Here's The Thing, Tho with Soaliha Soaliha & Mitch

Hello friends! This week's episode is a repost from SBS's five-part podcast series My Ramadan, which Soaliha appeared on last week and we've added a preamble to. SBS has given us permission to reshare it here, the following is their description of the episode:
From intermittent fasting to Sydney’s iconic Lakemba markets, Ramadan has developed a mainstream visibility and hipster cachet it didn’t used to have. How do Gen Z Muslims in the West square this with historic Islamophobia? Journalist and podcaster Soaliha Iqbal and writer Lina Ali discuss the hipsterfication of Ramadan with host Sarah Malik.
Enjoy!
 
Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree
Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/soaliha
Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com
PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha 
Facebook Group: Here’s The Thing, Tho With Soaliha Podcast Group 
 

This week we discuss James Cameron’s infamous Avatar films, specifically focusing on the second film and its fetishisation of colonialism. Buckle up folks, it’s a wild ride.
We talk about colonialism and environmental destruction as a spectacle, the myth of the Noble Savage and the White Messiah, nuclear families and heteronormative depictions of intimacy and domination, and of course, the usual topics of sexism, racism, misogyny and cultural appropriation.
 
Recommendations: 
It’s Not About The Burqa — a collection of essays edited by Mariam Khan. My favourite chapters: 
On The Representation Of Muslims: Terms and Conditions Apply by Nafisa Bakkar
Between Submission And Threat: The British State’s Contradictory Relationship With Muslim Women by Malia Bouattia
A Woman Of Substance by Saima Mir
 
Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree
Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/soaliha
Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com
PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha 
Facebook Group: Here’s The Thing, Tho With Soaliha Podcast Group 
 
Sources:
'Avatar 2' Production Designers Explain Every Vehicle in 'The Way of Water,' From SeaDragons to Skel Suits
'Avatar 2' VFX Team on the Evolution of the Tulkun and Simulating Water for Performance Capture  
'Avatar 2' Cast: What 'The Way of Water' Cast Really Looks Like - Variety 
Indigenous people slam Avatar (again) for tropes and inaccuracies 
Opinion | The Messiah Complex - The New York Times
Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation, 1981

Warning: This episode contains discussions of sexual assault and image-based abuse.
This week we discuss the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in recent months and its political implications with respect to labour, capitalism, racism, and sexism. 
We also discuss how new AI technologies are being used to perpetuate violence against women in the case of deepfake pornography.
 
Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree
Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/soaliha
Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com
PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha 
Facebook Group: Here’s The Thing, Tho With Soaliha Podcast Group 
 
Sources:
Vic Police Defends Protective Services Officer Who Slapped 11YO Across The Face During Arrest 
Yes, Black officers killed Tyre Nichols. What is the correct response to that? | Reverend William Barber and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove | The Guardian 
AI generated image wins Australian photo comp 
Why Don’t We Treat Non-Consensual Deepfake Porn Of Women As Rape? 
How an Evil Clown, a Haitian Trickster Spirit, Two Wizards, and a Cast of Dozens Turned a Database Into a Society  
Researcher Says Her Avatar Was Raped On Meta's Metaverse Platform 
Where Does Meaning Come From? | Alexander R. Galloway
Soaliha’s book recommendation: Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone 
 

This week we discuss the pervasive notion of “reproductive futurism” and how it relates to current issues such as abortion rights, queerphobia, and climate change.
We talk about how reproductive futurism – the dominant political order which privileges future children over everything else – structures all aspects of our society and shapes both progressive and conservative thought.
 
Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree
Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/soaliha
Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com
PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha 
Facebook Group: Here’s The Thing, Tho With Soaliha Podcast Group 
 
Sources:
No Future: Queer Theory and the Death Drive, Lee Edelman, 2004
1 in 3 American women have already lost abortion access. More restrictive laws are coming. - The Washington Post 
How 1970s Christian crusader Anita Bryant helped spawn Florida's LGBTQ culture war

This week we discuss a series of alarming recordings that were leaked by a Queensland police officer, and a scandalous recycling story which revealed just how precarious recycling is.
We talk about the broader culture of racism in our police institutions, the girlbossification of policing, identity politics and the fundamental links between our recycling industry, consumerism and capitalism. Oh, and we discuss Love Is Blind S3 of course.
 
Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree
Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/soaliha
Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com
PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha 
Facebook Group: Here’s The Thing, Tho With Soaliha Podcast Group 
 
Sources:
Police dog bite sparks outrage as 13-year-old WA boy Jayden Abraham suffers severe injuries 
Leaked audio reveals Queensland police staff in racist conversations, joking about violence to black people and protesters 
Head of Queensland police First Nations unit investigated for alleged racism 
For Fuck's Sake: The Boss Of Qld Police's First Nations Unit Is Under Investigation For Racism 
Queensland police promoted officer who called colleague a ‘towelhead’ and had history of bullying
REDcycle's collapse is more proof that plastic recycling is a broken system - ABC News

This week we discuss representation, toxic identity politics and celebrity queerbaiting. 
We talk about the cancellation of Constance Wu, the way we punish actors for not representing their communities perfectly, and how fandom weaponised the term “queerbaiting” to punish Kit Connor. 
 
Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree
Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/soaliha
Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com
PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha 
Facebook Group: Here’s The Thing, Tho With Soaliha Podcast Group 
 
Sources
Selena Gomez Wasn't Sure She Was Ready To Tell This Story
HotD Needs More Female Directors Because *That* Finale Scene Was Needlessly Traumatising For Viewers
Just Gonna Say It: Constance Wu's Heartbreaking Sexual Harassment Story Is Familiar To All WOC 
What is 'queerbaiting' and how did the internet turn it into a weapon? | SBS The Feed 
Queerbaiting and Fandom, edited by Joseph Brennan, 2019
“The Queer Public and its Problem with Representation,” Tyler Quick, The Velvet Light Trap No. 86, 2020