Blocked and Reported

Things are not going so great in Portland, where months of rowdy and sometimes destructive protests have been met with a federal response that has understandably scared and infuriated residents. But what's really going on there? Have we reached a point where it's basically impossible to find credible, contextualized accounts of complicated situations like this one? Will the Wall of Moms be undone by jackbooted government thugs and/or its own alleged racism? As one of America's whitest cities speeds down the road to Crazyville, there's a lot to unpack.Show notes/Links:The New York Times: The Showdown in Portland (from The Daily) -  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/23/podcasts/the-daily/portland-protests.html The New York Times: Times Videos Show How Federal Officers Escalated Violence in Portland (video) -  https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000007243995/portland-protests-federal-government.html Reason: What It's Like To Work in the Portland Jail During the George Floyd Protests -  https://reason.com/2020/07/23/what-its-like-to-work-in-the-portland-jail-during-the-george-floyd-protests/ Michael Tracey: Two months since the riots, and still no “National Conversation” -  https://medium.com/@mtracey/two-months-since-the-riots-and-still-no-national-conversation-12a7e3e4e006 The New York Times: Federal Officers Deployed in Portland Didn’t Have Proper Training, D.H.S. Memo Said -  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/18/us/portland-protests.html ACLU: The Constitution in the 100-Mile Border Zone -  https://www.aclu.org/other/constitution-100-mile-border-zone On the Media: What We Know About the Border -  https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/episodes/what-we-know-about-border  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.blockedandreported.org/subscribe

After Katie recounts a listener complaint and the cohosts announce a new focus for the podcast, the bulk of the episode consists of an interview Jesse conducted with Freddie deBoer, a brilliant thinker and writer whose first book, "The Cult of Smart: How Our Broken Education System Perpetuates Social Injustice," is a searing indictment of the American education system's most entrenched orthodoxy: the idea that just about any child can succeed academically. The second, patrons-only portion of the interview, a wider-ranging conversations about social media, online leftism, mental health, and other subjects, will be posted by the end of the day on Saturday, 7/25/2020 at the latest, and when it's ready this text will be replaced with a link.Show notes/Links:"The Cult of Smart" (yes, it is that good, and yes, you should pre-order it) -  https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250224491 Freddie's website -  https://fredrikdeboer.com/ FdB: the educational standardization trap -  https://medium.com/@freddiedeboer/the-educational-standardization-trap-25aca6c0121 FdB: disentangling race from intelligence and genetics, or how to rescue behavioral genetics from racists -  https://fredrikdeboer.com/2017/04/10/disentangling-race-from-intelligence-and-genetics/ FdB: addressing some complaints -  https://fredrikdeboer.com/2017/04/11/addressing-some-complaints/  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.blockedandreported.org/subscribe

After Jesse reluctantly reveals some incredibly embarrassing and personal details about his love life in the opening segment, the hosts discuss the week's two big media stories: Bari Weiss's resignation from The New York Times and Andrew Sullivan's firing from New York Magazine. Is this a sign that these outlets are narrowing their windows of acceptable opinion? Was Weiss's treatment in her workplace genuinely unfair, or is she reacting with the same 'safetyism' she has so forcefully criticized? If Jesse and Katie were trapped on a desert island, who would eat who? These and other questions, answered.Show notes/Links:-Bari Weiss's resignation letter: https://www.bariweiss.com/resignation-letter  -"See You Next Friday: A Farewell Letter" by Andrew Sullivan:  https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/07/andrew-sullivan-see-you-next-friday.html -"When Racism Is Fit to Print" by Andrew Sullivan:  https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/08/sarah-jeong-new-york-times-anti-white-racism.html -"How Did I Get Iraq Wrong?" by Andrew Sullivan:  https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2008/03/i-committed-four-cardinal-sins-around-the-iraq-war.html  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.blockedandreported.org/subscribe

