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Political Satire (Ep. 102)

Political Satire (Ep. 102)

In this More Perfect Union podcast, the gang takes sides on the Kathy Griffin and Bill Maher comedy controversies, debates the social etiquette of the N-word, and looks forward to what may be coming in James Comey’s much anticipated congressional testimony.

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3 comments on Political Satire (Ep. 102)

  1. Dylan Rodgers says:

    First off, thanks for this podcast. I really appreciate your mix of perspectives and humor.

    I wanted to throw in my two cents about the N-word discussion. Full disclosure, I’m white and someone who has previously agreed with you, Kevin, about the “it’s just a word” argument. Now, however, I agree with Helena’s reading of it.

    There is a big difference in the way the word is used by people of different cultural groups. When white people use the N-word, we are referring to black people, either now or in a historical sense. Regardless of whether it’s hateful or not, it doesn’t generate an image in your brain of another white guy.

    Many black people, however, have incorporated it into their lexicon as a general and non-derogatory term like “dude”. It’s somewhat similar for the term “wey” in Mexican Spanish that is really a derogatory term mean to call someone dumb, but it is used in a nonchalant way between friends or others within the culture.

    Yes, the N-word is just a word, but words do have power and this one in particular was meant to hold power over people. It’s important that we understand the intent of meaning by the user, which is completely different for whites than it is blacks.

    This is why the double-standard argument doesn’t hold up. Despite the word being the “same” it has a completely different meaning. Words are not their juxtaposition of letters or sounds. Those are just stand-ins for the meaning they convey. So if they mean something different, they are different.

    Again, thanks for opening up the conversation to many perspectives.

  2. Kim says:

    I’m tired of white men insisting that they should be able to say the N word. I don’t care if you disagree with the reasons that the word is offensive. The bottom line is the word is offensive and hurtful to a large group of people and that should be enough reason NOT to use it.
    Love the podcast in general!

  3. Matthew Howell says:

    I am grateful to Kevin for taking a stance against using the phrase “the n-word”. It is difficult to countenance intelligent adults tip-toeing around using a word in a historical and non-racist sense when the same word is commonly bandied about Tarantino movies. Let’s grow up and distinguish between using “nigger” to humiliate and using it to discuss history.

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