Messy Liberation: Feminist Conversations about Politics and Pop Culture
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- 10. Nov. 2026
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Join feminist coaches Taina Brown and Becky Mollenkamp for casual (and often deep) conversations about business, current events, politics, pop culture, and more. We’re not perfect activists or allies! These are our real-time, messy feminist perspectives on the world around us. This podcast is for you if you find yourself asking questions like: • Why is feminism important today? • What is intersectional feminism? • Can capitalism be ethical? • What does liberation mean? • Equity vs. equality — what's the difference and why does it matter? • What does a Trump victory mean for my life? • What is mutual aid? • How do we engage in collective action? • Can I find safety in community? • What's a feminist approach to ... ? • What's the feminist perspective on ...?
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Is Greek Life Toxic? A Feminist Take on Frats, Hazing, and White Privilege
WANT MORE CONVERSATIONS WITH DEPTH IN YOUR LIFE? Join us in the Messy Liberation Circle: https://messyliberation.com/community/In this episode of Messy Liberation, Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown use the …
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WANT MORE CONVERSATIONS WITH DEPTH IN YOUR LIFE? Join us in the Messy Liberation Circle: https://messyliberation.com/community/
In this episode of Messy Liberation, Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown use the racist Ole Miss Ring camera video and a string of frat hazing stories to look at how “isolated incidents” are shaped by white supremacy, Greek life culture, and what they call a permission structure. They get into performative apologies, why “not like other white women” is still white supremacy, and what real accountability and unlearning look like.
In This Episode, We Get Into:
• Why fraternity hazing keeps making headlines, and why Becky says “hazing” is a soft word for abuse and assault
• How predominantly white Greek life can work as a MAGA pipeline, and why Taina and Becky exempt Black fraternities and sororities from much of the critique
• Fraternities, police “fraternities,” and the “we protect our own” code of silence, plus Taina’s point about what street gangs were modeled after
• The viral Ole Miss Ring camera video, and Becky’s story of teaching her son why “monkey in the middle” isn’t okay
• Why a freshman’s apology reads as box-checking, and what real contrition looks like (hint: it doesn’t depend on being forgiven)
• Better the racist who tells you to your face, or the one who smiles and won’t live next to you? Segregation in Mississippi and St. Louis
• The jelly bean and steak-in-the-pile analogies for why “there are some good ones” isn’t a reason to take the risk
• “Not like other white women”: why the need to exceptionalize yourself is white supremacy
• Why unlearning has no endpoint, and why Becky finds that freeing
• Individualism vs. collectivism, the hamster wheel, and how the system counts on “why bother”
• Why Taina says a pattern isn’t a mistake, it’s habitual and systemic
• Who these students grow up to be: cops, teachers, school board presidents, journalists, CEOs, parentsTimestamps
00:46 College kids behaving badly: the Ohio State frat story
02:04 What’s wrong with Greek life: hazing, MAGA pipeline, toxic consumerism
05:06 The Jon Hamm hazing story
07:25 Why there’s no incentive not to join, and the code of silence
11:25 Privilege, “boys will be boys,” and boldness in the era of Trumpism
13:06 The Ole Miss Ring camera incident
15:01 Reading the 18-year-old’s apology
17:49 Overt racism vs. smiling racism, and white flight in St. Louis
19:15 The jelly bean and steak analogies (and why Becky would never date a frat guy)
21:37 “I’m not like other white women” is white supremacy
27:13 Shame, “why bother,” and what the system counts on
28:12 The permission structure behind the Ole Miss apology
33:59 Do people get time to change? The “Fox path”
35:48 Who these kids grow up to be
39:07 Back to Hamm, and “nice guys” who decide promotions
41:07 OutroResources Mentioned
• "The Hyphenated Life" by Dr. Han Ren: https://link.amazon/B02KM45SA
• "The Tricky Exceptionalism of 'Fellow White Women'" Jezebel article: https://www.jezebel.com/the-tricky-exceptionalism-of-fellow-white-women-1843732857🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/
Who Benefits When You Stay Calm? Anger, Power, and Nonviolence
In this episode of Messy Liberation, Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown dig into anger: where it comes from, who is allowed to feel it, and what it’s for. Starting with Taina’s fury over AI scraping of fanfic …
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In this episode of Messy Liberation, Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown dig into anger: where it comes from, who is allowed to feel it, and what it’s for. Starting with Taina’s fury over AI scraping of fanfic writers’ work, they use Audre Lorde’s “The Uses of Anger” to talk about righteous anger, tone policing, assertive vs. aggressive, and the difference between being an ally and an accomplice. Recorded the day before the midterm elections.
In This Episode, We Get Into:
• Why anger is usually a secondary emotion, and how to find the feeling underneath it
• Taina’s rage over a site scraping fanfic from AO3 to sell AI audio versions, and why the people with the least protection get hurt first
• Why “you could have just said nothing” keeps coming up for us
• Whether “righteous anger” is a helpful phrase, and why it lands differently for people raised in religious spaces
• How gender and race shape our conditioning around anger
• The three ideas from Audre Lorde’s “The Uses of Anger” that Taina keeps coming back to
• Who benefits when we never get angry, and what that means for how we talk about nonviolence
• Assertive vs. aggressive, and who gets called aggressive in a room full of white people
• Why white women often can’t show up for others’ anger until they can feel their own
• What to do when you’re uncomfortable with someone’s anger: stay quiet, call in the tone police, or step up as an accomplice
• How to wrap up a conversation about anger with a cortisol-lowering shelter dog updateTimestamps
0:00 Intro, no sleep, and daylight saving time rage
0:59 Homophobia, projection, and why it pisses us off
2:41 Feelings are data: anger as a secondary feeling
3:56 Taina’s fanfic world and AO3 going down
9:57 How the people with the least protection suffer the most
10:44 The feeling under the anger: a violation of boundaries
12:09 Why sharing creative work is so personal
13:20 “The choice to say nothing was always there”
14:34 White women, proximity to power, and wanting to be liked
16:34 Is “righteous anger” the right phrase?
19:06 How men and women are conditioned around anger
23:06 Religious language and why “righteous” is a red flag
25:37 Three ideas from Audre Lorde’s “The Uses of Anger”
30:45 Assertive vs. aggressive and tone policing
35:08 Internalized norms and hurt feelings vs. injustice
39:37 Why you can’t get angry for others if you can’t for yourself
41:49 Your choices: stay silent, call in, or join the anger (ally vs. accomplice)
49:09 Lowering the cortisol: Taina’s adopting a dog
51:07 Iowa Pet Pantry and why pets aren’t productsResources Mentioned
• “The Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism” by Audre Lorde: https://www.are.na/block/7708912
• "Was That Racist?" by Dr. Evelyn R. Carter: https://link.amazon/B0bBC5rJo
• "They Were Her Property" by Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers: https://link.amazon/B0d3UNpqT
• Archive of Our Own (AO3): https://archiveofourown.org/
• Our earlier episode on Hasan Piker and violence in movements: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhvxRikUy8A&t=17s
• Iowa Pet Pantry: https://www.thepetprojectmidwest.org/programs/pet-pantry/
• Messy Liberation Circle: https://messyliberation.com/community/🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/
Billy Corgan Says Women His Age Have “Baggage" 🙄 Feminists say he's the problem.
On this episode of Messy Liberation, Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown break down Billy Corgan’s viral NYT Popcast interview. In it, the Smashing Pumpkins frontman explained that he chose his much younger wife …
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On this episode of Messy Liberation, Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown break down Billy Corgan’s viral NYT Popcast interview. In it, the Smashing Pumpkins frontman explained that he chose his much younger wife because women his own age come with too much “baggage,” and he defended his friendship with Marilyn Manson. They dig into age gap relationships, grooming and power dynamics, and how a culture obsessed with youth teaches men to want younger and younger women. They also go back and forth on whether critiquing big age gaps slides into ageism, and why they don’t fully agree.
Content note: This episode discusses grooming, child sexual abuse, and sexual violence, including a host’s personal disclosure.
