Episodes

Wednesday Dec 18, 2024
PATREON PREVIEW: If Spotify Wrapped Has Zero Haters, I’m Dead
Wednesday Dec 18, 2024
Wednesday Dec 18, 2024
Hello everyone! This week we are off for the holiday season. Instead of the usual episode, please enjoy a 10 minute preview of our Patreon exclusive discussion on Spotify Wrapped and why we are long-standing haters.
We talk about the data surveillance inherent to Wrapped, its exploitative origins, and how it relates to "conspicuous consumption."
Check out the full conversation over on our Patreon.
Check out Soaliha’s Substack Soaliloquy and Mitch’s Substack DIAGRAMMA.
Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree
Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree
Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com
PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha
Sources:
The Intern Who Created Spotify Wrapped’s Story Format Never Got Her Due
Gen Z's Fear Of Cringe Is Actually Making Dating Harder

Wednesday Dec 04, 2024
Is It Ok to Talk About Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s Bodies?
Wednesday Dec 04, 2024
Wednesday Dec 04, 2024
This week we talk about celebrity culture, body positivity, and whether it’s ever okay to talk about other people’s bodies — no matter how famous they are.
We discuss the Wicked press tour, the eating disorder to white supremacy pipeline, and the role celebrities play in our society.
Content warning: this episode discusses disordered eating.
Check out Soaliha’s Substack Soaliloquy and Mitch’s Substack DIAGRAMMA.
Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree
Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree
Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com
PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha
Sources:
https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSjqwYhB4/
https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSjqwXSB6/
https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSjqwCQpH/
https://x.com/MashaParty/status/1859618868194341249

Wednesday Nov 20, 2024
The Internet Is (not) Forever
Wednesday Nov 20, 2024
Wednesday Nov 20, 2024
This week we discuss the power of storytelling as a tool for preserving history — and how that preservation is not only being undermined, but is actively under threat thanks to platform capitalism.
We talk about ‘the write side of history’ panel at Muslim Agenda, the way narratives are shaped and disseminated by mediators like news publications and streaming services, and the importance of having physical media like books at a time where Palestinian stories are being lost to the ether.
Check out Soaliha’s Substack Soaliloquy and Mitch’s Substack DIAGRAMMA.
Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree
Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree
Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com
PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha
Sources:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBgZ7Xlug2D/?igsh=dm5vemR5OTh1YW42
The Battle Is For The Customer Interface | TechCrunch

Wednesday Nov 06, 2024
Puriteens, Smut & Sabrina Carpenter
Wednesday Nov 06, 2024
Wednesday Nov 06, 2024
This week we talk about the rise of puriteens—a portmanteau of puritans and teenagers—and how their sexphobia, suspicion, and moral policing are shaping how sex is talked about and represented online.
We discuss the prevalence of puriteenism across BookTok and other platforms, interrogating their criticisms of the dark romance genre, sex scenes in movies, and the wardrobe of Sabrina Carpenter, and examine what they get wrong about sex and sexuality — and also what they get right.
Check out Soaliha’s Substack Soaliloquy and Mitch’s Substack DIAGRAMMA.
Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree
Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree
Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com
PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha
Sources:
Puritanism took over online fandom — and then came for the rest of the internet
Are Sex-Negative 'Puriteens' Actually Taking Over the Internet?

Wednesday Oct 23, 2024
Unsafe vs. Uncomfortable
Wednesday Oct 23, 2024
Wednesday Oct 23, 2024
This week we talk about feeling “uncomfortable” compared to feeling “unsafe”, and how these terms have become conflated in conversations around free speech and protests against genocide in Palestine.
We discuss what it actually means to be unsafe, the way safety as a concept has been weaponised against marginalised folk, and the importance of sitting with discomfort for growth and reconciliation.
Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree
Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree
Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com
PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha
Sources:
Students arrested at Western Sydney University during Palestine protest - Honi Soit
Working for safety collectively - Overland literary journal
Right-wing pro-Israel agitators threaten free speech on campus

