Toxic Toxic podcast hosted by Amanda Kippert and Jenna Brandl

For the love of all things holy, can we just start believing women? I guess not. That's why we're going to keep doing this podcast. 
Jazzy reached out to Toxic to tell her story after escaping an abusive partner, with whom she had a child. His abuse ramped up while she was pregnant—an unfortuantely common trait among a-hole abusers who may or not feel like a pregnancy takes attention away from THEM and that's just not going to stand. 
But Jazzy is smart and she recorded his tirades, his threats and even him admitting to putting his hands around her neck. She took this evidence to a court of law which promptly found the abuser not guilty, claiming there was no way they could tell if she had fabricated this recording. Because yes, that's what us women do with our time.
It's not like there's a shortage of abusive men—we certainly do not have to lie and pretend they exist. But, it is any easy way for an abuser to shift the blame.
Listen to Jazzy's story in her own words and then consider checking out her podcast on finding financial independence called First Hustle Then Brunch (which Amanda was honored to make a guest appeareance on last October for Domestic Violence Awareness Month. You can listen to that episode here.)
If you suspect you're in danger at home and a partner is escalating their violence, please consider utilizing one of these Danger Assessment Tools. 
Do you have a story you think we need to discuss or a guest we should have on? Visit us at ToxicthePodcast.com and tell us all about it. 
As always, if you are experiencing abuse or domestic violence, please consider disclosing to someone you trust. You can also reach out to a trained domestic violence advocate—find one near you at DomesticShelters.org.
Please help us spread this conversation further by sharing an episode of Toxic with a friend, your petsitter, a random stranger in line at the grocery store, etc., by following us on your favorite podcast platform or social media, or by leaving us a review. We appreciate you. 

On April 27, 30-year-old Mica Miller from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was found dead at Lumbar River State Park in North Carolina from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to her temple.
Leading up to her death, her pastor husband John-Paul Miller told his congregation that his wife was battling mental health problems, that she had been hospitalized, that she had left him and that she had stolen his money. It was a bizarre combination of asking for empathy for her and sympathy for him.
But not everyone was on #teampoorhusband because just weeks before her suicide, Mica had posted a video about abuse within a relationship. And friends say she was trying to escape her husband. Her tires had been slashed twice by an unknown assailant. There was a tracker on her car. 
As more details emerge on this still-active investigation, there are so many questions to be answered. But here's one truth we know: men in positions of power, like those behind a pulpit, will use any excuse, especially religion, to justify their entitlement to control women. Jenna and Amanda talk spiritual abuse, toxic triangulation and more in this episode. 
Do you have a story you think we need to discuss or a guest we should have on? Visit us at ToxicthePodcast.com and tell us all about it. 
Please help us spread this conversation further by sharing an episode of Toxic with a friend, your dentist, a random stranger in line at the grocery store, etc., by following us on your favorite podcast platform or social media, or by leaving us a review. We appreciate you. 

The Arizona Supreme Court, in all its supreme wisdom, recently ruled that a Civil War-era law from 1864, which amounts to a total ban on abortion, could be enforced. Because why not return to the time before women were ever in government, before we could vote or open bank accounts, when "wife beating" was still legal and when the average birth rate was 7.04 children per woman? THAT SOUNDS AWESOME. The ladies discuss what in the fadoodles is going on in Amanda's state. 
Then, as promised in our last episode, we're circling back with actual info on this 4B Movement in South Korea. What is it and why should we hold off on applauding it (spoiler: It's TERF-y)? Plus, is eschewing men the best way to get things to change or do we need them on our side? There are arguments to be made for both sides. 
Do you have a story you think we need to discuss or a guest we should have on? Visit us at ToxicthePodcast.com and tell us all about it. 
Please help us spread this conversation further by sharing an episode of Toxic with a friend, your dentist, a random stranger in line at the grocery store, etc., by following us on your favorite podcast platform or social media, or by leaving us a [positive] review. We appreciate you! 
 

It's time for Amanda and Jenna to break down Diddy's misdeeds. For the past 30 years, we've heard the rumblings but now, thanks to some brave survivors speaking out, it's all coming to light. Like so many rich and powerful men before (and after) him, Diddy has used his billionaire fortune and his I-can-make-things-happen-for-you power to control, intimidate, assault, harass and abuse women (and men) and then pay off anyone who might speak out about it. We're talking grooming, rape, sexual coercion, trafficking, drugs, weapons, a car bomb ... Diddy's been busy and it's time he face the music, no pun intended. Or maybe there is a pun there. Either way, he's gross.
Do you have a story you think we need to discuss or a guest we should have on? Visit us at ToxicthePodcast.com and tell us all about it. 
Please help us spread this conversation further by sharing an episode of Toxic with a friend, your dentist, a random stranger in line at the grocery store, etc., by following us on your favorite podcast platform or social media, or by leaving us a review. We appreciate you. 
 

Family court can be an effed up place. Instead of protecting kids and listening to women, it's unfortunately mostly run by men who side with men and listen to men about men things. As such, if an abusive parent has enough money, they can not only buy custody of their kids, they can also buy the right to torture the other parent. Enter a for-profit scam called parental reunification camps. Run by unqualified and unlicensed individuals, they convince family courts to let them have custody of children in the midst of abuse, traffick them out of state away from their protective parent and then force them to "reunify" with their abusive parent through a series of weird, brainwashing type activities. And it's legal! 
Ally was sent to one such camp at 16, along with her 14-year-old sister, after they reported that they didn't feel safe with their abusive father. As anyone with teens knows, you can hardly convince them to wear a jacket on a 20-below day in winter. What makes adults think they can convince them to disbelieve their own reality of being abused? Jokes on these abuse enablers though—as these young survivors age out of their gag orders, many are choosing to speak out—and they have a LOT to say. 
Do you have a story you think we need to discuss or a guest we should have on? Visit us at ToxicthePodcast.com and tell us all about it. 
Please help us spread this conversation further by sharing an episode of Toxic with a friend, your hairdresser, the pizza delivery guy, a fellow parent in the pick-up line at school, etc., by following us on your favorite podcast platform or social media, or by leaving us a review. It greatly helps us in spreading the word that these issues are ongoing. We appreciate you. 

When masculinity is narrowly defined as lumberjacking and giant biceps, men who don't fit this stereotype are left feeling like they need to prove their manliness in other ways—sometimes harmful and violent ways. A narrow and outdated definition of masculinity harms all people and all gender identities and continues to put women in danger.
Luckily, there are groups out there like MCSR, formerly known as Men Can Stop Rape, an international nonprofit working to mobilize men to use their strength for creating cultures free from violence, especially men’s violence against women. Through their MOST (Men of Strength) Clubs, they're giving young men and boys a safe space to examine what masculinity looks like outside of harmful stereotypes and giving men tools to push back against their peers who still think the cavemen tactic of clubbing women in order to win them over is a foolproof plan. 
Our special guest today is Josh Bailey, Community Education Manager for MCSR’s Community Education Department. Yes, we're giving a man a microphone but we promise it pays off. 
Do you have a story you think we need to discuss or a guest we should have on? Visit us at ToxicthePodcast.com and tell us all about it. 
Please help us spread this conversation further by sharing an episode of Toxic with someone in your life who's as smart and fired up as you, by following us on your favorite podcast platform or social media, or by leaving us a review below. We appreciate you!