Geek Herring
Geek Herring
Geek Herring
Geek Herring is the podcast talking about feminism in geek culture. Each week, we bring you geeky discussions and debates, news that matters to geek feminists, and interviews with inspirational folks in geek culture. Hosted by incorruptible women, Monika Rabensteiner and Amanda Sloan.
Geek Girl Reviews Shadow and Bone: Into the Grishaverse with Vicky Brewster
Shadow and Bone is the latest YA high fantasy show taking Netflix by storm. We're joined by Grishaverse addict Vicky Brewster to talk about what we loved - and didn't so much love - from our first foray into this universe. About Vicky Brewster Vicky Brewster is a freelance editor, founder of Books Outside the Box (a spooky and speculative book subscription service), founder of The Writing Haunt horror writing retreat, and a PhD student. She's wearing lots of fantastical hats and it's awesome! Based on the books by Leigh Bardugo, Shadow and Bone season one is out now on Netflix. If you haven't seen Shadow and Bone or read the books and are wary of spoilers: HERE IS YOUR SPOILER WARNING. This episode is NOT spoiler free! We talk about what we love about the show (mainly our love of Jesper and Inej) and what we don't love so much - too much -yawn- lovey dovey stuff! Vicky is our pocket expert into all things Grisha and we're so grateful for her guiding us through this episode and answering all our burning questions. It's great to have an expert on the team! ;) Here's Thom (from Three Extra Lives) take on the whole show - it basically sums it up! I really enjoyed how this show started - the fold and the mystery behind, how it's been used for political gain however we never really get to learn much about it. There feels like a lot of forced romance, (like the witch and the fedyor being an big example) Like how the f are you in love after one episode, and the story overall is very predictable, however I really like the cast and still very much intrigued about the story. I'm at such a dilemma with this show because I don't think I could recommend it to anyone, however at the same time I'll be excited to check out season 2 to see if they get to flesh this world out some more! Thanks, Thom, for putting into words how we feel about this show. WE NEED MORE STORY! Bring on Season 2 for the continuation and all the other awesome stuff. Here's the Apple Podcasts link to the Shadow and Bones Netflix podcast Vicky mentions! Find Vicky Brewster Online Find Vicky Brewster Online! Sign up for Vicky's Talk: CRSF 2021 - Speculative Futures and Survival Books Outside the Box The Writing Haunt Find Vicky on Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube Check Out Geek Herring! Follow Geek Herring on Twitch!! | Join the Geek Herring Book Club Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review! Support Geek Herring on Patreon! If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please check out some of our others! Episode 120: Geek Girl Reviews WandaVision: A Story About Grief Episode 129: Geeking Out About The Falcon and The Winter Soldier: Your Current Most Important Watch Episode 122: Geek Discussion: Our Break-Up with the Wizarding World Find Out More Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review! Join us on Discord!! You can find us Online / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Patreon! Geekily yours, Amanda & MonikaSpecial Guest: Vicky Brewster.Support Geek Herring
Jun 25, 2021
1 hr 5 min
Geek Interview with The Sartorial Geek Clothing Creator: Jordan Dene Ellis!
