23. The Lost Art of Forgiveness

Did forgiveness go out of style? Nancy and Sarah want to bring it back. We talk about a current vogue for vengeance in the “progressive id” and where it may have originated, plus our own stubborn belief that understanding is better than judgment. We turn toward the tricky politics of sex, including Biden’s new campus codes, which return us to a troubled era of Title IX tribunals stripped of due process that resulted in hundreds of (successful) law suits, and why one Title IX coordinator referred to her gig as running “The Break-Up Office.”

Every generation tries — and fails — to hack sex, which is one reason the subject is so fascinating. We look at the imminent dangers of a post-Roe landscape, and how it coincides with a sexual malaise brought on by hookup culture. “Don’t catch feelings” became a sad mantra in the online dating world, even as feelings were given free rein in so many other corners of life. We travel back to a pre-sexual revolution America, when a poor kid from Mississippi electrified the repressed audiences of the 1950s, a reminder of how dangerous even the mention of sex was once. Yes, Sarah saw the Elvis movie, and it gave her a new appreciation for the young performer before he became king.

We stopped recording before talking about the moonlight in Elvis’s voice …

… but not before Nancy asked that you share this episode with friends. Even better…

Episode Notes:

Rumble: the Indians Who Rocked the World official trailer

“Who Gets To Be A Criminal Versus A Victim Versus A Human? On one of the most telling responses to ‘Canceled at 17,’” by Jesse Singal (Substack)

Blocked and Reported podcast, with Jesse Singal and Katie Herzog

“Canceled at 17,” by Elizabeth Weil (The Cut)

“Ah, Carceral Liberalism,” by Freddie deBoer (Substack)

“Consequences are Good, Actually,” by Jessica Valenti (Substack)

“5 Ways Biden's New Title IX Rules Will Eviscerate Due Process on Campus,” by Robby Soave (Reason)

Unwanted Advances, by Laura Kipnis

“The Alcohol Blackout,” by Sarah Hepola (Texas Monthly)

“Biden’s Sex Police,” by Emily Yoffe (Common Sense)

Rethinking Sex: A Provocation, by Christine Emba

“Women’s Orgasm and Sexual Satisfaction in Committed Sex and Casual Sex: Relationship Between Sociosexuality and Sexual Outcomes in Different Sexual Contexts,” Val Wongsomboon, Mary H. Burleson, Gregory D. Webster (The Journal of Sex Research)

Key scene from The Ice Storm

“What Does Overturning Roe Mean in Texas?” (Houston Chronicle)

Pew Research Center study: America’s Abortion Quandary

“This Is What a Pro-Life Feminist Looks Like,” by Geoff Johnston (D Magazine)

“Roe is Reversed, and the Right Isn’t Ready,” by David French (Substack)

Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis official trailer

Elvis Presley: The Searcher (HBO) official trailer

Elvis ‘56 documentary

Elvis Presley’s longtime Graceland cook, Mary Jenkins, makes his favorite sandwich

Self-promotion alert! Kindle version of Nancy’s book, To the Bridge, a True Story of Motherhood and Murder, is on sale all of July for 99¢.

Outro song: “Suspicious Minds,” by Elvis Presley

Are you lonesome tonight? You won’t be when you become paid or free subscriber!

What happens when Sarah texts, “I’m glad you’re part of my world, Nancy Rommelmann”?

smoke ‘em

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