of sassy poly-blend T-shirts.We tried it, and it didn’t work.…but did we?Diabolical Lies investigates.All citations and references can be found at https://www.diabolicalliespod.com. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.diabolicalliespod.com/subscribe