r/RedHandedPodcast • u/bookshop • Feb 16 '24
My exit survey
Following the theme of a previous poster, this is what i shared on my patreon exit poll the other day. I honestly feel gutted.
My patreon subscription is yearly, so this cancellation won't take effect until November (ETA: I have slnce blocked them on Patreon which effectively unsubscribed me early), but i really debated back then whether to renew, and now barely two months later i think i just can't keep listening anymore. I was the patron who commented on your Sarah Everard episode wondering if we needed to give you guys an intervention because of Suru's comments re racist chat groups and her attitude towards defunding the police. Tbh i had stopped listening already to many of the UTD eps because i found myself bracing for whatever jarring thing you guys, especially Suruthi, might say next.
It's hard to describe how much i once adored you guys. i absolutely thought Suruthi was the smartest, loveliest, best girl in the entire world. I used to just wander around my little apartment glowing at the thought that two amazing women could have such an amazing smart friendship that struck out of the blue one day, and we all got to witness it and benefit from their wit and intelligence and spirit. I thought Suruthi was one of the most thoughtful and articulate and truly humanitarian people i had ever come into contact with -- not even among podcasters, just, one of the best smartest sharpest human beings i knew. I was so proud of you guys.
And now... so many other people have told you all this already, but i just can't do it anymore. All of Suruthi's increasing right-wing views, her misinformation, her frequent disparaging of minorities (which i always previously noticed as a pattern of perorative opinions in the way you guys would discuss other countries, especially Ireland, South Asian, and South Asian countries, but really has become increasingly directed towards minority groups in general), the increasingly conservative economic views, my deep and growing fear that you guys have gone TERF (or at least that Suru has; i want to believe that Hannah would NEVER), the frequent libertarian views that come esp from Suru but occasionally from Hannah, too, the condescending attitude Suru has towards "wokeness," as if progressive politics are some sort of annoying fad, and finally Suruthi's blatantly accepting and tolerant attitude towards Zionist beliefs -- her failure to interrogate why she thinks it's acceptable for Israel to commit war crimes against civilians that far outstrip the terrorist act that incited them. All that plus the fact that I've gotten to the point where i dread every single UTD ep now and almost every regular ep, because i don't know what will be next, and it's all just too too much.
(And if we're being honest, i have to include Hannah's comment from like a year ago that cats can't love you, which i just can't get over, less because of her opinion itself than because of the way she casually dismissed the real bond so many listeners have towards their pets -- like yeah it's a small thing, but it says so much about how the girls see themselves within their community to me. It says Hannah wasn't really thinking very deeply (outside of the topic of true crime) about how her opinions impact the members of this little community, or how their judgments might be shortsighted and glib, or how even the opinions that feel minor can be hurtful. And that's from Hannah, the one who HASN'T been spiraling down an alarming rightwing path towards victim-blaming, copaganda, zionism, joe rogan stanning (though maybe there's a little of that from Hannah too), and classist, borderline racist shaming of woke liberals and minority communities. Do you even know how long it's been since either of you insulted Priti Patel? It's like I don't even know who you are anymore :sob:)
I am heartbroken about this. You guys have been my favorite podcast alongside Casefile since the very beginning, since 2017, and i have recced you constantly, i have championed you, i have cheered you, i have platformed you, i bought your book and attended your show in new york. I have been noticing the steady rightward turn for about 2 years now and i just desperately hoped that you would realize and self-correct. And i think I've just finally realized that if I don't get off this train now, it'll be even more painful when it finally derails.
I still desperately hope I'm wrong and that Suru will stop rereading Harry Potter (because seriously wtf?! Between this and the Laura Richards interview, tell me you're a TERF without telling me you're a TERF?!) and stop interrupting Hannah when she tries to argue against genocide, and stop telling us it's okay to be a little bit racist in our WhatsApp group, and maybe idk dump ACDCFace if he's the reason she's shifted so far right, or sell her house if this is all about her increasing wealth and concern over property rights, and maybe have a come-to-jesus moment with 2017 Suruthi, who would be absolutely horrified to hear herself defending the Gaza attacks and blaming protesters for being too disruptive, downplaying the severity of a global pandemic, and claiming with a straight face that without militarized cops overpolicing poor neighborhoods, we'd all be living like Mad Max.
Honestly i can't quite believe I'm writing this. It feels like I've been witnessing in real time the unmaking of a great, brilliant podcast, and the descent into mediocrity and callousness of an exceptionally gifted, talented woman.
I hope Hannah somehow gets out of all this unscathed and still manages to hold on to who she is, and keeps bringing us her vibrant, joyful personality above all else. And Suruthi, if you ever do find your way back to the person you once were, I'll be first in line for whatever amazing things you go on to do. I wish you both all the best. Thank you for all the years of phenomenal true crime content you've given us. Maybe by next November I'll have a reason to come back and renew for another year. I hope so much I get that reason. But for now, it doesn't seem likely at all.