In This Episode:
03:39 – Billy Corgan and the myth of the “not political” rock star
05:05 – Why the richest people take the fewest risks (Metallica, Ed Sheeran, and golden handcuffs)
09:00 – Billy Corgan is 59 and his wife is 33: Becky and Taina split on age gaps
10:39 – Youth obsession, “barely legal” culture, and the Epstein files
12:59 – They met when she was 19 and he was 45: where power dynamics become grooming
15:03 – “I personally didn’t feel he was guilty”: Corgan defends Marilyn Manson
17:34 – The “no baggage” clip
19:38 – Taina: “They’re adults,” but dating someone that much younger sounds like more work
22:19 – Corgan’s theory that Gen X women weren’t feminist enough (we’re not post-patriarchy)
25:38 – Becky reflects on her own 7-year age gap at 17
26:35 – Hannah Waddingham, Jennifer Hudson, and the safety of dating your own age
29:03 – A green flag worth looking for: partners who are attracted to people their own age
30:31 – Is critiquing age gaps ageist? “Equals” vs. “peers”
35:11 – Where do we draw the line in the Epstein era?
37:06 – The stats on age, sexual violence, and street harassment
39:43 – Bill Belichick and the “feminist” permission structure
41:11 – Our own relationships, ego, and the need for validation
44:40 – Ageism, sexism, and who actually holds power (did we just define intersectionality?)
48:30 – “Yes, and”: age gap relationships can exist AND reflect a broken system
49:53 – Boys and sexual abuse
52:05 – Recommendations: go to therapy (and Rec League)Resources Mentioned
• Billy Corgan on the NYT Popcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Q3_scdiXe4
• Hannah Waddingham on The Jennifer Hudson Show: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/isAhnzHkjqI
• "Old men dating young women” by Becky Mollenkamp: https://yesandotherwise.substack.com/p/old-men-dating-young-women
• Rec League: http://recleague.com/
• RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline: 800-656-4673 https://rainn.org🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/
Lessons from the Abdul El-Sayed vs. Tommy video about calling out bias
Want to keep the conversation going? Dr. Carter is joining us for a live author Q&A inside the Messy Liberation Circle. Bring your questions, your stories, and your trickiest “was that racist?” moments …
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Want to keep the conversation going? Dr. Carter is joining us for a live author Q&A inside the Messy Liberation Circle. Bring your questions, your stories, and your trickiest “was that racist?” moments: https://messyliberation.com/community/
What do you actually do when someone you love says something racist? On this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown talk with social psychologist and DEI practitioner Dr. Evelyn R. Carter, author of Was That Racist? How to Detect, Interrupt, and Unlearn Bias in Everyday Life. They dig into why so many well-meaning people freeze instead of confronting racism, why speaking up is everyone’s responsibility (especially white folks), and the deceptively simple question that can disarm bias in the moment.
In this episode, we get into:
• Why “it’s not my place” is a cop-out, and why people outside a targeted group are often heard more when they call out bias
• Treating that pounding heart and churning stomach as a signal to engage, not flee
• The gap between the 80% of people who say they’d speak up and the 25–33% who actually do (plus a hand-washing detour on “moral hygiene”)
• What Dr. Abdul El-Sayed’s viral exchange with “Tommy” teaches us about staying calm and asking questions
• Why “What makes you say that?” beats preparing for a debate
• Confrontation as a practiced skill, and the difference between being kind and being nice
• How white people speaking up can create “places of rest” for people of color
• Why 98% of confronting happens with friends, family, and acquaintances, not strangers
• “What about racism against white people?” Racial bias vs. racism, explained
• Separating personal morality from systemic racism so we can actually do the workTimestamps
00:40 – Monthly author Q&As coming to the Messy Liberation Circle
01:18 – Why Dr. Carter wrote Was That Racist?
02:48 – “Is it my place?” Speaking up when it’s not your lived experience
07:07 – Toxic individualism and the “not my business” mindset
08:49 – Listen to your body: discomfort as a call to engage
11:02 – 80% say they’d speak up; only 25–33% do
13:37 – The Abdul El-Sayed vs. “Tommy” video
18:44 – Confronting bias is a skill: kind vs. nice
21:24 – Confronting is about relationship: the 98% vs. 2% finding
24:40 – Why online arguments skew to the extremes
28:44 – Racial bias vs. racism
30:28 – How anyone, of any race, can uphold white supremacy
32:22 – Separating morality from systemic racismResources Mentioned
• Was That Racist? How to Detect, Interrupt, and Unlearn Bias in Everyday Life by Dr. Evelyn R. Carter
• Messy Liberation Circle, including the upcoming author Q&A with Dr. Carter
• Yes and Otherwise conversation with Dr. Carter
• Dr. Abdul El-Sayed responds to “Tommy”Who Gets to Stare? Race, Objectification & Power
On this Indigenous Peoples’ Day episode of Messy Liberation, Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown start with the “where are you really from?” question and follow it into who gets to look and who gets looked at …
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On this Indigenous Peoples’ Day episode of Messy Liberation, Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown start with the “where are you really from?” question and follow it into who gets to look and who gets looked at. Taina, who is Afro-Latina with Taíno roots, explains the difference between race and ethnicity, what separates Latin from Hispanic, and why self-identification is a form of resistance. It’s an intersectional feminist conversation about objectification, colonialism, and letting people name themselves.
In this episode, we get into:
- Why “What are you?” is never okay, and how to tell real curiosity from nosiness
- Taina’s PT appointment, and a lifetime of being mistaken for Egyptian, Indian, Dominican, and Middle Eastern
- “Clarity is kindness”: why a blunt question can be better than a covert one
- Intent vs. impact: how treating someone as a puzzle to solve strips their dignity
- Becky’s confession about staring at a trans woman in an airport 30 years ago, and what she’d do differently now
- Who gets the privilege to look and who becomes the spectacle, from Shane Gillis’s SNL “spandex” joke to the history of slave auctions
- Oppositional looking: refusing to look away, and why white women should stare at cops, not at the people they’re harassing
- Jordan Peele, Get Out, and horror that doesn’t center whiteness
- Latin vs. Hispanic, explained through Brazil, Guyana, Mexico, and Puerto Rico
- Race as a social construct that still shapes real lives, plus the “file folder” metaphor for identity, gender, pronouns, and reclaimed language
Timestamps
- 00:00 – Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Hispanic Heritage Month & Filipino American History Month
- 02:42 – Being mistaken for everything: growing up racially ambiguous
- 07:00 – “It’s really none of your business”: lessons from college
- 11:40 – Objectification, intent vs. impact, and human dignity
- 17:47 – Shane Gillis, SNL, and who gets to be the object
- 21:00 – Ways of Seeing, Stuart Hall & oppositional looking
- 25:01 – Stare at power, not at the oppressed
- 26:40 – Jordan Peele, Get Out, and horror that doesn’t center whiteness
- 29:41 – Why travel (or a new neighborhood) can radicalize white folks
- 36:10 – Race as a social construct, from slavery to ICE sweeps
- 40:41 – Latin vs. Hispanic: what’s the difference?
- 47:48 – How perception changes race: New York vs. Florida
- 49:17 – The Hyphenated Life, file folders & gender as a construct
- 53:02 – Capitalism and the myth of limited categories
- 56:50 – Refusing the file folder: queer identity & she/they pronouns
- 1:00:05 – Messy Liberation Circle open house (Oct. 15)
Resources mentioned:
- "Ways of Seeing" by John Berger: https://link.amazon/B05cwPa5S
- “The Whites of Their Eyes” by Stuart Hall: https://bpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/sites.psu.edu/dist/c/4578/files/2015/04/Hall-Whites_of_Their_Eyes_Full_Text.pdf?bid=4578
- “The Oppositional Gaze" by bell hooks: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/currentstudents/postgraduates/pgmodules/femlit/bell_hooks.pdf
- "The Hyphenated Life" by Han Ren: https://link.amazon/B03IkAQOr
- Messy Liberation Circle open house, Thursday, Oct. 15: https://bit.ly/4yjbTVW
🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/The Cornell Seven and Victim Blaming: Train Your Sons, Not Your Daughters
Content warning: This episode discusses SA and r*pe culture.Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown of Messy Liberation unpack the Cornell sexual assault case, the group chat of 50-plus men who joked about it, and the …
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Content warning: This episode discusses SA and r*pe culture.
Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown of Messy Liberation unpack the Cornell sexual assault case, the group chat of 50-plus men who joked about it, and the rape culture that made it possible. This intersectional feminist conversation covers victim blaming, fraternity culture, consent, and why staying silent when your friends say harmful things makes you complicit. It also covers how misogyny hurts men too.
In this episode, we get into:
• Taina's trip to Iceland for the Wicker premiere, and why the film's nameless characters make it a feminist fable without being Barbie-style feminism
• The pneumonic plague case in Russia: why panic isn't the answer, and why access to antibiotics should be universal
• The Cornell case: what to call it, and why "rapist" sounds like a job title
• Fraternity culture, hazing, and why consent under duress isn't consent
• Kendall Francis speaking out at LSU, and campus-wide warnings to "stay home" instead of telling men not to rape
• Why men need to stop talking about "training their daughters" and start calling out their friends
• How misogyny hurts men: male sexual assault, shame, and the cycle of harm
• The group chat as a permission structure, and complicity in the Nolan Wells case
• Asking vs. demanding: liberal feminism, "hearts and minds," and why willful ignorance is violence
• White educators, unconscious bias, and why "no one's paying me to learn" is an excuseTimestamps
00:00 – Taina's back from Iceland: the Wicker premiere at the Reykjavik International Film Festival
07:01 – Pneumonic plague in Russia: why we'll (probably) be okay
15:20 – The Cornell case and what to call it (content warning)
21:13 – Fraternity culture, hazing, and consent under duress
24:09 – Kendall Francis and the LSU case
27:05 – Victim blaming: she's allowed to drink, and she's allowed to say no
31:35 – Misogyny hurts men: sexual assault, shame, and silence
37:15 – The 50 in the group chat: permission structures
41:08 – Nolan Wells and why the getaway driver is complicit
44:53 – Asking vs. demanding: MLK, Malcolm X, and liberal feminism
51:38 – White educators and unconscious bias
53:51 – Why we keep having heavy conversations (and a note on consent from the Hasan Piker episode)
55:19 – Join us: the Messy Liberation Circle and our free October 15 eventResources mentioned
• "More Salt Than Diamond" by Aline Mello: https://bookshop.org/a/93627/9781524871024
• Previous episode: "Is Violence Part of Liberation? Breaking Down Hasan Piker, MSNow, and Palestine": https://messyliberation.com/hasan-piker-palestine/
• Free October 15 author event with Aline Mello: https://taina-m-brown.myflodesk.com/messy-lib-open-house
• Messy Liberation Circle: https://messyliberation.com/community/🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/
Unlearning White Supremacy and Patriarchy: Our Feminist Origin Stories
On this episode of Messy Liberation, Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown share their feminist origin stories: how each of them came to see the white supremacist capitalist patriarchy, and what unlearning and …
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On this episode of Messy Liberation, Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown share their feminist origin stories: how each of them came to see the white supremacist capitalist patriarchy, and what unlearning and relearning has looked like since. Taina talks about getting fired from her evangelical church and finding intersectional feminism at a women's college. Becky traces her path from "we don't see color" white feminism to Ferguson, bell hooks, and coming out as pansexual.
In this episode, we get into:
- What "unlearning and relearning" means, and why it looks so different depending on your identities
- Getting fired from a church, and how churches run like any other exploitative workplace
- A congregation with "90 nations represented" and white men at the top
- Why "my Black friend voted for Trump" isn't a real argument, and how internalized oppression works
- Taina's move from evangelical faith to women's studies, and the three readings that gave her language for what she'd lived
- Where intersectionality actually came from: Kimberlé Crenshaw's legal scholarship
- Becky's mom, colorblind second-wave feminism, and what happened when Becky brought home a Black boyfriend
- White saviorism, campaigning for Obama, and the disillusionment afterward
- Ferguson, bell hooks, Audre Lorde, and starting a feminist reading group
- Being queer before you know you're queer, internalized homophobia, and no longer feeling like you're co-opting a community that's yours
Timestamps:
- 01:00 – Origin stories, and why our journeys look different
- 02:53 – Growing up evangelical
- 04:33 – "I didn't think racism was still a thing"
- 07:15 – Holding an identity doesn't protect you from internalizing oppression
- 10:00 – An intense friendship and the first signs of queerness
- 12:30 – The three classes that changed Taina's life
- 16:34 – Leaving the church: "People are flawed, but God isn't"
- 23:21 – Becky's origin story: raised outside religion
- 26:02 – Second-wave feminism and "we don't see color"
- 29:38 – White savior complex and campaigning for Obama
- 32:38 – Ferguson and the murder of Michael Brown
- 36:31 – Our pansexual identities
- 42:37 – You don't need a PhD to belong
Resources mentioned:
- Paula Gunn Allen, "Who Is Your Mother? Red Roots of White Feminism"
- The Seneca Falls Convention and the Declaration of Sentiments
- The Combahee River Collective Statement
- "Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex" by Kimberlé Crenshaw
- "Feminism Is for Everybody" by bell hooks
- "Sister Outsider" by Audre Lorde
- "Pleasure Activism" by adrienne maree brown
- "White Feminism" by Koa Beck
- Our interview with Koa Beck
🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: https://feministpodcastcollective.com/
Symone Sanders vs. Hasan Piker: Is Violence Part of Liberation?
On this episode of Messy Liberation, Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown break down the viral Clock It interview where Symone Sanders Townsend pushed back on Hasan Piker for comparing US police-brutality protests …
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On this episode of Messy Liberation, Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown break down the viral Clock It interview where Symone Sanders Townsend pushed back on Hasan Piker for comparing US police-brutality protests to Palestinian resistance. They dig into what violence actually is, including poverty, discrimination, and state-sanctioned deprivation, why the nonviolence stories we're taught about MLK and Gandhi are incomplete, and how holding a marginalized identity doesn't exempt anyone from upholding the system.
In This Episode:
01:17 – The viral Clock It interview with Hasan Piker
02:41 – Hasan's argument: resistance to systemic violence always gets labeled differently
03:47 – Holding a marginalized identity doesn't exempt you from upholding the system
04:34 – The role of violence in revolutions and liberation movements
07:44 – Taina: "I'm tired of talking about this" (and why she's talking about it anyway)
08:20 – State-sanctioned violence becomes invisible because it's normalized
11:51 – "Have they never read Freedom Is a Constant Struggle?"
12:40 – US cops and campus security trained by the IDF — Taina's grad school at Georgia State
13:14 – George Floyd and the knee on the neck we all watched
14:55 – Liberal ≠ progressive: corporate media and who funds it
15:35 – The Hundred Years' War on Palestine and being done with "I don't know enough" as an excuse
17:07 – The disconnect between your identity and your understanding of liberation
18:13 – Gandhi, MLK, and the version of history taught inside a tiny bubble
19:41 – Respectability politics: be peaceful, be presentable, mind your tone
22:26 – Why the powers that be always negotiate with the most moderate voice in the room
23:30 – The one-hero narrative and how it dissolves collective action
27:16 – The myth of the perfect agitator
29:01 – Democrats vs. Hasan Piker, and the all-or-nothing loyalty test
35:03 – Ask yourself: what do you actually know about Hamas, and who told you?
38:36 – Public education as the system's most reliable tool
42:22 – To be clear: this isn't a call to violence, it's a call to understand what liberation involves
44:14 – Why "why?" is the most important question you can ask
46:35 – The rape-culture parallel: why didn't you fight back, why did you fight back
49:06 – Wrap-up and a real question for listenersResources Mentioned
• Hasan Piker on Clock It: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4lZ0SwPDEs
• Critique of Clock It episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CX3YshKpjE
• "The Hundred Years' War on Palestine" by Rashid Khalidi: https://link.amazon/B0bhg6Uic
• "Freedom Is a Constant Struggle" by Angela Davis: https://link.amazon/B029YDKo7
• "Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism" by Eve L. Ewing: https://link.amazon/B06y22SH7🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/
There Is No 'Neutral': Macklemore, Pink, Ed Sheeran, and the Cost of Speaking Out
On this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown break down Macklemore's public firing from Ed Sheeran's tour after he said "Free Palestine" on stage — and use it to dig into …
Shownotes
On this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown break down Macklemore's public firing from Ed Sheeran's tour after he said "Free Palestine" on stage — and use it to dig into celebrity complicity, white feminism, and the real difference between Zionism and Judaism. From Robert Kraft's stadium pressure campaign to AIPAC's grip on Democratic politics to the actual cost of speaking out against genocide, Becky and Taina unpack what it looks like to choose a side when neutrality was never on the table.
