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This week, the Macquarie dictionary announced its “Word of the Year”. For those who don’t know:Macquarie is the dictionary for Australian EnglishEvery year, they select a shortlist of new words and invite the public to vote on their favourite each year.They have the committee’s choice, and then a shortlist for the People’s Choice, which is announced in January.In 2017, the Committee’s Choice was “Milkshake duck”, which describes phenomena that are initially perceived as positive, but later revealed to be flawed.In 2018, the Committee’s Choice was “Me Too”.In 2019, it is “Cancel Culture”. So it seems, that the Macquarie dictionary are documenting the "culture wars", and things going a bit pear-shaped, in real time. Many have been claiming that "cancel culture isn't real". But, turns out, that thing that many Woke journos have claimed “isn’t real” and is "just consequences", is now in the dictionary. That’s what I talk about in today's episode. “Cancel Culture" is the perfect word, because it highlights everything that is happening in 2019, in a number of ways. Those that are doing it claim it doesn’t exist, when it does. And the debate about whether it is real or not is, paradoxically, a symptom of cancel culture (how utterly meta). The Wokes claim things like “it’s not cancel culture, it’s consequences”, or “we are simply speaking truth to power”. But, this denial of its existence is very much at the root of the “social justice” mindset - gaslighting, concealment, distortion of meaning, and splitting hairs. And allowing abhorrent behaviour that targets not just the rich and famous, but everyday people. This is dangerous, toxic, and dangerously cult-like (very similar to “Fair Game” in Scientology, in fact.) Every dangerous authoritarian movement that wants to take power relies on the “useful idiots” - people who cheer for a cause without digging further into it, or without a deeper understanding. This is a battle that we’ve fought for thousands of years: mob rule relies on people being ignorant, unthinking, emotional and rationalising their own behaviour against another “tribe” they consider “fair game. Here’s some more information about the terms I explore in this episode: John Stuart Mill, On Liberty - The Tyranny of the majority Ochlocracy And here’s an article that sums up why cancel culture is real, dangerous, and you need to stop cheering on something that is a threat to democracy. I was the mob until the mob came for me.  So, for those claiming it doesn’t exist, because right now, you’re on the right side of the mob, remember… it's the word of the year. And they’ll come for you too.  It’s the perfect word for 2019, because it highlights a number of things: 

The medical industry doesn't have the great track record when it comes to women. From "wandering wombs" to "hysteria" to psychiatry - not to mention the million problems that women have with reproductive health.Let's be honest, the medical industry doesn't listen to women. We are ignored in pharmaceutical trials, dismissed when we are in pain, and frequently end up dying because, by the time we are heard, we are often in a worse condition because it takes longer to get diagnosed and treated.Today's episode is close to my heart, because I have been a victim of bad medicine more time than I can count. In fact, this year, I have spent recovering from a severe illness that nearly killed me. (Hey, maybe I should mention my Patreon and Paypal and Subscribestar, because, as a result of medical neglect, I was left with my health and business in tatters.)Anyway, a landmark class action against Johnson & Johnson here in Australia over vaginal mesh has revealed not only how medical mega-corporations manipulate and conceal the truth about the real risk of their products, but when women complain about pain... they are dismissed.This is the legacy of hysteria. And it isn't going to stop, because, right now, the same thing is happening with teenage girls.So, I talk about:Johnson & Johnson Vaginal Mesh caseThe "Gender Pain Gap"Hysteria and Wandering WombA few of my own experiencesRapid Onset Gender Dysphoria, research, breast-binding and mastectomies on 13 year old girls. This is a disaster waiting to happen.

Today's episode talks about the slipperiness of "Wokeness", and how intelligent people end up unwittingly supporting an authoritarian movement, through the obfuscation of language, paltering, and I talk about the concept of 'stealth authoritarianism'. 

Note: Sorry about the audio. I accidentally had a minimised window open with YouTube on autoplay in the background. Hope you can soldier on through it anyway :-)Welcome to 2019.Where a woman is currently in an Employment Tribunal in the UK, having to defend the fact that she believes that men and women are different.Where everybody is distracted by Trump, and the Gender movement has infiltrated organisations to the point where an employer can fire a woman for holding gender critical views.Nothing unusual if you've been following this issue, except, in this instance, it is significant, because, in the shitshow that is the questioning... the former Employer has (legit) admitted that it is policy to treat self-ID of sex AND RACE as fact. Including someone like Rachel Dolezal.All those things that women have been saying - they called us hysterical. They call us emotional. They tell us we are being crazy and hyperbolic.They are gaslighting us.Because it is happening.They used to burn witches. Then they locked us up for hysteria. Now, they accuse us of hate speech.Welcome to 2019, where facts are beliefs, and beliefs are facts.Support the show

