That's Not A Thing

Oh my god, girl, did you hear that Rachel and Rebecca recorded a podcast episode about gossip?? Tune in as they discuss the pros and cons of gossip, the history of gossip's feminization and demonization, and how a little sh*t talkin' might actually help humans to form relationships, bond, and navigate a complex world safely. Also, it's TNAT so of course, the subject of anti-gossip cultural pressure as a tool of capitalism comes up, too.

For more about the relationship between gossip and feminine solidarity, check out this In These Times article by Silvia Federici.

Hope you love it!
XOXO, Gossip Girl(s).

Originally recorded April 28, 2022.

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We're back, but only if you don't ask us why we were gone for so long.

In their twelfth episode, Rachel and Rebecca discuss, as usual, the complete collapse of society...this time, with an electoral politics twist! The Elected Class are using literal human rights as a bargaining chip and leaving us all to rot, so let's talk about how that makes us feel and what we can do to stay safe and sane until we find a real solution. If the people we elect to lead aren't materially improving our lives, why do we bother electing them?

And if you think we can't find a way to make this about McDonald's taking away 24/7 breakfast, think again.

Originally recorded January 7, 2022.

Please also follow us on Instagram and Twitter. To help us grow our audience, make sure to rate and review us on iTunes and anywhere you listen. Send your episode ideas, questions, love letters, and hate mail to thatsnotathingpodcast [at] gmail [dot] com. 

No nuance, no notes. Girl, just listen (or don't, we're too busy eating soup and screaming about the moon to care).

Originally recorded 11/10/21.

Please also follow us on Instagram and Twitter. To help us grow our audience, make sure to rate and review us on iTunes and anywhere you listen. Send your episode ideas, questions, love letters, and hate mail to thatsnotathingpodcast [at] gmail [dot] com. 

In their 10th episode (yay!) Rachel and Rebecca discuss the concept of “hypernormalisation,” giving language (hopefully!) to what so many of us are feeling right now. They discuss what it's like to live through complete societal collapse while still having to go to our jobs and run errands on a Tuesday afternoon like the world isn’t literally falling apart. Come for the 30 Rock references and TikTok play-by-plays, stay for the free apocalypse therapy sesh.

Originally recorded September 26, 2021.

The TikTok that inspired this episode is here.

You can watch the BBC documentary “Hypernormalisation,” directed by Adam Curtis, in its entirety on YouTube. 

The New Yorker has published two articles (one by Sam Knight and the other by Brandon Harris) about Adam Curtis, his work, and the concept of Hypernormalisation, that you might want to read as well. This interview with him, also on YouTube, is also really helpful in understanding this concept.

If you want to soften the blow of the ~literal collapse of society~ supporting your local abortion fund is a good way to do it. Here is a list of them broken out by state.

Looking for more absolutely *pristine* content between episodes? You can follow us on Instagram and Twitter. To help us grow our audience, please be sure to rate and review us on iTunes and anywhere you listen. Send your episode ideas, questions, love letters, and hate mail to thatsnotathingpodcast [at] gmail [dot] com. 

It was a hot and stormy Friday night in Cincinnati. Two podcast hosts were tired, but one brought wine. In this episode, Rachel and Rebecca basically just get a lil' tipsy and talk (or maybe ASMR-whisper??) about pop music and queso dip for ninety minutes. Just let us have it.

Originally recorded 8/27/21.

If you’re interested in reading more about the social concept of “guilty pleasures” and why it sometimes feels so bad to feel good, check out these articles from the New York Times and Psychology Today.

Looking for more absolutely *pristine* content between episodes? You can follow us on Instagram and Twitter. To help us grow our audience, please be sure to rate and review us on iTunes and anywhere you listen. Send your episode ideas, questions, love letters, and hate mail to thatsnotathingpodcast [at] gmail [dot] com. 

In honor of Leo season, Rachel and Rebecca take something personally! For years, the right has touted themselves as the “family values party” despite doing almost nothing to actually support parents or children and, yah, we’re mad as hell about it. Let’s break down what these “values” are actually all about and who really benefits from the policies they promote (hint: it’s not your family).

Originally recorded 8/11/21.

This isn’t a podcast about JD Vance, but here is an article about the stupid things he said. If you want to hear from people who actually understand Appalachia, check out the “Views from Appalachia” reading list at Downbound Books (scroll down a bit on the homepage to find it). 

Yes, it’s a fact that birth rates are dropping, both in the US and globally. You can also read about how white deaths outnumber white births in more than half of US states here. 

Much of the material for the overview of the eugenics movement was sourced from an Instagram post on the subject by Alok Menon, which you can check out here. Alok is an incredible author and performance artist. We recommend you follow them!

For more on how US racism inspired Hitler, check out this New Yorker article. 

The BMI episode of Maintenance Phase we mentioned is entitled “The Body Mass Index” and is a great listen if you want to learn more about that as well. Check out their website here and listen wherever you stream.

The TikTok about religious institutions’ investment in keeping people vulnerable was by @beevesoftime and can be viewed here.

If you want your life and the life of others to serve as a personal affront to the right, donate to your local abortion fund. Women Have Options Ohio is a pretty great one, we think!

Looking for more absolutely *pristine* content between episodes? You can follow us on Instagram and Twitter. To help us grow our audience, please be sure to rate and review us on iTunes and anywhere you listen. Send your episode ideas, questions, love letters, and hate mail to thatsnotathingpodcast [at] gmail [dot] com. 

