Cops, Migrants, College Scammers & Nazis
(It was quite a March!)
Greetings Femsplainees!
It seems March really has left, lamb-like, as tulips sprout and vaccinations inject across the land. I became eligible for a vaccine here in DC at the beginning of April. The moment I was able to book my first shot I was overtaken by a surge of euphoria that I’ve not felt since … well, maybe last March. As we mark the anniversary of a grim year of Covid, and mourn the losses of so many, also lost has been a sense of optimism. Until my computer pinged that the appointment had been confirmed, I hadn’t been fully aware of what constant low-grade stress, anxiety, and pessimism I’d been operating under. As the nurse dabbed my bicep with alcohol in prep for the shot, she said, “I call this my little injection of hope.” Indeed, I’d never witnessed such a happy — giddy! — line of people waiting to get jabbed with a needle. As I stepped out into the spring sunlight, my arm throbbing ever so slightly, I thought: The party’s starting! *Note to conspiracy theorists: My wifi reception has not improved. :-(
Getting my injection, with magnification.
If you have not yet been jabbed yourself, I hope you will be very soon. We’ve come so far together and it’s time to rejoice together — ideally in person, close-up, maskless, and with a flagon of champagne.
I’m not sure how I would have got through this past year without the podcast and our listeners. I’m grateful to all of you — and I hope we’ve provided you with some fun and thoughtful distraction in return. Which brings me to the lion’s share of March… (And as always I’m including some quick video highlights from out YouTube channel in addition to links to the full episodes in case you missed them.)
"I Shocked My Left-Wing Family by Becoming a Cop"
Most mid-life crises don't go this way. We kicked off the month with Rosa Brooks, a successful law professor and mother of two — who startled her family (and herself) when she decided to become a D.C. cop. (Brooks is also the daughter of famous anti-establishment feminist Barbara Ehrenreich who, she noted, thought Rosa was selling out by becoming a lawyer!) Brooks signed up for the Washington, DC reserves in her forties and found herself policing some of the toughest neighborhoods in the city. She chatted with me about her new memoir, Tangled Up in Blue: Policing the American City which brings an insider view of the challenges police officers face day to day, especially when it comes to race and poverty. It’s also, like Rosa, totally charming.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Is the New Wave of Migrants a Threat to Western Feminism?
The global women's rights activist joined me and Muslim author/co-splainer Irshad Manji in a provocative conversation about the brutal challenges to women's rights posed by young male migrants from cultures that abuse and discriminate against women. As Ayaan wrote in her new book Prey: Immigration, Islam, and the Erosion of Women’s Rights:
It is no secret -- though it is considered impolite or politically incorrect to point out -- that the perpetrators [of many crimes against women] are disproportionately young immigrant men from the Middle East, South Asia, and various parts of Africa. Often operating in groups, they are making it increasingly unsafe for women to venture into a growing number of neighborhoods in European cities. It is the combination of … complex factors -- the modesty docrtine, the breakdown in social order, Islamicist orthodoxy, and an upbringing in some of the world’s most misogynistic societies -- that shapes the attitudes of so many of the young men migrating from Muslim-majority countries to Europe.
It’s important to stress that Ayaan was not making a case against immigration per se, but to recognize what happens when a receptive society fails to integrate new comers from vastly different cultural backgrounds.
Inside the Corrupt, Crazy World of College Admissions
The Varsity Blues scandal only seemed shocking if you were unaware of how rotten the system was already. Investigative journalist Nicole Laporte and The Atlantic's Caitlin Flanagan revealed how vast sums of money, hyper-competitive elites, lavish private schools, and rigged admissions made a con man like Rick Singer possible. LaPorte is the author of the newly published Guilty Admissions: The Bribes, Favors, and Phonies Behind the College Cheating Scandal . Beloved, regular co-splainer Flanagan recently wrote about the sick world of private schools for The Atlantic. (Fun fact: before becoming a celebrated writer, Caitlin worked as a guidance counselor at the super-fancy Harvard Westlake school in Los Angeles, where a few of Singer’s targets attended. In this episode, she talks about some of the reactions she got when she had to tell PowerParents that their darling Chloe or Chad was not going to Princeton…)
Wait, Grandpa Was a Nazi?!
Lastly, and still in “lion” mode, we heard the astonishing story of journalist Silvia Foti, author of the new book The Nazi's Granddaughter: How I Discovered My Grandfather was a War Criminal. Foti was told her whole life that her Lithuanian grandfather was a celebrated war hero -- until she began investigating a "rumor" that would eventually lead her to the shocking truth. Pulitzer-Prize winning historian Anne Applebaum joined me for a glass of wine up top to offer background on European collaboration, and how some seemingly “good” people ended up committing mass atrocities.
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Incoming: Our April Femsplainers!
Don’t miss our Awesome April line-up! New York Times best-selling author Julie Lythcott-Haims gives bracing advice to all you Millennials and Gen Z’ers who are having a hard time growing up. Her new book is Your Turn: How to Be an Adult.
Next up is the brilliant Sarah Longwell, Republican political strategist and publisher of the news and opinion website The Bulwark.
We’ll do a special on sex trafficking in America with expert Dr. Hanni Stoklosa, Executive Director of the non-profit, HEAL Trafficking.
And we’ll wind up the month with another NYT bestselling author, Abigail Tucker, who’ll talk about her forthcoming book, Mom Genes: Inside the New Science of Our Ancient Maternal Instinct.
Did we say awesome? We meant awesome.
Say, How About Becoming a Friend with Benefits?
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Thanks all!
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