In this episode of Quillette Cetera, Zoe sits down with Christopher HF Mitchell and Jayan Nandagopan, two Australia-based artists whose show, The Marvellous Elephant Man Musical, is now showing at the Sydney Fringe Festival.

The absurdist dark comedy is a crowd favourite and the winner of the Adelaide Fringe 2023 Critics' Circle Award. However, its carefree gags have ruffled many feathers in politically correct circles, so much so that one activist asked that the public boycott the show or demand refunds for tickets already purchased.

We discuss cancel culture in the arts, the story of Joseph Merrick (the Elephant Man), the ethics of casting people with different abilities, identity politics, and much more

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Claire and Zoe discuss how overblown the Luis Rubiales and Jenni Hermoso scandal was, and how much they enjoyed Heather Mac Donald's piece about it in Quillette.

Then they go on to discuss the Australian referendum on the Voice to Parliament and how impressed they were by Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price's address to the National Press Club, where she made the controversial claim that colonisation had a "positive impact" on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

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As a Christian lesbian and non-woke artist, Melody Rachel has always felt isolated from the communities she gets grouped into. But as Melody shows, perhaps happiness comes from accepting your own identity as an individual, not from demanding acceptance as a member of an identity group.

Melody Rachel is a multifaceted artist from New Zealand who currently resides in Sydney. Melody hosts the enlightening "You Know I" podcast, where she delves into a myriad of thought-provoking topics—ranging from gender and religion to challenging ideological orthodoxy in the arts.

Melody is gearing up for her one-woman show "Demo" at the Sydney Fringe Festival. The show explores her complex feelings of alienation and polarization as she navigates through various communities—being a lesbian, a Christian, and an artist who thrives on challenging norms.

Melody's Twitter: https://twitter.com/Melodyrachelk

Melody's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@melodyrachel

Info about Melody's show at Sydney Fringe: https://sydneyfringe.com/events/demo/

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Do we live under a patriarchy? Should women boycott sex with men? What's the Nordic approach to prostitution? Is masculinity celebrated more than feminity?

We cover all that + more in this conversation with Holly Lawford-Smith, a philosopher and academic whose work primarily focuses on topics in political philosophy. Holly has been the subject of much public discussion and debate due to her views on various topics, most notably her advocacy for the protection of women’s sex-based rights and her criticism of self-identification laws for people who identify as trans.

She's also a Visiting Academic in the School of Law at the University of Reading, and a Network Member of the Open University #GenderCritical Research Network.

Check out her monthly contributions to Quillette: https://quillette.com/author/holly-lawford-smith/

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In this episode, Claire and I discuss a complaint lodged with the Australian Press Council concerning one of Claire's articles in The Australian. In her piece, Claire compares Australia's method of treating children with gender dysphoria to Finland's more nuanced approach, which neither affirms nor denies gender identities.

This raises the question: Has the Australian Press Council been influenced by trans advocacy groups like GLAAD? 

Towards the end of the episode, we examine the widespread tendency among both the Left and Right to romanticize the past. We argue that this inclination is not only irrational but can be countered by a thoughtful reading of history, which can provide valuable perspective on contemporary struggles.

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In 2018, Nancy L. Segal an American evolutionary psychologist and world-renowned twin expert, was gripped by a news headline saying that US immigration had threatened to break up twin boys born to gay fathers by refusing a visa to one twin.

What followed was Nancy's five year journey of documenting the story of Andrew and Elad Dvash-Banks and their twins Ethan and Aiden. It culminated in the publishing of her latest book, Gay Fathers, Twin Sons: The Citizenship Case That Captured the World, Rowman & Littlefield (August, 2023). 

I speak to Nancy about her new book and the future of twin research in the latest epsiode of Quillette Cetera. 

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Find out why Iona and Zoe hated the new Barbie movie.

Iona Italia is an associate editor at Quillette. She is also the editor of Areo Magazine and host of the Two for Tea podcast. She writes for Substack at The Second Swim.

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Spicy topics this week, as usual. Find out about the flaws in Australia's #CSIRO #Gencost report on #renewableenergy (it's not as cheap as they say), why environmentalists are hostile towards #nuclear energy, and why grifters like #pearldavis do themselves a disservice when they fall for anti-semitic #conspiracy theories.

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Claire and Zoe discuss the tragic death of Richard Bilkszto, a Toronto educator who took his life after being falsely smeared as a white supremacist by a DEI trainer. We recently published an article by Quillette editor Jon Kay who recounts Richard's story, you can read it on our website.

We also discuss how mainstream feminism devalues motherhood and undermines the importance of biology. Could this have to do with the declining birth rate in the West? Plus, what are Claire's thoughts on the Barbie movie?

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Michel Houellebecq, the controversial French author, has consistently produced novels that explore societal challenges, often tracing back to the cultural revolution of the 1960s.

His new book, "Quelques Mois dans ma Vie" (A Few Months in My Life), which was published in May 2023, reveals two recent scandals that have embroiled his life.In this episode I interview RJ Smith, an Australian author who lives in Paris. Quillette recently published RJ's critical review of Houellebecq's new book, which you can read here: https://quillette.com/2023/06/26/the-sorrow-and-the-self-pity/

Aside from discussing Houellebecq's life and work, we delve into France's tumultuous colonial history and its modern day ramifications in the form of tensions between French citizens of Maghrebi descent and the broader French population. The term "Maghrebi" refers to people from the Maghreb region of North Africa, including Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco.Just last month riots took place after Maghrebi teen Nahel Merzouk was killed by French police. We discuss that and the gilets jaune (yellow jacket) protests which kicked off in 2018 and are still going to this day.

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