Ed Miliband: Reasons to be Cheerful

[LondonPainter]

It's me with another miserable podcast experience! I love Ed and have enjoyed previous episodes but number 9 was awful: cheerful.libsyn.com/

The guests were Paris Lees, Dr Helen Webberley and a father of a trans child. I know podcasts have no obligation to be balanced but any opposition at all to the changes to the GRA was dismissed as "knee jerk bonkersness" or "crackpot stories", with the Times singled out as being "disgraceful".

Paris took the opportunity to have a pop at Helen Lewis too

[WineCheeseSleep]

I love this podcast and love Ed but am dreading listening to this one. I'll be listening tomorrow and trying to keep an open mind. I've never felt so out of step with people I admire as I do on this issue.

[Snapespeare]

Thanks for the heads up, I'll skip this one.

[AssignedPerfectAtBirth]

Oh. Do I have to? Could he not have just posed lots of Ibiza tunes?

[CertainHalfDesertedStreets]

Surely surely surely surely surely surely surely his wife will put him straight on this? Surely?

Surely they'll have a little look at Twitter later and go 'ah, maybe 19 year old rape joke boy wasn't a great idea'

Surely?

[ArcheryAnnie]

Am listening to this now. Am so angry and upset. Oh, Ed, you total fucking idiot. So clearly desperate to do the right thing, and yet totally, totally failing.

[LondonPainter]

Sarah Ditum and Caroline Criado Perez are now giving them stick on Twitter about it 👍🏻

[NotAgainYoda]

I would expect more intellectual vigour from him. Ed. You were a nice boy. Just think a bit harder about this one (knew him)

[NotAgainYoda]

Oh and it used to be Ted.

[NotAgainYoda]

rigour

Not vigour. Although vigourous rigour would be good too, Ted

[WineCheeseSleep]

I listened to it today. It wasn't as bad as I feared because i thought there were some good discussions around the issues trans people face. I found the input from the dad of the trans child interesting. The issue for me was a lack of input from people worried about the impact of the GRA and it was annoying to hear those worries dismissed as moral panic.

The thing that annoyed me most though was them mixing up trans issues with hysteria over letting children play with toys of the other gender etc, which is what some of the papers have been getting worked up about lately. I think for most of us these are exactly opposite issues.

[ArcheryAnnie]

That was it, WineCheese! It started off quite well with all the stuff about letting kids dress however they like and it not being a big deal if a boy wears a tiara. But then it went into Paris "Street Harrassment is Sexy" Lees appropriating gay issues to make trans activism look like the next progressive thing, completely missing the point that trans activism doesn't allow boys to wear tiaras without declaring they are girls, and that trans activism is really fucking homophobic.