After Jesse bravely expresses an opinion that is likely to get him cancelled by Cancel Culture, and to potentially destroy the podcast entirely, the hosts, who are clearly hated by God Himself (of maybe... HERself??), devote almost the entire episode to Letter Discourse and Counter-Letter Discourse. The discussion mostly concerns the harassment of a Vox staffer, which Jesse contributed to and feels bad about, even as he is aggrieved at the unhinged-in-light-of-the-evidence Jesse Did It narrative that took over bluecheck Twitter earlier this week. What are individuals' responsibilities during online pileons? Will journalists ever stop being full of s**t with regard to which acts -- screencapping, quote-retweeting, mocking -- are and aren't considered harassment? In the closing segment, the hosts briefly discuss President Trump's interesting strategy of fighting for free speech and open academic inquiry by unleashing the federal government to investigate universities, as one does.Show notes/Links:Rough week for Jesse on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/search?q=jesse%20singal&src=typed_query (We said we would include links to the right-wing pieces and tweets bashing the Vox staffer mentioned in the podcast, but whoever wrote this summary began feeling guilty about doing so. If you search for her name and the name of the outlets mentioned, you will find it all -- we promise.) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.blockedandreported.org/subscribe

Katie and Jesse signed a letter that was published in Harper's! It's pretty basic but given Twitter's reaction you would have thought it was an excerpt from Mein Kampf. In today's episode, the hosts discuss why they signed the letter and run through some of the most unhinged and disingenuous reactions to it, discovering, in the process, that one of the letter's loudest critics tried to get them both fired. Katie also asks Jesse about the time he reported a fellow journalist to her boss, and the two hosts work through whether this is different from the behavior they themselves are complaining about. Also: Jesse's trajectory on the even more emotionally charged question of cargo shorts.Show notes/Links:Harper's: A Letter on Justice and Open Debate -  https://harpers.org/a-letter-on-justice-and-open-debate/ Jesse's too numerous and Mad Online tweets about the response to the letter:-on Matt Yglesias getting reported by a colleague for wrongthink:  https://twitter.com/jessesingal/status/1280603481531912192 -on one of the letter critics publicly calling for him to get fired:  https://twitter.com/jessesingal/status/1280577317421625346 -on someone literally editing the letter to make it offensive:  https://twitter.com/jessesingal/status/1280666236754579458 Medium: Katelyn Burns Fabricated Several Exchanges With Me That Never Occurred (archived version) - http://archive.is/UEsMj(current version, without screenshot-proof for reasons explained at the top, here: https://medium.com/@jesse.singal/so-about-that-katelyn-burns-thread-58c736647bc9)Medium: A (Hopefully) Final Update On This Katelyn Burns Thing (Updated) - https://medium.com/@jesse.singal/a-hopefully-final-update-on-this-katelyn-burns-thing-da17730e13aa This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.blockedandreported.org/subscribe

The gang celebrates July 4th by barely mentioning it. Instead, Jesse and Katie talk about Blocked and Reported's arguably FIRST EVER beef, which involves a very sensitive staffer at The New Republic. Then they relay two real corrections and one fake one from previous episodes, talk about the increasing possibility, in light of a new court decision, that at least one contributor to the Shitty Media Men list will be 'unmasked,' and discuss a thoughtful essay on what it feels like to be at the bottom of a Twitter pileon. Plus: Jesse finally addresses the rumors that have been haunting him about his relationship with certain New England horses. Soundcloud: The offending clip from our segment on Online Validiy Discourse -  https://soundcloud.com/josephine-livingstone/blocked-reported-clipBlocked and Reported: Episode 5 - Katie And Jesse Decide Who Is Valid -  https://barpodcast.fireside.fm/5 Snopes: Did Merriam-Webster Update Its Definition of ‘Racism’ To Say Only White People Are Racist? - https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/merriam-webster-definition-racism/The Volokh Conspiracy: “Shitty Media Men” List Libel Lawsuit Can Go Forward - https://reason.com/2020/07/02/shitty-media-men-list-libel-lawsuit-can-go-forward/The Stranger: Anonymous UW Students Publish Rape Accusations Online. What Could Go Wrong? - https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2018/10/09/33615110/anonymous-uw-students-publish-rape-accusations-online-what-could-go-wrongQuillette: How An Anonymous Accusation Derailed My Life -  https://quillette.com/2018/09/25/how-an-anonymous-accusation-derailed-my-life/ Medium: Hi, I’m on the Shitty Media Men list, but maybe you already knew that - https://medium.com/@mike_tunison/hi-im-on-the-shitty-media-men-list-but-maybe-you-already-knew-that-f446aed1f93bMedium: Katelyn Burns Fabricated Several Exchanges With Me That Never Occurred (archived version) - http://archive.is/UEsMj(current version, without screenshot-proof for reasons explained at the top, here: https://medium.com/@jesse.singal/so-about-that-katelyn-burns-thread-58c736647bc9)Medium: A (Hopefully) Final Update On This Katelyn Burns Thing (Updated) - https://medium.com/@jesse.singal/a-hopefully-final-update-on-this-katelyn-burns-thing-da17730e13aaSingal-Minded: Nicole Cliffe Is A Poor Choice Of #MeToo Moral Guardian - https://jessesingal.substack.com/p/nicole-cliffe-is-a-poor-choice-ofThe Critic: The eye of the storm: https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/july-august-2020/the-eye-of-the-storm/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.blockedandreported.org/subscribe

