Toxic

Welcome to The Toxic Report for the week of Nov. 9, 2026. This weekly roundup of domestic violence news is served up every Friday (or Saturday!) here and directly to your inbox. Visit ToxicthePodcast.com and sign up for our newsletter and stay up ot date on the stories of men behaving badly. These stories may have flown under the radar, right where these guys hoped they would. Our mission: Call them out. Call them all out.

Here's what you'll hear about in this quick episode: An Ohio man gets four years for being an a-hole while a Massachusetts cop gets life in prison for killing his girlfriend—he's going to have fun in there. Also, the Epstein files may soon be released again, but this time with actual names of predators.

If you're living with abuse, not feeling safe with your partner, are a survivor of sexual assault or are worried about someone in your life who may be in danger, you don't have to battle this alone. Reach out to an advocate today. See our Resources page for a list of organizations ready to help.

Listen, all of us are tired of womensplaining what consent means to the menfolk. It's not the lack of education that led a bunch of educated Ivy League bros to "allegedly" participating in a sexual assault, joking about a woman being "free" for the taking while not one of the 57 men on the Cornell Chi Phi fraternity Snapchat group thought that was a problem. Hmmm....

In this episode, we're unpacking the Cornell 7 case with updates about what we know now, as well as the institutional failures that followed, the disturbing phenomenon of himpathy, and why the problem may not be that men don't understand consent. It's that too many simply don't give a damn. And where the hell are the men who are willing to call them out?

NEW: Every Friday, check out The Toxic Report, our weekly roundup of stories about men behaving badly that might have otherwise flown under the radar. Because, no, there's never a shortage of material.

Prefer your Toxic in written form? Subscribe to our newsletter at ToxicThePodcast.com and get your weekly dose of men behaving badly delivered straight to your inbox, plus other fun surprises. No earbuds required.

Help us spread the word. Share an episode of Toxic with someone who's just as pissed off as you are that this keeps happening. Follow us on your favorite podcast platform or social media, and please consider leaving us a review. Your support helps us keep these conversations going and amplify stories that deserve to be heard.

Because the more we talk about it, the harder it is to ignore.

Welcome to The Toxic Report for the week of Nov. 1, 2026. This weekly roundup of domestic violence news is served up every Friday here and directly to your inbox. Visit ToxicthePodcast.com and sign up for our brand-new newsletter These are the stories of men behaving badly that may have flown under the radar, right where these guys hoped they would. Our mission: Call them out. Call them all out.

Here's what you'll hear about in this quick episode: The midterms brought historic firsts for women and a glimmer of hope for our future. The gross Russell Brand, self-described guru, turns out to be an actual rapist. Who would've thunk it? And a heartbreaking story out of Texas, where a man far too old to be impregnating a 19-year-old shoots his infant daughter and the baby's grandmother. Only one survived.

If you're not feeling safe with your partner, are being subjected to abuse, have experienced sexual assault or are worried about someone in your life who may be in danger, reach out to a trained advocate. See our Resources page for a list of organizations ready to help.

Welcome to the first episode of The Toxic Report: a weekly roundup of domestic violence news served up every Friday by us, your hosts of Toxic. These are the stories of men behaving badly that may have flown under the radar, right where these guys hoped they would. Our mission: Call them out. Call them all out.

A few of the stories you'll hear in this quick episode: A Florida man is charged with his fiancé's murder 15 years after she went missing, even though her closest friends and family knew the whole time. The wheels of justice turn slowly.

An Arizona mom is recovering after being stabbed by her fiance, but we can help her and her two daughters find a new, safe, non-crime-scene home where they can heal together.

Please consider sharing these episodes amongst your circles. The headlines won't stop coming because abusers just don't give a f*ck. That's on them, but it's also on our culture. Toxic masculinity hurts everyone, not just women, but also the men who think they have to prove something by beating, controlling and murdering women.

Talk to your kids. Break the cycle. And someday, hopefully, we'll have a lot less to rant about.

Until then, stay angry. Stay informed and believe women.