$100 billion. It's a lot of money, but can you actually quantify that in your mind? Can you even spend it all in one lifetime? We know you can't take it with you, so why is so much wealth being hoarded by so few? In this episode, Rachel and Rebecca discuss the moral and policy failures that lead to the incalculably rich and, aside from murdering them, what changes could create a more equitable future. Also Rachel shuffles a lot of papers seemingly directly into the microphone, oops!

Originally recorded July 29, 2021.

Information about the absolutely b-a-n-a-n-a-s  nature of the billionaire class in the US was obtained here.

Still don’t believe that the average American is paying higher taxes than billionaires? Read about it from Forbes here. Then come back and apologize for doubting us.

For more on how hard it is for the human brain to even comprehend the concept of one hundred billion dollars, check out this Gizmodo article.

If you need a good cry, here’s a YouTube video on everything you could buy (and all the problems you could solve) if you were a hundred-billionaire. Then read this BBC article about the growth of billionaire wealth during the pandemic and this Guardian piece about all the things the US could do if we actually taxed billionaires. You’ll never be happy again! You’re welcome!

The book mentioned by Rebecca, “The Triumph of Injustice,” is written by Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman and can be found at our favorite Cincinnati bookseller here or at your local library. For the love of god, don’t buy this book from Amazon, you guys.

Looking for more absolutely *pristine* content between episodes? You can follow us on Instagram and Twitter. To help us grow our audience, please be sure to rate and review us on iTunes and anywhere  you listen. If you’ve got feedback you’d like to give us directly, you can email us at [email protected]. We’re, like, 80% ready to hear it!

It's Britney, bitch. In light of new information on Britney Spears’ battle for autonomy, Rachel and Rebecca reflect on the legal and moral implications of conservatorships in the United States, the spectacle of feminine celebrity, and how this iconic pop star has influenced our feminism, our music taste, and our lives. All business, all Britney, with no time for small talk. You’re welcome and/or we’re sorry.

Note: Since the recording of this episode, a judge has allowed Britney to hire her own attorney.

Originally recorded July 11, 2021.

Ronan Farrow and Jia Tolentino’s New Yorker Mag piece on Britney’s conservatorship battle is available here. The authors also did an episode of the New Yorker Radio Hour about it, which you can listen to here.

The New York Times feature-length documentary about Britney’s conservatorship, entitled “Framing Britney Spears,” is available to stream on Hulu. 

Information regarding conservatorship law in the US was obtained from:

KindlyCare: Understanding Guardianship, Conservatorship and POA 

LawHelp: Guardianship and Conservatorship: Frequently Asked Questions

Forbes: Beware The Con Game Of Conservatorships 

The National Center on Elder Abuse: State Level Adult Guardianship Data: An Exploratory Survey 

United States Senate Special Commission on Aging: Ensuring Trust and Examples of Conservator Exploitation: An Overview

The American Bar Association: Challenges in Guardianship and Guardianship Abuse 

For more info on recent federal government movement regarding conservatorship reform, check out this article from The Hill as well as a letter, drafted by Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bob Casey.

If you miss us between episodes (who wouldn’t?!) you can follow us on Instagram and Twitter as well! 

Don’t forget to rate and review us on the Apple Podcast app and anywhere you listen. Unless you hate us, in which case: what’s a “review”? Never heard of it.

Rachel and Rebecca unpack the personal and cultural impacts of a global pandemmy in light of the recent push to return to “normal.” From depression spikes to labor shortages (capital strikes?) to daily identity crisis breakdowns, they discuss whether they’re ready for “normal” or if it may not exist anymore. Everybody’s traumatized, let’s stop crying in the shower and talk it out instead.
 
Originally recorded June 23, 2021.

The pandemic isn’t over just because you’re over it. Read more about the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 on the global community here.

To learn more about impending labor shortages and changes in the daily reality of work, check out these three articles from The Atlantic. The Washington Post discussed this issue in a recent article as well.

For more on the spike in depression rates, check out this article. You can also read more about the real mental health impacts of a year in isolation and mass death on a population here.

If you miss us between episodes (who wouldn’t?!) you can follow us on Instagram and Twitter as well! 

Don’t forget to rate and review us on the Apple Podcast app and anywhere you listen. Unless you hate us, in which case: what’s a “review”? Never heard of it.

In their fourth episode, Rachel and Rebecca discuss the concept of credit scores, how they became a thing in the first place, and whether we should be using this weird, secretive system as a metric for worthiness and morality. They also take a moment to reflect on police violence and what accountability actually looks like in today’s America. In short, this country kind of sucks and we’re doing a lot of shit wrong.

Previously recorded 4/21/2021.

Much of the info used to inform this episode was gleaned from a Time Magazine article available here.

Read about DUNS numbers, if you’re so inclined, here.

There’s an interesting Congressional Research Service article about how credit scores have impacted income disparity and other related policy issues. 

If you need help fixing an error on your credit report, NextAdvisor has tips for that.

There’s also this article about international credit scoring systems. Read about alternative credit scoring models here and about how Facebook uses credit scoring models to help companies target you with ads here.

If you miss us between episodes (who wouldn’t?!) you can follow us on Instagram and Twitter as well! 

Don’t forget to rate and review us on the Apple Podcast app and anywhere you listen. Unless you hate us, in which case: what’s a “review”? Never heard of it.