A Special Place in Hell

In episode 5 of A Special Place In Hell, Sarah and Meghan get into some pretty spicy territory: the monoculture of academia (may not be suitable for sensitive listeners or people without PhDs) and the omnipresence of pornography. Citing a recent Washington Post article about the percentage of professors whose parents also held PhDs, Sarah talks about the lack of conservative thinkers on college campuses and wonders how anyone can get a complete education in such an environment. She and Meghan ponder the differences between left-leaning intellectuals and conservative intellectuals, a line of inquiry that inevitably leads to a discussion of female conservatives and whether they are hotter than liberal women.The girls/women then move on to the more staid subject of pornography. Inspired by a July 6 post by Emma Collins on Wesley Yang’s Year Zero Substack newsletter, they discuss the psychological effects of early and frequent porn exposure, particularly on young men. They compare and contrast their own earliest exposures to porn (Sarah saw online porn when she was eleven-years-old; Meghan had to make do with furtive peeks at her friends’ fathers hidden Playboy stashes) and wonder if the sexual function of all of modern civilization is being wiped out by increasingly hardcore and exaggerated visual stimulation.Bonus Content (only for subscribers, here) is big this week! Sarah and Meghan discuss (wait for it . . .) gender ideology and wonder why they are so obsessed with it. (More accurately, they ask why everyone isn’t as obsessed with it as they are.) They discuss (and disagree a bit on) whether there is such a thing as “true trans” and also return to a subject previously discussed on The Unspeakable: which dictators, terrorists and depots are hot.To get access, please consider becoming a paying subscriber!Other highlights:* Meghan describes a recent meltdown over the challenges of the creator economy and contemplates going back to (gasp) . . . writing.* Sarah explains how, growing up in the 1990s and 2000s, “feminism” was presented as chiefly about sex positivity. This is very different from Meghan’s 1970s and 1980s experience. (Also, Meghan doesn’t get the choking thing.)* Sarah discusses how devoid from reality philanthropy can be. Relevant links:* Washington Post: People From Elite Backgrounds Increasingly Dominate Academia * Wesley Yang’s Year Zero Substack: The Case Against The Sexual Revolution * Meghan’s oped writing course: She said the wrong dates last week and failed to mention it altogether this week. But please note that Meghan’s Zoom workshop in opinion writing will run four consecutive Mondays in August beginning August 8. Application deadline 7/27. More info here. * Sarah’s Substack Newsletter Hold That Thought * Meghan’s project-in-progress, The Unspeakeasy: an intellectual community for freethinking women. Credits:Opening music by Mia Dyson. (Opening quotation: Madeleine Albright.)Ending music: Dating A Porn Star by The Weepies. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aspecialplace.substack.com

In this fourth installment of A Special Place In Hell, the girls/women clarify a few matters, starting with the meaning of the name of the podcast. They then analyze their Apple Podcast reviews and respond to criticism that the show is a departure from their usual seriousness. Are they’re letting down their diehard fans by trafficking in snark rather than upholding their usual gravitas? (Answer: whatever.)Meghan announces that she’s putting The Unspeakable podcast on hiatus for the rest of the summer so she can focus on A Special Place In Hell as well as her other projects. She and Sarah agree that it was time they did something light and fun for a change. Plus, they are have such comedic talent. The world needs to know! After taking a few minutes to perfunctorily lament the current state of comedy (their version of land acknowledgements) the girls/women move on to the subject of the July 4 massacre in Highland Park, IL and Tucker Carlson’s much-cited and largely (but not wholly?) misguided rant about why young men become mass shooters. Is it because fathers are absent and female authority figures (aka single mothers and pink-haired English teachers) tell them they’re toxic? Is it because guidance counselors now hand out psychotropic drugs like so many Kaplan SAT course brochures? Is it because whiteness is such a liability that the only choices in life are TikTok stardom or committing mass murder? Ever the contrarian, Sarah thinks it’s more complicated than that. She reflects on growing up as an immigrant in a lower-middle-class neighborhood and realizing she had more advantages than her troubled white neighbors because, among other things, she had a strong family structure. Speaking of families, she and Meghan then discuss—and even perform—a recent viral tweet thread about the moral obligation to abandon your family of origin if they’re not sufficiently committed to social justice. Other questions pondered:* Is Sarah a “trad?” (Kind of)* Does Meghan have evil in her heart? (Only professionally)* Is saying you love America the equivalent of carrying a plastic purse? (Depends on your shoes)Links/Announcements:* Sarah’s Independence Day Essay: American Pride, American Shame* Meghan is teaching an opinion writing class on Zoom, four consecutive Mondays, August 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th (not August 2; she misspoke on the pod). 3-5pm ET. Details here.* Lean about The Unspeakeasy, Meghan’s community-in-progress for freethinking women, here. * Like our new theme music? It’s by friend-of-the-pod and Australian rock star Mia Dyson! BONUS CONTENT (for subscribers):The girls/women answer some listener questions, including what constitutes a good faith debate, what do they like to cook, and what are their positions on Bitcoin, animé and certain kinds of furniture.  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aspecialplace.substack.com

