For decades, it has been broadly accepted in the Jewish community that Meir Kahane—founder of the Jewish Defense League, accused terrorist in Israel and the United States, ultra-nationalist character—is an extremist outlier whose ideas are decidedly not mainstream. And yet, because ultra-nationalism is in vogue again, perhaps it was only a matter o…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit femchaospod.substack.com Kat and Phoebe discuss the tragic and strange death of Gene Hackman (with latest news in links), the controversy surrounding Trump's passport policies, and the Nanette of divorce memoirs. Links: Gene Hackman steals Young Frankenstein:…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit femchaospod.substack.com Chestfeeding is out and boobs are in on the latest episode of Feminine Chaos, as Kat and Phoebe discuss the renaissance of tits, the female gaze, and a new round of "whither wokeness" discourse. Kat on knockers: The age of the prude is over The “man” ad for Kamal…

Last week, the Toronto District School Board held two virtual meetings that lasted seven hours each. In those 14 hours, trustees were set to vote on whether to receive a report on antisemitism in the county's biggest public school system—a report that offered 32 recommendations for confronting and mitigating antisemitism in public schools. Once aga…

Valentine's Day, for most people, is a day to celebrate love. For the more neurotic among us, we might be inclined to spend the day analytically dissecting our romantic lives and partnerships. There are conflicting truths about modern relationships: we have to accept that our partners are special, sacred and worth fighting for; and, at the same tim…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit femchaospod.substack.com Kat and Phoebe discuss Jewish-coded skiing incidents, ozempic divorces, men losing babies, and the loneliness of the immortal optimizer. LINKS: How Weight-Loss Drugs Can Upend a Marriage The world's most optimized man:…

Kat and Phoebe discuss $800 sweaters for feminism, Instagram deep-diving, and why angry MAGA men are circulating pictures of a certain podcaster’s hindquarters on twitter. (Early access for premium subscribers!) LINKS: Kat on the horny beer calendar: The picture that made one Conservative Dad lose his mind: Cartoons Hate Her on MAGA babes: Phoebe v…

U.S. President Trump's threats of tariffs and making Canada a 51st state has sparked a resurgent nationalism across Canada. In progressive neighbourhoods, Canadian flags have replaced Palestinian ones; in Conservative messaging, federal leader Pierre Poilievre has stopped claiming Canada is "broken" and started defending it from our southern neighb…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit femchaospod.substack.com Kat and Phoebe discuss an allegedly terrible new sex trend all the youths are into, the bizarro aesthetics of the MAGA babe beer calendar, strange bedfellows in the culture wars, and how asking questions became a bad thing. LINKS: Cookie jarring, from Thought Cat…

Last week, billionaire internet troll Elon Musk made headlines (including several at this publication) for making what appeared to be a Nazi salute at the inauguration of Donald Trump. When, in the following days, he was accused of being a Nazi by many people and organizations, he responded with a series of Nazi puns in a tweet, a la, "Some people …

Donald Trump has wasted no time in his first days as president of the United States in signing executive orders to enforce mass deportations, gender laws and American expansionism. And within this new Republican omnicause, support for Israel has become a mainstay. In the inauguration, Rabbi Ari Berman delivered a presidential blessing that took a s…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit femchaospod.substack.com Kat and Phoebe discuss Taffy Brodesser-Akner's Long Island Compromise, fictional nose jobs, sexual reciprocity, and Trump's executive order to un-bend genders everywhere. LINKS: Phoebe reviews Long Island Compromise: The safety question: Jewish existential dilemm…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit femchaospod.substack.com Because the Neil Gaiman discourse is a gift that keeps on giving podcast content, Kat and Phoebe return to discuss the yucking of yums, the sex lives of old ladies, and whether women should be allowed to have their own bank accounts. Links: Once again, the Gaiman…

The world is sitting in suspense in anticipation of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, which would end the 15-month war that has devastated Gaza and caused mass protests worldwide. Will it happen Sunday, as planned? Will it be delayed until Monday? Will the whole thing fall through? What are the ramifications for the key political leaders i…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit femchaospod.substack.com Kat and Phoebe discuss the MeToo-ing of Neil Gaiman (and certain questions about the reporting thereof.) Also: BDSM, Babygirl, and the non-binary comedy of Ilana Glazer. Links: The expose of Neil "Call Me Master" Gaiman Kat's first-on-the-scene dispatch from the …

Kat and Phoebe discuss the surprise comeback of home cooking discourse, the anatomy of the PR war between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, and how a dying political movement spawned the world's weirdest list of thought criminals. Links: Home cooking-gate: Kat on the Baldoni vs Lively mess: Phoebe on trans rights as omnicause The BARpod episode on T…

With Justin Trudeau's announced resignation as prime minister and Liberal leader this week, media pundits wasted no time in penning their reflections, looking back at nine years of how Trudeau changed the Canadian political landscape. One such pundit is Jonathan Kay, an editor at the online magazine Quillette, whose article, "Shame on Us for Ever B…