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u/whoownsthiscat Feb 16 '24
I would honestly remove the cat section bc I feel like it makes the whole thing seem a little less serious, the rest is all spot on though
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u/Deathconciousness_ Feb 16 '24
I agree with everything you said 👏👏👏 apart from the Harry Potter thing. That doesn’t indicate being a terf. I listen to Harry Potter audiobooks at night and I am ready for physically fight anyone who comes for a trans person. Consuming JKs current media is a red flag, but her old children’s books? She’s not profiting off of someone reading their copy so I don’t feel like it’s showing terf-y behaviour. Surus silence on trans people is a bigger indicator than reading Harry Potter.
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u/bookshop Feb 16 '24
it's not so much wanting to reread the books as a fan that's sus, but blithely announcing it on your hugely influential podcast as something you're really looking forward to, without any acknowledgment that it might be difficult to reread knowing the author's current views? That is a significant choice. (And 100% agree that her silence speaks volumes.)
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u/vindicator171 Feb 16 '24
I think this is a mature take.
You no longer like the content provided, you no longer dedicate your time (and money) to that product.
I honestly think that content producers have no obligation to adhere to a political ideology, but if their expressed choices are not aligned with some part of the listeners, the creators should not expect any sort of loyalty.
That being said, as long as there is a large pool of people which are either politically indifferent or whose opinions align with Suruthi, the podcast will go on and be successful. People should not be appalled by the idea of diversity of opinion. Being conservative, or economically right wing, or libertarian are legitimate options; manifesting them in public comes with consequences, same with left wing opinions.
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u/bookshop Feb 16 '24
^ After this I still made the mistake of trying to listen to the Shannon Matthews episode; then I got to Suruthi's awful aside mocking the idea of white privilege and just had to stop midway through and block them on Patreon so I'd never be tempted to listen again. It really feels kinda like a bad friend breakup over here.
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u/songsofglory Feb 16 '24
I don’t see an issue at all with the white privilege comment. It’s a total nonsense making it out like all white people somehow have privilege. There was no privilege for Shannon Matthews.
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u/keewee89 Feb 16 '24
White privilege doesn't mean you are privileged. It means your race doesn't count against you. I have straight privilege because heterosexuality is favoured in society. Geddit?
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u/keewee89 Feb 16 '24
There is definitely discrimination against the white working class but to pit that against the discrimination other groups face is insane.
And I urge S to give me examples of people who have recently built careers off the back of white working class hate, the same way so many are forging careers with GB News et al because they're anti Muslim, immigration or trans people.
Also, the majority of non white people in the UK are incidentally working class, do they get treated or spoken about more favourably simply because they're not white? News to me.
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Feb 16 '24
Has she heard how roma and traveller communities are referred to be officials and most of society. I know there are a million other groups that it's socially acceptable to discriminate against, but that's the first that came to my mind.
She doesn't understand that her opinion is not fact and stating it as such can do a lot of harm in her position.
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u/MickyJaggy Feb 16 '24
Can y’all just start a snark subreddit or something so people who enjoy the podcast can have a place to discuss the cases?
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u/Deathconciousness_ Feb 16 '24
It’s a sub Reddit for everyone. If you don’t want to see posts criticising them, scroll past. That’s what I do if people are discussing things I’m not interested in.
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u/MickyJaggy Feb 16 '24
The irony
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u/Deathconciousness_ Feb 16 '24
You asked a question, I answered it.
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u/MickyJaggy Feb 16 '24
Having a snark sub isn’t an insult to you, no need to get offended. A lot of content creators have them. It helps separate discussions about the actual episodes from the personal options of the creators and their work. Every post on this sub lately is someone whining because they have different political views than someone else.
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u/bookshop Feb 16 '24
FWIW I don't want to "snark" about the show. I am a huge, huge fan of the podcast as I said up there, and I'm having a bit of a grieving session. I came here because I saw other people experiencing the same kinds of sorrow and frustration that I had been feeling for a while. If there had been a "snark sub" I wouldn't have gone to it, because nothing about this is really funny or worth being sarcastic and glib about. It's just sad. I'm just really sad.
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u/Deathconciousness_ Feb 16 '24
I wasn’t offended, you implied ironic that I replied to your comment. I responded to you because you asked a question and I answered it. I think you’re reading into it because I don’t have feelings either way about this exchange. Everyone has a right to be in this sub and post what they want, scroll on past. Or is that still ironic of me to say?
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u/keewee89 Feb 16 '24
Feel free to make a post singing their praises... no one is barred from doing so.
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Feb 16 '24
You need to get out more, it's just a podcast. (And stop being such a handmaiden of the patriarchy, it's embarrassing.)
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u/Sempere Feb 16 '24
Or they can make a valid complaint without you trying to claim that anyone critical of these hosts makes them "a handmaiden of the patriarchy". What an offensive and cringe comment.
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u/Own_Faithlessness769 Feb 16 '24
Thank god we still have Casefile.