(Hey! Paying subscribers! This is not the post for you— you are special. For you, we have an extra-long episode, which you can access, here). In this THIRD installment of A Special Place In Hell, the girls/women do their best to celebrate Independence Day despite their subjugation by the patriarchy, the Republican Party and the woman-hating world in general. They discuss the tenor of the public conversation around the overturning of Roe v. Wade and wonder if their long range thinking and lack of catastrophizing amounts to a “tone problem.” They then compare generational notes when it comes to actual abortions (Meghan knows many women who’ve had abortions while Sarah knows very few), access to reliable birth control and (semi-relatedly) the “myth” of women “tricking” men into becoming fathers.Moving along to the less fraught topic of race, Sarah and Meghan ponder the “Karen” phenomenon and Sarah relays a story of being recently micro-aggressed by a well-meaning but clueless progressive (who had a “coexist” bumper sticker on his car) with whom she got into a fender bender. Finally, they discuss whether they’re failing at womanhood by not worrying enough about other people’s feelings or, in Meghan’s case, not always helping clear the table when she’s a dinner party guest.But wait! There is more! (For some of you, anyway….)Paying subscribers get access to a BONUS CONTENT version of this episode, in which the women/girls reveal what’s inside their medicine cabinets and ponder whether this topic has racial undertones. To that end, they also wonder whether all our race problems are really President Obama’s fault. Tantalizing! Subscribe to get access! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aspecialplace.substack.com

In this (second!) episode of A Special Place In Hell, the girls/women discuss the use of the word “girls” in the show’s tagline and whether it’s anti-feminist. Meghan describes visiting the set (well, sitting on a patio outside the set) of Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday to watch Blocked and Reported co-host Katie Herzog’s debut appearance on the show, alongside Andrew Sullivan. Sarah recalls her own guest appearance on Real Time (also with Andrew Sullivan!) and both agree that going on that show is a traumatic experience that most media people will nonetheless kill for. The girls/women then move on to the obvious main topic: the long-anticipated yet still shocking news of the SCOTUS overturning of Roe v. Wade. They break down the political and practical ramifications of this decision while also assessing the collective nervous breakdown that’s playing out on social media and elsewhere. Sarah explains why she thinks the ruling will cause many years—even decades—of pain but might ultimately pave the way for wider pro-choice legislation across the country. Meghan asks why politically conservative women, from Phyllis Schlafly to Amy Coney Barrett, seem able to balance big families and big careers better than liberal women. This leads into a conversation about the “trad” trend and why so many young people seem to be fetishizing pioneer life.  Other highlights:*  Can you be a “trad furry?” *  If Amy Coney Barrett were on the political left, would she be a Badass Boss B***h Earth Mama She-ro?*  Sarah gives a sneak preview of her latest article in Hold That Thought. *  Meghan does some psychological processing of a tweet she sent Friday evening that went viral. It was a high quality joke. But naturally it was “weaponized!” * Meghan and Sarah both try to take the high road on social media, but are they kidding themselves? (Yes.)  Relevant links:* Sarah’s Substack newsletter Hold That Thought * Meghan’s May 8 Unspeakable Podcast interview with legendary abortion rights activist Frances Kissling * This week’s Unspeakable Podcast two-part series on guns* Meghan’s new project-in-progress The Unspeakeasy, a community for heterodox-minded women.  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aspecialplace.substack.com

In this inaugural edition of A Special Place In Hell, Sarah and Meghan kick things off with an explanation of how to pronounce (or not bother pronouncing) their names. From there, they ponder their 20-plus year age difference and do not think about the fact that Meghan is technically old enough to be Sarah’s . . oh never mind. They then commence with in-depth discussions of three recent pieces of media content. The first is Ryan Grim’s treatise in the Intercept about the epidemic of personnel meltdowns at progressive nonprofit organizations. (As a nonprofit leader herself, Sarah found this very interesting, as well as deliciously vindicating.) They move on to What Is A Woman?, the documentary by Daily Wire correspondent Matt Walsh, who pokes fun at jargon-spewing ideologues while asking a fundamental and seemingly simple question no one can answer. The film is a powerful shot over the bow in the battles over gender ideology, but does it trip over its own right wing agenda and undermine itself with sexist stereotypes? Finally, the ladies deliberate over Sunday’s very long New York Times Magazine article about debates within the field of medicalized gender transition in young people, a subject they’re both already obsessed with.Other highlights: * Meghan explains to Sarah the connection between J. Jill clothes and the progressive nonprofit world.* Meghan makes a reference to Christopher Guest movies and Sarah doesn’t know what she’s talking about. * Meghan sings one line of Steely Dan. * Sarah wonders if breaking out of the gender ideology cult--er, “community” is analogous to leaving the Muslim faith. * Sarah reveals her mother’s “nickname” for her father.Links: The Elephant In The Zoom by Ryan Grim, The Intercept What Is A Woman? film by Matt Walsh, The Daily WireThe Battle Over Gender Therapy by Emily Bazelon, The New York Times Magazine This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit aspecialplace.substack.com