In This Episode, We Get Into:
- Macklemore getting pulled from Ed Sheeran's tour after saying "Free Palestine" to 90,000 people, and reading his response statement live
- How Robert Kraft and other venue owners used stadium access as leverage to force Ed Sheeran's hand
- Why "I don't take sides" is itself a side, and Macklemore's line: "There is no neutral position between the oppressor and the oppressed"
- Pink's Instagram statement, her US Open outing with Elizabeth Banks and Amy Adams, and why it's a textbook white feminism case study
- What celebrities and public figures actually owe their audiences, the parasocial relationship and the responsibility that comes with a platform
- AIPAC money, the Wesley Bell/Cori Bush congressional race, and how Democrats fall in line on Israel funding
- Untangling Zionism from Judaism and anti-Zionism from antisemitism, and why conflating them silences critics
- The 5,000-signature Hollywood letter opposing the word "genocide," and who's cashing checks to stay quiet
- Mandy Patinkin, Holocaust parallels, and how dehumanization spreads once a society decides it's permissible for one group
- "Does Israel have a right to exist?", and a reframe (it exists, so now what?) that matters more than the debate itself
- A closing tangent on Jasmine Crockett sharing a stage with Chris Brown, and what it says about who we hold accountable
Timestamps:
- 00:21 – Setting up the episode: Macklemore, Ed Sheeran, Zionism, and genocide
- 02:09 – What actually happened on stage: "Free Palestine" and the fallout
- 03:10 – Pink's response and deleted comments
- 04:45 – Reading Macklemore's full statement: "I am not a victim"
- 06:23 – Robert Kraft, Gillette Stadium, and the stadium-owner ultimatum
- 08:27 – "There is no neutral position between the oppressor and the oppressed"
- 11:22 – Power, privilege, and how the GOP consolidates vs. how Democrats splinter
- 12:36 – AIPAC money and the Wesley Bell/Cori Bush race in St. Louis
- 15:44 – Pink at the US Open with Elizabeth Banks and Amy Adams
- 17:20 – Parasocial relationships and what celebrities owe their audience
- 27:28 – The 5,000-signature Hollywood letter denying the word "genocide"
- 30:39 – Mark Ruffalo, Tatiana Maslany, and who's actually showing up
- 33:54 – Holocaust parallels and how dehumanization spreads
- 39:40 – Zionism vs. Judaism: why they're not the same thing
- 41:36 – "Does Israel have a right to exist?" and why that's the wrong question
- 44:39 – Jasmine Crockett sharing a stage with Chris Brown
- 47:27 – Christian nationalism and the same system playing out in the US
Resources Mentioned:Pink's statement:
- Macklemore speaks out at Ed Sheeran concert: https://www.instagram.com/reels/Dc_bH4_N1FN/
- Pink's statement: https://www.instagram.com/p/DdKPJsVTvtl/?hl=en
- Macklemore's statement: https://www.threads.com/@macklemore/post/DdRduI8mxy9/media
- The 5,000-signature Hollywood open letter: https://www.creativecommunityforpeace.com/blog/2026/09/08/rejectlie
- Mandy Patinkin's empathetic plea: https://www.instagram.com/reels/DMJWZHVsXdH/
- Abdul El-Sayed on "does Israel have a right to exist?": https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1087558473698955
🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/
Safe Space Is a Buzzword: What Real Community Actually Looks Like
Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown break down what actually makes a group of people a community — not just a paid membership or "safe space" buzzword. On this episode of Messy Liberation, they unpack why comfort …
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Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown break down what actually makes a group of people a community — not just a paid membership or "safe space" buzzword. On this episode of Messy Liberation, they unpack why comfort and safety get conflated (especially by white women), why "we don't talk politics here" silences the most marginalized voices in a space, and what harm repair and restorative justice look like when done right. Plus: the stories of the best communities they've ever been part of, from a virtual event where a host let Resmaa Menakem rest mid-talk, to a nonprofit that gave staff the day off after a police shooting, to the friends who took Taina in when she was homeless.
Timestamps:
0:00 – Intro & follow-up from last episode
0:34 – Why "community" became a business buzzword
1:14 – Defining community: shared vision & culture-making
4:46 – Trust, "ride or dies," and the buzzword of "safe spaces"
7:07 – Feeling held vs. feeling safe
9:00 – Why community isn't about being safe for everyone
9:57 – Privilege, comfort, and what "safe" really means
11:23 – True crime, privilege, and the illusion of safety
12:06 – White women's tears: confusing comfort with safety
14:02 – "We don't talk politics here" and who gets silenced
18:19 – Threats to privilege vs. threats to safety
18:56 – 2016 & 2020: white coaches shutting down callouts
24:29 – Harm repair and restorative justice, set up front
28:18 – Communities that got it right: affinity spaces & chosen family
33:04 – Taken in when homeless: a story of real community
34:52 – Black spaces vs. white spaces: the difference in care
38:35 – The Resmaa Menakem story: modeling collective care live
43:29 – A nonprofit that gave everyone the day off
47:05 – The FEO community: emotional labor, race & accountability
54:51 – Recap: discomfort isn't unsafe, and harm repair matters
57:25 – Outro• "My Grandmother's Hands" by Resmaa Menakem: https://amzn.to/4r3bsMh
• Rooted Global Village: https://rootedglobalvillage.com/🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/
Nepal Floods, Climate Change, Doomscrolling: How Do We Keep Going?
On this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown get real about climate grief, doomscrolling, and the nihilism that creeps in when disaster feels endless, sparked by the catastrophic …
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On this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown get real about climate grief, doomscrolling, and the nihilism that creeps in when disaster feels endless, sparked by the catastrophic Nepal glacier flood and reports of billionaires building bunkers to escape the mess they helped create.
Becky and Taina dig into the difference between staying informed and staying trapped in trauma, why our brains keep replaying footage that hurts us, and how community, agency, and joy become acts of resistance when the world feels like it's on fire. They close with a tribute to Dolly Parton and what her life proves about choosing love over hate.
In This Episode, We Get Into:
• Why the Nepal glacier flood hit so hard, and the "disaster movie" desensitization that makes real catastrophe feel unreal
• Billionaires building underground bunkers (complete with jails) instead of fixing the climate crisis they're profiting from
• The nihilism spiral: "what's the point" thinking and how it shows up differently before and after having kids
• The real difference between being informed and being engaged, and where that line gets crossed into doomscrolling
• Why our brains compulsively replay traumatic footage, and what that has to do with control and anxiety
• Survivor's guilt vs. privilege guilt, and how proximity to suffering (without living it) shapes our response
• The "crazy-making" feeling of watching people deny climate change in real time, and why that's a form of gaslighting
• Divesting from harmful systems vs. reducing our reliance on them, and what to do with the time and energy that frees up
• Surrender vs. submission: how accepting what you can't control can actually restore a sense of agency
• Why joy and grief can coexist, and why withholding joy doesn't prove you care more
• A tribute to Dolly Parton: her wealth given away, her quiet support of Black Lives Matter and the trans community, and what she proves about hate being a choiceTimestamps:
00:00 – Cold open: Becky's Care Bear mug and "which Care Bear are you"
02:51 – The Nepal glacier flood and why it feels almost unreal to watch
04:16 – Doomscrolling, repeated imagery, and the nihilism it triggers
05:14 – Billionaire bunkers (yes, with jails) and what that says about who's "prepared" for collapse
07:45 – Becky turns it over to Taina: restoring some faith in humanity
08:06 – Taina's approach to news consumption and staying "informed without engaged"
09:45 – Unpacking the real difference between informed and engaged
11:25 – How having kids changes the emotional weight of climate anxiety
12:47 – The compulsion to doomscroll and rewatch disturbing footage
16:30 – Why our brains keep seeking control through repetition
19:05 – Survivor's guilt vs. guilt born of privilege
20:00 – Divesting from harmful systems vs. reducing our need for them
21:32 – What you do with the space once you stop doomscrolling
22:25 – The "crazy-making," gaslighting feeling of climate denial
26:10 – The privilege of being disappointed by people in power
27:56 – Community as the antidote: who's in your corner
29:03 – Finding agency in the small, controllable things
31:07 – Surrender vs. control, and coming back to the present moment
33:50 – Acceptance vs. submission — the difference that matters
35:13 – Resilience as a practiced, ongoing skill, not a one-time fix
35:55 – Giving yourself permission to feel joy without guilt
37:52 – Dolly Parton's "rainbows and rain" quote and finding light in the dark
41:00 – Dolly's legacy: $600M given away, support for BLM and trans employees decades early
44:44 – Why Dolly is proof that hate is a choice
45:50 – Closing thoughts and sign-off
🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/When DEI Gets Dismantled: Callaway, Target & the Cost of Corporate "Values"
On this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown break down two viral advertiser fails (Callaway Golf's domestic-violence "joke" ad and Target's minstrel-show-evoking Halloween …
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On this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown break down two viral advertiser fails (Callaway Golf's domestic-violence "joke" ad and Target's minstrel-show-evoking Halloween costume) to unpack what happens when corporate rooms lack real diversity and accountability. Through an intersectional feminist lens, they dig into DEI backlash, golf's history of racial and gender exclusion, the limits of individual boycotts, and why values that "blow with the wind" were never values at all.