Aryeh and Phoebe discuss Bluesky, the newly popular Twitter alternative—and how Phoebe's mild critique of the site went mega-viral. Aryeh explains why he finally, finally quit Twitter. Is Bluesky for anti-Trump social media "refugees," or a retirement home for posting addicts? And are people on there actually nice? Recorded December 20, 2024 Follow…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit femchaospod.substack.com Kat and Phoebe discuss a viral dress ad and all it contains (or, uh, doesn't). Also: straight woman studies, Alice Munro and the men who ask for performance reviews after rejection. LINKS: The pasteurized backlash: Phoebe's Sex & Politics appearance: https://sava…

This week's abrupt resignation of Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland from cabinet has rocked the federal government. It happened the same day Sean Fraser, the minister of housing, infrastructure and communities, stepped down; both he and Freeland join a long and growing list of cabinet members and Liberal backbenchers either resigning their cabinet…

Aryeh talks with writer Hannah Gold about her reported essay in Harper's on the literary festival celebrating Philip Roth's 90th birthday, which was held in Newark, New Jersey last year. Recorded December 5, 2023 Follow Culturally Determined @CulturallyDet LINKS Hannah's piece, "Your Mind’s in the Hands of Everything: Letting Go of Philip Roth" htt…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit femchaospod.substack.com Kat and Phoebe discuss a hot (alleged) killer, a perfectly nice-looking podcaster, the death of civility norms in digital space, interesting use cases for AI chatbots, and the Colleen Hoover movie Kat watched while couchlocked with the flu. LINKS: Ask us anything…

This week, the New Israel Fund of Canada, JSpace Canada and Canadian Friends of Peace Now released a survey of 588 Jewish Canadians that aimed to figure out the community's relationship to Israel. In short: it's complicated. The survey, managed by Leger, found that 94 percent of respondents agreed Israel "has the right to exist as a Jewish state"—y…

Kat and Phoebe discuss the character assassination of the “olfactory ethics” PhD lady, the actual assassination of an insurance CEO, and the anatomy of scapegoating. LINKS: The infamous October 7 tweet from Najwa Sharif Alawi: “what did y'all think decolonization meant? vibes? papers? essays? losers.” Kat Norman Rockwell-painting memes against murd…

The war between Israel and Hamas has claimed yet another casualty in the Canadian arts world: Broken Pencil, an independent magazine that has covered zine culture since 1995, has been shut down. Founder and publisher Hal Niedzviecki wrote on their website that "the values of the zine and small press community have shifted," adding that "the relentl…

Shortly after Anne Michaels won the Giller Prize, Canada's foremost literary fiction award, on Nov. 18, she posted a lengthy letter on social media. "I write in solidarity with the moral purpose of every writer bearing witness," she wrote. "I write because the dead can read. Every reader throughout the decades who has written and spoken to me, whos…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit femchaospod.substack.com Kat and Phoebe discuss Victorian houses, emotional support pitbulls, Phoebe's "main character" debut, and whether every edgelord manlet posting "your body my choice" memes should be executed or merely jailed for life. Links: Phoebe did a fascism: https://www.theg…

Recently, a Canadian women's magazine, Chatelaine, removed an article from the digital version of its website for including a photo of the author sporting a red triangle—which is only a subtle gesture if you didn't know that the red triangle is a symbol of Hamas. The author, a pro-Palestinian chef and activist in Nova Scotia, describes baking chall…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit femchaospod.substack.com Kat and Phoebe discuss their recent cameos off pod, the mass migration to Bluesky, and the literary sex scandal involving Cormac McCarthy and a teenage cowgirl. LINKS: Phoebe is famous! The Ethics of Self-Interpretation - Tablet Magazine Kat on the BARpod: Episod…

This week, president-elect Donald Trump has confirmed several planned appointments for next year. Aside from numerous cabinet members was the incoming ambassador to Israel: Mike Huckabee, a Baptist minister and former governor of Arkansas. While there's no rule that American ambassadors have to be Jewish, it's unusual for a president to nominate on…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit femchaospod.substack.com Kat and Phoebe discuss extruding our intestines (or not) in the wake of the election, and the history and future of woke media. LINKS: 'Challah for Ceasefire'?: Phoebe Maltz Bovy on watching women's media walk the political tightrope Kat urges artists not “to all…

In the aftermath of Oct. 7, Canada's broadly left-wing literary community took aim at the Giller Prize, Canada's foremost award for fiction, for its title sponsorship coming from Scotiabank. The financial institution, they have argued, has millions of dollars invested in an Israeli arms dealer—leading to backlash from pro-Palestinian writers who be…

Kat and Phoebe discuss the late-breaking squirrel murder that could unite the nation, the places you can't go on a first date, and… hmm. Is something else happening today? LINKS: Government goons murder internet-famous squirrel Who ratted out P’nut the squirrel? Grieving owners have their theory — and it’s a rich one Kat (and other Free Press folks…

