Toxic Toxic podcast hosted by Amanda Kippert and Jenna Brandl

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! 
 

In yet another chapter of the popular tome, It's All Her Fault: Why Women Can Never Do Anything Right Including Simply Breathing, we discuss why women who manage to be talented and successful are then torn down for being talented and successful until they're not talented or successful any longer at which point they'll be criticized for not trying hard enough. 
In this case, it's Taylor Swift's turn. In case you missed the absurd headlines of late, right-wing conspiracy theorists, MAGA folk, Qanon and Fox News have decided to band together and push this idea that T. Swift has been implanted into the obviously highly influential world of the National Football League via the government, along with her tight end (giggle) boyfriend Travis Kelce, in order to then get a larger platform than she already had before to convince the whole of the United States of America to vote for President Joe Biden in the upcoming election.
Whether or not you're a Swiftie, this trend of tearing successful women down (by both men and other women, sadly) is one we need to end. It's giving middle school bullies. It's giving petty. And it's also mirroring abuse in a lot of ways.
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. (You can also find merch!)
Please help us spread this conversation further by sharing an episode of Toxic with a friend at this Sunday's Super Bowl party, or maybe just a random stranger in line at the grocery store while you're buying ingredients for guacamole. We would also so appreciate a rating or review so that this pod may reach more people to start even more conversations about ending violence against women. Thank you and we appreciate you.