Messy Liberation: Feminist Conversations about Politics and Pop Culture

Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown
  • 4.5 (16)
  • News Commentary
  • Updated Weekly

Join feminist coaches Taina Brown and Becky Mollenkamp for casual (and often deep) conversations about business, current events, politics, pop culture, and more. We’re not perfect activists or allies! These are our real-time, messy feminist perspectives on the world around us. This podcast is for you if you find yourself asking questions like: • Why is feminism important today? • What is intersectional feminism? • Can capitalism be ethical? • What does liberation mean? • Equity vs. equality — what's the difference and why does it matter? • What does a Trump victory mean for my life? • What is mutual aid? • How do we engage in collective action? • Can I find safety in community? • What's a feminist approach to ... ? • What's the feminist perspective on ...?

  1. 4d ago

    Hayden Panettiere's Death & Why America Fails Parents

    Feminist coaches and hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown unpack Hayden Panettiere's death and what it reveals about America's total failure to support new mothers. They dig into postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, and the maternal mental health crisis this country refuses to treat with any real structural support — and why that failure hits hardest along lines of race and class. In This Episode, We Get Into:• Hayden Panettiere's death, her public struggle with postpartum depression, and what her story reveals about how the entertainment industry treats mothers' mental health (including Neutrogena quietly dropping her as a spokesperson)• Becky's own experience with postpartum anxiety, and why "bouncing back" after birth is a myth nobody should be selling• Why postpartum screening in the U.S. is basically a checkbox on a form — and why that leads to massive underreporting, especially among Black and Latina mothers who have real reason to fear losing custody• The Britney Spears comparison and the impossible bind mothers are put in: too involved is controlling, too little is neglect• The age gap and power dynamics in Hayden's relationship, and how that context matters without villainizing anyone• Why childcare costs in America are a structural crisis, not a personal budgeting problem• How Europe's midwife home visits, paid leave, and universal pre-K show what real support could look like — and why the U.S. keeps moving backward instead• The difference between "making it work" and actually thriving as a parent• Taina's take on evangelicalism, moral hierarchies, and how "empathy is a bad word" rhetoric on the right traces back to Puritan control, not religious freedom• A call to action: what real, tangible community care looks like after someone gives birth or after someone dies — not just showing up once, but showing up for months 🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/

    Hayden Panettiere's Death & Why America Fails Parents

  2. Aug 11

    Why "Protect Women's Sports" Is a Lie

    Becky and Taina break down two former NBA players (Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White) declaring themselves eligible for the 2027 WNBA draft as a bad-faith stunt riding the wave of anti-trans hysteria in women's sports. They trace the manufactured controversy back to comments from Sophie Cunningham and Riley Gaines, unpack the real legislative threat (the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act), and connect the dots between "protecting girls," Title IX defunding, eugenics, and control of women's bodies. Timestamps:00:06 – Cold open / catching up00:36 – Setting up today's topic: two ex-NBA men declaring WNBA draft eligibility01:14 – Background: Sophie Cunningham's "protect biological women" comments, Riley Gaines, XXXY Apparel03:05 – Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve's "protect trans children" shirt; Gabby Williams pushes back04:45 – Race dynamics around Caitlin Clark vs. Black WNBA players04:59 – Enes Kanter Freedom formally declares for the WNBA draft06:49 – Royce White follows suit; his failed Senate runs and political motives07:48 – Royce White's "in touch with his feminine energy" routine09:45 – The real legislative threat: Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act (H.R. 28 / Senate Bill 9) and Title IX11:46 – "They're just dumb": basic biology, every fetus starts genetically female13:35 – The real agenda: control, not trans people — "heterosexual family values"17:10 – Sex is a spectrum: intersex variation explained19:15 – The slippery slope from body-as-utility thinking to eugenics21:37 – Bathroom policing, dehumanization, and the Gaza parallel22:47 – "Protecting girls" via pelvic exams — the Larry Nassar comparison24:23 – Shoutout to Megan Rapinoe; Title IX funding, Heritage Foundation, Project 202533:00 – Sitting with your own fear/bias instead of outsourcing the work to trans people36:39 – Real harm comes from inside the home, not from trans strangers39:04 – Race and the policing of femininity — why this falls hardest on Black women42:12 – Where are the men calling this out? Fragile masculinity43:14 – Declaring draft eligibility means nothing — no team is taking either of them43:48 – Closing thoughts: go meet a trans person; "we love you" 🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: https://feministpodcastcollective.com/