Sign up for our newsletter at toxicthepodcast.com and get these headlines to your inbox every Friday. And consider picking up some scandelous (?!) Toxic merch that works as fantastic conversation starters in our Bonfire store.

If you're not feeling safe with your partner, have experienced sexual assault or are worried about someone in your life who may be in danger, reach out to a trained advocate. See our Resources page for a list of organizations ready to help.

We all remember the Bronco. The glove. The 1995 televised trial. And somewhere underneath all of it was Nicole Brown Simpson, a 35-year-old mother of two young kids who had spent years telling people she was afraid.

Her sister, Denise Brown, has spent the last 30 years traveling from one side of the country to the other trying to warn people about what we didn't see and what she wishes she'd known. We're honored to have her on Toxic to talk about how we're all angry that, despite so many of us yelling from the mountaintops, things seem to be getting worse, not better.

TOMORROW, Oct. 6, Denise Brown's first book, "For My Sister Nicole: Love Shouldn't Hurt—What to Know About Domestic Violence," comes out. fI you want to support Denise's ongoing and tireless work, buy the book and keep the conversation about domestic violence going.

Visit us at ToxicThePodcast.com to learn more about us, access previous episodes and pick up our "Stop Killing Women" merch—and more.

If you're experiencing abuse or domestic violence, please consider connecting with a trained advocate near you. You can find one through DomesticShelters.org.

Finally, help us spread these important conversations further. Share an episode of Toxic with someone just as pissed off as you that this keeps happening. Follow us on your favorite podcast platform or social media, and if you're willing, leave us a review. Your support helps us amplify these critical stories.

Together, we can create change.

Keisha Golden called the police more than 50 times in two years to report her boyfriend's abuse. She filed for not one, but two protective orders. She wanted to leave, but was pregnant. Like so many survivors, she still held out hope that Calvin Sydney could change.

He had other plans. When she was 8 months pregnant, he attacked her. She fought back and Calvin ended up dying from a stab wound to the leg. Keisha found herself cuffed and put behind bars, about to have a baby any day.

Survivors who seek help are often retraumatized by the system meant to protect them. Some will argue a crime is a crime. But that fear of winding up arrested for saving one's own life is what keeps so many survivors trapped, silent and feeling helpless.

Learn more about one alternative to prison in "What Is Restorative Justice?"

And sign the petition to pardon Keisha's here.

We want to hear from you. Do you have a story we need to discuss or a guest we should feature? Visit us at ToxicThePodcast.com and share your story. We're sorry if we can't reply to every email immediately, but we we are trying our best to respond to everyone who writes in. Just know that we hear you and you're not alone.

If you're experiencing abuse or domestic violence, please consider connecting with a trained advocate near you. You can find one through DomesticShelters.org.

Finally, help us spread these important conversations further. Share an episode of Toxic with someone just as pissed off as you that this keeps happening. Follow us on your favorite podcast platform or social media, and if you're willing, leave us a review. Your support helps us amplify these critical stories.

Together, we can create change.

Have you ever watched movie sex and then wondered why the sex you have is so.....not that? Sure, we know it's scripted, but in the same way romcom writers make stalking look romantic, so too is over-the-top passionate 30-second sex the best orgasam of any woman's life. Umm......what?

How are these completely inacurate portrayls of sex influencing our own ideas about what intimacy should look and feel like? And how does it especially impact young people who are growing up with a completely inaccurate expectation for sex?

Doménica Feraud is a writer, producer and actor whose new book, You Are What You See: How My Favorite Shows Became My Worst Influences, examines how the movies and television we consume shape our ideas about sex, relationships and ourselves. She also wrote an ahhhhmazing essay that went viral for good reason: The 26-Year-Old Virgin.

Tl; dr: We need more women writing sex scenes because—shocker—men are writing about the sexual responses they *think* women should be having. And sorry guys, this just isn't it.

We want to hear from you. Do you have a story we need to discuss or a guest we should feature? Visit us at ToxicThePodcast.com and share your story. We're sorry if we can't reply to every email immediately, but we we are trying our best to respond to everyone who writes in. Just know that we hear you and you're not alone.

