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#Unlearn
Progress is a constant state of learning and unlearning.
Writer, curator and producer Liv Little questions our modern understanding of big subjects – consent, race, transness, disability and body image – by learning more about their past.
Unlearn addresses a series of uniquely modern dilemmas: how did we get to the point where couples verify consent to have sex with each other via an app? How has our language about trans issues become so problematic and challenging? Is it possible for us to unpick the toxic understanding we have of our own body image?
Liv talks to contributors from across generational lines about what they’ve learnt and unlearnt during their lifetime in relation to these subjects. Has the progress that was made by each generation been positive? Or has it set us up for a more complicated present and future? And if progress is a constant state of unlearning the knowledge that’s passed on from generation to generation, what comes next?
Produced by Wisebuddah for Audible Originals.
Writer, curator and producer Liv Little questions our modern understanding of big subjects – consent, race, transness, disability and body image – by learning more about their past.
Unlearn addresses a series of uniquely modern dilemmas: how did we get to the point where couples verify consent to have sex with each other via an app? How has our language about trans issues become so problematic and challenging? Is it possible for us to unpick the toxic understanding we have of our own body image?
Liv talks to contributors from across generational lines about what they’ve learnt and unlearnt during their lifetime in relation to these subjects. Has the progress that was made by each generation been positive? Or has it set us up for a more complicated present and future? And if progress is a constant state of unlearning the knowledge that’s passed on from generation to generation, what comes next?
Produced by Wisebuddah for Audible Originals.
Audible Audio
Published January 1, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 4, 2020
Liv Little does a great job of opening a dialogue between listeners and a range of diverse communities. Whilst this means that the various groups discussed within this podcast aren't especially well explored, certainly not to their full extent, it works as a strong starting point or platform for important conversations to start happening.
There are five episodes, all around 40 minutes, within #Unlearn and they are exactly as it sounds - a chance to encourage people to unlearn behaviours, stigmas or misconceptions about poorly represented or frequently discriminated people with a chance to discuss some hot topics which warrant further discussion. These include issues surrounding treatment of people specific to consent, race, representation, transgender, body shaming and disability.
Liv has a range of speakers who range from celebrities, expert speakers or simply those affected by certain issues and she strikes a balance between respectful and probing questioning very well. This means that not only are we able to hear genuinely informative discussions surrounding these topics from influential, high profile or incredibly educated individuals, but we also hear firsthand encounters from real people affected by real issues; there's something more human, and undoubtedly more relatable, about personal experiences in contrast to expert opinions of the supposed impact this has.
The final episode surrounding body image was probably the most interesting. Mr Motivator is a guest speaker who essentially has a disrespectful conversation with Liv (he rudely remarks upon her body and her producers body during this chat whilst body shaming high BMI women) which had no rebuff at all from Liv. She reflects that she wishes she had voiced her distaste more strongly and argued against his views, but honestly I can perfectly understand why she struggled against his intense approach to answering her questions! It was actually perfectly revealing of the problem - his views utterly prove the disparaging and narrow minded make-up of some individuals so I'm glad she still included it despite it not going quite to plan.
The discussions deserved to be longer, but you have to commend podcasts like this for trying to provoke conversations about things which simply aren't given enough air time. The episode discussing transgender perfectly supported this when the speaker explained that they have been having radio interviews about being transgender for years and never get given the chance to discuss any more than simply what being transgender means biologically - it's disappointing that still, even in a time where most people are progressive or are becoming more progressive in mindset, important diverse topics aren't being given the time of day to educate people on anything more than the bare minimum. #Unlearn goes a long way towards that.
There are five episodes, all around 40 minutes, within #Unlearn and they are exactly as it sounds - a chance to encourage people to unlearn behaviours, stigmas or misconceptions about poorly represented or frequently discriminated people with a chance to discuss some hot topics which warrant further discussion. These include issues surrounding treatment of people specific to consent, race, representation, transgender, body shaming and disability.
Liv has a range of speakers who range from celebrities, expert speakers or simply those affected by certain issues and she strikes a balance between respectful and probing questioning very well. This means that not only are we able to hear genuinely informative discussions surrounding these topics from influential, high profile or incredibly educated individuals, but we also hear firsthand encounters from real people affected by real issues; there's something more human, and undoubtedly more relatable, about personal experiences in contrast to expert opinions of the supposed impact this has.
The final episode surrounding body image was probably the most interesting. Mr Motivator is a guest speaker who essentially has a disrespectful conversation with Liv (he rudely remarks upon her body and her producers body during this chat whilst body shaming high BMI women) which had no rebuff at all from Liv. She reflects that she wishes she had voiced her distaste more strongly and argued against his views, but honestly I can perfectly understand why she struggled against his intense approach to answering her questions! It was actually perfectly revealing of the problem - his views utterly prove the disparaging and narrow minded make-up of some individuals so I'm glad she still included it despite it not going quite to plan.
The discussions deserved to be longer, but you have to commend podcasts like this for trying to provoke conversations about things which simply aren't given enough air time. The episode discussing transgender perfectly supported this when the speaker explained that they have been having radio interviews about being transgender for years and never get given the chance to discuss any more than simply what being transgender means biologically - it's disappointing that still, even in a time where most people are progressive or are becoming more progressive in mindset, important diverse topics aren't being given the time of day to educate people on anything more than the bare minimum. #Unlearn goes a long way towards that.
February 27, 2020
For an edited series, this is very poor quality. It sounds like it was completed without any contemplation, as if the narrator was reacting to interviews in real time, with no consideration for a cohesive argument, logical train of thought, or proper choice of vocabulary. It could have been a meaningful, eloquent discussion of really important issues, but it turned out to be a mish-mash of interesting first-hand accounts, unstructured responses to unscripted interviews, and a generally unsatisfactory scraping of the surface.
July 31, 2020
This would be a good primer if you haven't been exposed to any of these topics in the last half dozen years. But as someone who has grown up around these conversations I feel we have moved on to a much more nuanced approach. These accounts left out so many issues (even within those stated) and was drastically oversimplified and reliant on anecdotes...
August 26, 2020
Really interesting to consider things from a different perspective.
August 20, 2019
I found this podcast series very informative and enlightening and it helped me to see our social prejudices and other interpretations a little more clearly. It was a worthwhile listen and more people should probably hear it.
December 9, 2019
Interesting set of 5 podcasts in terms of the subjects focused on including body image, racism, sexism and misogyny. This podcast explains and highlights key issues that as a society we need to unlearn these damaging behaviours.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews