True Thirty Reports

Dan Rottenberg is an author, editor, and journalist who served his profession for over seven decades. There aren’t many folks who could subtitle a memoir My Seventy Years on the Frontiers of Free Speech as Rottenberg did earlier this year when he published his 12th book, The Education of a Journalist. Dan is my new hero.

During his storied tenure, Rottenberg was the executive editor of Philadelphia Magazine, managing editor of Chicago Journalism Review, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, and the chief editor of seven publications including Philadelphia’s Broad Street Review, an online arts and culture salon he created in 2005.

Rottenberg also wrote an editorial page column for the Philadelphia Inquirer from 1978 to 1997, and authored more than 300 articles for publications like, The New York Times Magazine, Bloomberg, Forbes, and the Rolling Stone. 

During our sixty minutes together, we talked about the history of journalism, the importance of free speech, why he dedicated his life to the written word, and the future of journalism in a digital world.

I hope you learn as much as I did.

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Juan Williams is a journalist and political analyst for Fox News. He also writes for several newspapers, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Hill. Williams has also worked as an editorial writer, op-ed columnist, and White House correspondent.

Prior to joining Fox, Williams spent more than 10 years as a senior national correspondent for NPR, and 23 years at the Washington Post where he interviewed former Presidents like Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.

Williams is the author of six books, including, Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965, and Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary, which was voted “40 best Biographies of all time” by BookBub. 

He received an Emmy Award and critical praise for his television documentary work and has won numerous awards for investigative journalism, as well as for his opinion columns.

It was my honor to have Mr. Williams on the show to talk about two of his recent articles for The Hill – “Democratic infighting could spell doom”, and “Chaos beckons if the MAGA GOP wins”. 

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Lucy Masoud was a former firefighter in London, longtime trade unionist, member of the Labour Party, and an LGBT advocate for the past two decades. 

Lucy is now a barrister in the area of children’s law, both public and private – involving cases concerning domestic abuse. She was called to the bar in 2017 and joined Staple Inn Chambers shortly thereafter.  

In court, Lucy is known for her fearless advocacy and forensic examination of the evidence – a skill that is not lost on her continued involvement as a feminist, while lobbying on behalf of women’s liberation.

Today, I asked this storied feminist and champion of LGBT rights her opinions and experiences with trans activism, about her life as a lesbian in this new culture that says “Women have Penises” – how she and her fellow feminists are now suddenly The Bad Guys – and what LGBT legislation looks like in Britain in 2022.  

I hope you learn as much as I did from her. She is both a force and a gift to her craft - and to women worldwide.

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My guest today is Ms. Katherine Gehl, business leader, author, speaker, and political innovator who has taken on the ambitious undertaking of trying to reform how American politics works.

In 2020, with Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter, Gehl published her book, The Politics Industry, How Political Innovation Can Break Partisan Gridlock and Save our Democracy. Heady stuff indeed. The overarching theme is a system called Final Five Voting, where candidates enter a primary regardless of party – a new way of voting that forces candidates to earn a spot in the general election versus a system, which, currently, is not competitive.

Alaska approved this system in a 2020 ballot measure. And Gehl noted that for the 2024 elections, there are also signature drives taking place in Missouri and Nevada. Gehl added that California and Washington adopted the top two primaries in which the top two finishers advance to the general election, again, regardless of party affiliation.

After spending time with Katherine, I was truly encouraged about our elections for the first time in many years. As someone who has grown less than optimistic about our democracy of late, Katherine Gehl and Michael Porter have crafted a plan that might just work after all.

I hope you learn as much as I did from Katherine. She is really on to something here!

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Today’s interview is with Julie Bindel, a feminist campaigner, writer, and investigative journalist in Britain. Her recent book, Feminism for Women: The Real Route to Liberation, was published in 2021 and has caused quite the stir with younger feminists, both in Britain, as well as here in America. 

Julie writes for the Observer, Unherd, Sunday Times, The Critic, Spectator, Telegraph, and her own Substack, which is now one of my favorite destinations.  

Julie travels the world to investigate stories of misogyny, women’s rights and suffrage, and gender ideology. She has lived in London with her partner (who just happens to be a feminist/human rights lawyer) and her two rescue dogs.

During our time together, she shared her story of “coming out” to her parents as a young girl, her move to Leeds, her first gay bar, and the day she realized she was not the only lesbian in England (whew!).

We then talked at length about The Patriarchy she’s been fighting against for four decades and counting, the plight of disenfranchised women across the globe, and why she has dedicated her life to bringing these issues to the fore.

We also talked at length about the differences between gender and sex, where gender roles originated, and how the narratives of gender have harmed biological women as a collective.

And sadly, we discussed the aggressive nature of trans activism – specifically against feminists of her ilk – including her story of being physically attacked outside of a university after speaking on behalf women’s sex-based rights.

Our entire talk was framed around the protection of women and girls today, and how “every woman on the planet has experienced the fear of male violence, or the reality of male violence.”

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In part 2 of my interview with Helen Joyce, we talk about the long term deleterious effects of puberty blockers and the FDA’s original usage and indication. We compare and contrast why America now has 300 “gender affirming” clinics (and counting), and why Britain only has ONE called Tavistock.

We discuss the very controversial topic of causal suicides tied to transitioning (or lack thereof), and why this narrative is actually harmful vs. helpful to our trans community. Helen then educates me on the medical term “cascade of intervention”, what it means, and why it matters in this discussion.

Why also talk about the 4,400% increase in 11-15 year old girls now identifying as male vs female over the past decade – and how a theory called Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria may be a possible answer to this statistic.

We then conclude by talking about the importance of “female only spaces” and why they will never be a safe space for biological men. Oh, and of course, we discuss the toxic term, TERF, and why this slur is so harmful to the millions of feminists who have lobbied for women’s liberation for decades.

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On today’s show, I interviewed Helen Joyce, Irish journalist, feminist, editor at the Economist in Britain, and best selling author of the book, Trans, When Ideology Meets Reality.

To be concise, Joyce is no fan of what she perceives as a hysteria about gender identity. We talked at length about “safe spaces” for women, e.g. rape clinics, domestic violence centers, female prisons, and why trans-females are not invited. We also discussed the long history of feminism and their decades long struggle for women’s liberation. And of course, we discussed the controversial topic of trans females competing against natal females in competitive sports. 

Joyce shared with me, as well in many other public statements, that she is looking to help our trans community, not hurt. “My intention is not to be unkind to trans people, but to prevent greater unkindness.”

We talked for over over 2 ½ hours – so this episode is part 1 of a 2 part series.

Oh… and you’ll never watch The Matrix again without thinking of trans ideology. Trust me!  

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Over the past six months, I’ve spent hundreds of hours researching trans ideology and the historical roles of gender in today’s changing world. 

In today’s episode, my guest is a friend and former colleague, Bee Davis. We worked together over 17 years ago in the world of advertising, and had not talked to each other since 2006. And one day on Facebook, I saw an announcement on her Feed that she was now identifying as trans (she formally identified as male), and immediately reached out to her on DM and asked her to join me on the program. 

Thankfully, she accepted.

During our chat, we discussed some of the most controversial aspects of trans ideology and gender dysphoria. We talked about Bee’s transition, her divorce, and the severe mental trauma that followed – including her attempted suicide and eventual healing. We then debated the topic of children on puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, trans females competing against natal females in sports, the historic role and purpose of the word gender, and how best to explore the idea of gender fluidity as a collective culture.

Bee and I didn't agree on everything, but we thoroughly enjoyed each other's company and both felt lucky to be back in touch. 

I hope you learned as much as I did and welcome any and all questions.

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In This Episode: 

* Gender Fluidity

* Trans Ideology

* Competitive sports

* Gender roles

* Breakdown of mental health care

* Suicide ideation

* LGTBQ Community

* Societal Views on Sexual Orientations

* Gender Dysphoria

* Transitioning

* Gender Expression

* Puberty Blockers and Cross-X Hormones

* Children transitioning

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Over the past year, I’ve spent hundreds of hours researching the origins and developments of the defund the police movement. I pored over public records and surveys, attended symposiums, and conducted interviews with beat cops and local politicians. I even talked with folks at the DNC who wanted to abolish the police entirely due to its origin of oppression and slavery. 

And in this episode, I talk with Santa Rosa’s Chief of Police, John Cregan, about solutions offered up by both social progressives and conservatives alike. We talk about homelessness, poverty, and addiction, and why it matters to policing. And we discuss in detail the millions of dollars of new funding for mental health teams, clinicians, and a more robust social services infrastructure. 

In This Episode: 

* Defund the police

* Policing as oppression & slavery

* Criminal Justice then vs now

* Mental health reforms

* George Floyd

* Proper mental health training for police

* Deescalation training

* Sustainable funding

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Over the past several months, I've spent a ton of time attempting to understand the left-leaning bias of our news media. For those of you who do follow the news, this isn't news at all. But as a liberal, I really wanted to understand what was going on in our culture. I wanted to separate the straw from the hay, if you will.

In that effort, I interviewed a woman named Marsha Parker, who is currently the chief operating officer of the largest nonprofit news organization in California called CalMatters. She's also a storied journalist in her own right as well as former media executive. She served as the former associate Dean at the University of California, Berkeley School of Journalism and is someone I like to call a friend. She shares with me why she chose to go into nonprofit journalism and why she took the job as the chair of the board of the Institute of Nonprofit News in California.

In This Episode: 

* Nonprofit news and media

* Democrat’s demise in 2022

* Liberal news media

* Corporate sponsors in news media

* Diversity in journalism

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