Jesse interviews Yascha Mounk about the threats liberalism is facing from both the left and the right, and Yascha introduces a new platform he is launching to help stem the tide. The duo also discuss Yascha's great but infuriating article in The Atlantic, "Stop Firing the Innocent," the origins of the gender wage gap, antifa, the racial politics of police reform, and more. Make sure to check out persuasion.community, which should be live by the time you read this. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.blockedandreported.org/subscribe

A reckoning is afoot, as Jesse finally confronts Katie over her abusive managerial style. After the hosts get that out of the way, they proceed into a discussion about The New York Times' decision to publish the famed rationalist blogger Scott Alexander's full name -- and the rather effective-seeming countermeasure Alexander pulled in response. Then they move onto a broader conversation about journalistic ethics with regard to naming subjects against their will, and Katie talks about the time she was publicly shamed for trying to defend someone against a public shaming. In the second segment, the hosts discuss a New York Times story about a Minneapolis neighborhood's difficulties living up to its stated values, and, by working through about their own views about when to call the police, establish the podcast's formal Cop Policy. Show notes/Links:Amazon: The AI Does Not Hate You: Superintelligence, Rationality and the Race to Save the World by Tom Chivers -  https://www.amazon.com/Does-Not-Hate-You-Superintelligence-ebook/dp/B07K258VCV Slate Star Codex: NYT Is Threatening My Safety By Revealing My Real Name, So I Am Deleting The Blog -  https://slatestarcodex.com/2020/06/22/nyt-is-threatening-my-safety-by-revealing-my-real-name-so-i-am-deleting-the-blog/ Slate Star Codex (archive): I Can Tolerate Anything Except For The Outgroup -  http://archive.is/https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/09/30/i-can-tolerate-anything-except-the-outgroup/ Twitter: @keikoinboston on Karlos Dillard's scam:  https://twitter.com/keikoinboston/status/1276780086545592320 The New York Times: A Minneapolis Neighborhood Vowed to Check Its Privilege. It’s Already Being Tested. -  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/24/us/minneapolis-george-floyd-police.html Slate Star Codex (archive): Sort by Controversial -  http://archive.is/https://slatestarcodex.com/2018/10/30/sort-by-controversial/ The Stranger: A Slur, a Suicide Attempt, and Guns Akimbo -  https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2020/02/25/42967202/a-slur-a-suicide-attempt-and-guns-akimbo Amazon: Self-Care: A Novel by Leigh Stein - https://www.amazon.com/Self-Care-Novel-Leigh-Stein/dp/0143135198/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Eventbrite: EXTREMELY ONLINE conversation for SELF CARE -  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/extremely-online-conversation-for-self-care-tickets-109886766276  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.blockedandreported.org/subscribe

If you develop severe physical symptoms whenever you go more than a day without hearing fresh content that includes Katie's and Jesse's voices, you're in luck: Here's an interview the hosts did with Jeremiah Johnson of The Neoliberal Project (here's his Twitter account) which Johnson generously shared (it's also up on his own organization's Patreon page). It was a pretty wide-ranging discussion -- in addition to covering the David Shor firing and Washington Post blackface article, the trio also discussed cancel culture more broadly, the difference between real activism and online slacktivism, and the question of what standards tech companies should use for determining who to deplatform. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.blockedandreported.org/subscribe

If hearing Jesse and Katie dig around in the strange innards of "White Fragility" wasn't enough Robin DiAngelo for you, have we got the thing: an interview Katie conducted with a woman whose former company, throw into disarray by a racial microaggression, brought in DiAngelo to conduct a full year's worth of antiracism training, complete with (unpaid) homework. It went.... strangely, and at one point involved allegations of subconscious swastikas. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.blockedandreported.org/subscribe