Geek Herring

Geek Girl in the News looks at the awesome or not so awesome news that will make you go either: "YAY" or "OMG I can't believe that." 

The latest and greatest geek girl news from May 2021 covers Gen Z being badass, celebrity struggles with mental health, snowflake gamers and the male gaze, an update on the Rosario Dawson anti-trans lawsuit, and some good news from Twitch!

We start by celebrating the incredibly talented Madisen Cordell who won an Amazon scholorship to pursue computer science.... after starting to learn it only last summer! This story is so wholesome and inspiring; Madisen, you'll go so far!! Congratulations!

Then we're talking about the newest grrl riot punk band: The Linda Lindas. These tweens took a racist, sexist comment from a boy in their class and wrote the literal baddest assiest song about it. Ever. RACIST SEXIST BOY!!! We stan you, Linda Lindas!! Keep it coming!

Next, we're talking about Naomi Osaka's statement and eventual withdrawal from the French Open due to her mental health. She decided it was in the interest of her mental health not to participate in post-tournament interviews, but the archaic tennis federation rules deemed it appropriate to issue a $15k fine. Seriously? Mental health before all else! We're proud of you, Naomi! And hope you kick collaborative ass in changing the rules!

And it's not just women who are opening up about their mental health problems. Even male celebrity faves like Ryan Reynolds who seemingly have it ALL can and do struggle with mental health issues. It's so, so, so important for straight, cis, white men to open up about their mental health issues in order to combat the stigma of mental health. Thank you, Ryan!

Then we have a bit of a laugh about the absolute snowflake of a gamer who decided that Aloy, in the sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn, looks too masculine. Um, fuck away off and get in the sea!

With an update to a past geek girl in the news episode, courts have dismissed the anti-trans assault lawsuit against Rosario Dawson. This is really a lose-lose situation. Either accusor Dedrek Finley is lying and caused some irreparable damage to Dawson's career and the validity of anti-trans assault, or Dawson is lying and used her fame and finances to make the situation go away. Well fuck.

But in some excellent news, Twitch has finally - finally - given us 350 new identity tags on the gaming platform! The long-anticipated trans tag is here! And along with it are tags about sexuality, gender, race, nationality, disability, and more. THANK YOU TWITCH. And maybe in some even more unprecedented updates... Twitch apologised for getting this wrong, stating that they really should have done this sooner. 

What do YOU think about these news stories? We'd love your take! Let us know in the comments of wherever you see this episode!

In this episode of Geek Girl in the News, we covered these news stories:

• Madisen Cordell wins Amazon scholarship to pursue computer science
• Everyone Is in Love With the Linda Lindas
• BREAKING: Naomi Osaka withdrew from the French Open.
• The Importance of Ryan Reynolds Opening Up About Anxiety During Mental Health Awareness Month and Beyond
• Snowflake gamer dragged after whining about Aloy’s ‘masculine’ appearance in Horizon Forbidden West
• Court Has Dismissed Anti-Trans Assault Lawsuit Against Rosario Dawson
• Twitch streamers celebrate as brand-new transgender tag goes live: ‘I’m happy it’s finally here’

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If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please check out some of our others!

• Episode 106: Geek Girl in the News: We’re in love with Elliot Page and Chris Evans… just a little bit!
• Episode 116: Geek Interview: Gender Identity and Fluidity with Frazley and Sascz of Translucidity
• Episode 131: Geeking Out About Self Care

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Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review!

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You can find us Online / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Patreon!

Geekily yours,
 Amanda & Monika

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Self care. It's a hot topic right now, and not without good reason. It's an essential practice for our health - but as geeks, what's best for us?

Let's face it. All those Insta posts about self care being baths, yoga, and meditation are bullshit. Like okay, Karen, if that's you, you do you.

But that's not all self care is.

Self care is any activity that lets your body and, maybe more importantly, your mind relax.

This week, we're talking about the self care practices that we, as geeks, business owners, podcast hosts, and Twitch streamers do regularly. From creating a schedule and routine to reading cosy books to streaming on Twitch.

The most important message is that your self care can look like whatever you want it to. Don't let anyone else dictate what your self care should look like. Do what makes YOU happy.

What are your favourite ways to practice self care? Let us know in the comments here or come join us on Discord!

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If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please check out some of our others!

