Just when we thought it couldn't get any worse it did - Elon Musk does the Nazi salute. Trump pardons January 6 Capitol building rioters, begins mass deportations, repeals Civil Rights-era legislation, and calls for focus on execution of imprisoned illegal migrants.

Key words: Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Nazi salute, mass deportations, Great Replacement conspiracy theory

Please send your thoughts and questions to [email protected].

Articles and resources:

The Guardian (2025), ‘The gesture speaks for itself’: Germans respond to Musk’s apparent Nazi salute: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/21/the-gesture-speaks-for-itself-germans-divided-over-musks-apparent-nazi-salute

The Rolling Stone (2024), Elon Musk all but endorses Great Replacement conspiracy theory:https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/elon-musk-great-replacement-conspiracy-theory-1234941337/

The NewYorker (2024), J. D. Vance and the Right’s Call to Have More Babies: https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/j-d-vance-and-the-rights-call-to-have-more-babies

Al Jazeera (2025), The January 6 pardons: Who has Trump ordered to be released?: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/23/the-january-6-pardons-who-has-trump-ordered-to-be-released

Yes We Are Native (___), You never gave a straight answer, yes or no are Mexicans native American Indians: https://www.wernative.org/ayr-questions/yes-or-no-are-mexicans-native-american-indians

Truthout (2017), Are Mexicans Indigenous?: https://truthout.org/articles/are-mexicans-indigenous/

The Brookings Institution (2019), Trump and racism: What do the data say?: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/trump-and-racism-what-do-the-data-say/

NBC News (2024), Elon Musk's transgender daughter, in first interview, says he berated her for being queer as a child:https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/elon-musk-transgender-daughter-vivian-wilson-interview-rcna163665

The Guardian (2017), How Trump’s political playbook evolved since he first ran for president in 2000: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/05/donald-trump-reform-party-2000-president

Bonnie Blue burst onto the national stage with her provocative marketing strategies for her OnlyFans account - recruiting young university students for filmed sexual acts. Most recently she became the internet's most infamous sensation when she allegedly had sex with 1,057 in just twelve hours. Often we are told women who engage in these kinds of extreme actions of self abuse are broken women who come from sad backgrounds. But what if women are not just victims of their circumstances but active participants in others' exploitation?

Key words: predatory women, OnlyFans, sex work, online fame; rage bait content

Please send your thoughts and questions to [email protected].

Articles and resources:

NewsWeek (2025), Who is Bonnie Blue's Ex-Husband? OnlyFans Star Breaks Sex Record with Help:

https://www.newsweek.com/who-bonnie-blues-ex-husband-onlyfans-star-breaks-sex-record-help-2017089

DailyMail (2025), I waited in line alongside 1,000 other balaclava-clad men to have sex with Bonnie Blue - but when it was my turn, I couldn't go through with it:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14289533/I-waited-line-alongside-1-000-balaclava-clad-men-sex-Bonnie-Blue-turn-it.html

DailyMail (2025), The reasons why Bonnie Blue must be 'lying' about sleeping with 1,000 men revealed:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-14287465/Bonnie-Blue-lying-sleeping-1-000-men-revealed.html

Police1 (2024), America’s most notorious female criminals:

https://www.police1.com/crime/articles/americas-most-notorious-female-criminals-31lgbUkw3xFw1ohu/

The Guardian (2019), Woman in India admits poisoning six family members with cyanide:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/07/woman-in-india-admits-poisoning-six-family-members-with-cyanide

Surrogacy is booming—but at what cost? This episode looks at the dark side of the industry: the economic coercion of vulnerable women, exploitation in poorer countries, and the shocking ways in which surrogate mothers are treated by commissioning parents and surrogacy agencies.

Do couples who can't have children for whatever reason have the right to them? Even when surrogacy isn't commercialised or for-profit, is the choice by women to subject their bodies to pregnancy and birth the ultimate act of love, or a dystopian commodification of women’s bodies?

Key words: surrogacy, infertility, economic disparity, feminism, gay male couples, reproductive rights, celebrity surrogacy

Please send your questions and thoughts to [email protected].

Materials you might find helpful:

CBC Network (2018), Gay rights and surrogacy wrongs: say “no” to wombs-for-rent:

https://cbc-network.org/2018/07/gay-rights-and-surrogacy-wrongs-say-no-to-wombs-for-rent/

Al Jazeera (2023), Surrogacy: Human right, or just wrong?:

https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/opinions/2023/9/8/surrogacy-human-right-or-just-wrong

The Standard (2020), Ignore the propaganda: surrogacy is not a gay rights issue – it is a women’s rights issue:

https://www.standard.co.uk/comment/comment/surrogacy-is-not-a-gay-rights-issue-it-is-a-women-s-rights-issue-a4568716.html

The Guardian (2015), Commercial surrogacy is a rigged market in wombs for rent:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/feb/20/commercial-surrogacy-wombs-rent-same-sex-pregnancy

