This week on If I Only Knew Fred and Matt tackle a controversial and consistently relevant topic - cancel culture. 'Cancelling' seems to be a modern trend, facilitated by the internet, and it has very real consequences. But when is cancelling justifiable, what is the value of it, and what are some of the reasons it might get highjacked?

Tune in this week to find out.

Notes:

Matt draws heavily from this Youtube video by 'Contrapoints', it is a great watch even though it is long: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjMPJVmXxV8&t=4828s

Also, in the two months since recording more controversy has been revealed around internet personality James Charles. This second wave of 'cancelling' is distinct from the first controversy between James and Tati Westbrook in 2019 that we discuss.

Academic sources and further reading:

Bouvier, G., 2020. Racist call-outs and cancel culture on Twitter: The limitations of the platform’s ability to define issues of social justice. Discourse, Context & Media, 38, p.100431.

Duque, R., Rivera, R. and LeBlanc, E., 2020. The Active Shooter paradox: Why the rise of Cancel Culture, “Me Too”, ANTIFA and Black Lives Matter… matters. Aggression and Violent Behavior, p.101544.

Holman, K., 2021. Can You Come Back from Being Cancelled? A Case Study of Podcasting, Cancel Culture, and Comedians during #MeToo. Masters. University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Ng, E., 2020. No Grand Pronouncements Here...: Reflections on Cancel Culture and Digital Media Participation. Television & New Media, 21(6), pp.621-627.

Norris, P., 2021. Closed Minds? Is a ‘Cancel Culture’ Stifling Academic Freedom and Intellectual Debate in Political Science?. n.d. Harvard Kennedy School.