• Episode 113: Bodies and Radical Self-Love with Gemma
• Episode 108: Geek Discussion: Real talk! Our Girl Geek Highs and Lows 2020 and Before
• Episode 121: Geek Interview: Loving the Skin You’re in with Frank the Pegasus

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Geekily yours,
 Amanda & Monika

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Surviving R. Kelly is a documentary about the literal decades of abuse from the rapper - and the total lack of prosecution. This is our review of the 6-part documentary of horrors.

Content Warning: This entire episode deals with sensitive topics. Sexual assault, abuse, pedophilia, child pornography, pornography, and more. Please protect yourselves, listeners. If these topics are too heavy for you right now, please check out another episode of Geek Herring

After watching Surviving R. Kelly, we can say with 100% certainty that Robert Kelly is indisputably a piece of shit.

We witness in this documentary Robert's interest in young girls start way too early in his life. It's all come out about his relationship and marriage to Alliyah - when she was only 15 fucking years old and he was 24!?

But that's nowhere near where these decades of abuse ends. It's absolutely heartbreaking to watch these girls and young women be seduced by this master manipulator for years. Even when women came forward about his abuses, Robert "somehow" seems to avoid any jail time.

Spoilers: he just makes too much money for the record company. So naturally, he can do whatever he wants - including assaulting young girls.

We also talk about how everyone in his life is claiming total ignorance and innocence to his crimes - and we call absolute fucking bullshit. 

Listen to this episode to find out more!

Watch Surviving R. Kelly on Netflix

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Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review!

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If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please check out some of our others!

• Episode 22: Geek Discussion: Rape, Steam, & Responsibility
• Episode 119: Geek Girl in the News: Sexual Abuse & Racism in the Entertainment Industry – Marilyn Manson, Joss Whedon, World of Warcraft, & the Golden Globes
• Episode 91: Geek Discussion: WAP, Sexual Empowerment, and Feminism

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Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review!

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You can find us Online / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Patreon!

Geekily yours,
 Amanda & Monika

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The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is one of the most iconic and important watches of our modern times. Let's talk about why!

** THIS EPISODE IS FULL OF SPOILERS OF THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER SEASON 1 **

Please enjoy Amanda's super awesome and very incoherent explanation and summary of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. 

We don't want to put toooo too much in these shownotes, because spoilers, but to sum up:

Defund the police.
 Support mental health, PTSD, and military vets.
 Black Lives Matter.
 Mediation should always be the first course of action.
Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson are the best and we'd watch them paint a room together,

What did YOU think of this epic show? Let us know in the comments or come on over and join our Discord!

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Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review!

Support Geek Herring on Patreon!

If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please check out some of our others!

• Episode 120: Geek Girl Reviews WandaVision: A Story About Grief
• Episode 41: Geeking Out About Marvel’s Phase 4
• Episode 128: Geek Girl in the News: eSports Gyms, NFTs, and Marvel Excitement

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Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review!

Join us on Discord!!

You can find us Online / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Patreon!

Geekily yours,
 Amanda & Monika

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Geek Girl in the News looks at the awesome or not so awesome news that will make you go either: "YAY" or "OMG I can't believe that." 

The latest and greatest geek girl news from April 2021 covers the EFL's first female referee, Japan's first ever eSports gym, NFTs and the Disaster Girl meme, Sony's partnership with Discord, Disney+ announcement of Ironheart, Marvel's Phase 5 trailer drop (omg!), Ryan Reynolds demanding a bisexual Deadpool, and the revealed identity of Ratchet & Clank's femme fatale!

We're so excited to have a pretty upbeat month of news this month!

First, we're diving into sports, thanks to Thom (of course) who sent us this article about Rebecca Welch, the first female referee for the English Football League. What a fab move for the EFL, a fab promotion for Welch, and a step forward for women in football. We love to see it!

Thom also sent us our next article about Japan's first eSports gym opening up in Tokyo. Picture a regular gym: you go, train on all the machines, even have the opportunity for personal training. That's EXACTLY what an eSports gym is - except you're not working out your legs, you're working out your ESPORTS muscles. And we're HERE for this, how dang cool!?

What do you know about NFTs? Amanda knows nothing, even after Moni and Twitch chat tried to explain it. But she doesn't have to understand what they're about to know that the Disaster Meme just made Zoe Roth $500k. She's paying off her college loans and donating the rest to charity. AMAZING!

We're also super excited about Sony's partnership with Discord. This is such a win-win! Discord needs some more financial backing, especially after the year it's had, and Sony needs some voice cross-chat integration for the Playstation. Excited to see what happens here!

