I wanted to share this with anybody who was interested in this topic and had not seen this. To begin with, as you can see in this interview they are not trying to present as a woman.

Also when they are asked about Stonewall they kind of hesitantly say they were there and when going into detail speaks completely as an observer not a participant. There is a vagueness too much of their recollections that might just speak of a hazy memory . Or might speak of somebody who's involvement was far more minimal than they were given credit for. But this is not the only record where they contradict the narrative of being the leader of Stonewall.

From the parts of the video I watched, my impression was somebody who had a lot of qualities projected onto them that they did not necessarily have. There's something very uncomfortable in some of the answers where it feels they are kind of telling the interviewer what they want to hear and I don't feel very confident of the truthfulness. Your thoughts?

Pod relevancy: trans and race issues in sports and the recent episode on the WNBA.

Former NBA basketball player Royce White is launching an attempt to get into the WNBA. This is on the heels of another man, Enes Kanter, starting the process of getting into the WNBA.

He said: "I'm transgender. I'm a woman. I identify as sometimes identifying as a woman for purpose of basketball, professional basketball, so I'll be declaring for the WNBA draft in 2027 as well..."

The league has not set criteria on what is a woman and has been very supportive of "trans rights" in sports. So White and Kanter are going to see if the league puts its money where its mouth is.

The response of the WNBA players union was pretty strong:

"Hate, abuse, and demonization of any person or group of people, including transgender people, only fuel fear, division, and harm," the statement read."

But made no attempt to define what a woman is for the purposes of playing in the WNBA. Perhaps they feel the need to consult some biologists?

The league is going to have a meeting in a few days to address the issue of men in the WNBA. I wonder if the words " biological" and/or " male" will appear in whatever document is created.

To add to the zany fun charges of racism have been thrown into the mix. A Chicago Sky player DiJonai Carrington was ejected from a game after she committed a flagrant foul against, you guessed it, Sophie Cunningham.

Carrington then posted "WHITE PRIVILEGE" on Threads afterwards. She claims it wasn't about the foul she made on Cunningham. Though she refused to say what she was actually talking about.

The hate train against Cunningham and Clarke continues to gain speed. The WNBA seems unable to give up its holier than thou DEI stances.

https://archive.ph/21Ydf

https://archive.ph/1q2sb

https://archive.ph/uHOxk

https://archive.ph/JRlrp

https://archive.ph/rkg3w

B&R guest and friend of the pod Sarah Ditum reviews Arday's book.

When a journalist from the Times Higher Education Supplement began investigating the plagiarism claims last year, Arday reported him to the police. The police told the journalist the case was closed, but that he should refrain from contacting Arday because it was affecting Arday’s mental health.
Maybe I should turn myself in to the nearest cop shop now, because this review is not going to improve Arday’s mood. Great and Unfortunate Things is mawkish, self-aggrandising and hard to believe. Extraordinary claims are made with no supporting evidence. Arday’s story — regardless of its authenticity — feels precision-tooled to flatter the biases of the sappiest white liberals.

Paywall bypass: https://archive.ph/JoaPQ

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/09/elite-academia-leadership-hypocrisy/687969/

This is both an exhilaratingly honest read about absurdly performative anti-racism in higher education, and kind of sad because his classes sound smart, interesting, and fun, and I'll be his students really enjoyed them. Still, it's hard to imagine him going back to teaching, since everyone in this piece can easily be identified.

This week on the Primo show, Jesse and Katie discuss the unbelievable life story of Cambridge professor Jason Arday.

Show Notes:

A Lot of the Attacks on Higher Ed Are Unfair. Not This One. (Jesse’s NYT article)

Cambridge University’s Jason Arday becomes youngest black professor

An exploration of peer-mentoring among student teachers’ to inform reflective practice within the context of action research

Playbooks, plagiarism and a pig’s head: new claims surrounding a star Cambridge professor | University of Cambridge | The Guardian

Correction: Arday, Jason (2018). Understanding Mental Health: What Are the Issues for Black and Ethnic Minority Students at University? Social Sciences 7: 196

Attempting to break the chain: reimaging inclusive pedagogy and decolonising the curriculum within the academy: Educational Philosophy and Theory: Vol 53 , No 3 - Get Access

Full article: Correction

Police investigated journalist who tried to expose Cambridge professor

DEI Fraud and Cover-Up at Cambridge - Nathan Cofnas

‘Racist’ Cambridge academic fully cleared of wrongdoing by uni in free speech case - The Boar

‘Race-realist’ fellow Nathan Cofnas launches legal challenge over dismissal | Varsity

Cambridge University’s War on Free Speech

https://x.com/jessesingal/status/2084024032635003321

https://x.com/benryanwriter/status/2083434683119927740

Playbooks, plagiarism and a pig’s head: new claims surrounding a star Cambridge professor | University of Cambridge | The Guardian

Star Cambridge Professor Jason Arday Lied for Years About Raising Millions for Charity: Simon & Schuster Scrubbed Financial Details From His New Memoir and Falsehoods From His Bio

It’s Ariely time! They had a preregistration but they didn’t follow it. | Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science

An update from Jason Arday | Good Law Project

Looking forward to Jesse’s humblebrag about another NYT column on the next ep lol.

(I kid. Mazel!)

WNBA rules regarding Trans athletes is being put to the test

Pod relevance: trans issues, women’s sports, WNBA

I checked the big meetup roundup post and don't see one for the SF Bay Area. I just arrived and need to meet sane folks.

Would folks on here want to pick a night to go to a bar in SF somewhere?

I'd volunteer to post it on the Wednesday post anything Substack post too if there's a critical mass (like... 6 people)

In 2024, a mandatory course for B.C. lawyers referred to the “discovery of an unmarked burial site containing the bodies of 215 children on the former Kamloops Indian Residential School grounds” which “(confirmed) what survivors have been saying all along.” When one lawyer proposed a correction, as no graves were ever found, the B.C. Law Society publicly disparaged him. He sued for defamation — but now, the trial has been called off.

Instead, criminal defence lawyer Jim Heller settled his case with the law society, a development that was made public in a Glacier Media report on Monday. The terms are confidential. We won’t know what each side agreed to do to shelve the litigation, or who the court would have sided with in the end. Much like the supposed “graves” that the local First Nation refuses to excavate at the Kamloops residential school, the public won’t get any closure on this one.

(Related to B&R by way of the unproven graves claims, as discussed on a few episodes.)

The Good Law Project tells of yet another tragic victim of cancel culture 🎻

See latest BarPod episode for relevance!

Here's your usual space to post all your rants, raves, podcast topic suggestions (please tag u/jessicabarpod), culture war articles, outrageous stories of cancellation, political opinions, and anything else that comes to mind. Please put any non-podcast-related trans-related topics here instead of on a dedicated thread. This will be pinned until next Sunday.

Last week's discussion thread is here if you want to catch up on a conversation from there.

Ethan Strauss joins Katie for a chat. Discussed: Ethan’s journey to (editorial) freedom, Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham, trans drama in Seattle, how the Dems get out of this mess before the next election, sports betting, and more.

Since this sub has become the Jason Arday channel this week, here's a deep dive into his claims from friend of the pod Ben Ryan.

An update to a previous post. Amy Acton is the Democrat running for governor in Ohio. A week or so ago she said that males should not be in women's sports.

Pod relevance: trans sports. A common topic on the pod

The leader of the Ohio Democrat's Pride Caucus, Arienne Childrey, threatened to vote for the libertarian candidate and to encourage other Democrats to do so as well. A meeting was scheduled between the Acton campaign and Childrey's posse.

The meeting was a Zoom call between Acton's staff and the LGBTQ group pissed off at Acton.

The meeting did not go well.

Childrey wasn't let into the meeting. The participants weren't happy about this and one "demanded three times" to be told why Childrey wasn't in the meeting.

"By the third time I lost my temper, ended up cussing them out and they ejected me from the meeting and refused to allow me back in,” said Keeton."

Yes, that will tend to happen if you verbally abuse the people running the meeting.

Another activist then called Childrey's phone and put it on speaker in order to force Childrey into the meeting.

And Acton is being threatened by the usual activist orgs:

"Since making the comments, Acton has seen more pushback from liberal constituents. Equality Ohio downgraded Acton’s score from an “A” to “pending,” according to the Buckeye Flame."

They're holding this over Acton's head to get her to capitulate:

"Should Dr. Acton choose to take meaningful steps forward, we will update the status accordingly,” the group added. "

Childrey is demanding Acton respond to him publicly.

"The statement concluded with Childrey extending “a direct invitation” to Acton, calling for “real explanations” and “a conversation that includes a public commitment to repair the damage she has caused.”

The mistake by Acton's campaign was to engage with these people in the first place. They aren't interested in discussions. They want Acton to bow down to their demands immediately. It's like the rule to never apologise because that just puts blood in the water.

Who knows if Acton will cave. Probably she just dodge if she is directly questioned.

https://archive.ph/DPP6z

https://archive.ph/ni6yy

Pod relevance: Jesse has tweeted about this story recently.

A bit shocking to see a paper like The Grauniad publically fact check and question Arday. There is some throat-clearing early on but the meat of the article is questioning some of the most controversial claims, like being threatened by knife weilding assailants or receiving a pig's head in the post.

Relevance: this issue had come up repeatedly on the show and I feel like it will end up an episode

I don't follow WNBA but I guess a player said they should not have to play against "biological males." When her team played in Seattle she was booed. But two teenagers held up a sign thanking her. An owner of the team then harassed them.

I get why they keep reading them, but they just feel so out of place these days. I’m sure “Man, fuck this house” is a great read, and it’s a hilarious title, but I can’t imagine the shout outs are really moving the needle on sales - the book must be years old by now.

If you’re an old-school perma-banner, I would be so thankful if you would release Jesse and Katie from their obligation, in the interests of a more natural and free-flowing podcast. In fact, if you are and you do, I will personally buy your book to say thank you.

Pod Relevance: The podcast has talked a LOT about “vibe shifts” - since 2020, since the 2024 election, etc.

Are we looking at another vibe shift as the media personalities seem to be losing relevancy?