The Critic (2024), The love that can’t be erased:

https://thecritic.co.uk/the-love-that-cant-be-erased/

The Guardian (2014), Child abuse convictions of Gammy's father prompt investigation:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/05/gammy-father-child-abuse-convictions-investigation

The Guardian (2016), All surrogacy is exploitation – the world should follow Sweden’s ban:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/25/surrogacy-sweden-ban

The Guardian, (2005), One in 25 fathers is not biological parent – study:

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2005/aug/11/childrensservices.uknews

In the early hours of 4 December 2024, 26-year old Luigi Mangione walked up behind UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and shot him dead. What followed was a five-day manhunt for Mangione. What made this case stand out in the public's imagination were many factors - an attractive and wealthy perpetrator from a powerful family, the theatre of the killing (a 3-D printed gun and silencer, engraved bullets, a manifesto railing against a broken healthcare system and corporate greed) and the public's jubilant support of the killer. But is Luigi the people's hero or a common terrorist?

Please send any thoughts and comments to [email protected].

Materials you might find helpful:

Mangione Indictment – final as filed:

https://manhattanda.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Mangione-Indictment-FINAL-as-filed.pdf

BBC (2024), Tracing the powerful family roots of suspected killer Luigi Mangione:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crl3jkjxp75o

BBC (2024), Who was Brian Thompson, healthcare CEO gunned down in New York?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgpl2qn7l5o

ABC News (2024), What we know about Luigi Mangione, Ivy League grad charged in CEO's murder:

https://abcnews.go.com/US/unitedhealthcare-ceo-shooting-suspect/story?id=116460289

CNN (2024), I never got the impression he would self-destruct:’ Friends of suspect in fatal CEO shooting left in shock:

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/12/09/us/luigi-mangione-what-we-know-monday/index.html

OnlyFans describes itself as a revolutionary platform that gives its creators the freedom to produce highly personalised content for their fans. It should describe itself as a platform for prostitution that lures young women into engaging in activities that will ruin their lives, stigmatise them and trap them in poverty. The stats are clear - the average OnlyFans creator makes $150-180 per month and approximately 80% of creators make less than $100 per month. Lily Philips and others like her are the exception that proves the rule.

Please send any thoughts, questions and comments to [email protected].

Materials you might find helpful

The New York Time (2022), “The ‘E-Pimps’ of OnlyFans”. Accessed online:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/16/magazine/e-pimps-onlyfans.html

Delacosta, F. and Alexander, P. (1988), Sex Work: Writings by Women in the Sex Industry.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sex-Work-Writings-Women-Industry/dp/0860681548

The TikTok ban will come into effect on the 19th of January 2025. Right now, it seems its fate is sealed – the House of Representatives has almost unanimously agreed to pass it under “national security” concerns, Congress has given it the rubber seal of approval, and President Biden has signed off under executive privilege. Despite public opinion being united in their opposition to the passing of the bill - the people will not have a say. TikTok is scrambling to find a legal avenue to challenge the decision, but the outlook doesn’t look good – it has already lost its appeal in the federal appeals court to pause the ban until the Supreme Court reviews TikTok’s case.

Is the app really Chinese owned? Does the Chinese government have the capacity to influence the platform? Is this ban part of the US’s cold war against China? Is Meta (Facebook) and other Silicon Valley Big Tech behind this ban? Will TikTok sell its US operations? This episode discusses all the above.

Please send your thoughts, opinions and questions [email protected].

Often the first thing we want to do is share our good news and accomplishments with the people around us. However, the response we receive is sometimes unexpected - we can be met with ambivalence or negativity where we anticipated praise and encouragement. Recognising that people - even our loved ones - can be limited by their own insecurities, envy and self-limiting beliefs teaches us that sometimes the best way to achieve our dreams is to not share them at all.

Intersectionality politics tells us that coalitions united around a shared goal are not free of internal power dynamics. It also teaches us that victimhood is complicated - it is possible to be simultaneously both a victim and the oppressor in certain contexts. This episode takes a look at some of those complexities as well as the parallels between the transgender and transracial movements.

Please send your thoughts and comments at [email protected].

The upside of growing up in unsafe environments as a child is that people often grow up to be discerning adults who have a highly attuned ability to read the hidden meanings behind what people say and do. Sometimes this is useful in simply being able to recognise red flags that indicate certain people don't wish us well. Other times this skill serves to keep us safe and to keep danger at bay.

Sometimes we find ourself in a series of bad friendships. We form friendships with people who take from us, treat us poorly, are unkind, or, in the extreme, who that don't wish us well. Although it's easy to play the victim, the truth is more complicated - in some ways we cultivate these friendships and keep these types of friends close because they fulfil some other need we have. That could be the need to be needed, to play the hero or martyr or perhaps to feel superior in some way.

Please share your thoughts and comments at [email protected] and they will addressed in a future episode.

Materials you might find helpful:

https://captainawkward.com/?s=friend+