SIO206: ContraPoints and Cancel Culture
Episode description
What could turn a left-tube favorite into the IDW's poster child overnight? Just ask ContraPoints. Well actually you can't, because she deleted her Twitter after a run-in with some folks who have accused her of saying things that are offensive to non-binary people. To get more info, Tris Mamone has a good explainer here that I would recommend. I'd also recommend this video by another non-binary YouTuber, and this video by trans YouTuber Kat Blaque. So Jamie and I are here, not to adjudicate the trans questions involved but to talk about so-called "cancel culture." Was ContraPoints canceled? What does that mean exactly? Is it true that the left is a circle firing squad cancel machine? How ought we deal with tough criticism online? And since Jamie is a smart philosopher person, what insights does philosophy offer us on these questions? I think this was a really valuable discussion that will help put a lot of these issues into the proper perspective.
If you are a smart philosopher person like Jamie, here is some reading she recommends:
Rachel McKinnon: Allies Behaving Badly; Talia Mae Bettcher: Trapped in the Wrong Theory; Robin Dembroff: Beyond the Binary; Katie Dotson: Tracking Epistemic Violence.