Sinister Myth

Sinister Myth

Sinister Myth challenges cultural mythologies about sexuality in the West, because so often they encourage, perpetuate, or foster violence against women and minorities. The series is made up of interviews with writers, academics, and people working on community projects. Alongside the interviews, the series also includes “Sinister Bitesize” which offer short soundbites from experts with advice on allyship and more, and there will also be “Sinister Keywords,” which feature short conversations about language, and how words can encourage or harm minority groups. Sinister Myth was generated through an Ohio State Affordable Learning Exchange (ALX) Grant, and it was created by Zoë Brigley Thompson and Brendan Walsh. The views, information, or opinions expressed during the Sinister Myth podcast series are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily represent those of the Ohio State University and its employees.

Episodes

Sinister Myth Keyword: Bi-erasure

September 15, 2021 • 8 mins
In a strong worded discussion of heteronormative pressure, psychology student Sydney Williams explains what bi-erasure means, and how assumptions about bisexuality can have real impacts in the world. Content warning: use of strong language. Please note that these recent podcasts were recorded under pandemic conditions, and so we were not able to record them in the studio.
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Suicide Rates & LGBTQ Communities

August 18, 2021 • 10 mins
Why are LGBTQ suicide rates high and what can we do to change that? Medical anthropology student Adalie Schmidt interviews expert Dr. Alexandra VanBergen of University of Rochester about her research into suicidal thoughts and behaviors in the US. Alexandra VanBergen discusses the risks, highlights the problems for adolescents in particular, and talks about how prevention needs to start at home. Content warning: discussion of s...
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Sinister Myth Keyword: Emotional Labor

July 14, 2021 • 6 mins
What does emotional labor mean and how does it manifest itself? Ohio State University English major Megan Moody discusses what the term means and how it affects women and minorities disproportionately. Please note that these recent podcasts were recorded under pandemic conditions, and so we were not able to record them in the studio.
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Sinister Myth Case Study: The Case of Oluwatoyin Salau

June 16, 2021 • 7 mins
In this “Sinister Myth: Case Study”, Natarshia Corley tackles the killing of Florida activist Oluwatoyin Salau, questioning to what extent black women’s lives lost are registered in the struggle to end the violence. Natarshia Corley is a graduate student at the Ohio State University, working in the Self, Stereotypes, and Social Norms Lab. Sinister Myth Case Studies feature recent news stories that may have been overlooked and ...
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Unsafe Higher Education Spaces and Noise Pedagogy

May 5, 2021 • 24 mins
This interview tackles the experience of Black students in universities and schools, featuring the work of researcher Sherita V. Roundtree, Assistant Professor at Towson University. Prof. Roundtree discusses her research on developing diverse representation and equitable access for students, teachers, and scholars who write in, instruct in, and theorize about writing classrooms. Roundtree explains noise pedagogy which consider...
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The Hexing Circle: A Pre-election Poetry Reading

November 6, 2020 • 66 mins
On November 1st, Sinister Myth held an online poetry reading a day after Halloween and a few days before the US Presidential Election. Regardless of who would win, the women reading gathered together to perform a protective hex through poems, gathering strength and power. The readers were a squad of seven: Sarona Abuaker, Sascha Aurora Akhtar, Ruth Awad, ZoëBrigley, Mari Ellis Dunning, Melissa Studdard, and Christina Thatcher.
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Sinister Bitesize: Writing Empathy Machines

October 29, 2020 • 9 mins
For Sinister Myth Bitesize this month, we talk with the British poet and writer Roger Robinson. This is a snippet preview of a forthcoming interview with Roger whose book 'A Portable Paradise' won the TS Eliot and Ondaatje Prizes. The T.S. Eliot Prize judges wrote of the book: “The collection’s title points to the underlying philosophy expressed in these poems: that earthly joy is, or ought to be, just within, but is often ...
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Malia Lee Womack: Analyzing US Colonial Human Rights Abuses Against Puerto Ricans

September 1, 2020 • 30 mins
If you don’t know the history of U.S. interference and dubious practices in Puerto Rico, this interview with Malia Womack is a must hear. Recorded at the end of last year when Malia was completing field work in Puerto Rico, the discussion focuses on the history of US colonialism on the island including the testing of birth control on and sterilization of Puerto Rican women. We talk about the possibility of change for the better in ...
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Burning Down Narratives of Shame

