In this episode of A Special Place in Hell, recorded on Thanksgiving eve, Sarah and Meghan discuss their plans, including why it’s taken Sarah awhile to get the hang of this holiday, especially the cranberry sauce and eating at 2pm part. (You can read Meghan’s take on Thanksgiving in her latest Substack essay.) After touching on a few breaking news stories that everyone’s forgotten by now, they turn to the subject of birth control. Sarah read a book about it and Meghan watched a documentary and they each report back on what they learned—or, in Meghan’s case, what annoyed her. This leads to yet another variation on Meghan’s favorite theme; why_____ isn’t as good as it used to. (In this case, documentaries!)

The girls/women discuss whether documentary films are now primarily tools of activism and Sarah cites Blackfish (which Meghan can’t bear to watch) as an example of a documentary that effected real change. Meghan cites the 1990 film Paris Is Burning as an example of a “real documentary,” and this leads to a discussion about drag queens and whether they’re offensive and misogynistic or soothing and perfect for story hour.

In the very special Bonus Content: Sarah and Meghan address a listener’s comment about their conversation with Katie Herzog and the subject of gestational surrogacy. Does everyone have the right to be a parent? Also: are old-fashioned matchmakers better than dating apps?

Book: Sarah Hill’s This is Your Brain on Birth Control

Movie: The Business of Birth Control

The legacy of Paris Is Burning

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