R.S. Benedict

Critical readings of fandom, pop culture, and online life.

Recommends

Books, films, shows, and podcasts they point to — tap a source to read the passage.

Books · 1

book

The Last Straight Woman: On Desiring Men

Episode 312: The Last Straight Woman (with Phoebe Maltz Bovy)R.S. Benedict

Context

R.S. Benedict recommends this book because it provides a rigorous, necessary exploration of the overlooked complexities inherent in contemporary heterosexual desire.

Sort

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Episode 327: Rock Opera Revolts Over Caucasian Cornrows

Plus, Mattress Girl, 10 years later

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Weekly Open Thread (10/7/26)

Talk about anything!

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Live with Katie Herzog & Sarah Hepola

A recording from Blocked and Reported's live video

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Episode 326: The Case That’s Shaking Cornell—and the Internet

The Cornell 7

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Premium: The Erin Reed Story: It's Not Just About AI Plagiarism—It's About The Rich Tapestry of Human Connection In An Ever-Evolving Digital Landscape (And That's Truly Beautiful)

Plus, Nikole Hannah-Jones grades herself

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Sarah Hepola! Live! On the computer!

Join us, Monday, October 5th

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Weekly Open Thread (9/30/26)

Talk about anything!

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Premium: Our Favorite Long-Covid Lesbian Bar Gets Famous

One last night at the Last Ditch

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Episode 325: What’s The Matter With Seattle?

With Blue City Blues

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Weekly Open Thread (9/23/26)

Talk about anything!

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Episode 324: Free Speech, Free Palestine, Free Macklemore, Free Ed Sheeran, Free Hobo Johnson, Free Podcast

Plus, introducing a brand new segment

R.S. Benedict1mo

Premium: Last Ditch Bar And The Never-Ending Accountability Session

Plus, mouthy women get kicked out of an “inclusive” sports bar

R.S. Benedict1mo

Weekly Open Thread (9/16/26)

Talk about anything!

R.S. Benedict1mo

Episode 323: The Social Justice Mayor Vs The Social Justice Non-Profit

The healing session did not heal

R.S. Benedict1mo

Premium: AI Psychosis, But Affirming

And more

R.S. Benedict1mo

Weekly Open Thread (9/9/26)

Talk about anything!

R.S. Benedict1mo

Episode 322: The Love And Deepspace Controversies, Explained

Plus, can’t a lesbian with a fierce manicure catch a duck every once in a while? (No.)

R.S. Benedict1mo

Weekly Open Thread (9/2/26)

Talk about anything!

R.S. Benedict1mo

Episode 321: Losing The Plot (with Jon Ronson)

The unraveling of modern men

R.S. Benedict1mo

Premium: Jessica Taylor’s Tattle Battle (Part 3)

The grand finale

R.S. Benedict1mo

Weekly Open Thread (8/26/26)

Talk about anything!

R.S. Benedict1mo

Premium: Jessica Taylor’s Tattle Battle (Part 2)

A very dark web

R.S. Benedict1mo

Episode 320: Jessica Taylor’s Tattle Battle (Part 1)

The story of a complicated woman

R.S. Benedict1mo

Weekly Open Thread (8/19/26)

Talk about anything!

R.S. Benedict2mo

Episode 319: If You Haven’t Seen Woke 1, This Episode Won’t Make Much Sense To You

It was crazy

R.S. Benedict2mo

Weekly Open Thread (8/12/26)

Talk about anything!

R.S. Benedict2mo

Ask Jon Ronson Anything

He may answer!

R.S. Benedict2mo

Episode 318: Tick Talk

Plus, a gay icon with a troubling past

R.S. Benedict2mo

Premium: The Literally True Story Of How Cambridge's Youngest Black Professor Was Really And Truly Victimized By A Racist One-Armed Invisible Man

LITERALLY

R.S. Benedict2mo

Weekly Open Thread (8/5/26)

Talk about anything!

R.S. Benedict2mo

WNBA DRAMA with Katie Herzog & Ethan Strauss

A recording from Katie Herzog's live video

R.S. Benedict2mo

Premium: The Strange Case Of The Legless Surgeon

Meet Neil Hopper

R.S. Benedict2mo

Live with Ethan Strauss

Friday! Friday! Friday!

R.S. Benedict2mo

Weekly Open Thread (7/29/26)

Talk about anything!

R.S. Benedict2mo

Premium: The Slow-Motion Implosion Of An Imagined Queer Utopia

Long live The Queery

R.S. Benedict2mo

Weekly Open Thread (7/22/26)

Talk about anything!

R.S. Benedict3mo

Episode 317: Literally Knitler (with Jessica the '80s Baby)

Another knitting saga

R.S. Benedict3mo

Live with Katie Herzog, Ben Westhoff, and Emily Dufton

A recording from Katie Herzog's live video

R.S. Benedict3mo

Weekly Open Thread (7/15/26)

Talk about anything!

R.S. Benedict3mo

Live with Ben Westhoff and Emily Dufton

Thursday July 16th

R.S. Benedict3mo

Episode 316: Graham Cracker Crumbles

Boy, bye

R.S. Benedict3mo

Weekly Open Thread (7/8/26)

Talk about anything!

R.S. Benedict3mo

Episode 315: You Down With DAC?

The gentrification of the Democratic party

R.S. Benedict3mo

Weekly Open Thread (7/1/26)

Talk about anything!

R.S. Benedict3mo

Premium: Marsha Marsha Marsha (Part 2)

Who threw the first brick?

R.S. Benedict3mo

Episode 314: Authentic Authenticity On A Silver Platner

The Graham Platner story

R.S. Benedict3mo

Weekly Open Thread (6/24/26)

Talk about anything!

R.S. Benedict3mo

Premium: Before The Brick (Part 1)

Plus, fact checking Erin Reed

R.S. Benedict3mo

Ask Jessica the '80s Baby Anything

Well, almost anything

R.S. Benedict3mo

Episode 313: How A Gay Jewish Boob-Hypnotherapist Built A Coalition With Burqa-Wearing Islamists

Meet the Greens

R.S. Benedict4mo

Weekly Open Thread (6/17/26)

Talk about anything!

R.S. Benedict4mo

Episode 312: The Last Straight Woman (with Phoebe Maltz Bovy)

And more!

R.S. Benedict4mo

Premium: Patagonia v. Pattie Gonia

It's giving trademark infringement

R.S. Benedict4mo

Weekly Open Thread (6/11/26)

Talk about anything!

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R.S. Benedict

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Channel content

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