Geek Herring listener, FlameFlash, submitted the next story about the Disney+ announcement of Ironheart! This show sounds absolutely incredible and follows the story of 15 year old genius Black student RiRi Williams on her quest to rebuild IronMan armour for her. RiRi will be played by Dominique Thorne, and it's being written by Chinaka Hodge, another Black woman. We quite literally cannot contain our excitement about this show and all the Black female talent getting pumped into it!

We're also SO FUCKING EXCITED about the Marvel Phase 5 release trailer! Literally cannot WAIT for all these films to come out - and so many are this year! YES YES YES to ALL these damn movies! And, staying with Marvel, we are HERE for Ryan Reynolds absolutely begging Marvel to let him play Deadpool as bisexual - he is canon pansexual in the comics, so of course it makes sense! Come on, Marvel! It's about time!

And finally, we talk about the new Ratchet & Clank femme fatale character reveal! Thanks to our friend, Ed Nightingale, reporting for Pink News for this article!

What do YOU think about these news stories? We'd love your take! Let us know in the comments of wherever you see this episode!

In this episode of Geek Girl in the News, we covered these news stories:

• Rebecca Welch becomes first female referee to be appointed to EFL game ahead of Harrogate Town vs Port Vale
• Japan is opening its first ever esports gym in Tokyo, where people can book 3-hour slots at PCs and pay for coaching from professional gamers
• The World Knows Her as ‘Disaster Girl.’ She Just Made $500,000 Off the Meme.
• Sony announces new partnership with gaming platform Discord, raising hopes for improved cross-play
• ‘Ironheart’: Marvel-Disney Plus Series Sets Chinaka Hodge as Head Writer (EXCLUSIVE)
• Marvel Phase 5 Release Trailer
• Ryan Reynolds is reportedly begging Marvel to make Deadpool openly bisexual
• Hidden identity of Ratchet & Clank’s mysterious new femme fatale finally revealed

Check Out Geek Herring!

Join us on Discord!!

Follow Geek Herring on Twitch!! | Join the Geek Herring Book Club

Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review!

Support Geek Herring on Patreon!

If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please check out some of our others!

• Episode 123: Geek Girl in the News: Montero & Lil Nas X, Sarah Everard, and Trans Rights
• Episode 111: Geek Girl in the News: We are SO Over Body Shaming, Star-Lord #ConfirmedBisexual, & Aliens Exist!?
• Episode 124: Geek Interview: Love Is… Finding Yourself with Lizzie

Find Out More

Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review!

Join us on Discord!!

You can find us Online / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Patreon!

Geekily yours,
 Amanda & Monika

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We're getting chilled out and intimate with round TWO of asking deep questions. We always love these episodes because we get to know each other even better than we already do.

We had a LOT of laughs, some himming and humming (LOOKING AT YOU, AMANDA!), and a few moments getting totes emosh, all while sharing our answers LIVE with our Twitch audience!

Want to hear about the best gift Amanda ever got? What about her most embarrassing moment at school?
 Curious about what Moni's future TED Talk will be? Or when she's felt most alone?

Want to know how Amanda made Moni spit her water out!?

Then tune in! Make sure you don't miss this one!

Ask Deep Questions is a card game that consists of 48 thoughtful questions that go below the surface to create meaningful connections with ANYONE.

Check Out Geek Herring!

Follow Geek Herring on Twitch!! | Join the Geek Herring Book Club

Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review!

Support Geek Herring on Patreon!

If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please check out some of our others!

• Geek Interview: Life as a Professional Feminist with Virginia Mendez from The Feminist Shop
• Geek Interview: Plus Size Nerding it up with Nancy Basile!
• Geek Herring Reviews Feminists: What Were They Thinking?

Find Out More

Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review!

Join us on Discord!!

You can find us Online / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Patreon!

Geekily yours,
 Amanda & Monika

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Love comes in so many different forms! We're joined by some wonderful Twitch streamers, mods, and Tweeters to talk about love outside the heteronormative experience. This episode is beautiful and emotional and we love it!

About Our Guests

Ariana is a polyamorous cis woman we know on Twitter
Frazley is an asexual, aromantic transgender woman who streams on Twitch
Gemma is a polysexual, polyamorourus cis woman and is our wonderful moderator
Jay is a genderfluid, polymorourus streamer on Twitch
Rik is an agender, aromantic gay streamer on Twitch

About Love in Every Form

This is our very first roundtable discussion we recorded live on Twitch. We asked some of our lovely friends and fellow streamers to come on and talk about their experiences with love.

We learned so much about so many different types of love: polyamory, familial, friendship, no sexual or romantic connections, gay love, straight love, and everything in between.

