Public Intellectual

With the revelations about the abuses of Harvey Weinstein and others like him came a scramble to uncover the misdeeds of other powerful men. Some people did this for noble reasons. Others wanted to make a name for themselves. In this episode, Jessa talks with Laura La Rosa, a Darug and Calabrian writer in Australia, about a controversy that overtook the MeToo movement there, and how it relates to larger problems within the feminist community.

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What makes a feminist artist feminist? Is it just by being a woman and political? Is it something to do with the art itself, must it carry a specific feminist message? Jessa speaks with artist Jen May about how her politics align -- and don't -- with her collages, and how her political development coincided with her artistic development.

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Before DNA testing, the father was, ultimately, a question mark. Because paternity was always in question, there were legal, familial, societal, and national interest in finding ways either to definitely prove paternity or to disprove it. Nara Milanich joins Jessa to discuss how while patriarchy is dependent on the father to reproduce itself it is mostly myth and supposition, how America both sentimentalizes and forcibly breaks up families and has for decades, and the destabilizing force 23 and Me has been.

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Jessa speaks with Nathalie Olah about her new book, Steal As Much As You Can and the bland cultural landscape, created by upper classes and dominated by middle class taste. They talk about the rising power of the university, the growing hostility of the alt-right toward art, and the how the new culture wars aren't between left and right but between the classes.

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Jessa speaks with cultural critic, academic, and leftist thinker Yasmin Nair about the exploitative, dumbed down, and click-baity hot take culture in which we all consume. They discuss trying to write and think in a sea of opinion, the way leftist magazines take advantage of young writers, and how readers can take responsibility for the world created.

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Jessa speaks with Justin Ward about the disappearance of the working class journalist. With local, small, and alternative newspapers folding, there are fewer avenues for people who want to be journalists to learn the trade except for in expensive, exclusive, and elitist university systems. How has that changed media coverage of politics and the economy? Why does the New York Times only know four Trump voters? How do we go about reforming a journalism culture that is cozy with power and devoted to the status quo?

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On the inaugural episode of "Public Intellectual," Jessa Crispin invites writer & cultural critic Laura Kipnis to discuss her book, "Unwanted Advances: Sexual Paranoia Comes to Campus," the visceral political responses the book created, and the misinterpretations of Kipnis' newest ideas.

Jessa invites Breanne Fahs, Professor of Women and Gender Studies at Arizona State University and author of Out for Blood: Essays on Menstruation and Resistance, onto Public Intellectual to discuss Radical Feminism and it's place in the canon of Feminist thought. Together, they talk about the Feminist Bogeyman, "too–muchness," and the legacy of polarizing feminist figures like Valerie Solanas.

Jessa invites Michelle Tea, author of "Modern Tarot: Connecting with Your Higher Self through the Wisdom of the Cards" and "Black Wave," onto the show to discuss Tarot's relevance and application in the modern era. They get into the Patriarchal origins of Tarot, its representations of masculinity and femininity, and how Tarot's been redesigned to better reflect our world today.

Jessa made a joke on twitter saying that she wanted to write a book called "Heterosexuality is a Fucking Nightmare." She received an e-mail from another user intrigued by the idea, Indiana Seresin, encouraging her to write the book. They began corresponding on the topic, discussing things like desire, love, sociology, consent, personal stories of heartbreak and sexual regret. Their paths crossed in Berlin earlier this summer and Jessa invited Indiana onto Public Intellectual to make some of their private conversations public. Together, Jessa and Indiana discuss their thoughts on why heterosexuality is a fucking nightmare and talk about the expectations of gender conformity, love, and marriage in today's society.