If you're experiencing abuse or domestic violence, please consider connecting with a trained advocate near you. You can find one through DomesticShelters.org.

Finally, help us spread these important conversations further. Share an episode of Toxic with someone just as pissed off as you that this keeps happening. Follow us on your favorite podcast platform or social media, and if you're willing, leave us a review. Your support helps us amplify these critical stories.

Together, we can create change.

Pride is about visibility, but not everything is rainbows and glitter, despite what the media feeds us about queer relationships. This episode dives into how intimate partner abuse shows up in queer relationships, including the tactics and dynamics that can fly under the radar.

But never fear—we end on a lighter note with the queer shows we love (and the scenes we'll never stop thinking about). Love is love, bitches.

As mentioned in the episode, here are some LGBTQ+-specific organizations that are here if you need someone supportive and nonjudgmental to talk about what's going on in your relationship, or need help leaving an abusive partner.

L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual; Transgender Community Center (New York)

CenterLink, The Community of LGBTQ+ Centers

Community United Against Violence (CUAV)

FORGE, for transgender and non-binary survivors

LGBT National Help Center

National Resource Center on LGBTQ+ Aging

The Network/La Red

The Mazzoni Center

We want to hear from you. Have a story we should cover or a guest we need to feature? Head to ToxicThePodcast.com and tell us what's on your mind. We can't always respond right away—but we are reading, and you are not alone.

If you're experiencing abuse or domestic violence, you deserve support. You can connect with a trained advocate near you at DomesticShelters.org.

If this episode resonated, share it with a friend, a group chat or honestly, anyone else who's fed up that this is still happening. Follow Toxic wherever you listen, please leave a review i and help us keep these conversations loud.

Change doesn't happen quietly and we're not done talking.

We're back! Sorry for the hiatus, but life threw us some curveballs (we'll tell you about them in this episode).

But really, we're here to talk to Mae Scott, survivor and author who so bravely shares her story of what abuse can look like up close: not just fear, but confusion, manipulation and a slow erosion of reality. Then comes the fun part (read: not fun at all)—navigating a legal system that doesn't seem to want to believe or even listen to women.

It's raw, frustrating, and necessary listening about what survivors are really up against—and why believing them matters more than ever.

Got a story we should be talking about? Or a guest we need to have on? Tell us everything at ToxicThePodcast.com. You'll also find some sweet merch bound to start conversations.

If you're dealing with an abusive partner, you don't have to navigate it alone. You can connect with a trained advocate through DomesticShelters.org.

And if this episode lit a fire under you (rage counts), don't keep it to yourself. Share it. Follow. Leave a review. Help us get these stories in front of more people who need to hear them—and maybe a few who really need to hear them.

After Donald Trump publicly berated Kaitlan Collins of CNN for pressing him about the Jeffrey Epstein files, he used a cheap power move familiar to women worldwide.

"Why aren't you smiling?"

Because apparently women exist to decorate the room — and keep powerful men comfortable.

It's also a great way to deflect questions you don't want to answer.

In this episode, we unpack the long history of telling women to "smile" — and why it's one of the most annoying things men can say next to....oh, about anything. We examine how policing women's expressions becomes a way to reassert dominance, derail accountability and minimize a woman's place in a professional seetting.

Because when a woman is told to smile, it's rarely about happiness. It's about control.

We want to hear from you. Do you have a story we need to discuss or a guest we should feature? Visit us at ToxicThePodcast.com and share your story. We're sorry if we can't reply to every email immediately, but we we are trying our best to respond to everyone who writes in. Just know that we hear you and you're not alone.

If you're experiencing abuse or domestic violence, please consider connecting with a trained advocate near you. You can find one through DomesticShelters.org.

Finally, help us spread these important conversations further. Share an episode of Toxic with someone just as pissed off as you that this keeps happening. Follow us on your favorite podcast platform or social media, and if you're willing, leave us a review. Your support helps us amplify these critical stories.

Together, we can create change.