What's it like starting and running a successful geek brand? We're joined by the incredible Jordan Dene Ellis, of Jordandene NYC and The Sartorial Geek podcast and magazine, to talk about how she's created her own successful geeky brands. About Jordan Dene Ellis Jordan Dene Ellis is the founder of Jordandene NYC and co-founder of The Sartorial Geek podcast and magazine. She's a badass geek who's created one awesome life for herself - by her own rules. We chat about all things geek in this episode! Especially about creating a successful and thriving geeky career. Jordan Dene is pretty much a household name when it comes to geek fashion and it's easy to see why. Jordan also talks about what it's like running a magazine and her experience podcasting. Thanks for the awesome, fangirling episode, Jordan!! Find Our Guest Online Find Jordan Dene Ellis Online! Find Jordan on Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube Check Out Geek Herring! Follow Geek Herring on Twitch!! | Join the Geek Herring Book Club Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review! Support Geek Herring on Patreon! If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please check out some of our others! Episode 15: Geek Girl Rant: Gendered Clothes & Geeky Merch Episode 1: Geek Representation: NYCC and Beyond Episode 131: Geeking Out About Self Care Find Out More Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review! Join us on Discord!! You can find us Online / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Patreon! Geekily yours, Amanda & MonikaSpecial Guest: Jordan Dene Ellis.Support Geek Herring
Jun 18, 2021
59 min
Geek Discussion: Coming Out, Pride, and Identity
HAPPY PRIDE! We are so excited to celebrate Pride this month, not only because it's fucking PRIDE, it's also Moni's first pride as an out and proud asexual person! Welcome to the queer club, Moni! In this episode, we're talking alllll about Moni's coming out story and how she's perceived herself for all of her life. It's really fascinating to hear this from someone who realised their identity at 36 years of age. Congratulations, Moni, on figuring your shit out! We also talk about appearances and genitals, because what kind of episode would it be if we didn't? It's inappropriate and incredible, exactly how we like it. This year has been one of self-discovery for many. We've actually had quite a few people mention that Geek Herring has gotten way gayer over the years we've been doing this -- and also that Geek Herring makes you gay*. *Well, sure. We'll take it! What a weird badge of honour. Celebrating pride for both of us has been really different experiences. Amanda's been celebrating over 17 Prides in some way or another and Moni's never been to a Pride parade in her life. We're both valid for however we celebrate and recognise Pride! Because Pride matters. Pride is an important event in the LGBTQIA2+ community. We've lost so much - from the AIDs crisis, homophobia, transphobia, biphobia, murders, and all that horrible stuff of humanity. It's no wonder there are so many people, like Moni, who haven't come out until later in life. We didn't have the role models or the safety to come out like Gen Z does, now. Finally, we want you to know that no matter how old you are, no matter how out you are, and no matter who you are: you matter. You are valid. Your identity is valid. This world just needs a bit more gosh darn love! Check Out Geek Herring! Follow Geek Herring on Twitch!! | Join the Geek Herring Book Club Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review! Support Geek Herring on Patreon! If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please check out some of our others! Episode 126: Geek Roundtable: Love in Every Form Episode 124: Geek Interview: Love Is… Finding Yourself with Lizzie Episode 125: Geek Girl Reviews It’s a Sin: The Heartbreaking Reality of the AIDS Crisis Find Out More Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review! Join us on Discord!! You can find us Online / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Patreon! Geekily yours, Amanda & MonikaSupport Geek Herring
Jun 11, 2021
44 min
Geek Girl in the News: May 2021
Geek Girl in the News looks at the awesome or not so awesome news that will make you go either: "YAY" or "OMG I can't believe that." The latest and greatest geek girl news from May 2021 covers Gen Z being badass, celebrity struggles with mental health, snowflake gamers and the male gaze, an update on the Rosario Dawson anti-trans lawsuit, and some good news from Twitch! We start by celebrating the incredibly talented Madisen Cordell who won an Amazon scholorship to pursue computer science.... after starting to learn it only last summer! This story is so wholesome and inspiring; Madisen, you'll go so far!! Congratulations! Then we're talking about the newest grrl riot punk band: The Linda Lindas. These tweens took a racist, sexist comment from a boy in their class and wrote the literal baddest assiest song about it. Ever. RACIST SEXIST BOY!!! We stan you, Linda Lindas!! Keep it coming! Next, we're talking about Naomi Osaka's statement and eventual withdrawal from the French Open due to her mental health. She decided it was in the interest of her mental health not to participate in post-tournament interviews, but the archaic tennis federation rules deemed it appropriate to issue a $15k fine. Seriously? Mental health before all else! We're proud of you, Naomi! And hope you kick collaborative ass in changing the rules! And it's not just women who are opening up about their mental health problems. Even