Genderblog: SiJ Podcast, Battle of Ideas and Manchester

Podding along

Hi everyone

Marking your card for a few things.

SEEN in Journalism has a podcast!

Cath, one of the dynamic powerhouses behind SEENinJournalism (SEEN stands for Sex Equality and Equity Network, of which there are many) very kindly invited me to be the guest on the second ever SiJ podcast. I was unsure as there are at least a thousand better-qualified people available to fill this role, but Cath made the point that journalism is partly about timeliness, and she wanted to get some timely reflections on being at and live-tweeting from the Glinner trial.

Cath and Jo-Anne (top left and bottom right) asked the questions. Sam, ace producer (bottom left), made all happen. It is nowhere near as good as the first SiJ podcast, which features Cath, Jo-Anne and Sam talking about their own experiences of working at the BBC, before and during its current its flat earth phase, and it dwarfs into insignificance compared to the third and fourth podcasts which respectively feature Dr Helen Joyce off of the Trans book and Sex Matters and Susan Smith off of For Women Scotland. I’ve worked in the media for a while now, yet listening to Cath and her guests and co-hosts talk so expertly about their experiences is such an eye-opener. If you want to know how the media works and fails to work, this is the podcast for you. The next guest is Faika El Nagashi. The podcast isn't out yet, but SiJ have written up part of their conversation with her.

Complete Faika

Speaking of ideas battles

I am delighted to be taking part in two panels on the Saturday Battle of Ideas festival in Central London on the weekend of 18/19 October). The first panel is a lunchtime affair marking the 100th anniversary of Franz Kafka’s The Trial. I read Kafka as a kid and probably had some GCSE-level understanding of what Kafka-esque meant, so when people started talking about the situation the Subpostmasters were in as being Kafka-esque, I thought I understood it.

When I started writing The Great Post Office Scandal I wanted to call the chapter about Seema Misra’s trial, "The Trial", but I thought in order to earn that right I needed to read and research The Trial properly, and see whether it really applied to Seema’s situation, so I did. The tl:dr is that what the Subpostmasters went through (and are going through) is demonstrably Kafka-esque and a GCSE or A-level understanding of what that means is likely largely correct.

If you want to come and explore these ideas further for a live edition of Jack Aldane’s Booking podcast at the Battle of Ideas, the venue is the Harvey Goodwin Suite, Church House and the time you need to turn up is 1.30pm (but please buy a pass first!). To ensure the panel has both relevance and intellectual credibility (neither of which I can supply), Kafka expert John Yorke will be joining us as will Maxie Allen, my occasional boss at Times Radio. Maxie is an unassuming chap who found himself front page news when he was arrested by the police without being told the specifics of the crime he was supposed to have committed, just like Josef K in The Trial. Amazing, right?

The other panel I am doing at the Battle of Ideas starts at 4.45pm at the Parker Morris Hall, Abbey Centre venue. It has the heady title Rape Gangs, Post Office And Scottish Self-Id: An Anatomy Of Three Scandals and this features Baroness Claire Fox grilling Susan Smith (For Women Scotland), Charlie Peters (GB News) and me about the above. God knows where this discussion is going to go, but I expect it will be lively.

Faika El Nagashi will also be at the Battle of Ideas on Sunday at a "Beyond Terf Island" panel with Kara Dansky, Bev Jackson and Stella O’Malley (Fiona McEnena is talking about her book earlier on the Sunday). Other speakers at the event on one or both of the two days (check the insanely busy programme) include Venice Allan, Jo Bartosch, Julie Bindel, Marion Calder, Tanya de Grunwald, Sonia Douglas, Rosie Duffield, Tracy Edwards, Simon Fanshawe, Maya Forstater, Sonia Gallego, Dr Az Hakeem, Milli Hill - bloody hell - I've only got to H in the list. It's a big list. Do come if you can. I will be meeting some heroes for the first time and I'm very much looking forward to it.

Manchester Fringe Festival

I am very excited to be involved with the inaugural Inciteful Sisters/WRN Manchester Fringe Book Festival on Sat 29 November at an as yet undisclosed (but definitely booked) venue in central Manchester. The first thing I am doing that day is talking about the Post Office scandal to Bex from the Inciteful Sisters podcast and then later I get to ask questions (alongside Jo Bartosch) of journalist Susan Dalgety to ask her about the Women Who Wouldn’t Wheesht book which she co-edited. I think I am right in saying Jo will take a turn answering questions in another discussion about her forthcoming book Pornocracy. It's only £15 for the whole day! Please come if you're in the area.

Rattle Bag

Subscribers to Ian Leslie’s substack The Ruffian will have heard of the phrase “rattle bag”, which refers to random links about interesting stuff. The following might be old hat to you, they might be new news. (£) by any link means you need a subscription and if you don't have a twitter account, I would recommend it. It is free and as someone once said "twitter is the flat roof murder pub of social media. And we're all here for the lock in".

This is what has been keeping me scrolling at night:

Rebecca Says No: The Gender Identity Rewrite of Mental Illness on the Glinner substack. Rebecca writes superbly about the genderwang from a clinical perspective.

Roisin Michaux is a Dubliner roaming the gender corridors of Europe. Her The first rule of queer club, is well worth your time.

Sarah Mittermaier/Eliza Mondegreen on gender;hacked writes with verve and gets very involved in the US gender madness. I love her stuff.

I have yet to complete Fiona McEnena's new book Terf Island, but after three chapters I love it. Fiona's writing style takes no prisoners, so it reads like a thriller. There were some distribution issues when it was released, but no longer. It's on Amazon Prime next day delivery. If you don't want to make Jeff Amazon any richer, I am sure you can order if from your local bookshop or buy it at the Battle of Ideas festival next weekend and meet Fiona in person.

Helen Joyce on The BBC's Dangerous Lies.

James Marriott writes about the collapse of literature (if this is the case, we're all ****ed, or at least, publishers, book festivals and Waterstones are): The Dawn of the Post-Literate Society

And if you're not already avidly consuming the worldwide gender madness via Mia Hughes (author of the WPATH files and brilliant researcher/writer/speaker) and Sarah Mittermaier (Eliza Mondegreen) at gender:hacked, get on board. I love their stuff.

There is of course, a load more out there and I could make this list several yards long and I apologise if I've missed something you love. Please tell me if you author or are a fan of a particular writer/hard news source. I have an empty, hidden page on GenderBlog call Blog Roll. It is on my list of things to populate with all the best blogs, substacks, newsletters etc etc. I just must get this damn Post Office book finished and then I'll get to do so many things...

Have fun and look after yourselves, and I hope to see some of you in London or Manchester over the next couple of months.

Very best

Nick

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