In This Episode, We Get Into:
• A heartfelt tribute to Dolly Parton and what her life and legacy meant to both hosts
• The Callaway Golf ad that turned domestic violence into a punchline — and the immediate backlash from women online
• Target's clown/ghost Halloween costume and its uncomfortable echoes of minstrel-show imagery
• Why "diverse hires" without power or context don't actually prevent harm
• The difference between real values and values that shift with politics or profit
• Golf's long, ugly history of excluding women and Black golfers, and what the current participation numbers really show
• Whether corporate apology tours ("this doesn't reflect our values") mean anything at all
• The limits of individual boycotts vs. collective political power
• What small business owners can actually do differently (hint: it's not a fancy DEI program)
• Drones, robot armies, and what stripping empathy from warfare has to do with stripping humanity from marginalized peopleResources Mentioned:
• OpenSecrets.org
• Democratic Socialists of America (DSA): dsausa.org
• Working Families Party: workingfamilies.org🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/
Hayden Panettiere's Death & Why America Fails Parents
Feminist coaches and hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown unpack Hayden Panettiere's death and what it reveals about America's total failure to support new mothers. They dig into postpartum depression …
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Feminist coaches and hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown unpack Hayden Panettiere's death and what it reveals about America's total failure to support new mothers. They dig into postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, and the maternal mental health crisis this country refuses to treat with any real structural support — and why that failure hits hardest along lines of race and class.
In This Episode, We Get Into:
• Hayden Panettiere's death, her public struggle with postpartum depression, and what her story reveals about how the entertainment industry treats mothers' mental health (including Neutrogena quietly dropping her as a spokesperson)
• Becky's own experience with postpartum anxiety, and why "bouncing back" after birth is a myth nobody should be selling
• Why postpartum screening in the U.S. is basically a checkbox on a form — and why that leads to massive underreporting, especially among Black and Latina mothers who have real reason to fear losing custody
• The Britney Spears comparison and the impossible bind mothers are put in: too involved is controlling, too little is neglect
• The age gap and power dynamics in Hayden's relationship, and how that context matters without villainizing anyone
• Why childcare costs in America are a structural crisis, not a personal budgeting problem
• How Europe's midwife home visits, paid leave, and universal pre-K show what real support could look like — and why the U.S. keeps moving backward instead
• The difference between "making it work" and actually thriving as a parent
• Taina's take on evangelicalism, moral hierarchies, and how "empathy is a bad word" rhetoric on the right traces back to Puritan control, not religious freedom
• A call to action: what real, tangible community care looks like after someone gives birth or after someone dies — not just showing up once, but showing up for months🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/
Why "Protect Women's Sports" Is a Lie
Becky and Taina break down two former NBA players (Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White) declaring themselves eligible for the 2027 WNBA draft as a bad-faith stunt riding the wave of anti-trans hysteria in …
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Becky and Taina break down two former NBA players (Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White) declaring themselves eligible for the 2027 WNBA draft as a bad-faith stunt riding the wave of anti-trans hysteria in women's sports.
They trace the manufactured controversy back to comments from Sophie Cunningham and Riley Gaines, unpack the real legislative threat (the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act), and connect the dots between "protecting girls," Title IX defunding, eugenics, and control of women's bodies.
Timestamps:
00:06 – Cold open / catching up
00:36 – Setting up today's topic: two ex-NBA men declaring WNBA draft eligibility
01:14 – Background: Sophie Cunningham's "protect biological women" comments, Riley Gaines, XXXY Apparel
03:05 – Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve's "protect trans children" shirt; Gabby Williams pushes back
04:45 – Race dynamics around Caitlin Clark vs. Black WNBA players
04:59 – Enes Kanter Freedom formally declares for the WNBA draft
06:49 – Royce White follows suit; his failed Senate runs and political motives
07:48 – Royce White's "in touch with his feminine energy" routine
09:45 – The real legislative threat: Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act (H.R. 28 / Senate Bill 9) and Title IX
11:46 – "They're just dumb": basic biology, every fetus starts genetically female
13:35 – The real agenda: control, not trans people — "heterosexual family values"
17:10 – Sex is a spectrum: intersex variation explained
19:15 – The slippery slope from body-as-utility thinking to eugenics
21:37 – Bathroom policing, dehumanization, and the Gaza parallel
22:47 – "Protecting girls" via pelvic exams — the Larry Nassar comparison
24:23 – Shoutout to Megan Rapinoe; Title IX funding, Heritage Foundation, Project 2025
33:00 – Sitting with your own fear/bias instead of outsourcing the work to trans people
36:39 – Real harm comes from inside the home, not from trans strangers
39:04 – Race and the policing of femininity — why this falls hardest on Black women
42:12 – Where are the men calling this out? Fragile masculinity
43:14 – Declaring draft eligibility means nothing — no team is taking either of them
43:48 – Closing thoughts: go meet a trans person; "we love you"
🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: https://feministpodcastcollective.com/Why Everyone's Obsessed with Wicker (And What It Says About Us)
Becky and Taina are back from their summer Everything Is Political series with their regular weekly episode, kicking things off with the internet-breaking trailer for Wicker — the upcoming movie starring Olivia …
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Becky and Taina are back from their summer Everything Is Political series with their regular weekly episode, kicking things off with the internet-breaking trailer for Wicker — the upcoming movie starring Olivia Colman, Alexander Skarsgård, and Peter Dinklage about a woman who marries a man made of wicker. What starts as trailer reactions turns into a wider conversation about the booming romance and "smutty romance" book industry, the trad wife movement's contradictions, media literacy, and who gets conditioned to be curious versus who doesn't.
What we discussed:
00:00 – Welcome back after the summer Everything Is Political series
00:28 – Introducing today's topic: the Wicker trailer
01:33 – First reactions to the trailer and the Bookstagram/BookTok buzz
04:11 – Breaking down the premise (and the jokes about it)
09:52 – "It's all men until it's not all men" — men continuing to fall short
10:08 – The wicker husband, village jealousy, and the metal-collar marriage symbolism
12:17 – Why this topic: free publicity and the bigger conversation about romance/smut
15:39 – Trad wife influencers, rising conservatism, and the contradiction underneath it (Nara Smith)
16:54 – Aside on the novel Yesteryear
20:16 – Romance publishing stats: 52% revenue growth, $1.44B a year
22:59 – Wicker as a modern fairy tale / parallels to Beauty and the Beast
24:26 – Entertainment as propaganda: military movies and Hollywood contracts
26:14 – Media literacy: why it matters for everything we consume, not just news
31:21 – Privilege, curiosity, and who gets conditioned not to question things
34:07 – Curiosity as joy; how liberal arts education changed things for Becky
36:22 – The power of "why" and "what if" as questions
43:00 – Wrap-up and plans to revisit after they've both seen the movie in OctoberResources mentioned:
• Wicker trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP0BWBWn14I
• "The Wicker Husband" short story: https://www.scribd.com/document/163478512/The-Wicker-Husban1
• "Yesteryear" by Caro Claire Burke: https://amzn.to/3TEeLNs🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/
Everything Is Political: What We Learned From Our Whole Series
On this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown look back on their "Everything Is Political" series — reflecting on agency, systemic bias, and intersectional feminism through …
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On this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown look back on their "Everything Is Political" series — reflecting on agency, systemic bias, and intersectional feminism through conversations on trash and environmental racism, clothing equity, comedy and queer identity, book diversity, AI and data bias, and podcasting access. It's a candid, funny, and grounding recap for anyone trying to hold onto hope while facing systems designed to wear you down.
