In this week's episode, Jesse addresses an ugly rumor about him posted to Blocked and Reported's Apple Podcast review page. Then the hosts discuss Conor Friedersdorf's article in The Atlantic, "Anti-racist Arguments Are Tearing People Apart," which centers around the accusation that it was racist for a white man to bounce his friend's black baby on his lap during a Zoom call (really!). In the episode's main segment, Katie unspurls the yearslong battle between Cliff Mass and seemingly every progressive in the Seattle metro area, which recently culminated in his media-gig firing after he made an..................... unfortunate comparison on his personal blog. Also: Jesse does a rim-rocking dunk, the hosts discuss a potential cargo-shorts-related spinoff podcast, racist babies are denounced, and Katie unspurls the story of how she was blacklisted from a Seattle radio station.

Show notes/Links:

The Atlantic: Anti-racist Arguments Are Tearing People Apart - https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/08/meta-arguments-about-anti-racism/615424/

The Stranger: Cliff Mass Says Whatever He Wants (2011) - https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/cliff-mass-says-whatever-he-wants/Content?oid=8309158

KIRO: UW Prof. Cliff Mass called racist for opposing carbon tax initiative (2011) - https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/cliff-mass-says-whatever-he-wants/Content?oid=8309158

The Stranger: Cliff Mass's Responses to Women Scientists Make Seattle's Climate Change Discussions Toxic - https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/cliff-mass-says-whatever-he-wants/Content?oid=8309158

The Stranger: Cliff Mass Blames Liberals for the Lack of Progress on Climate Change - https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/10/06/25457183/cliff-mass-blames-liberals-for-the-lack-of-progress-on-climate-change

The Stranger: The Culture of Harassing and Demeaning Women Scientists - https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/11/17/25572044/the-culture-of-harassing-and-demeaning-women-scientists

Cliff Mass Weather Blog: The University of Washington Should Not Censor Faculty Social Media - https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-university-of-washington-should-not.html

KNKX: KNKX Public Editor report: science, politics, and Weather with Cliff Mass - https://www.knkx.org/post/knkx-public-editor-report-science-politics-and-weather-cliff-mass

Cliff Mass Weather Blog: A City in Fear Can Be Restored - https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2020/08/seattle-city-in-fear-can-be-restored.html

KNKX: KNKX to stop airing Weather with Cliff Mass, effective immediately - https://www.knkx.org/post/knkx-stop-airing-weather-cliff-mass-effective-immediately

Cliff Mass Weather Blog: My Firing at KNKX - https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2020/08/my-firing-at-knkx.html

Petition trying to get Mass fired from his job as a professor - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WIZgiqt1wkyOdx369sSJeIPFoQ8Wr-RA3wKZzJ5uxHU/edit