Of course, there were tears. Of course, there was openness and beauty to this conversation. We all learned so much about each other - and maybe even some beauty things about ourselves we didn't previously know.

All we know is: this episode is beautiful. Thank you so much, everyone, for sharing pieces of yourselves and speaking so openly about your experiences with love!

Check Out Geek Herring!

Follow Geek Herring on Twitch!! | Join the Geek Herring Book Club

Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review!

Support Geek Herring on Patreon!

If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please check out some of our others!

• Episode 124: Geek Interview: Love Is… Finding Yourself with Lizzie
• Episode 83: Geek Herring & Chill: Happy Pride 2020!
• Episode 125: Geek Girl Reviews It’s a Sin: The Heartbreaking Reality of the AIDS Crisis

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Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review!

Join us on Discord!!

You can find us Online / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Patreon!

Geekily yours,
 Amanda & Monika

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The E4 drama It's a Sin is a wonderful and heartbreaking series following a group of gay men living through the height of the AIDS crisis in London. It's a hard watch, for sure, but it's one we think everyone should watch. It's NECESSARY to be aware about what happened to an entire group of people - almost mostly in secret.

We went into this knowing it would be sad, but it broke us. WOW. What a show.

** Spoiler Warning ** This whole episode is FULL of spoilers.

We talk about our own experiences as young girls living through this period of time ourselves. Of course, we were so far removed from the realities of what was going on. The death, the grief, the loss, and the sheer fact that no one that could do anything about it fucking cared.

The series stars 5 gay men in London and Jill - the star of the show. Jill is precious and thrown into a life-changing situation that causes her to care for her friends while learning everything she can about AIDS. 

The portrayal of STIGMA is so powerful and shocking in It's a Sin. Like this is reality. People didn't know why gay men were dying. They didn't know HOW they were dying. And no one knew how the disease was spread.

We didn't know.

This show does such a wonderful job of showing and embracing the love and vibrancy of life. Through trauma, through secrecy, through illness.

Of course, it's not perfect and it doesn't cover every aspect of this period in time. But It's a Sin does one hell of a job of portraying what reality was like in the 80s and 90s. Hearbreak. Hope. Death. Friendship. Love. Sex. Wow.

The level of shame and embarassment portrayed, as well. Feeling like you have to hide who you are from the people you love is just horrible. The show really gives great insight into the reality of gay life. It's sad.

Also, we STAN Colin's Mom. She's LEGIT.

This whole show is sad. This whole show is incredible. This whole show is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL WATCHING.

Bring tissues.

Resources

** Watch It's a Sin Here **

Learn more about the National AIDS Trust

• LGBT+ History Month: It's not a sin, but it's still a crime
• It’s A Sin is beautiful, but it neglects the women who also died of Aids

Check Out Geek Herring!

Follow Geek Herring on Twitch!! | Join the Geek Herring Book Club

Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review!

Support Geek Herring on Patreon!

If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please check out some of our others!

• Geek Interview: Life as a Professional Feminist with Virginia Mendez from The Feminist Shop
• Geek Interview: Plus Size Nerding it up with Nancy Basile!
• Geek Herring Reviews Feminists: What Were They Thinking?

Find Out More

Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review!

Join us on Discord!!

You can find us Online / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Patreon!

Geekily yours,
 Amanda & Monika

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It doesn't matter how old you are or what your situation is, you're never too old to find yourself. We're delighted to be joined by Twitch streamer, Lizzie, to talk about coming out in her 30s. Amanda also shares her perspective of coming out in the mid 00's.

About Our Guest

Lizzie is an incredible Twitch streamer, cross-stitcher, and member of our community. We love her so much!

It was only a couple of weeks before this episode was recorded that Lizzie came out as "not straight." We thought it would be perfect to celebrate our month of love in February by chatting all things coming out with Lizzie - and with Amanda.

This conversation is a lot of fun. We talk about our experiences with coming out, realising we weren't straight, and touch on some of the hate Amanda's received. 

Thanks Lizzie, so much for being part of this conversation! 

Find Our Guest Online

Find Lizzie On Twitch!

Find Lizzie on Twitter | Instagram

Check Out Geek Herring!

Follow Geek Herring on Twitch!! | Join the Geek Herring Book Club

Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review!

Support Geek Herring on Patreon!

If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please check out some of our others!