In This Episode, We Get Into:
• Why disengaging from online arguments can be an act of agency, not avoidance
• The "not my ministry" mindset and choosing which conversations are actually worth your energy
• How trash pickup reveals environmental racism and the myth of "universal" utilities
• The beautification effect and why cared-for spaces get cared for
• How access to clothing that fits shapes self-worth, agency, and daily choices
• Becky's deep dive into Universal Standard sizing and why "medium" is doing a lot of political work
• What Dahlia Belle's Netflix special Gender Agenda revealed about comedy, pronouns, and survival
• Becky's book-tracking dashboard and what it exposed about whose voices she was (and wasn't) reading
• Why AI and algorithms only look backward, and what that means for bias and representation
• Who gets the mic in podcasting, and why access doesn't always mean equity
🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/How Biased Data Is Used to Reinforce Racism, Sexism, and the Status Quo
In this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown sit down with data and analytics professional Millie to explore why data is never as neutral as it looks — and why that matters for …
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In this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown sit down with data and analytics professional Millie to explore why data is never as neutral as it looks — and why that matters for everyone. From biased medical studies and skewed incarceration stats to the politics of AI, the census, and your personal data being sold without your consent, this conversation connects the dots between numbers on a screen and the power structures shaping our lives.
In This Episode, We Get Into:
• Why data isn't neutral, and how human bias gets baked in at every stage of collection, analysis, and presentation
• How manipulated charts, skewed infographics, and decontextualized research statistics mislead the public
• Real-world examples of data bias causing serious harm: medication dosages, Plan B effectiveness, census undercounting, and school funding
• The deeply troubling way incarceration data is used to reinforce racist narratives about Black and brown communities
• How AI inherits and amplifies data bias, and why "garbage in, garbage out" is a phrase everyone should know
• What data literacy actually looks like, and how to become a smarter, more critical consumer of statistics and studies
• The GDPR, browser cookies, and why your personal data is already a product being sold without your cut
• How to use public open data resources (like NYC Open Data) to engage with information in your community🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/
Podcasting Is Political: Who Profits, Who Gets Erased, and What You Can Do About It (with Sarah Heeter)
In this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown sit down with Sarah Heeter — podcast producer, strategist, and founder of PodFox Media — to dig into the deeply political nature of …
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In this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown sit down with Sarah Heeter — podcast producer, strategist, and founder of PodFox Media — to dig into the deeply political nature of the podcasting world. From who gets to profit and who gets erased by the algorithm, to how podcasts are reshaping elections and what your listening habits actually mean, this is the intersectional feminist media analysis you didn't know you needed.
In This Episode, We Get Into:
• Why podcasting is a political medium, even when the content has nothing to do with politics
• The gatekeeping problem: who profits most from podcasting (spoiler: it's mostly white men) and what that means for independent creators
• How the 2020 celebrity podcast boom reshaped the entire industry, and who it left behind
• The 2024 election strategy of using podcasts as campaign tools, and what that means for democracy and misinformation
• The responsibility of podcast hosts and producers to vet guests, set core values, and decide what they put their name on
• Why podcast listeners are disproportionately persuadable and what top creators are doing with that influence
• How consumers and independent creators can make intentional, values-aligned choices in both what they listen to and who they platform
• The power of community resources like the Feminist Podcasters Collective to amplify marginalized indie voices
• Why 50 loyal podcast listeners means more than 100K TikTok views, and how to think about audience depth vs. follower counts
• The unresolved questions about video podcasting, transcripts, AI, and accessibility that are already shaping who can participate in this spaceResources Mentioned:
• PodFox Media: https://podfoxmedia.com/
• Big Brave Business podcast: https://bigbravebusiness.com/
• Feminist Podcasters Collective: https://feministpodcastcollective.com
• Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/
• Listen Notes: https://www.listennotes.com/🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/
The Politics of Who Gets to Be Funny: Trans Comedian Mx. Dahlia Belle Tells All!
In this episode of Messy Liberation, host Becky Mollenkamp sits down with comedian and writer Mx. Dahlia Belle to pull back the curtain on the deeply political world of stand-up comedy. From gatekeeping and …
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In this episode of Messy Liberation, host Becky Mollenkamp sits down with comedian and writer Mx. Dahlia Belle to pull back the curtain on the deeply political world of stand-up comedy. From gatekeeping and blacklisting to biased algorithms and the consent politics of who gets to make jokes about whom, this conversation is an essential intersectional feminist guide to understanding comedy as a site of power and resistance.
In This Episode, We Get Into:
• How Mx. Dahlia Belle went from writing a viral Guardian piece about Dave Chappelle to appearing on Hannah Gadsby's Netflix special Gender Agenda, and what happened to their career immediately after
• Why comedy is a pyramid scheme: how the most powerful comics in any scene control who gets booked, who gets stage time, and who gets shut out
• The self-replicating myth that women and trans people "aren't funny," and how internalized bias keeps marginalized audiences away from shows that could change that
• How biased algorithms compound gatekeeping, and what it means when a comic's social media following matters more than their actual craft
• The nuanced take on punching up vs. punching down, and why Mx. Dahlia Belle's real gauge is whether the joke lands for someone who loves them and someone who hates them
• The violence and predation inside comedy scenes, and how it was the women who blew the whistle on abusers who got blacklisted, not the abusers themselves
• Why stand-up is uniquely inseparable from the artist's character, and why "separating the art from the artist" doesn't work the same way for comedy as it does for painting or fiction
• The concept of consent in comedy: who has the right to tell a joke about a particular identity, and what it means when that consent is absent
• Where to actually find queer and alt comedy in your city (and why you should probably boycott your local mainstream comedy club)
• Why marginalized people tend to be more creative, funnier, and more imaginative because survival demands itResources Mentioned:
• Mx. Dahlia Belle's "Dear Dave Chappelle" piece for the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2021/oct/09/dave-chappelle-letter-trans-comedian-netflix
• Hannah Gadsby's Gender Agenda on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81607199
• "The Algorithms of Opression" by Safiya Umoja Noble: https://amzn.to/439nUPL
• Comedian Devi Kersh: https://www.instagram.com/devikirsch/
• Comedian Sir Lance Edward: https://www.instagram.com/sir_lance_edward_comedy/
• Mx. Dahlia Belle on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/MX.DAHLIABELLE/
• Mx. Dahlia Belle on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@mx.dahliabelle/
• Mx. Dahla Belle on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@mxdahliabelle🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/
The Politics of Your Closet: Body Liberation, Fast Fashion, and What You're Actually Allowed to Wear
In this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown sit down with personal stylist and body liberation advocate Dacy Gillespie of Mindful Closet to unpack the deeply political nature of …
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In this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown sit down with personal stylist and body liberation advocate Dacy Gillespie of Mindful Closet to unpack the deeply political nature of fashion and clothing. From workplace dress codes rooted in white supremacy to the impossible standards placed on larger bodies, the return of "heroin chic," modesty culture, and the radical act of letting your hair go gray — this conversation is for anyone who has ever stood in their closet feeling like nothing fits, nothing's allowed, and nothing will ever be enough.
