She(Bites) the Podcast

The reality is a lot of women are suffering from PTSD due to male sexual violence. 
This fight, flight or freeze mental injury can cause devastating consequences, and many women are treatment resistant. What's another tool we can use to help us cope with the suffering that comes with anxiety, flashbacks and nightmares? How about some magic mushrooms? 

In this episode we speak to two women, who for similar and different reasons suffer from PTSD and use psilocybin, the active compound in magic mushrooms, to help alleviate their debilitating symptoms. One of the women is Indigenous to Guadalajara, Mexico and helps us understand that the sacred hallucinogenic mushroom has been used traditionally in her community for thousands of years, and is a resource that continues to be at risk of being abused and exploited. She's also shared with us the use of the plant on the various frontlines across so called BC, fighting extractive capitalism and colonial violence. 

Feat. Sam Fazio & "Emi" 
With your host, Mandalena. 

*correction: Emi was not in Wet'suwet'en

In episode two of She (Bites) the Podcast, hosts Mandalena Lewis and Cole Kelly dive into three stories from behind the lines at the Fairy Creek Blockade at Ada'itsx.  

In Act 1, a freelance CBC reporter jokes with RCMP about "brutalizing children, " in Act 2, a freelance Globe and Mail photographer uses a photo of a BIPOC land defender without her consent and in Act 3, we hear stories of sexual male violence behind the lines from independent media. 

Included in this episode:

Act 1: Press Pass
CBC freelance reporter (name unknown)
Brandi Morin, French/Cree/Iroquois journalist from Treaty 6 in Alberta, Canada

Act 2: The Photo
Lemongrass, BIPOC Land Defender from Fairy Creek
Kiran Nazish,  journalist and founding director of The Coalition For Women In Journalism

Act 3: Predatory Behaviour 
"Elle"
Blaze, tree sitter from Fairy Creek  

On August 25th, 2021, independent journalist Kelly Tatham is taking photos at Ada’itsx, otherwise known as the Fairy Creek Blockade, when she notices a large man among industry workers and RCMP, wearing a black shirt with bold white lettering, reading ‘SUCK ME OFF.’  

It’s not the first time this man has been seen wearing this shirt while working alongside RCMP, and he was also a part of a group of forestry workers who attacked Indigenous youth at a peaceful camp back in May, 2021. 

The shirt sends a morbid message amid the sea of red dresses set on a clear cut mountainside, an installation representing the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada. At the tense juncture of land defender, police, press, politics, and industry at the largest act of civil disobedience to date; why have all the authorities present allowed this behaviour? 

She(Bites) Director Mandalena Lewis reported from the front lines herself during the tense days after HQ was raided in late August, and when more reports came in of this man wearing the ‘SUCK ME OFF’ shirt. She dives into this story with witnesses, experts, and reaction from the RCMP. 

Guests on this episode:

Okimaw, Indigenous Land Defender from Treaty 4
Kelly Tatham, Writer and Independent Journalist
Jennifer Berdahl (PHD, Social Psychology), UBC Professor with research  specializing in the relationship between organizational culture and sexual harassment
Christopher Manseau,  Division Media Relations Officer, BC RCMP Communication Services

Special thanks to Arvin Singh Uzunov Dang and Kelly Tatham for their visual and audio contributions from the front lines at Ada'itsx.

Story by Mandalena Lewis
Production by Cole Kelly
She(Bites) theme song created by Darren Chambo at Brother Sea Productions 

 Welcome to She(Bites) the Podcast!  

This is a teaser for our very first episode, A Story About a Shirt. The full episode is being released on October 1st 2021.