August 3, 2020 • 27 mins
This interview – delayed due to the global pandemic – features Elissa Washuta, a member of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and a nonfiction writer. She is the author of My Body Is a Book of Rules and Starvation Mode, and her book White Magic is forthcoming from Tin House Books. With Theresa Warburton, she is co-editor of the anthology Shapes of Native Nonfiction: Collected Essays by Contemporary Writers. This is essential listening for ...
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Meet the New Sinister Myth Team

March 2, 2020 • 12 mins
2020 sees a new production team working on Sinister Myth, and Zoe Brigley interviews them about their interests for creating new thematic strands, including political debates about trauma, the experience of minority students in higher education, and healing in the context of the community. Alex Ameter worked for political campaigns, a foreign policy think tank and the US Army. Has a BA in International Relations an...
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Sinister Myth: Case Study

February 14, 2020 • 10 mins
New for 2020, we begin a new series “Sinister Case Study” where specific critics and experts comment on particular cases of violence. Zoë Brigley discusses the recent case of gang rape in Cyprus, commenting on the inadequacies of institutional responses to sexual violence, and the scrutiny of survivors’ experiences and responses to trauma as a means to discount their testimony.
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Sinister Bitesize: Vampires and Queerness

October 22, 2019 • 3 mins
For this special Halloween issue of Sinister Myth Bitesize, Professor Shannon Winnubst talks about the vampire and racist imaginaries that project violence on black and minority men.
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The Flourishing of Queerness in the American South and Beyond

October 3, 2019 • 33 mins
In this thought-provoking interview, Nick White talks about his relationship with queerness in the American South and now in the Midwest, in relation to his new books. A fiction-writer, White has an incredible facility with creating complex characters, for example in his short story collection, Sweet and Lowdown(2018), and he talks about researching gay conversion therapy for his lacerating critique of the practice in How to Surviv...
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Sinister Bitesize: Erin Upchurch on Sex Education

September 19, 2019 • 3 mins
Sinister Myth Bitesize is a tasty morsel of sinister wisdom to keep you going until the next full podcast. In this edition, Erin Upchurch talks about the inadequacies of sex education, and what we can do to improve it.
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Dance, Trauma, and the Autonomous Body

August 30, 2019 • 25 mins
Elisha Clark Halpin and Megan Moore, dance academics and practitioners at the Pennsylvania State University, talk about the liberating potential of dance for expressing the concerns of women and minorities, as well as outlining problems of homogenized bodies in narrow ideas of what dance can be. They talk about the healing potential of dance where the body is holding trauma, and they consider how grief rituals might play a ...
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Sinister Keywords: "Gaslighting"

August 16, 2019 • 8 mins
Brendan Walsh and Zoë Brigley Thompson discuss "gaslighting", a term often used to describe the psychological manipulation of someone leading them to often question their own sanity. In this episode, you will learn the origins and aspects of gaslighting and its negative impacts on relationships.
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Stop Appropriating Cool!

July 31, 2019 • 28 mins
Feminist philosopher Shannon Winnubst talks to Sinister Myth about her recent book, Way Too Cool: Selling Out Race and Ethics. She also explains what neoliberalism is and how specific cultures of cool which begin as a way for people of color to express resistance are often appropriated by mainstream culture but in a sanitized version. We talk about Donald Glover, Frida Kahlo, and the #metoo movement, about the same-sex marr...
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Sinister Bitesize: Treva Lindsey on Hair

July 15, 2019 • 3 mins
Sinister Myth Bitesize is a tasty morsel of sinister wisdom to keep you going until the next full podcast. In this month’s bitesize, Treva Lindsey talks about the possibilities and politics of hair for black women.
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Building a Sturdy Table

June 28, 2019 • 27 mins
Treva Lindsey, author of Colored No More: Reinventing Black Womanhood in Washington, discusses the myths told about black women, as well as stories about American nationhood which work to privilege whiteness and marginalize minorities. An eloquent anti-violence advocate, Lindsey discusses the fight over representations of black women, including trans women, and she explains how online campaigns like #sayhername and #metoo a...
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Sinister Bitesize: More Than Listening - Erin Upchurch on Allyship

June 14, 2019 • 4 mins
Sinister Myth Bitesize is a tasty morsel of sinister wisdom to keep you going until the next full podcast. Here Erin Upchurch talks about allyship, and what we can do for minority communities besides listening. Interview by Brendan Walsh.
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