Special Episode: Letter From the Los Angeles Fires

Writer and podcaster Louise Perry returns to the pod to discuss her new book, A New Guide to Sex in the 21st Century, in which she takes ideas from her 2022 book The Case Against The Sexual Revolution and adapts them for teenagers and young adults. In this conversation, we pick up from where we left off in our 2022 interview, catching up on the evolving discourse around the winners and losers of the sexual revolution and trying to parse what’s going with the “online right” and its Little House On The Prairie fantasies and overall fixation on homestead life. (News alert: People on the American frontier did suffer from depression. There was even a name for it: Prairie Madness.) We also talk about the 4B movement (what does “B” stand for anyway?), conservative matchmaking initiatives (has Louise crowdsourced her own yenta business?), and the need for a more interventionist approach to relationships and family life. Guest bio:  Louise Perry is a writer and activist based in London. This year, she co-founded a non-partisan feminist think tank called The Other Half, where she serves as Research Director. Her debut book is The Case Against the Sexual Revolution: A New Guide to Sex in the 21st Century.

Journalist and political commentator Emily Jashisnky, host of Undercurrents and co-host of Counterpoints, is a 31-year-old Evangelical Christian from Wisconsin. She’s also (for my money) one of the sanest, smartest, and most principled voices in the information landscape these days. In this conversation, we talk about Emily’s philosophical and political roots, her college years during the height of the woke era, and her thoughts about the state of the Republican party (she considers herself a conservative but not a Republican), the perils and promise of the Trump agenda, and what’s driving Elon Musk—not to mention keeping him awake. Emily Jashinsky is an American journalist based in Washington, D.C. She is the D.C. Correspondent at UnHerd and co-host of the show "Counter Points" with Ryan Grim on the Breaking Points channel, a Top 10 Politics podcast. Housekeeping  Listen to my recent audio essays about the Los Angeles wildfires and (moving right along) the state of public discourse in the new Trump era.  Read my recent essay in The New York Times about accepting help.  Pre-order my new book The Catastrophe Hour: Selected Essays (which is unrelated to the current catastrophe). Either from you-know-where or (even better) directly from the publisher, Notting Hill Editions.  Visit The Unspeakable on YouTube.  The Unspeakeasy has new retreats for 2025. We’ll be in Texas, New York, Los Angeles, and beyond. Join The Unspeakeasy, my community for freethinking women.

For the last several years, we yelled about the left eating itself. Is the right now feasting on the same poisonous meal? This week Meghan is joined by Free Press reporter River Page, whose February 19 article The Online Right Is Building A Monster, articulated a phenomenon she’d long observed but could never quite parse; the phenomenon of right-wing trolls making antisemitic and misogynist memes as well as other forms of rage bait in order to own the libs. River explains the origins and effects of this rising movement, dispelling Meghan's preconceptions that most of these trolls are bots or teenagers (alas, many are grown men). Speaking of grown men, the conversation wanders into an exploration of why young males are so obsessed with their bodies and physical appearance. Should we blame Instagram and TikTok? Maybe. But River thinks there’s a connection between income inequality and male vanity. When you believe you’ll never be able to afford a house or a middle-class family life, controlling your own body may be the only control you have.   Guest Bio: River Page is a reporter at The Free Press. Previously, he worked as a staff writer at Pirate Wires, covering technology, politics, and culture. His work has also appeared in Compact, American Affairs, and the Washington Examiner, among other publications. You can upgrade your subscription here: http://bit.ly/3OJJRO9   HOUSEKEEPING Unspeakeasy Retreats: https://bit.ly/3Qnk92n Join The Unspeakeasy, my community for freethinking women:https://bit.ly/44dnw0v Pre-order Meghan's new book, The Catastrophe Hour: Selected Essays. Coming April 15, 2025. https://tinyurl.com/2t4rb76r

Recorded February 13, 2025 On my birthday, with my laryngitis almost gone, I share some audio reflections about my recent New York Times opinion essay about losing my home in the fire, my current housing situation, and my former housing blunders. Most importantly, I offer a sneak preview of my ironically-titled forthcoming book, The Catastrophe Hour.   New York Times, Jan 31, 2025: The L.A. Fires Taught Me To Accept Help   Earlier fire dispatches.   January 9: The First 24 Hours — https://bit.ly/3CgZTMV   January 16: The Immaterial World — https://bit.ly/40QLfVO   January 27: Housing Wars — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eVZpYBpd2g&t=2s   How to help? Become a paying subscriber to this podcast on Substack or leave a donation of any amount in the tip jar. Your support is deeply appreciated: https://bit.ly/42wIZnW   HOUSEKEEPING  Unspeakeasy Retreats: https://bit.ly/3Qnk92n Join The Unspeakeasy, my community for freethinking women:https://bit.ly/44dnw0v Pre-order my new book, The Catastrophe Hour: Selected Essays. Coming April 15, 2025. https://tinyurl.com/2t4rb76r