In This Episode, We Get Into:- How Dacy's mother organizing workers in a sewing factory planted the seed for her life's work — and why she was raised to believe caring about clothes was shameful
- The way workplace "professionalism" is really just a dress code for "look as much like a white man as possible" — and who pays the price for deviating from it
- Fashion as code-switching: the daily calculation people of color, trans folks, and anyone outside the norm make about how much of themselves to reveal
- Trayvon Martin and the deadly, literal consequences of what you're wearing
- Why Dacy won't tell you what's "flattering" — and why her forthcoming book is called Unflattering
- The return of 90s "heroin chic" body ideals and the terror of watching it happen again in the age of GLP-1s
- Size scarcity: why plus-size people are often left with ten moomoos and good luck — including the callout of Lucy and Yak removing their 4X sizing
- Modesty, the Missouri House's no-bare-shoulders rule, and how women's bodies are treated as a liability in public spaces
- What Chappell Roan at the Grammys has to do with the sexual double standard
- Aging, perimenopause, and the radical act of collecting images of women who actually look like you
- Why your mental health and feeling good in your body is always the top priority — even if that means buying from Target
Resources Mentioned:
• Dacy Gillespie: https://www.mindfulcloset.com/
• Dacy's Substack newsletter, "Unflattering": https://dacygillespie.substack.com/
• "The Body Is Not an Apology" by Sonya Renee Taylor: https://amzn.to/4uNa3L8
• Dress for Success Midwest: https://midwest.dressforsuccess.org/🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/
Food Is Political: Diet Culture, Food Deserts & the Systems Keeping You From Eating Well
In this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown sit down with registered dietitian and nutritionist Shana Spence — known as @thenutritiontea on Instagram and Threads — to dig into …
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In this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown sit down with registered dietitian and nutritionist Shana Spence — known as @thenutritiontea on Instagram and Threads — to dig into the deeply political nature of food access, diet culture, and nutrition misinformation. From food deserts and SNAP cuts to GLP-1s and white supremacy's grip on body standards, this conversation connects the dots between what ends up on your plate and the systems of power that put it there (or don't).
In This Episode, We Get Into:
• What a food desert actually is, and why even dense urban areas like New York City and Atlanta have them
• How redlining, gerrymandering, and structural racism shape which communities have access to grocery stores
• The layered barriers to food access: disability, transportation, language, income, and more
• Why "just grow your own food" and other individualist advice is completely disconnected from reality
• The explosion of GLP-1 drugs (like Ozempic and Wegovy) and whether we're in pursuit of health or just thinness
• How diet culture is rooted in white supremacy and Eurocentric beauty standards
• The SNAP cuts in the "Big Beautiful Bill" and the domino effect on food insecurity and health outcomes
• Why seed oils have been debunked as harmful, and how nutrition misinformation spreads
• Lab-grown food, GMOs, and what a more just food future could actually look like
• Shana's core message: how you eat is individual, not a moral failingResources Mentioned:
• "Live Nourished: Make Peace with Food, Banish Body Shame and Reclaim Joy" by Shana Spence: https://amzn.to/4e1QlEf
• "Anti-Diet" by Christy Harrison: https://amzn.to/4vjQhXj
• "Fearing the Black Body" by Sabrina Strings: https://amzn.to/4vhq9MM
• "The Body Liberation Project" by Chrissy King: https://amzn.to/4dEzp7O
• Shana's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenutritiontea/
• Shana's Threads: https://www.threads.com/@thenutritiontea
• The Nutrition Tea (Shana's Substack: https://substack.com/@thenutritiontea🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/
We Throw Away 40% of Our Food While 40M People Go Hungry
In this episode of Messy Liberation's Everything is Political series, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown are joined by Erica Clahar (founder of Uni Feeds) and Gwen Nolan (founder of Mother Compost) to …
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In this episode of Messy Liberation's Everything is Political series, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown are joined by Erica Clahar (founder of Uni Feeds) and Gwen Nolan (founder of Mother Compost) to explore the deeply political world of waste — from food waste and hunger to environmental racism, composting access, and the planned obsolescence built into capitalism. If you've ever wondered why trash is a feminist issue, this conversation will make everything click.
In This Episode, We Get Into:
• How 40% of the U.S. food supply gets thrown away every year while 40 million people remain food insecure (and why that number is chronically under-reported)
• The origin stories of two women who saw a problem and built organizations to solve it, not monetize it
• Environmental racism in real time: why landfills, incinerators, and illegal dumping disproportionately harm Black and brown communities
• The Coldwater Creek landfill situation in St. Louis as a case study in who bears the burden of waste
• The Chester, PA incineration fight, and what it means that Pennsylvania's constitution guarantees the right to clean air and water
• Individual responsibility vs. corporate and government accountability, and why both matter, but not equally
• Planned obsolescence, consumer culture, and how capitalism designed our throwaway society on purpose
• Indigenous and collective wisdom as a model for a caretaking economy — and how white supremacist capitalism broke that relationship
• Practical things you can actually do: composting, freezing leftovers, buy-nothing challenges, and sharing with neighbors
• Why slowing down and making intentional choices might be the most radical act you can do right nowResources Mentioned:
• Umi Feeds: https://umifeeds.org/
• Mother Compost: https://mothercompost.com/
• ReFed: https://refed.org/
• Feeding America: https://www.feedingamerica.org/
• Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR): https://ilsr.org/
• Drawdown: https://drawdown.org/
• "Braiding Sweetgrass" by Robin Wall Kimmerer: https://amzn.to/3Q0j5oG
• "The Serviceberry" by Robin Wall Kimmerer: https://amzn.to/4u92BZG
• "Emergent Strategy" by adrienne maree brown: https://amzn.to/4fpltjr🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/
Why Mental Health Care Is Failing Marginalized Communities (with Dr. Han Ren)
In this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown sit down with Dr. Han Ren, a licensed psychologist and author of the upcoming book The Hyphenated Life, to explore why therapy is …
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In this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown sit down with Dr. Han Ren, a licensed psychologist and author of the upcoming book The Hyphenated Life, to explore why therapy is inherently political. They discuss the systemic barriers to accessing quality mental health care, how politics shapes therapeutic practice, the dangers of pathologizing trauma responses, and why "therapy speak" often reinforces white supremacy. If you've ever struggled to find a therapist who truly understands your lived experience — or wondered why the mental health field feels so disconnected from issues of justice — this conversation is essential listening.
In This Episode, We Get Into:
- Why therapy and psychology have always been political — even when grad school pretends otherwise
- How Dr. Han Ren started creating mental health content on TikTok in 2020 to fill gaps in representation
- The exhausting reality of finding a therapist who understands your marginalized identities
- Why therapists can no longer afford to keep their values "close to the chest" — it's a safety issue
- How politics directly impacts what happens in the therapy room (and why that matters)
- The concept of imposter phenomenon and how it disproportionately affects people from marginalized communities
- Why pathologizing trauma responses is a form of social control
- How "therapy speak" reinforces white supremacy and individualism
- The model minority myth and how different communities are villainized by mental health narratives
- Why healing is for everyone, but therapy doesn't have a monopoly on healing
- The role of self-love, community, grief, and "doing the reps" in real healing
Resources Mentioned:
- The Hyphenated Life by Dr. Han Ren: https://amzn.to/3RhbmmF
- Borderlands/La Frontera by Gloria Anzaldúa: https://amzn.to/3PTXnml
- Dr. Han Ren's website: https://www.drhanren.com/
- Dr. Han Ren on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drhanren
- Dr. Han Ren on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.han.ren/
🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/
How to Have Difficult Conversations Without Losing Yourself (with Danielle Marshall)
In this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown sit down with equity strategist and executive coach Danielle Marshall to explore the art of having difficult conversations across …
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In this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown sit down with equity strategist and executive coach Danielle Marshall to explore the art of having difficult conversations across political and ideological divides. They discuss the limitations of echo chambers, the difference between engagement and community, and why being able to hold multiple perspectives — even when you disagree — is essential for creating real change. If you've ever struggled with whether to engage someone whose views challenge yours, this conversation offers a refreshing framework for navigating disagreement without sacrificing your values.