    Why "Protect Women's Sports" Is a Lie

  3. Aug 4

    Why Everyone's Obsessed with Wicker (And What It Says About Us)

    Becky and Taina are back from their summer Everything Is Political series with their regular weekly episode, kicking things off with the internet-breaking trailer for Wicker — the upcoming movie starring Olivia Colman, Alexander Skarsgård, and Peter Dinklage about a woman who marries a man made of wicker. What starts as trailer reactions turns into a wider conversation about the booming romance and "smutty romance" book industry, the trad wife movement's contradictions, media literacy, and who gets conditioned to be curious versus who doesn't. What we discussed:00:00 – Welcome back after the summer Everything Is Political series00:28 – Introducing today's topic: the Wicker trailer01:33 – First reactions to the trailer and the Bookstagram/BookTok buzz04:11 – Breaking down the premise (and the jokes about it)09:52 – "It's all men until it's not all men" — men continuing to fall short10:08 – The wicker husband, village jealousy, and the metal-collar marriage symbolism12:17 – Why this topic: free publicity and the bigger conversation about romance/smut15:39 – Trad wife influencers, rising conservatism, and the contradiction underneath it (Nara Smith)16:54 – Aside on the novel Yesteryear20:16 – Romance publishing stats: 52% revenue growth, $1.44B a year22:59 – Wicker as a modern fairy tale / parallels to Beauty and the Beast24:26 – Entertainment as propaganda: military movies and Hollywood contracts26:14 – Media literacy: why it matters for everything we consume, not just news31:21 – Privilege, curiosity, and who gets conditioned not to question things34:07 – Curiosity as joy; how liberal arts education changed things for Becky36:22 – The power of "why" and "what if" as questions43:00 – Wrap-up and plans to revisit after they've both seen the movie in October Resources mentioned:• Wicker trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP0BWBWn14I• "The Wicker Husband" short story: https://www.scribd.com/document/163478512/The-Wicker-Husban1• "Yesteryear" by Caro Claire Burke: https://amzn.to/3TEeLNs 🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/

    Why Everyone's Obsessed with Wicker (And What It Says About Us)

  4. Jul 27

    Everything Is Political: What We Learned From Our Whole Series

    On this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown look back on their "Everything Is Political" series — reflecting on agency, systemic bias, and intersectional feminism through conversations on trash and environmental racism, clothing equity, comedy and queer identity, book diversity, AI and data bias, and podcasting access. It's a candid, funny, and grounding recap for anyone trying to hold onto hope while facing systems designed to wear you down. In This Episode, We Get Into:• Why disengaging from online arguments can be an act of agency, not avoidance• The "not my ministry" mindset and choosing which conversations are actually worth your energy• How trash pickup reveals environmental racism and the myth of "universal" utilities• The beautification effect and why cared-for spaces get cared for• How access to clothing that fits shapes self-worth, agency, and daily choices• Becky's deep dive into Universal Standard sizing and why "medium" is doing a lot of political work• What Dahlia Belle's Netflix special Gender Agenda revealed about comedy, pronouns, and survival• Becky's book-tracking dashboard and what it exposed about whose voices she was (and wasn't) reading• Why AI and algorithms only look backward, and what that means for bias and representation• Who gets the mic in podcasting, and why access doesn't always mean equity 🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/