• Episode 116: Geek Interview: Gender Identity and Fluidity with Frazley and Sascz of Translucidity
• Episode 83: Geek Herring & Chill: Happy Pride 2020!
• Episode 61: Geeking Out About Diversity & Representation in Pop Culture: Aladdin, MIB, Shazam!, & More!

Find Out More

Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review!

Join us on Discord!!

You can find us Online / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Patreon!

Geekily yours,
 Amanda & Monika

Special Guest: Lizzie.

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Geek Girl in the News looks at the awesome or not so awesome news that will make you go either: "YAY" or "OMG I can't believe that." 

The latest and greatest geek girl news from March 2021 covers the kidnapping and murder of Sarah Everard, Police Brutality, the Vatican's archaic stance on same-sex marriage, Lil Nas X and his new music video, Montero, the NCAA's ridiculous weight rooms, Peer2Peer.Live - thanks Trans Lifeline!!, SonicFox repping Trans Rights at eSports tournament, Sesame Streets newest Black muppets talking about anti-racism, and Star Wars teases us with Obi-Wan Kenobi news!

** Before we go further, we have a content warnings with timestamps. **

*Sexual Abuse, Assault, Violence, Murder and Police Brutality 6:31 - 17:00 *

Like every other person on this planet should be, we are both absolutely outraged and appalled at what happened in the UK at the beginning of March. We started the week off with International Women's Day, but quickly the week soured.

Sarah Everard was kidnapped and murdered. By: A POLICE OFFICER. Yep. Wish we could say we're shocked but....

This has obviously spared a renewed sharing of the #MeToo movement, sharing our own stories of sexual abuse and assault, and even more incredulity of the actual audacity of men.

But that's not all! A vigil being held in Sarah's honour was condemned by Home Secretary Priti Patel 👿 - but when, of course, it went ahead anyways, what happened? YOU GUESS IT. Police brutality. A peaceful vigil for a woman kidnapped and murdered.... turned into a storm of violence.

Honestly, all cops are bastards. And we fucking mean that. It's a systemic and systematic problem that needsd to be dismantled from the outside, yes, but even more from the inside.

We also talk about the Vatican's assinine and disgusting assertation that same-sex relationships are sin. Tired of this. Let's move on, thanks.

Grateful for Lil Nas X being fucking unreal with his new music video for Montero. If you haven't seen it - stop what you're doing and watch it right now thank you very much. This video is transcendant. And we need more Lil Nas X all the fucking time.

Next up - NCAA's royal fuuuuuck up. It's a big and honestly totally avoidable bout of sexism. Let's do better, mmkay?

We're APPLAUDING Trans Lifeline for stepping up and creating Peer2Peer to bring gender identity, race, religion, and disability tags to Twitch --- doing in seemingly no time what Twitch is just refusing to do. Kudos and THANK YOU Trans Lifeline!

Other stories this month: SonicFox's stands for trans rights at Mortal Kombat tournament, Sesame Street getting anti-racist, and cast releases for Obi-Wan Kenobi!

What do YOU think about these news stories? We'd love your take! Let us know in the comments of wherever you see this episode!

In this episode of Geek Girl in the News, we covered these news stories:

• Sarah Everard: Met police officer charged with kidnap and murder
• Priti Patel wanted police to stop people gathering at Sarah Everard vigil
• Vatican says it will not bless same-sex unions, calling them a 'sin'
• YouTube Video: Montero (Call Me By Your Name) by Lil Nas X
• Twiter Thread by Mat Auryn
• Under Fire, The NCAA Apologizes And Unveils New Weight Room For Women's Tournament
• Non-profit Trans Lifeline steps in to offer trans tag after Twitch fails to act for two years
• Non-binary esports champion SonicFox really said trans rights at Ultimate Fighting League event
• 'Sesame Street' Introduces 2 Black Muppets For Powerful Series On Race
• Star Wars & Disney+ Announce Obi-Wan Kenobi on Twitter

Check Out Geek Herring!

Join us on Discord!!

Follow Geek Herring on Twitch!! | Join the Geek Herring Book Club

Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review!

Support Geek Herring on Patreon!

If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please check out some of our others!

• Episode 99: Geek Interview: Being Black and Nerdy with Justin Williams
• Episode 86: Geek Discussion: Twitch and #MeToo with BiggusBennus!
• Episode 119: Geek Girl in the News: Sexual Abuse & Racism in the Entertainment Industry – Marilyn Manson, Joss Whedon, World of Warcraft, & the Golden Globes

Find Out More

Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review!

Join us on Discord!!

You can find us Online / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Patreon!

Geekily yours,
 Amanda & Monika

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