male celebrity faves like Ryan Reynolds who seemingly have it ALL can and do struggle with mental health issues. It's so, so, so important for straight, cis, white men to open up about their mental health issues in order to combat the stigma of mental health. Thank you, Ryan! Then we have a bit of a laugh about the absolute snowflake of a gamer who decided that Aloy, in the sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn, looks too masculine. Um, fuck away off and get in the sea! With an update to a past geek girl in the news episode, courts have dismissed the anti-trans assault lawsuit against Rosario Dawson. This is really a lose-lose situation. Either accusor Dedrek Finley is lying and caused some irreparable damage to Dawson's career and the validity of anti-trans assault, or Dawson is lying and used her fame and finances to make the situation go away. Well fuck. But in some excellent news, Twitch has finally - finally - given us 350 new identity tags on the gaming platform! The long-anticipated trans tag is here! And along with it are tags about sexuality, gender, race, nationality, disability, and more. THANK YOU TWITCH. And maybe in some even more unprecedented updates... Twitch apologised for getting this wrong, stating that they really should have done this sooner. What do YOU think about these news stories? We'd love your take! Let us know in the comments of wherever you see this episode! In this episode of Geek Girl in the News, we covered these news stories: Madisen Cordell wins Amazon scholarship to pursue computer science Everyone Is in Love With the Linda Lindas BREAKING: Naomi Osaka withdrew from the French Open. The Importance of Ryan Reynolds Opening Up About Anxiety During Mental Health Awareness Month and Beyond Snowflake gamer dragged after whining about Aloy’s ‘masculine’ appearance in Horizon Forbidden West Court Has Dismissed Anti-Trans Assault Lawsuit Against Rosario Dawson Twitch streamers celebrate as brand-new transgender tag goes live: ‘I’m happy it’s finally here’ Check Out Geek Herring! Join us on Discord!! Follow Geek Herring on Twitch!! | Join the Geek Herring Book Club Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review! Support Geek Herring on Patreon! If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please check out some of our others! Episode 106: Geek Girl in the News: We’re in love with Elliot Page and Chris Evans… just a little bit! Episode 116: Geek Interview: Gender Identity and Fluidity with Frazley and Sascz of Translucidity Episode 131: Geeking Out About Self Care Find Out More Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review! Join us on Discord!! You can find us Online / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Patreon! Geekily yours, Amanda & MonikaSupport Geek Herring
Jun 4, 2021
56 min
Geeking Out About Self Care
Self care. It's a hot topic right now, and not without good reason. It's an essential practice for our health - but as geeks, what's best for us? Let's face it. All those Insta posts about self care being baths, yoga, and meditation are bullshit. Like okay, Karen, if that's you, you do you. But that's not all self care is. Self care is any activity that lets your body and, maybe more importantly, your mind relax. This week, we're talking about the self care practices that we, as geeks, business owners, podcast hosts, and Twitch streamers do regularly. From creating a schedule and routine to reading cosy books to streaming on Twitch. The most important message is that your self care can look like whatever you want it to. Don't let anyone else dictate what your self care should look like. Do what makes YOU happy. What are your favourite ways to practice self care? Let us know in the comments here or come join us on Discord! Check Out Geek Herring! Follow Geek Herring on Twitch!! | Join the Geek Herring Book Club Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review! Support Geek Herring on Patreon! If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please check out some of our others! Episode 113: Bodies and Radical Self-Love with Gemma Episode 108: Geek Discussion: Real talk! Our Girl Geek Highs and Lows 2020 and Before Episode 121: Geek Interview: Loving the Skin You’re in with Frank the Pegasus Find Out More Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review! Join us on Discord!! You can find us Online / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Patreon! Geekily yours, Amanda & MonikaSupport Geek Herring
May 28, 2021
50 min
Geek Girl Reviews Surviving R. Kelly: What a Piece of Sh*t
Surviving R. Kelly is a documentary about the literal decades of abuse from the rapper - and the total lack of prosecution. This is our review of the 6-part documentary of horrors. Content Warning: This entire episode deals with sensitive topics. Sexual assault, abuse, pedophilia, child pornography, pornography, and more. Please protect yourselves, listeners. If these topics are too heavy for you right now, please check out another episode of Geek Herring After watching Surviving R. Kelly, we can say with 100% certainty that Robert Kelly is indisputably a piece of shit. We witness in this documentary Robert's interest in young girls start way too early in his life. It's all come out about his relationship and marriage to Alliyah - when she was only 15 fucking years old and he was 24!? But that's nowhere near where these decades of abuse ends. It's absolutely heartbreaking to watch these girls and young women be seduced by this master manipulator for years. Even when women came forward about his abuses, Robert "somehow" seems to avoid any jail time. Spoilers: he just makes too much money for the record company. So naturally, he can do whatever he wants - including assaulting young girls. We also talk about how everyone in his life is claiming total ignorance and innocence to his crimes - and we call absolute fucking bullshit. Listen to this episode to find out more! Watch Surviving R. Kelly on Netflix Check Out Geek Herring! Follow Geek Herring on Twitch!! | Join the Geek Herring Book Club Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review! Support Geek Herring on Patreon! If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please check out some of our others! Episode 22: Geek Discussion: Rape, Steam, & Responsibility Episode 119: Geek Girl in the News: Sexual Abuse & Racism in the Entertainment Industry – Marilyn Manson, Joss Whedon, World of Warcraft, & the Golden Globes Episode 91: Geek Discussion: WAP, Sexual Empowerment, and Feminism Find Out More Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review! Join us on Discord!! You can find us Online / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Patreon! Geekily yours, Amanda & MonikaSupport Geek Herring
May 21, 2021
48 min
Geeking Out About The Falcon and The Winter Soldier: Your Current Most Important Watch
The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is one of the most iconic and important watches of our modern times. Let's talk about why! ** THIS EPISODE IS FULL OF SPOILERS OF THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER SEASON 1 ** Please enjoy Amanda's super awesome and very incoherent explanation and summary of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. We don't want to put toooo too much in these shownotes, because spoilers, but to sum up: Defund the police. Support mental health, PTSD, and military vets. Black Lives Matter. Mediation should always be the first course of action. Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson are the best and we'd watch them paint a room together, What did YOU think of this epic show? Let us know in the comments or come on over and join our Discord! Check Out Geek Herring! Follow Geek Herring on Twitch!! | Join the Geek Herring Book Club Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review! Support Geek Herring on Patreon! If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please check out some of our others! Episode 120: Geek Girl Reviews WandaVision: A Story About Grief Episode 41: Geeking Out About Marvel’s Phase 4 Episode 128: Geek Girl in the News: eSports Gyms, NFTs, and Marvel Excitement Find Out More Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review! Join us on Discord!! You can find us Online / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Patreon! Geekily yours, Amanda & MonikaSupport Geek Herring
May 14, 2021
1 hr 14 min
Geek Girl in the News: eSports Gyms, NFTs, and Marvel Excitement
Geek Girl in the News looks at the awesome or not so awesome news that will make you go either: "YAY" or "OMG I can't believe that." The latest and greatest geek girl news from April 2021 covers the EFL's first female referee, Japan's first ever eSports gym, NFTs and the Disaster Girl meme, Sony's partnership with Discord, Disney+ announcement of Ironheart, Marvel's Phase 5 trailer drop (omg!), Ryan Reynolds demanding a bisexual Deadpool, and the revealed identity of Ratchet & Clank's femme fatale! We're so excited to have a pretty upbeat month of news this month! First, we're diving into sports, thanks to Thom (of course) who sent us this article about Rebecca Welch, the first female referee for the English Football League. What a fab move for the EFL, a fab promotion for Welch, and a step forward for women in football. We love to see it! Thom also sent us our next article about Japan's first eSports gym opening up in Tokyo. Picture a regular gym: you go, train on all the machines, even have the opportunity for personal training. That's EXACTLY what an eSports gym is - except you're not working out your legs, you're working out your ESPORTS muscles. And we're HERE for this, how dang cool!? What do you know about NFTs? Amanda knows nothing, even after Moni and Twitch chat tried to explain it. But she doesn't have to understand what they're about to know that the Disaster Meme just made Zoe Roth $500k. She's paying off her college loans and donating the rest to charity. AMAZING! We're also super excited about Sony's partnership with Discord. This is such a win-win! Discord needs some more financial backing, especially after the year it's had, and Sony needs some voice cross-chat integration for the Playstation. Excited to see what happens here! Geek Herring listener, FlameFlash, submitted the next story about the Disney+ announcement of Ironheart! This show sounds absolutely incredible and follows the story of 15 year old genius Black student RiRi Williams on her quest to rebuild IronMan armour for her. RiRi will be played by Dominique Thorne, and it's being written by Chinaka Hodge, another Black woman. We quite literally cannot contain our excitement about this show and all the Black female talent getting pumped into it! We're also SO FUCKING EXCITED about the Marvel Phase 5 release trailer! Literally cannot WAIT for all these films to come out - and so many are this year! YES YES YES to ALL these damn movies! And, staying with Marvel, we are HERE for Ryan Reynolds absolutely begging Marvel to let him play Deadpool as bisexual - he is canon pansexual in the comics, so of course it makes sense! Come on, Marvel! It's about time! And finally, we talk about the new Ratchet & Clank femme fatale character reveal! Thanks to our friend, Ed Nightingale, reporting for Pink News for this article! What do YOU think about these news stories? We'd love your take! Let us know in the comments of wherever you see this episode! In this episode of Geek Girl in the News, we covered these news stories: Rebecca Welch becomes first female referee to be appointed to EFL game ahead of Harrogate Town vs Port Vale Japan is opening its first ever esports gym in Tokyo, where people can book 3-hour slots at PCs and pay for coaching from professional gamers The World Knows Her as ‘Disaster Girl.’ She Just Made $500,000 Off the Meme. Sony announces new partnership with gaming platform Discord, raising hopes for improved cross-play ‘Ironheart’: Marvel-Disney Plus Series Sets Chinaka Hodge as Head Writer (EXCLUSIVE) Marvel Phase 5 Release Trailer Ryan Reynolds is reportedly begging Marvel to make Deadpool openly bisexual Hidden identity of Ratchet & Clank’s mysterious new femme fatale finally revealed Check Out Geek Herring! Join us on Discord!! Follow Geek Herring on Twitch!! | Join the Geek Herring Book Club Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review! Support Geek Herring on Patreon! If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please check out some of our others! Episode 123: Geek Girl in the News: Montero & Lil Nas X, Sarah Everard, and Trans Rights Episode 111: Geek Girl in the News: We are SO Over Body Shaming, Star-Lord #ConfirmedBisexual, & Aliens Exist!? Episode 124: Geek Interview: Love Is… Finding Yourself with Lizzie Find Out More Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review! Join us on Discord!! You can find us Online / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Patreon! Geekily yours, Amanda & MonikaSupport Geek Herring
May 7, 2021
56 min
Geek Herring & Chill: Getting Supes Vulnerable with More Deep Questions
We're getting chilled out and intimate with round TWO of asking deep questions. We always love these episodes because we get to know each other even better than we already do. We had a LOT of laughs, some himming and humming (LOOKING AT YOU, AMANDA!), and a few moments getting totes emosh, all while sharing our answers LIVE with our Twitch audience! Want to hear about the best gift Amanda ever got? What about her most embarrassing moment at school? Curious about what Moni's future TED Talk will be? Or when she's felt most alone? Want to know how Amanda made Moni spit her water out!? Then tune in! Make sure you don't miss this one! Ask Deep Questions is a card game that consists of 48 thoughtful questions that go below the surface to create meaningful connections with ANYONE. Check Out Geek Herring! Follow Geek Herring on Twitch!! | Join the Geek Herring Book Club Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review! Support Geek Herring on Patreon! If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please check out some of our others! Geek Interview: Life as a Professional Feminist with Virginia Mendez from The Feminist Shop Geek Interview: Plus Size Nerding it up with Nancy Basile! Geek Herring Reviews Feminists: What Were They Thinking? Find Out More Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review! Join us on Discord!! You can find us Online / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Patreon! Geekily yours, Amanda & MonikaSupport Geek Herring
Apr 30, 2021
45 min
Geek Roundtable: Love in Every Form
Love comes in so many different forms! We're joined by some wonderful Twitch streamers, mods, and Tweeters to talk about love outside the heteronormative experience. This episode is beautiful and emotional and we love it! About Our Guests Ariana is a polyamorous cis woman we know on Twitter Frazley is an asexual, aromantic transgender woman who streams on Twitch Gemma is a polysexual, polyamorourus cis woman and is our wonderful moderator Jay is a genderfluid, polymorourus streamer on Twitch Rik is an agender, aromantic gay streamer on Twitch About Love in Every Form This is our very first roundtable discussion we recorded live on Twitch. We asked some of our lovely friends and fellow streamers to come on and talk about their experiences with love. We learned so much about so many different types of love: polyamory, familial, friendship, no sexual or romantic connections, gay love, straight love, and everything in between. Of course, there were tears. Of course, there was openness and beauty to this conversation. We all learned so much about each other - and maybe even some beauty things about ourselves we didn't previously know. All we know is: this episode is beautiful. Thank you so much, everyone, for sharing pieces of yourselves and speaking so openly about your experiences with love! Check Out Geek Herring! Follow Geek Herring on Twitch!! | Join the Geek Herring Book Club Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review! Support Geek Herring on Patreon! If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please check out some of our others! Episode 124: Geek Interview: Love Is… Finding Yourself with Lizzie Episode 83: Geek Herring & Chill: Happy Pride 2020! Episode 125: Geek Girl Reviews It’s a Sin: The Heartbreaking Reality of the AIDS Crisis Find Out More Love Geek Herring, please hop over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a review! Join us on Discord!! You can find us Online / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Patreon! Geekily yours, Amanda & MonikaSupport Geek Herring
Apr 23, 2021
1 hr 27 min
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