A quick plug for The Pod Delusion. Their latest episode was published today and it includes me talking about the Mail’s BBC/BCE story.
Getting the piece recorded was all a bit last minute and rushed, but I enjoyed doing it and hope to do more stuff with them in the future.
I highly recommend listening to The Pod Delusion every week. Even when I’m not in it (or maybe I mean especially when I’m not in it!)
http://fortyshadesofgrey.blogspot.com/2011/08/i-will-no-longer-have-anything-to-do.html
Natalie is, of course, completely entitled to her opinion but I’d find it hard to justify describing The Pod Delusion as a club for “privileged white men” given the fact that the deputy editor is a woman.
There have now been 104 episodes of The Pod Delusion. If Natalie has been disappointed by the three events that she describes, surely that is far outweighed by the positive things the show has done? Think, for example, of the coverage they’ve given to campaigns against Nadine Dorries’ attacks on abortion rights.
Let’s look at the three events that she mentions. In the first she disagrees with the content of an article (I disagreed with it too, to be honest) and in the next edition she was able to explain why and put her point of view. In her second example she objects to a phrase used by one of the contributors. In the comments he agrees with her and apologises. Two weeks later the show includes a response to the use of the term. In both examples it seems to me that the editors of the show have responded responsibly to her complaints.
Then there’s the rape joke. This is obviously going to be a trickier situation. I didn’t find the joke funny, but I worry about getting into a world where certain subjects are deemed to be unacceptable topics for humour. Surely that’s just giving these subjects a power over us that they don’t deserve?
So, yes, if Natalie no longer wants to be associated with The Pod Delusion, that’s fine. I don’t feel that way at all.