February 10, 2025 edition Recorded December 16, 2024 Chloé Valdary was last on the podcast in May 2021, talking about Theory of Enchantment, an enterprise devoted to more nuanced and art-focussed approaches to DEI. She’s back to discuss what she’s been up to since then. A lot! In this conversation, recorded in December, Chloé talks about her journey from prolific tweeting to long-form writing and the impact of social media on mental health and creativity. She talks about psychosomatic work, the influence of Elon Musk on Twitter, and the cultural response to Luigi Mangione's killing of a health insurance executive. In her view, Luigi fandom connects to themes of Puritan heritage, as she discusses in her (then) recent piece Luigi Mangione and the Puritans. GUEST BIO Chloé Valdary, educator, artist, and founder of the Theory of Enchantment, is on a mission to address the shortcomings of DEI by teaching love and harmony. Chloé received her bachelor’s in international studies with a concentration in conflict and diplomacy from the University of New Orleans. She has been published in the WSJ, the New York Times and the Atlantic Magazine, and she spends her days helping schools and businesses build trust in their organizations. In her spare time, she enjoys bird watching, reading, and DJing. Want to hear the whole conversation? Upgrade your subscription here. HOUSEKEEPING 📰 Read my recent essay in The New York Times about accepting help in the wake of the L.A. wildfires. 📖 Pre-order my new book The Catastrophe Hour: Selected Essays (which is unrelated to the current catastrophe). 📺 Visit The Unspeakable on YouTube. ✈️ The Unspeakeasy has new retreats for 2025. We’ll be in Texas, New York, Los Angeles, and more. 🥂 Join The Unspeakeasy, my community for freethinking women.

It’s been three weeks since my house burned to the ground in the Los Angeles wildfires. Here are some thoughts on rent gouging, couch surfing, and the lifestyles of the rich and unhoused.    A note on this photo. I took it from Farnsworth Park in Altadena on New Year’s Day, one week before the fire. That thing in the sky is the Goodyear Blimp hovering over Rose Bowl Stadium during the game.   Earlier dispatches.   January 9: The First 24 Hours January 16: The Immaterial World   How to help? Become a paying subscriber to this podcast on Substack or leave a donation of any amount in the tip jar. Your support is deeply appreciated. The podcast resumes its regular schedule very soon! Thanks for your patience.        Housekeeping  Visit The Unspeakable on YouTube. Learn about The Unspeakeasy, a community for freethinking women.   Pre-order my new book, The Catastrophe Hour: Selected Essays. Coming April 15, 2025.

In the hours of January 8, my house burned to the ground in the Eaton Fire in Altadena, CA. Here are some thoughts I recorded on January 15.   How to help? Become a paying subscriber to this podcast on Substack. Or leave a donation in any amount in the tip jar.   Housekeeping  Visit The Unspeakable on YouTube.  The Unspeakeasy has new retreats for 2025. Find out where we’re going. Join The Unspeakeasy, my community for freethinking women.

I’ve lost my home. I am safe.   HOUSEKEEPING  Visit The Unspeakable on YouTube!  Unspeakeasy 2025 retreats. We’re going to Texas, Los Angeles, upstate NY  and beyond. See where we'll be!  Join The Unspeakeasy, my community for freethinking women.

This week, Meghan is joined by filmmaker, YouTuber, and “experience design architect” Topaz Adizes. He is the founder of The Skin Deep, an experience design created to foster connection in human relationships, often through innovative products and curated live events. In this conversation, Topaz discusses the evolution of relationships in the digital age, the importance of asking the right questions, and how he built a sustainable business model around his project, The And, a video series in which two people sit face to face and engage with a series of simple yet surprising questions. He also explains the concept of experience design and how it shapes human interactions in a technology-driven world. Finally, he and Meghan talk about building a business, the meaning of “intimacy,” the changing rules of the dating market, and why he’s (theoretically) willing to accept that his grandchildren might never meet their spouses in real life.     GUEST BIO   Topaz Adizes is an Emmy Award-winning writer, director, and the founder and executive director of the experience design studio The Skin Deep, which has a popular YouTube channel. Topaz studied philosophy at UC Berkeley and Oxford University. He speaks four languages and currently lives in Mexico with his wife and two children.   HOUSEKEEPING  Visit The Unspeakable on YouTube!  Unspeakeasy 2025 retreats. We’re going to Texas, Los Angeles, upstate NY  and beyond. See where we'll be!  Join The Unspeakeasy, my “women’s shelter for the politically homeless.”

As you make your new year’s resolutions or plan for Dry January, returning guest Ruby Warrington has another idea for better living in 2025: go on a “content diet.” In this conversation, Ruby describes the overwhelming nature of content consumption and its impact on mental health and wellbeing. She draws parallels between the “sober curious” movement, which she spearheaded, and the need for conscious content consumption, emphasizing the importance of awareness in our media engagement. We also talk about the pressures of content creation, the role of intimacy in communication, the rise of AI-generated content in the digital landscape, and the important of reading novels and listening to music.  GUEST BIO Ruby Warrington is the author of Women Without Kids: The Revolutionary Rise of an Unsung Sisterhood and is the creator of the term “sober curious." Author of the 2018 book Sober Curious and million-download podcast of the same title, her work has spearheaded a global movement to reevaluate our relationship to alcohol. Other works include Material Girl, Mystical World (2017), The Numinous Astro Deck  (2019), and The Sober Curious Reset (2020). With 20+ years’ experience as a lifestyle journalist and editor, Ruby is also the founder of the self-publishing incubator Numinous Books.    Get her book here: https://bit.ly/4gLN3oV. Want to hear the whole conversation? Upgrade your subscription here. HOUSEKEEPING Visit The Unspeakable on YouTube! Unspeakeasy 2025 retreats. We’re going to Texas, Los Angeles, upstate NY  and beyond. See where we'll be! Join The Unspeakeasy, my “women’s shelter for the politically homeless.”