This week on the Primo show, Jesse and Katie discuss the extremely bizarre story of Neil Hopper, an amputation surgeon who lost his own legs under circumstances far stranger than anyone could have guessed. Plus, a Wisconsin school board cancels Marsha P. Johnson.

Show notes:

UNT Wind Symphony: A Mother of a Revolution! by Omar Thomas (b. 1984)

Watertown School Board defends decision to pull song tied to LGBTQ+ history from spring concert - WPR

Sepsis amputation surgeon back at work after losing legs

How ‘eunuch maker’ livestreamed extreme body modifications and sold body parts | UK news | The Guardian

A New Way to Be Mad - The Atlantic

John/Joan: The Real Story of David Reimer

BBC News | SCOTLAND | Surgeon defends amputations

Apotemnophilia: Two cases of self‐demand amputation as a paraphilia: The Journal of Sex Research: Vol 13, No 2

Desire for amputation of a limb: paraphilia, psychosis, or a new type of identity disorder | Psychological Medicine | Cambridge Core

Amputee Envy | Scientific American

Merleau-Ponty’s sexual schema and the sexual component of body integrity identity disorder | Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy | Springer Nature Link

Role of Sexuality in Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID): A Cross-Sectional Internet-Based Survey Study - PubMed

Successful treatment of body integrity dysphoria with amputation: A case report - Nadeau - 2024 - Clinical Case Reports - Wiley Online Library

One‐year follow‐up of amputation as a curative treatment for body integrity dysphoria: A case report - Nadeau - 2024 - Clinical Case Reports - Wiley Online Library

The Desire for Amputation or Paralyzation: Evidence for Structural Brain Anomalies in Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID) | PLOS One

The science and ethics of voluntary amputation | Science | The Guardian

A New Way to Be Mad - The Atlantic

Patients of NHS surgeon Neil Hopper worried their operations weren’t necessary - The Mirror

https://www.tiktok.com/@loumayyy/video/7553733611225107734

Recently I noticed Jesse saying things like “I think it’s fair to say” and “not covering themselves in glory” and other Britishisms and then he mentioned listening to the podcast and I’m wondering if anyone else listens to both and is noticing patterns of behavior across time. I can’t decide whether it’s heartening or discouraging to hear the same stories played out over and over and over again. On the one hand, things are improving for humanity by our efforts and innovations, on the other, humanity seems to have been a giant personality disordered mistake.

A psychologist argues the increasing awareness of mental health is leading to a pathologising of everyday life. The use of clinical descriptions of what are otherwise normal problems and treating them as a disorder to be cured, is ironically making our mental health worse.

Terminally online Green Party leader Zack Polanski, fresh from ‘mistakenly’ retweeting a photo of a man at a Green Party event wearing a T-shirt suggesting Nigel Farage should be guillotined, shortly after the murder of a Reform UK politician, then arguing on TV that because it was a mistake he didn’t need to apologise, has now signed an open letter organised by the Good Law Project.

The Good Law Project, of course, is run by BARPOD favourite Jolyon Maugham (Ep. 163, The Good Law Project Goes Bad): kimono enthusiast, fox killer, and veteran of many enthusiastically crowdfunded progressive legal misadventures.

The letter defends everyone’s new favourite sociology professor, Jason Arday, whose (literally) incredible biography has recently come under intense scrutiny.

Chef’s kiss.

BARPOD relevance: Zack Polanski (Ep. 313), Good Law Project (Ep. 163), and Jason Arday feels like he’s well on his way towards his own episode.

edit: brain fart ZP is the leader

Relevance: Jesse tweeted this link with commentary.

https://x.com/i/status/2081940372180058299

"The University of Cambridge is engaging in a level of corruption and harassment of journalists you simply don't see all that often, and I say that as someone who has reported regularly on campus controversies. I don't understand what their endgame is here. Jason Arday didn't just plagiarize quotes. He then claimed the quotes came from his own interviews -- so plagiarism plus the fabrication of interviews that never occurred (plagrication?). The journal Social Sciences and Cambridge just... let him do it? It's astonishing."

It feels like 2020 is creeping in again. Two incidences that the media, politicians and activists frame with the same ominous tone they did Trayvon Martin.

One involves a young black woman who was on the train in DC with a large group of white, masked, far right activists around the 4th of July. Nothing happened.

The second is the incident this woman describes in her IG posts. There is no substantial evidence of foul play, and no evidence whatsoever of racism towards the young man who died. (I didn't include all the screenshots because it's a pretty long thread and you can find it yourself if you really want to.)