Wednesday Oct 09, 2024
Objectivity as a Colonial Myth
Wednesday Oct 09, 2024
Wednesday Oct 09, 2024
This week we talk about the concept of being “objective” in western media as discussed in Amy McQiure’s new book ‘Black Witness’: how objectivity is not only weaponised against marginalised folks, but is a state that isn’t even possible to reach in the first place.
We discuss the Australian media’s bias towards pro-Israel coverage, the systematic undermining of non-white journalists in matters of race and white supremacy, and the allegations of racism in the ABC (specifically, Antoinette Lattouf’s court case and the recent episode of Media Watch that targeted Tony Armstrong).
Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree
Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree
Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com
PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha
Sources:
Objectivity serves the powerful, and silences the oppressed
Failing Gaza: Pro-Israel bias uncovered behind the lens of Western media | Al Jazeera
Listen Loudly, Act Strongly report
Secret WhatsApp messages show co-ordinated campaign to oust Antoinette Lattouf from ABC
Tony Armstrong Was Spammed With Racist Abuse After His Own Employer (The ABC) Ran A Hit Piece
fast fashion inhibits creativity and personal style 🗣️ (with receipts... | TikTok

Wednesday Sep 11, 2024
Barbie’s Gender Theory
Wednesday Sep 11, 2024
Wednesday Sep 11, 2024
This week we talk about Barbie (2023) — was the endlessly hyped film a feminist masterpiece, or just a massive toy commercial? Or perhaps, something else?
We discuss the history of Barbie, the film’s gender theory and the queerness of Allan, and line it all up against Judith Butler’s Gender Trouble.
Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree
Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree
Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com
PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha
Sources:
Meet Lilli, the High-end German Call Girl Who Became Barbie
Guys Who Think The Barbie Movie Hates On Men Clearly Didn't Watch It
Judith Butler, Gender Trouble, 1989

Wednesday Aug 28, 2024
Blake Lively, Chappell Roan and What Celebrities Owe Us
Wednesday Aug 28, 2024
Wednesday Aug 28, 2024
This week we talk about celebrities, PR disasters and the difference between what celebrities give us, and what they owe us.
We talk about the It Ends With Us film adaptation (and the surrounding drama), Blake Lively’s dumpsterfire of a press tour and Chappell Roan’s latest assertion of boundaries.
Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree
Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree
Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com
PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha
Sources:
Blake Lively on Fame, Family, Good Fortune—And Becoming a Glamorous Jewel Thief for Baz Luhrmann
Blake Lively's hair care secret is using no conditioner! Should you skip it too?
Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively apologize for plantation wedding
Alcohol/drug-involved family violence in Australia (ADIVA): key findings
Factors associated with FDSV - Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
Ryan Reynolds and Justin Baldoni’s ‘It Ends With Us’ Drama

Wednesday Aug 14, 2024
The Myth of the Tradwife
Wednesday Aug 14, 2024
Wednesday Aug 14, 2024
This week we talk about ‘tradwives’: what are they, where did they come from, and why is their content so popular right now?
We discuss the ahistorical nostalgia that tradwives are predicated on, the politics of their labor and the neocolonial nature of homesteading. Really, we ask the question: does the ‘tradwife’ as we know her actually exist, or is she a mythic projection?
Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree
Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree
Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com
PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha
Sources:
I'm a trad woman. I think other women secretly wish they were too | SBS Insight
Unpacking The Ballerina Farm Discourse & What it Means For The Tradwife Movement – Centennial World

Wednesday Jul 31, 2024
The Cruel Optimism of Kamala Harris
Wednesday Jul 31, 2024
Wednesday Jul 31, 2024
We're back!
This week we discuss the internet frenzy around presidential candidate Kamala Harris and our collective amnesia surrounding her previous (and conservative) policies.
We talk about her contradictory political history, the abject failure of US democracy and whether radical change can truly be enacted via electoral politics.
Soaliha: @soalihaofficial & Linktree
Mitch: @mitchs.miscellanea & Linktree
Email: heresthethingthopodcast@gmail.com
PayPal: PayPal.me/soaliha
Sources:
Report: The War on Marijuana in Black and White | American Civil Liberties Union
How Kamala Harris Fought to Keep Nonviolent Prisoners Locked Up - The American Prospect
Opinion | Kamala Harris Was Not a ‘Progressive Prosecutor’ - The New York Times
Kamala Harris’ A.G. Office Tried to Keep Inmates Locked Up for Cheap Labor
Twitter thread of Kamala Harris' speeches on truancy and criminal justice reform
Kamala Harris Takes 'Responsibility' for Opposing Trans Surgeries
US to allow migrants from Mexico as critics slam ‘kids in cages’ | Migration News | Al Jazeera