    Everything Is Political: What We Learned From Our Whole Series

  5. Jul 20

    How Biased Data Is Used to Reinforce Racism, Sexism, and the Status Quo

    In this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown sit down with data and analytics professional Millie to explore why data is never as neutral as it looks — and why that matters for everyone. From biased medical studies and skewed incarceration stats to the politics of AI, the census, and your personal data being sold without your consent, this conversation connects the dots between numbers on a screen and the power structures shaping our lives. In This Episode, We Get Into:• Why data isn't neutral, and how human bias gets baked in at every stage of collection, analysis, and presentation• How manipulated charts, skewed infographics, and decontextualized research statistics mislead the public• Real-world examples of data bias causing serious harm: medication dosages, Plan B effectiveness, census undercounting, and school funding• The deeply troubling way incarceration data is used to reinforce racist narratives about Black and brown communities• How AI inherits and amplifies data bias, and why "garbage in, garbage out" is a phrase everyone should know• What data literacy actually looks like, and how to become a smarter, more critical consumer of statistics and studies• The GDPR, browser cookies, and why your personal data is already a product being sold without your cut• How to use public open data resources (like NYC Open Data) to engage with information in your community 🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/

    How Biased Data Is Used to Reinforce Racism, Sexism, and the Status Quo

  6. Jul 13

    Podcasting Is Political: Who Profits, Who Gets Erased, and What You Can Do About It (with Sarah Heeter)

    In this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown sit down with Sarah Heeter — podcast producer, strategist, and founder of PodFox Media — to dig into the deeply political nature of the podcasting world. From who gets to profit and who gets erased by the algorithm, to how podcasts are reshaping elections and what your listening habits actually mean, this is the intersectional feminist media analysis you didn't know you needed. In This Episode, We Get Into:• Why podcasting is a political medium, even when the content has nothing to do with politics• The gatekeeping problem: who profits most from podcasting (spoiler: it's mostly white men) and what that means for independent creators• How the 2020 celebrity podcast boom reshaped the entire industry, and who it left behind• The 2024 election strategy of using podcasts as campaign tools, and what that means for democracy and misinformation• The responsibility of podcast hosts and producers to vet guests, set core values, and decide what they put their name on• Why podcast listeners are disproportionately persuadable and what top creators are doing with that influence• How consumers and independent creators can make intentional, values-aligned choices in both what they listen to and who they platform• The power of community resources like the Feminist Podcasters Collective to amplify marginalized indie voices• Why 50 loyal podcast listeners means more than 100K TikTok views, and how to think about audience depth vs. follower counts• The unresolved questions about video podcasting, transcripts, AI, and accessibility that are already shaping who can participate in this space Resources Mentioned:• PodFox Media: https://podfoxmedia.com/• Big Brave Business podcast: https://bigbravebusiness.com/• Feminist Podcasters Collective: https://feministpodcastcollective.com• Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/• Listen Notes: https://www.listennotes.com/ 🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/

    Podcasting Is Political: Who Profits, Who Gets Erased, and What You Can Do About It (with Sarah Heeter)

  7. Jul 6

    The Politics of Who Gets to Be Funny: Trans Comedian Mx. Dahlia Belle Tells All!

    In this episode of Messy Liberation, host Becky Mollenkamp sits down with comedian and writer Mx. Dahlia Belle to pull back the curtain on the deeply political world of stand-up comedy. From gatekeeping and blacklisting to biased algorithms and the consent politics of who gets to make jokes about whom, this conversation is an essential intersectional feminist guide to understanding comedy as a site of power and resistance. In This Episode, We Get Into:• How Mx. Dahlia Belle went from writing a viral Guardian piece about Dave Chappelle to appearing on Hannah Gadsby's Netflix special Gender Agenda, and what happened to their career immediately after• Why comedy is a pyramid scheme: how the most powerful comics in any scene control who gets booked, who gets stage time, and who gets shut out• The self-replicating myth that women and trans people "aren't funny," and how internalized bias keeps marginalized audiences away from shows that could change that• How biased algorithms compound gatekeeping, and what it means when a comic's social media following matters more than their actual craft• The nuanced take on punching up vs. punching down, and why Mx. Dahlia Belle's real gauge is whether the joke lands for someone who loves them and someone who hates them• The violence and predation inside comedy scenes, and how it was the women who blew the whistle on abusers who got blacklisted, not the abusers themselves• Why stand-up is uniquely inseparable from the artist's character, and why "separating the art from the artist" doesn't work the same way for comedy as it does for painting or fiction• The concept of consent in comedy: who has the right to tell a joke about a particular identity, and what it means when that consent is absent• Where to actually find queer and alt comedy in your city (and why you should probably boycott your local mainstream comedy club)• Why marginalized people tend to be more creative, funnier, and more imaginative because survival demands it Resources Mentioned:• Mx. Dahlia Belle's "Dear Dave Chappelle" piece for the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2021/oct/09/dave-chappelle-letter-trans-comedian-netflix• Hannah Gadsby's Gender Agenda on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81607199• "The Algorithms of Opression" by Safiya Umoja Noble: https://amzn.to/439nUPL• Comedian Devi Kersh: https://www.instagram.com/devikirsch/• Comedian Sir Lance Edward: https://www.instagram.com/sir_lance_edward_comedy/• Mx. Dahlia Belle on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/MX.DAHLIABELLE/• Mx. Dahlia Belle on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@mx.dahliabelle/• Mx. Dahla Belle on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@mxdahliabelle 🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/

