What a Creep

What a Creep
Season 26, Episode 10
“The Know-Nothing Party," Nativism, and Springfield, Ohio Today”

If you have been keeping up with the news, you may have heard about the city of Springfield, Ohio, where there have been over 33 bomb threats (as of this posting) targeting its Haitian residents. How did this situation come about? Today, we will delve into the origins of the Know Nothing Party, also known as the American Party, a nativist political movement in the United States during the 1840s and 1850s. Understanding the history and policies of this party provides valuable insight into the current immigration debates in the U.S. 
Content Warning: Racism, bigotry, and general awfulness 

Sources for this episode
Smithsonian
Britannica
 Politco
CNN
Newsweek
Springfield News-Sun
New York Times
The Guardian
BBC
Springfield Commission Meeting August 27, 2024
New York Magazine
Washington Post
NBC News
The AtlanticThe Dollop “Know Nothing”

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• Our logo was created by Claudia Gomez-Rodriguez. Follow her on Instagram @ClaudInCloud

What a Creep
Season 26, Episode 9
Cool girls and pick-me girls

She’s one of the guys. She says she prefers to hang out with guys because girls cause “too much drama.” “I’m not a feminist because I don’t hate men.”I’m not like other girls.” 
If this sounds familiar to you, maybe you know someone who’s a pick-me or cool girl. Let’s talk about it.
Sources for this episode

• The Atlantic
• Buzzfeed
• CNN
• Dictionary.com
• Jezebel
• New York Magazine
• Washington Post
• Women’s Media Center
• “The Cool Girl Trope, Explained” on The Take’s YouTube

Margo’s picks for social media following!
JeriLRyan@TeenVogue 
GregProops @ProopDog 
@JojoforJerz
@MsPackYetti @ecmclaughlin @quinncummings @parkermolloy@TheReidOut

Be sure to follow us on social media. But don’t follow us too closely … don’t be a creep about it! 

• Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/CreepPod @CreepPod
• Facebook: Join the private group! 
• Instagram @WhatACreepPodcast
• Visit our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/whatacreep
• Email: [email protected] 
• We’ve got merch here! https://whatacreeppodcast.threadless.com/#
• Our website is www.whatacreeppodcast.com 
• Our logo was created by Claudia Gomez-Rodriguez. Follow her on Instagram @ClaudInCloud

What a Creep
Season 26, Episode 8
Neil Gaiman

Beloved author Neil Gaiman has recently been involved in a controversy following multiple allegations of sexual assault. Several women have come forward with accusations, some dating back decades. For example, a former employee at Gaiman's property accused him of coercive sexual behavior during her stay from 2014 to 2021. Other women have made similar claims, including Julia Hobsbawm, who described an unwanted sexual advance in the 1980s.According to a recent article in Business Insider: Tortoise Media's podcast, "Master: The allegations against Neil Gaiman," which was released on July 3, shares the stories of four women who alleged he sexually assaulted them in 1986 and 2022, respectively. Another woman appeared on a separate podcast with an allegation relating to 2012.Gaiman has denied all non-consensual aspects of the allegations. As we learn more about one of the most popular writers in the business, many of his current projects are on hold or outright canceled.

Content Warning: Sexual Assault, Coercive Control, and celebrity assholery. 
Sources for this episode

• Rolling Stone
• Tortoise Media Master: The Allegations Against Neil Gaiman.
• Julie Bindel Substack
• The Politics of Dancing Substack
• Council of Geeks (YouTube)
• David Aaronovitch Substack
• Metro UK
• Neil Gaiman Wiki
• London Telegraph
• Vulture
• Thinking Critical YouTube
• NME
• Amanda Palmer Blog    
• AV Club 
• Am I Broken? (Podcast) 

Be sure to follow us on social media. But don’t follow us too closely … don’t be a creep about it! 

• Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/CreepPod @CreepPod
• Facebook: Join the private group! 
• Instagram @WhatACreepPodcast
• Visit our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/whatacreep
• Email: [email protected] 
• We’ve got merch here! https://whatacreeppodcast.threadless.com/#
• Our website is www.whatacreeppodcast.com 
• Our logo was created by Claudia Gomez-Rodriguez. Follow her on Instagram @ClaudInCloud

What a Creep
Season 26, Episode 7
Ronald Reagan, trickledown economics & welfare queens

It’s time to talk about President Ronald Reagan’s “trickle-down economics” tax policy, which has been described as the most enduring failed policy idea in American politics. And that leads into Reagan’s narrative of “the welfare queen,” the undeserving women who are freeloading off of the American taxpayers, AND THAT feeds into the bigger story of people living in poverty who don’t want to work. What a creep.
Sources for this episode

• CBS
• Georgetown Law
• New America
• New York Times
• PBS
• The Roosevelt Institute
• Washington Post
• Wikipedia (Reaganomics)
• Wikipedia (Trickledown economics)
• Wikipedia (Welfare queens)

What a Creep episodes on Reagan

• Part one: Reagan and his mental health policies
• Part two: Reagan and the AIDS crisis

Be sure to follow us on social media. But don’t follow us too closely … don’t be a creep about it! 

• Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/CreepPod @CreepPod
• Facebook: Join the private group! 
• Instagram @WhatACreepPodcast
• Visit our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/whatacreep
• Email: [email protected] 
• We’ve got merch here! https://whatacreeppodcast.threadless.com/#
• Our website is www.whatacreeppodcast.com 
• Our logo was created by Claudia Gomez-Rodriguez. Follow her on Instagram @ClaudInCloud

What a Creep
Season 26, Episode 5
Sun City and Apartheid in South Africa

 Sun City is a luxury resort and casino complex in South Africa. During the apartheid era (1948-1990s), it became infamous for hosting international artists despite the global cultural boycott of South Africa. The South African government promoted Sun City as a major entertainment destination, but for many, it symbolized the oppression and exploitation of apartheid. Artists United Against Apartheid was a collective of musicians who came together in 1985 to raise awareness and protest apartheid, mainly targeting the Sun City resort. Steven Van Zandt, a musician and member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, and record producer Arthur Baker spearheaded the group. They were outraged by the continued performances of international artists at Sun City despite the call for a cultural boycott of South Africa.
Trigger Warning: Racism
Sources for this episode

• Zinn Education Project: https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/sun-city-artists-against-apartheid/ and
• https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/strangers-in-their-own-country and https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/steve-biko/
• Black Past.org: https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/south-african-students-organization-saso/
• The African Activist Archive: https://africanactivist.msu.edu/ and https://africanactivist.msu.edu/organization/210-813-12/
• African Access Review: https://africaaccessreview.org/
• Rolling Stone: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/steven-van-zandt-sun-city-reissue-951087/, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/apartheid-rock-108260/, and https://www.ronstadt-linda.com/artrs83.htm
• Rolling Stone Podcast Interview with Steven Van Zandt: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0U8duHoJCDxM0qLLdhzjOl
• Teach Rock: https://teachrock.org/lesson/sun-city-a-musical-force-against-apartheid-part-1/
• Cool Cape Travel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyJQwCI7-oY
• Artists United Against Apartheid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fR2r8Qlyyk
• 60 Minutes interview with Steven Van Zandt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOp-rLSRXUo
• Africa’s a Country.com: https://africasacountry.com/2020/01/linda-ronstadt-is-still-playing-sun-city#:~:text=Although%20Ronstadt%20was%20conflicted%20about,percent%20pure%2Dwhite.%E2%80%9D
• U Music.com: https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/little-steven-sun-city-protest-song/
• Little Steven Interview (2019) https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/summer-of-sorcery-little-steven-interview/
• Rosa Mannon (YouTube)/The Making of Sun City (1985) https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=3a6b220f597eeedb&sca_upv=1&sxsrf=ADLYWIIxP_ymW_r7DZB-jNqvr6ccWlgxZw:1724106272458&q=Sun+city+apartheid+documentary&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwim3LKvjIKIAxVfhIkEHf5BH6oQ1QJ6BAhaEAE&biw=1366&bih=599&dpr=1#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:784ac663,vid:CmJC6GcVDn0,st:0
• Asbury Park Press: https://www.app.com/story/entertainment/music/2021/08/12/little-steven-van-zandt-sun-city-hip-hop-rap-rappers-south-africa/8113803002/
• ABC News: https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/steven-van-zandt-sun-city-helped-break-apartheid/story?id=21180715
• Variety: https://variety.com/2020/music/news/little-steven-interview-sun-city-apartheid-political-1203528043/
• Born a Crime by Trevor Noah 

Not a Creep
There needs to be a ceasefire in Gaza.
We can’t make those decisions, but we can call our representatives and let them know how we feel. We can also donate money to help the people in Gaza.