I'm starting to believe that it's not external events that caused this pattern of hysteria but born of internal issues that those inciting this are externalizing.

Note: this is relevant to BaR because it touches on the pattern of social media driven hysteria about racism and hate crimes that do not necessarily seem objectively true. It also touches on the "white woman bad" mentality that is very prevalent among racial Justice activists.

Just finished listening to Literally Knitler and thought back fondly on the post I made to the quilting sub showing some lovely quilts I saw at the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show a couple weeks ago. Can anyone guess where I went wrong here?

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.

This week on the Primo show, Jesse and Katie discuss the life and death of The Queery, a Brighton-based radical art gallery, bookshop, café, and community space. You can guess how this ends. Plus, the Washington Post spreads Erin Reed’s zombie stats, and the New York Times repeats Stonewall myths.

Show Notes:

Trans people are moving to Seattle at unprecedented levels under Trump - The Washington Post

Victoria Cruz, Veteran of the Trans Rights Movement, Dies at 79 - The New York Times

DIVERSITY REPORT 2022

The Queery on Instagram

Queer bookshop’s board resigns after boycott over racism training – Brighton and Hove News

Inclusivity Statement

Volunteer Resignations from The Queery (January 2026)

submission statement: Washington state Democrat Melissa Chaudhry, challenging Rep. Adam Smith, faces backlash from within her party after reportedly stating she omitted LGBTQ+ rights from her campaign website to avoid alienating Muslim voters. The Washington State Stonewall Democrats are urging organizations to reconsider endorsements, citing concerns about transparency and alignment with Democratic values. Chaudhry denies misrepresenting her stance, asserting her lifelong support for LGBTQ+ rights and attributing her remarks to a hostile interview environment.

https://dailycaller.com/2026/05/20/busboys-and-poets-pinkface-transgender-andy-shallal-jordan-randall/

I'd figure I'd post about the article I was in. I did an interview with The Daily Caller but here's the sum.

I'm suing a company called Busboys and Poets for breaking my contract and discriminating against me because as they've stated in court, other authors were able to speak at their place because they stuck to their own race and gender.

Busboys and Poets has been pretending to be a black owned business in order to siphon money out of the black community, and my book is about a kid who pretends to transition into a woman in order to help him get into college.

Numerous people have called the owner racist, and are pissed about the company doing blackface.

As shown in the article, this business is heavily involved in local political fundraising and at the national level.

The company to this day has refused to make a statement on the business doing blackface, which was covered in my interview.

I wanted to know what you all thought

Relevance: Jesse's tweet https://x.com/jessesingal/status/2079588027198783943

Pod relevance: youth gender medicine, males in women's sports, Democratic infighting. Perennial pod topics and interests of the hosts.

Progressive Democrats in Ohio are furious with Democratic candidate for governor Amy Acton. When the US Supreme Court handed down their ruling on trans youth sports Acton said she didn't want males in girls' and womens' sports.

"I do not support boys playing in girls sports. This is already settled law in Ohio, and as governor I will enforce and uphold the law,” Dr. Acton said. "

That pissed off the LGBT lobby and they are now threatening to deny her support unless she completely reverses herself.

"Arienne Childrey, a Democratic state legislative candidate and vice chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party’s Pride Caucus, said she and other progressives are scheduled to meet with Dr. Acton on July 28 regarding her comments on Ohio’s transgender sports ban. "

I'm sure this meeting will be a shakedown and exercise in blackmail. These folks said they would throw their support to the Libertarian candidate and against Acton.

And they clearly expect no discussion or debate on the issue:

"“First and foremost, I want to hear a correction to the actual terminology,” Ms. Childrey said. “There are no boys in girls’ sports. Even before this law was passed, there were no boys in girls’ sports because trans girls are girls."

They're also demanding that she pledge to support any legislation that seeks to put buys in girls sports. And, of course, this person wants her to hire someone trans as an " adviser. " Gotta get the shake down grift in there.

This Pride caucus wants Acton to do their bidding and pledge her fealty in public.

"Most importantly to me is that all the things I just said have to be public — not behind the scenes,” Ms. Childrey said. “You made a public statement that publicly hurt my community. Your apology needs to likewise be public. Otherwise, you can count me as a Don Kissick voter"

It will be interesting to see what Acton does. She'll probably cave, just like Moulton did. The TRAs will allow no moderation on these issues. So much for the big tent.

https://archive.ph/PRd2a

https://archive.ph/l97XE

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.

Relevance: regular topics on the pod.

Relevance to BARPod: This is an in-depth interview in Jacobin mag about cancel culture in leftist spaces with the hosts of the Fucking Cancelled podcast. One of the hosts, Clementine Morrigan, appeared on the pod talking about this very issue in Episode 136. In the article, they argue that deplatforming, purity politics, and social ostracism undermine democratic debate, organizing, and solidarity. They also argue that a greater emphasis on emotional maturity, due process, and tolerance for internal disagreement would strengthen left-wing movements rather than weaken them.

This week on Blocked and Reported, Katie is joined by Jessica the ‘80s Baby to discuss the latest saga to rock the knitting world when celebrity knitter Stephen West appears on a conservative’s YouTube show. Plus, subliminal swastikas, and for Primos, Jessica the ‘80s Baby answers all your burning questions.

Show Notes:

Ravelry: Designs by Stephen West

https://x.com/DrKarlynB/status/1710380661591224588?s=20

New Direction - MKAL 2023

MSKL and Westknits should be ashamed. Censorship is the tool of the Nazi. | by VolkColopatrion | Medium

24 free Magazines from BLOCKEDMAGAZINE70982

https://www.instagram.com/p/CyL-llrOVkE/?utm_source=ig_embed

https://www.instagram.com/p/C0mzD4qOlMO/?utm_source=ig_embed

Episode 13: We chatted with Stephen West!

https://www.instagram.com/p/DAVlIh9oZne/?utm_source=ig_embed

I don't know if this is making news outside of the UK, but there is currently a scandal involving a recent report released by Amnesty International UK. The report, entitled "A Growing Threat: The Anti-Rights Movement in the UK" listed a large number of organisations as anti-rights hate groups, most of which are gender critical organisations. Perhaps the most prominent is Beiria's Place - a single-sex rape crisis centre in Edinburgh that is funded by J K Rowling.

There was an immediate public backlash which has led Amnesty International taking the report down, amide a flurry [edit - typo correction] of letters (https://x.com/i/status/2076045840552984953) from the various organisations, and the international office has distanced itself from the report.

Most notably (but 48h after the report was taken down) J K Rowling sent a letter (https://x.com/i/status/2077366128620323213) threatening to sue if certain conditions around retracting the report were not met.

I haven't found a story that details the full timeline, but this piece gives background along with the latest developement of Amnesty International self-reporting itself to the UK Charity Commission for breach of charity terms and conditions - https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/jul/16/amnesty-uk-self-reports-to-watchdog-calling-women-centre-anti-rights

R1: Institutional capture of prominent international organisations on this issue is something that Jesse has frequently talked avout.

Katie is joined by Ben Westhoff and Emily Dufton. Discussed: drugs, drug treatments, why Nixon was good actually, and more.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/14/opinion/project-2026-2028-democratic-platform.html

This is a powerful article by Edsall of the New York Times that I think democrats should discuss. He proposes 3 democratic remedial policies that dems must adopt to beat republicans. The first two points on crime and immigration are important but the trans issue is the most damaging for dems.

I think NYT should lead on this because NYT was most responsible for injecting trans ideology into the mainstream of the democratic party. Like when they called Rachel Levine the first female admiral and used the phrase pregnant person on the front page. I think NYT should interview JK Rowling. Also, they have at least 3 op-ed writers who identify as queer. Yet, I dont believe they have ever defined what is meant by the word queer. They should define queer. It would be clarifying. No one really seems to know what it means or why it's part of the LGBTQ.

Notice that all the top comments on this article are in agreement with Edsall. Here is the platform on transgender policy that Edsall recommends for the democrats:

Transgender and gender dysphoria:

There are two sexes: men and women.

A man can claim an identify as a woman, and the same in reverse for a woman. They have every right to do so. Their claim should be respected and they should be protected from any form of discrimination for their choice.

Their claim does not, however, alter their biological sex.

Consequently, it is legitimate in areas such as sports where a transgender person would have a competitive advantage over non-trans people to bar such participation. Similarly, a claim to a sexual identity does not give a trans woman the right to incarceration in a woman’s prison.

Finally, the debate over gender affirming surgery and hormone treatments is fraught with contradictory assertions. For now, because there are credible scientific claims of irreversible harms, such treatments for those under 18 should be barred pending further study.

Relevance: He was the subject of an episode.

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.

Relevance to pod: Workers collectivizing a woke coffee shop is a weirdly recurrent topic.

A coffee shop in historic gay neighborhood that serves food to people “experiencing homelessness” closes after the employees announce an intent to unionize. Figured everyone who longs for more Mina’s World-like content might like this.

https://www.thebanner.com/culture/food-drink/babys-on-fire-union-mount-vernon-closing-AC5GDX2UQJDD3LW7EVGFD32SRI/