With the U.S. election less than a week away, the hosts of Bonjour Chai are turning their attention south with a comprehensive pre-election primer. Pollsters tend to lump Jewish voters together in a bloc, but there are different priorities for Jewish communities across the United States—and Jewish residents of certain swing states, namely Pennsylva…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit femchaospod.substack.com In our last episode before the election, Kat and Phoebe discuss mushroom mommies, Britcom asexuals, cryptopolitical lesbians, and secret apostrophes. LINKS: Kat's investigative report: The Middle-Class Women Who Are Tripping Balls | The Free Press Phoebe's close …

During our extended break for the High Holidays, we're bringing Bonjour Chai subscribers something different. Sukkot is described as the holiday of joy—a time when the Israelites would gather together as one people in the temple to worship and to rejoice. The easy thing this year would be to say that we hope that we will be able to rejoice with eve…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit femchaospod.substack.com Kat and Phoebe discuss the big NYT expose on the death of DEI, the trap of self-mythologizing, and the mystery of the Democratic party's man problem. LINKS: How DEI DIED: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/16/magazine/dei-university-michigan.html Phoebe called this …

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit femchaospod.substack.com Kat and Phoebe discuss cancellable food takes and entertainment recommendations. Links: Post your cancellable food take!… WAIT NO NOT THAT ONE Society of the Snow Kat on Megalopolis: Phoebe talking about Nobody Wants This on the CJN Bonjour Chai podcast…

Whenever there's a new mainstream TV show with a Jewish bent, Jewish audiences share a familiar reaction: excitement over representation, followed by dread over how bad that representation will be. The latest example is Nobody Wants This, the new Netflix rom-com series about a sex-advice podcast host (Kristen Bell) who, despite not being Jewish, fa…

Kat and Phoebe discuss a blackmail sextortion scheme, a pair of rabid and possibly incestual raccoons, and the de-centered men who can’t quite hit de center of de toilet bowl. NOTES: I Decentered Men. Decentering Desire for Men Is Harder. - The New York Times What is going on in this picture: Do non-white men pee standing up? An unsolvable mystery.…

The cover illustration of the fall issue of The Canadian Jewish News Magazine drew hundreds of responses from readers across the country. The image depicted a fictional family gathered for Rosh Hashanah. This family included a matronly woman in an apron wearing a yellow ribbon in support of bringing the hostages home; a young girl with a dog tag ne…

Last week, Toronto's public school board came under fire after footage emerged on social media showing students partaking in a public protest for Indigenous water rights... that also happened to feature pro-Palestinian chants and signs. A provincial investigation ensued to learn how it happened and why teachers allegedly encouraged students to get …

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit femchaospod.substack.com Special guest "C," a.k.a. Cartoons Hate Her, a.k.a. Donald Trump impressionist extraordinaire, joins the podcast to talk about the men who waste women’s fertile years in going-nowhere relationships, the myth of the nubile nanny, and the difference between an ulti…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit femchaospod.substack.com Kat and Phoebe discuss a sexual harassment training, a MeToo memoir, and a firing controversy at a very fancy New York City private school. LINKS: MeToo memoirs continue to trickle in: An artist retrospective: Montreal-born Jill Ciment's memoir asks 'Me Too?' aft…

On a recent trip to Poland, the writer Tanya Gold visited the Auschwitz concentration camp memorial site. In her lengthy travel essay on the visit, "My Auschwitz Vacation", published in the September 2024 edition of Harper's Magazine, she details the numerous absurdities of the Disneyfied extermination camp, from its notable lack of Jews to the oft…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit femchaospod.substack.com Kat and Phoebe discuss the urban legend of cat-eating Haitians, Trump's not-so-great debate with Kamala Harris, and JD Vance's identity crisis. LINKS: Goose on the loose: https://x.com/AliceFromQueens/status/1834084575401717899 Ted Cruz, not a literalist: https:/…

The Toronto International Film Festival is going on, and while it only has a handful of Jewish-themed or Israeli-produced films, those films have drawn some of the biggest spotlights. Chiefly among them has been The Bibi Files, a new work-in-progress documentary that received its world debut this week, and which shows never-before-seen leaked foota…

Kat and Phoebe discuss a dead squirrel, a controversial magazine cover, and a New York Times essay on air conditioning by the world's smuggest, sweatiest man. LINKS: The New Yorker cover that launched a thousand takes: -Wesley Yang and others interpret the cover of the New Yorker: https://x.com/wesyang/status/1830979536986472586 Counterpoint: https…

Joshua Leifer made headline last month when he was slated to do a public talk at a Brooklyn bookstore about his debut book, Tablets Shattered: The End of an American Jewish Century and the Future of Jewish Life, and discovered, an hour before the event was scheduled to start, that the event had been unilaterally cancelled by an employee who didn't …

Aryeh talks to Kiki Freedman, the co-founder and CEO of Hey Jane, the leading virtual reproductive and sexual health care clinic. Recorded July 16, 2024 Follow Culturally Determined @CulturallyDet LINKS Hey Jane website https://heyjane.com/ KFF on the Comstock Act and abortion https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/issue-brief/the-comstock-act-im…