ABOUT THIS EPISODE
It happened to us right here at Rigour & Flow. One of the stories we needed to tell turned out to be the one the digital world was least willing to amplify.
In this Unfinished Business episode, Aiwan and Tamanda revisit some of the most powerful conversations from our Women's History Month series and ask:
What happens when the systems designed to protect people end up protecting power instead?
Across marriage, the law, academia and technology, this episode explores the uncomfortable reality that the systems built to protect people can sometimes end up protecting power instead.
From debates around sex work and marital rape to the courage of survivors like Gisèle Pelicot and the disturbing rise of online "rape academies", we explore the cultures of silence that continue to shape how violence against women is understood, discussed and challenged.
We also reflect on a fascinating conversation with Washington-based researcher Olga Naidenko about academic authority, survivor knowledge and the ethics of citation. Should influential thinkers still be treated as intellectual authorities when serious allegations of harm surround them? And who gets to decide whose voices deserve to be amplified?
Along the way, we unpack the unexpected suppression of our own content by social media algorithms and what that reveals about technology, safety and the unintended consequences of platform moderation.
🎙️ In this episode:
- The Algorithm of Silence. How social media platforms unexpectedly suppressed some of our most important conversations on violence against women - and what that reveals about digital gatekeeping.
- When Safety Becomes Transactional. Revisiting debates around marriage, sex work, capitalism and the blurred lines between intimacy, protection and obligation.
- Gisèle Pelicot and the Switching of Shame. What happens when a survivor refuses silence, chooses public accountability, and forces society to confront its own complicity.
- The "Do Not Cite" List. The ethical minefield of academia, intellectual authority and whether influential thinkers should remain untouchable when allegations of harm emerge.
- The Ethics of Looking Away. Exploring the tension between protecting a cause and confronting the harm that can exist within it.
- Why Do We Protect Powerful Men? Across marriage, the law, academia and technology, asking why institutions so often shield the powerful while failing the people they were designed to protect.
🎧 Listen wherever you get your podcasts
🎥 Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/CbNxG3UeFx8
🔁 Share this with someone who is tired of being dictated to by the algorithm and is ready for rigorous conversations.
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