RadCasts

Mia talks with unionized abortion care worker Crystal about RFK Jr.’s new announcement that Tylenol in pregnant people can cause autism and the real reproductive healthcare crises in the US.

Links:

https://prh.org/

https://www.instagram.com/acog_org?igsh=MXA1am4xeWg4Mzh2eA%3D%3D

Sources:
https://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/transcript/donald-trump-remarks-health-autism-white-house-september-22-2025/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/09/22/autism-tylenol-takeaways-trump-rfk-jr/86293921007/

https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/09/22/nx-s1-5550153/trump-rfk-autism-tylenol-leucovorin-pregnancy

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/world-health-experts-trump-tylenol-autism-link/

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In their heyday of the 1970s and 1980s, there were more than 200 - possibly more than 400 - feminist restaurants and coffee shops in the USA and Canada. These places were aiming to change ways of working, and upend the hierarchies of restaurants; to provide food that was ethically sourced and affordable to customers, while providing staff with a decent wage; to signal to particular kinds of people that a space was specifically for them. They didn't always succeed, and often they didn't last for more than a couple of years. But they sure did try things. Dr Alex Ketchum, author of Ingredients for Revolution, a History of American Feminist Restaurants, Cafes, and Coffeehouses, explains the ups and downs of how these places used words.

Visit theallusionist.org/breadroses for more information about today's topics, plus a transcript of the episode.

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This episode was produced by me, Helen Zaltzman, on the unceded ancestral and traditional territory of xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. The music is by Martin Austwick. Download his own songs at palebirdmusic.com and on Bandcamp, and listen to his podcasts Song By Song and Neutrino Watch.

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We chat about the growing genre of personal literary essays about AI where the literati at places like the New Yorker pen long essays laying out their thoughts, worries, and ultimate embrace of AI. But as with most personal essays, we end up learning more about the foibles and anxieties of the authors than anything material about the thing they are writing about. Big shout out to the excellent piece in N+1 we discuss in this episode, which turns the sights of literary criticism on this genre of “AI-and-I” essays. ••• What’s Up With Peter Thiel’s Obsession With the Antichrist? https://newrepublic.com/article/200471/peter-thiel-obsession-antichrist-religion ••• Large Language Muddle https://www.nplusonemag.com/issue-51/the-intellectual-situation/large-language-muddle/#rf3-55362 ••• Two Days Talking to People Looking for Jobs at ICE https://www.nplusonemag.com/issue-51/politics/yanis-two-days-talking-to-people-looking-for-jobs-at-ice-2/ Standing Plugs: ••• Order Jathan’s new book: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520398078/the-mechanic-and-the-luddite ••• Subscribe to Ed’s substack: https://substack.com/@thetechbubble ••• Subscribe to TMK on patreon for premium episodes: https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (bsky.app/profile/jathansadowski.com) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.x.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (bsky.app/profile/jebr.bsky.social)