• International Rescue Committee
• Doctors Without Borders
• Save the Children
• Unicef

If you’re unsure about an organization, you can run a search on CharityWatch and Charity Navigator, which review charities' track records.
Be sure to follow us on social media. But don’t follow us too closely … don’t be a creep about it! 

• Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts
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• Facebook: Join the private group! 
• Instagram @WhatACreepPodcast
• Visit our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/whatacreep
• Email: [email protected] 
• We’ve got merch here! https://whatacreeppodcast.threadless.com/#
• Our website is www.whatacreeppodcast.com 
• Our logo was created by Claudia Gomez-Rodriguez. Follow her on Instagram @ClaudInCloud

What a Creep
Season 26, Episode 4
President Ronald Reagan and the AIDS crisis

When the AIDS epidemic started in the early ’80s, the Reagan administration's response mainly involved making jokes in the daily press briefings. Throughout his two terms as president, Reagan and his administration didn’t even do the bare minimum to help. According to The Atlantic, almost 83,000 cases of AIDS were confirmed while Reagan was in the White House, and nearly 50,000 people died of the disease.  Reagan, what a creep. 
Trigger warning: Homophobia

• Sources for this episode
• The Atlantic
• Buzzfeed
• History
• HIV.gov
• The New Yorker
• PBS
• “The Reagans,” a documentary series on Showtime
• "When AIDS Was Funny," a short film directed and produced by Scott Calonic
• Vice
• Vox
• Washington Post
• Wikipedia
• Wikipedia

Be sure to follow us on social media. But don’t follow us too closely … don’t be a creep about it! 

• Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/CreepPod @CreepPod
• Facebook: Join the private group! 
• Instagram @WhatACreepPodcast
• Visit our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/whatacreep
• Email: [email protected] 
• We’ve got merch here! https://whatacreeppodcast.threadless.com/#
• Our website is www.whatacreeppodcast.com 
• Our logo was created by Claudia Gomez-Rodriguez. Follow her on Instagram @ClaudInCloud

What a Creep
Season 26, Episode 3
Ronald Reagan “The Mental Health Systems Act 1980”

The Mental Health Systems Act of 1980 was a significant legislation to improve mental health care in the United States. It was signed into law by President Jimmy Carter on October 7, 1980. The act was intended to restructure the federal approach to mental health services, emphasizing community-based care and providing grants to community mental health centers to improve their services.
When Ronald Reagan assumed the presidency in January 1981, his administration's policies marked a drastic shift from those of his predecessor, Jimmy Carter, particularly in social services and mental health care.

Trigger warning: Discussions of previous treatments for mental illness, suicide, sexual assault,  and general assholery. Sources:·         Mental Health Systems Act (Wiki)·         San Diego Union-Tribune·         NPR·         The American Library Association·         National Library of Medicine·         KQED-TV·         Salon.com·         The Hill·         The New York Times (1984)·         Psychiatry Online·         C-Span “Washington Journal”·         PBS News·         Psychiatry News·         Women’s History Org (Dorothea Dix)

• Podcasts: The Dollop (Ronald Reagan), Behind the Bastards (Ronald Reagan,) Meet Your Heroes (Episode 13, Ronald Reagan,) and History Fix (Episode 60, Mental Health.) 
• Mother Jones: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/04/timeline-mental-health-america/ 

Be sure to follow us on social media. But don’t follow us too closely … don’t be a creep about it! 

• Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/CreepPod @CreepPod
• Facebook: Join the private group! 
• Instagram @WhatACreepPodcast
• Visit our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/whatacreep
• Email: [email protected] 
• We’ve got merch here! https://whatacreeppodcast.threadless.com/#
• Our website is www.whatacreeppodcast.com 
• Our logo was created by Claudia Gomez-Rodriguez. Follow her on Instagram @ClaudInCloud

What a Creep
Season 26, Episode 4
Ronald Reagan and the AIDS crisis

When the AIDS epidemic started in the early ’80s, the Reagan administration's response mainly involved making jokes in the daily press briefings. Throughout his two terms as president, Reagan and his administration didn’t even do the bare minimum to help. According to The Atlantic, almost 83,000 cases of AIDS were confirmed while Reagan was in the White House, and nearly 50,000 people died of the disease.  Reagan, what a creep. 
Trigger warning: Homophobia

• Sources for this episode
• The Atlantic
• Buzzfeed
• History
• HIV.gov
• The New Yorker
• PBS
• “The Reagans,” a documentary series on Showtime
• "When AIDS Was Funny," a short film directed and produced by Scott Calonic
• Vice
• Vox
• Washington Post
• Wikipedia
• Wikipedia

Be sure to follow us on social media. But don’t follow us too closely … don’t be a creep about it! 

• Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/CreepPod @CreepPod
• Facebook: Join the private group! 
• Instagram @WhatACreepPodcast
• Visit our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/whatacreep
• Email: [email protected] 
• We’ve got merch here! https://whatacreeppodcast.threadless.com/#
• Our website is www.whatacreeppodcast.com 
• Our logo was created by Claudia Gomez-Rodriguez. Follow her on Instagram @ClaudInCloud

What a Creep
Season 26, Episode 2
Phyllis Schlafly

But before we had those weird losers like Lauren Bobert, Majorie Taylor Greene, and Laura Loomer, we had Phyllis Schlafly. Schlafly was a conservative activist who successfully campaigned against the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution because she thought women should stay home, and we were lucky to do so. Her work in the conservative movement paved the way for so much of what we see now in the GOP platform, including the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the constant sexism and transphobia. She was a garbage person with a lot of crappy takes. What a creep.

Trigger warning: Sexism, homophobia, the c-word, and we don’t mean “creep”
Sources for this episode

• CNN
• CNN
• Harper’s Bazaar
• History
• MIC
• National Women’s History Museum
• New York Times
• New York Times
• PBS
• Politico
• Smithsonian Magazine
• Vox
• Vox
• Wikipedia

Be sure to follow us on social media. But don’t follow us too closely … don’t be a creep about it! 

• Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/CreepPod @CreepPod
• Facebook: Join the private group! 
• Instagram @WhatACreepPodcast
• Visit our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/whatacreep
• Email: [email protected] 
• We’ve got merch here! https://whatacreeppodcast.threadless.com/#
• Our website is www.whatacreeppodcast.com 
• Our logo was created by Claudia Gomez-Rodriguez. Follow her on Instagram @ClaudInCloud

What a Creep
Season 26, Episode 1
Fatty Arbuckle: The First Movie Star Scandal

The Fatty Arbuckle scandal in the 1920s significantly impacted Hollywood and the career of comedian Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. He was accused of raping and accidentally killing an aspiring actress named Virginia Rappe during a party he hosted. After three trials, Arbuckle was acquitted, but his career suffered, and he was blacklisted in Hollywood. Rappe’s cause of death was never properly explored, and her legacy is that of a victim who was devoured by her craving for adulation and fame. 

Trigger Warnings: SA
Sources:

• ·         Smithsonian: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-skinny-on-the-fatty-arbuckle-trial-131228859/
• ·         The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/10/11/fatty-arbuckle-and-the-birth-of-the-celebrity-scandal
• ·         YouTube “Hats Off Entertainment” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsrIlnZwzHw
• ·         BBC News: https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-14640719
• ·         Thought Company: https://www.thoughtco.com/fatty-arbuckle-scandal-1779625
• ·         History.com: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/silent-film-star-arrested-for-murder
• ·         Found SF: https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=Fatty_Arbuckle_Scandal
• ·         Forty Quarts of Liquor by Dave Zuda
• ·         The Casual Criminalist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08G18wZ12Sk
• ·         Virginia Rappe Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Rappe
• ·         Room 2019 by Greg Merritt
• You Must Remember This: Fatty Arbuckle (2018)  
• ·         Crime Library: https://web.archive.org/web/20150210053306/http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/classics/fatty_arbuckle/3.html
• ·         People Vs. Arbuckle: https://peoplevsarbuckle.com/2023/09/09/september-9-1921-virginia-rappes-last-terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-day/
• ·         PBS: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/the-sexual-assault-case-that-shocked-hollywood-almost-a-century-ago
• ·         The Independent (UK): https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/who-was-virginia-rappe-the-true-story-of-the-rising-career-and-shocking-death-of-a-1920s-star-and-the-fatty-arbuckle-trial-b405039.html

Be sure to follow us on social media. But don’t follow us too closely … don’t be a creep about it! 

• Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts
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• Visit our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/whatacreep
• Email: [email protected] 
• We’ve got merch here! https://whatacreeppodcast.threadless.com/#
• Our website is www.whatacreeppodcast.com 
• Our logo was created by Claudia Gomez-Rodriguez. Follow her on Instagram @ClaudInCloud