    The Politics of Who Gets to Be Funny: Trans Comedian Mx. Dahlia Belle Tells All!

  8. Jun 29

    The Politics of Your Closet: Body Liberation, Fast Fashion, and What You're Actually Allowed to Wear

    In this episode of Messy Liberation, hosts Becky Mollenkamp and Taina Brown sit down with personal stylist and body liberation advocate Dacy Gillespie of Mindful Closet to unpack the deeply political nature of fashion and clothing. From workplace dress codes rooted in white supremacy to the impossible standards placed on larger bodies, the return of "heroin chic," modesty culture, and the radical act of letting your hair go gray — this conversation is for anyone who has ever stood in their closet feeling like nothing fits, nothing's allowed, and nothing will ever be enough. In This Episode, We Get Into: How Dacy's mother organizing workers in a sewing factory planted the seed for her life's work — and why she was raised to believe caring about clothes was shamefulThe way workplace "professionalism" is really just a dress code for "look as much like a white man as possible" — and who pays the price for deviating from itFashion as code-switching: the daily calculation people of color, trans folks, and anyone outside the norm make about how much of themselves to revealTrayvon Martin and the deadly, literal consequences of what you're wearingWhy Dacy won't tell you what's "flattering" — and why her forthcoming book is called UnflatteringThe return of 90s "heroin chic" body ideals and the terror of watching it happen again in the age of GLP-1sSize scarcity: why plus-size people are often left with ten moomoos and good luck — including the callout of Lucy and Yak removing their 4X sizingModesty, the Missouri House's no-bare-shoulders rule, and how women's bodies are treated as a liability in public spacesWhat Chappell Roan at the Grammys has to do with the sexual double standardAging, perimenopause, and the radical act of collecting images of women who actually look like youWhy your mental health and feeling good in your body is always the top priority — even if that means buying from TargetResources Mentioned: • Dacy Gillespie: https://www.mindfulcloset.com/• Dacy's Substack newsletter, "Unflattering": https://dacygillespie.substack.com/• "The Body Is Not an Apology" by Sonya Renee Taylor: https://amzn.to/4uNa3L8• Dress for Success Midwest: https://midwest.dressforsuccess.org/ 🎤 JOIN US IN THE FEMINIST PODCASTERS COLLECTIVE: http://feministpodcastcollective.com/

    The Politics of Your Closet: Body Liberation, Fast Fashion, and What You're Actually Allowed to Wear
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Join feminist coaches Taina Brown and Becky Mollenkamp for casual (and often deep) conversations about business, current events, politics, pop culture, and more. We’re not perfect activists or allies! These are our real-time, messy feminist perspectives on the world around us. This podcast is for you if you find yourself asking questions like: • Why is feminism important today? • What is intersectional feminism? • Can capitalism be ethical? • What does liberation mean? • Equity vs. equality — what's the difference and why does it matter? • What does a Trump victory mean for my life? • What is mutual aid? • How do we engage in collective action? • Can I find safety in community? • What's a feminist approach to ... ? • What's the feminist perspective on ...?

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