So, Twitter Political Advertising Policy is out, and whilst I sympathise with the position they are in, I want to talk about how they changed the deal, and have turned their back on the very things that made them successful.The Internet, and particularly Twitter, were built on the exact behaviour that they are now trying to stop. There are two factions here that are at odds, and Twitter has completely abandoned one of them.For those of us who have been on the Internet for a long time, and are used to the "price of admission" of online conversations - banter, jokes, saying awful things, a good old fashioned flame war, and a hashtag pile-on, it would seem as though Twitter have now gone completely corporate - turning their back on the people that made the platform a success.For the young Woke journos, this might seem fair, because they grew up with a block button, and an expectation that Mum & Dad would keep them "safe".In today's episode, I talk a bit about that tension, and whilst I hope that Twitter can find the balance, it's really not looking likely.Support the show

So, admittedly, I am afraid to post this episode. But, I also feel the issue is too important to ignore, and if it means that I end up having to be another sacrificial lamb, then so be it.This is a longer episode, but in it I have taken the time to explain what is happening to women, what a TERF is, why you should stop using it, and how low the threshold for this slur actually is.The movement is not what it pretends to be.Support the show

Before Cancel Culture, before Outrage, before Trump's Tweets, before Twitter gripped the news cycle by the balls, there was Coriander.There is nothing new about Twitter mobs - in fact - they are built into Twitter's DNA. In this episode I will talk about one such example from 2010, where a simple tweet about Coriander fractured the Perth Twitter community forever.It's never about the Coriander. It's the dynamics, the politics, the resentments that lie underneath. This has become a common theme in Internet Tribes, and I want to start talking more about examples. Also, if you have good ones, send them to me and I'll talk about them. If you want to support me, visit teasmith.com.au to find my links to Subscribestar, Patreon or Paypal.Support the show

So, Twitter has been banning people, "shadowbanning" people,  falling afoul of the algorithm and everyone is crying conspiracy.What I do in this episode is explain a different point of view, from the perspective of a User Experience Designer and tech person.Maybe it's not so bad.Support the show

Dave Chappelle has pushed back against Woke Twitter and 'cancel culture'.Obama has.Louis Ck apparently has.And Ricky Gervais does, continues to double down.These people don't realise that they're the butt of the joke, and it's hilarious.Today's episode I talk about Ricky Gervais in particular, and also, you know, dumb fucks.Support the show

I had an interesting conversation on Twitter about Autism, and I have noticed that there aren't a lot of stories about women who struggle, but present as neurotypical... In this episode, I talk about how Autism & ADHD affects me, how I ended up here, and just a general bit of context about my life.I am making this a regular Thursday thing, if people are interested, so please, ask me anything and I will do my best to answer.Support the show

So, overnight, in response to yesterday's video, I received some comments from MRAs (having not seen the video, obviously), that actually allow me to expand on my point about men dominating spaces, asking "what about men?" when we are talking about women's issue, and all these men-related stats in an attempt to derail us and control us.I'm pretty moderate, but guys, don't do this stuff. It's not about YOU.Support the show

This is the audio version of the YouTube show here: https://youtu.be/mNg72GuRURgThere are many schools of thought on this, but it’s important to make sure that you don’t look at “Feminists” as a homogenous group with homogenous ideas. It’s an entire body of theory in it’s own right, and whilst this may come as a shock to you, women are people, with their own ideas, perspectives, theories and experiences. “Women are people” should be your starting point, and work back from that. Some feminists believe no. Some feminists say yes. I say that Woke Blokes can fuck right off.Today’s episode explores this topic in your typical Téa way 🙂Thanks @roganmcgarry for the question!Support the show

I’m obviously jumping to some conclusions here because the official policy from Twitter is out on the 15th, so I’m only going on tweets, but as this is coming from the CEO of Twitter it’s fair enough that we can start reacting to some of the things that he said.I do like to reserve judgment until the actual written policy is done, but this warrants comment.Some context for people who might not be familiar. We’ve got the US 2020 election coming up there’s a lot of tension around that because of what happened in 2016. Everyone has lost their fucking minds (I think we can all agree that everyone’s lost their fucking minds!) but that’s where we are so Twitter and Facebook, understandably, are each dealing with things in their own way.Facebook have come out in support of free speech, and yet Twitter have decided to ban all political advertising.I don’t know about you, but in light of the current climate and their ban-happy approach, I don’t trust Twitter one bit.This episode explains why.Support the show

,As I get ready to launch this properly, I thought I would provide a bonus track, which is from a conversation I had with my friend David Cake. David has been heavily involved in Internet Policy for many years, including ICANN, and loves all that nerdy stuff. We talked a little bit about the internet, how it has changed, and some of the challenges currently being faced by tech companies with regard to privacy. Enjoy. Sorry about the sound, again. Hang in there :-)Support the show

Do you like us? Do you like listening to things? Are you tired of things like professionalism, structure and coherence?Well, do I have the podcast for you.Seriously though, join me for some thoughts and ideas.Topics covered include:Our journey with autism and how it is affecting our family and marriageWhy Perth is shit (haha)Why Business needs to change and society needs a "whole new version" rather than a patch.Why we need to stop teaching kids that they have limitations, and why they should be taught how to turn their "Penguin" into a business.And some riffing.I prefer non-linear conversations/exploration of ideas... so we'll try to make it more interesting as we get better. BE WARNED: There is a fair bit of swearing.Support the show