Journalism, Churnalism and Appeasing the Brand Gods

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: [email protected] 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: [email protected] 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: [email protected] 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: [email protected] 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: [email protected] 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: [email protected] 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: [email protected] 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: [email protected] 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: [email protected] 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: [email protected] 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