In This Episode, We Get Into:
- Why echo chambers feel safe but can be limiting — and when that matters
- The difference between engaging with people and bringing them into your inner community
- How to set a clear goal before entering a challenging conversation
- Marjorie Taylor Greene as a real-time case study in people changing their minds (yes, really)
- Why we're so afraid to be wrong — and how binary thinking keeps us stuck
- The burden of trying to convince everyone to see things your way
- How cancel culture makes it harder to hold space for nuance and change
- Everything is political: how even your garbage and clothing choices are political acts
- Why "convincing you is not my ministry" might be the most freeing phrase you hear today
- How to ask yourself: Is this perspective serving me — and how is it working for me?
Danielle Marshall's website: culture-principles.com
🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/100th Episode LIVE
Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown celebrate reaching 100 episodes of Messy Liberation, the feminist podcast dedicated to helping listeners understand the world through an intersectional feminist lens. In this …
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Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown celebrate reaching 100 episodes of Messy Liberation, the feminist podcast dedicated to helping listeners understand the world through an intersectional feminist lens. In this milestone live episode, they reflect on two years of consistent conversations about pop culture, politics, social justice, and the power of slow, sustainable activism.
IN THIS EPISODE, WE GET INTO:- Celebrating 100 episodes and why most podcasts don't make it this far
- The origin story: how Becky and Taina met and decided to start a podcast together
- What keeps the show sustainable and consistent over two years
- How personal growth and social progress both require a long-term lens
- The power of showing up in your life and relationships, even in small ways
- Why "everything is political" and how that framework changes how we move through the world
- The upcoming "Everything Is Political" series covering topics like composting, fashion, data analysis, and therapy
- Honoring your capacity and burnout prevention in activism and creative work
- Reflecting on monumental personal growth that only becomes visible over time
- The importance of community touchpoints and consistent spaces for learning and connection
🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: https://feministpodcastcollective.com/
Punching Up vs. Punching Down: What the Kevin Hart Roast Reveals About Power
Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown unpack the controversy around the Kevin Hart roast, exploring why comedy that punches down reinforces harmful power dynamics. They discuss how roasts, jokes about women's …
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Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown unpack the controversy around the Kevin Hart roast, exploring why comedy that punches down reinforces harmful power dynamics. They discuss how roasts, jokes about women's bodies, and casual misogyny contribute to a larger cultural moment where rights and representation are being systematically stripped away—and why pushing back matters now more than ever.
In This Episode, We Get Into:
- Why roasts make us uncomfortable (and why that matters)
- The difference between punching up, punching laterally, and punching down in comedy
- How jokes about women's bodies and Black women's intelligence don't exist in a vacuum
- The connection between rape culture humor and the loss of reproductive rights
- Why "it's just a joke" is never just a joke when power dynamics are at play
- How comedy can either challenge or reinforce oppressive systems
- The importance of asking "what's funny about that?" when jokes cross the line
- Why people with privilege need to be the ones speaking up in rooms where marginalized people are the target
- How cultural moments like this contribute to the normalization of racism, misogyny, and authoritarianism
- Ways to push back without being aggressive—and why it matters
🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/
Performative Activism, Billionaire Art Shows, and the Myth of Meritocracy
In this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown dive into the tone-deaf spectacle of the Met Gala, unpacking what celebrity wealth displays reveal about economic inequality and …
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In this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown dive into the tone-deaf spectacle of the Met Gala, unpacking what celebrity wealth displays reveal about economic inequality and performative activism. They also explore the myth of meritocracy in higher education, the emotional labor of parenting during high-stakes testing, and how to find joy and rest when everything feels heavy.
In This Episode, We Get Into:- Why the Met Gala feels like a "let them eat cake" moment during skyrocketing inflation and wealth inequality
- The difference between art as subversion and art as "sucking the dick of power"
- Performative activism vs. real protest (looking at you, Sarah Paulson's dollar bill accessory)
- How billionaires like Jeff Bezos hosting the Met Gala undercuts any claim of artistic rebellion
- The myth that going to Harvard (or other elite schools) is the secret to wealth
- How legacy admissions and cronyism maintain class hierarchies in higher education
- Supporting kids through stressful standardized testing without reinforcing toxic achievement culture
- Processing grief, finding dopamine hits in gamified productivity, and giving yourself permission to rest
- The slow, steady growth of creative projects you do just because you love them
- Why we keep showing up for these conversations (and thank you for listening)
🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/
Finding Agency When the World Is on Fire
In this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown dig into Trump's latest authoritarian moves — from putting his face on passports to plastering government buildings with his image …
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In this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown dig into Trump's latest authoritarian moves — from putting his face on passports to plastering government buildings with his image. They explore the privilege of leaving the country when things get dark, the importance of staying present when the world feels like it's on fire, and small acts of resistance that help us reclaim agency in impossible times.
In This Episode, We Get Into:
- Trump's plan to put his photo in U.S. passports (and why that's some dictator-level nonsense)
- The tan suit vs. sitting in your own shit: a study in Republican hypocrisy
- Why "just leave the country" is peak privilege and not as easy as people think
- The emotional toll of coming home from vacation to this dumpster fire
- How post-vacation blues hit different when your country is falling apart
- Becky's "Bring the Magic" challenge: finding agency through small acts of kindness
- Why being present isn't toxic positivity — it's survival
- Taina's spring gardening as embodied resistance
- Finding ways to control your cortisol when the world is literally on fire
- Choosing not to have a heart attack while everything burns around you
🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/
Why Mental Health Days Are Resistance (Not Self-Indulgence)
In this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown dive into why mental health days matter more than ever, and why the world won't stop demanding productivity just because you're …
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In this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown dive into why mental health days matter more than ever, and why the world won't stop demanding productivity just because you're feeling overwhelmed. They discuss how to recognize when you need rest, navigate guilt around taking time off, challenge capitalist expectations around constant productivity, and build community care into your life even when our culture doesn't make it easy. If you've ever felt like you're supposed to just brush your teeth and go to work while the world is on fire, this conversation is for you.
In This Episode, We Get Into:
• Why the world feels heavier as we age, and whether things are actually worse now or if we're just more aware
• How neuroscience explains why young people make different decisions (spoiler: their frontal lobes aren't fully developed yet)
• The real cost of living in a culture that expects "business as usual" no matter what's happening in the world
• Why mental health days aren't just about rest; they're about resistance to capitalist productivity culture
• The invisible labor of managing a household and why "partnership" doesn't automatically mean equality
• How to ask for help even when you feel like you shouldn't have to
Why we've lost the village model of community care, and how to start rebuilding it
• Setting boundaries around work, rest, and what you're actually capable of in a given moment
• The difference between rest as recovery and rest as a regular practice
• Why you need community care whether you're partnered up or notResources Mentioned:
• "How We Show Up: Reclaiming Family, Friendship, and Community" by Mia Birdsong: https://amzn.to/41U8M8h
• "Liberate Your Business" by Becky Mollenkamp: https://beckymollenkamp.com/book/🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/
Wealth, Fame, and White Privilege: Why "Get Rich" Feminism Is Broken
In this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown explore wealth, fame, and privilege through an intersectional feminist lens. Fresh off Taina's trip to Paris, the conversation unpacks …
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In this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown explore wealth, fame, and privilege through an intersectional feminist lens. Fresh off Taina's trip to Paris, the conversation unpacks how capitalism conditions us to believe money solves all problems, why being rich doesn't equal happiness, and how white women need to reckon with the ways whiteness shapes their relationship to money and power—even while experiencing gender-based oppression.
In This Episode, We Get Into:
- Why we're conditioned to believe celebrities and wealthy people have no problems (and why that's bullshit)
- How anxiety shapes the way we think about money, safety, and access
- The difference between financial security and being rich-rich—and why one matters more than the other
- What fame actually costs: privacy, safety, constant scrutiny, and never knowing who's around you for the right reasons
- Why having money doesn't erase trauma, PTSD, or the way our brains are wired
- How wealth can buy access to things that lead to happiness—therapy, rest, travel, time with loved ones—without being a cure-all
- The isolation and judgment that can come with having more money than the people around you
- Why white women need to stop centering their own experiences when talking about wealth and financial liberation
- How the "all women need to get wealthy" narrative erases the different lived realities of BIPOC women
- Why it's critical for white women to understand that gender oppression and white privilege can (and do) coexist
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