A new paper by a ‘nonspeaking cyborg kraken’ says society is oppressive because most people speak and hear

This week’s episode of Citation Needed is free to everyone! Every other episode is for supporters only, so if you enjoy this one and want to tune in next week, be sure to subscribe. Your support helps us keep producing the show and exposing the ideological rot in academia.

In our first segment, we dig into a brand-new paper on “ableism” by activist Alice Wong. Instead of research, the journal published what amounts to a personal diary entry—laced with profanity—arguing that society is oppressive because most people communicate through speaking and hearing. The author describes herself as a “nonspeaking cyborg kraken” and insists that the “medical industrial complex” is an act of violence against her. We break it down and show how this kind of ideology turns lived experience into scholarship while demanding the impossible: that the basic norms of society be completely reoriented around fringe outliers.

Then, in our second segment, we try something new: a lightning round of ridiculous abstracts published just in the last two weeks as theses or peer-reviewed papers. We can’t devote an entire episode to every one of them, but this rapid-fire tour shows just how common this unserious, ideological work has become in academia.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.citationneededpodcast.com/subscribe