179. Do NOT Get Into Neil Gaiman’s Bathtub

Nancy and Sarah dive into the messy New York magazine cover story on literary superstar Neil Gaiman, accused of sexual assault by multiple women. The story broke over the summer in a British podcast — which Nancy and Sarah listened to, and much preferred — and they zero in on the story’s different presentations and ethical tangles. It’s a tale of celebrity, status-seeking, boundarilessness, and cruelty. But is it criminal? Let’s discuss.

Also discussed:

• Joe Biden made a speech

• Bathtub as flytrap

• If I serve you a steak, and you write to tell me you loved it, then logically do I:

  • Serve you another steak

  • Assume you don’t really like steak and only told me you did so we can keep hanging out

  • Report me because I pressed the steak on you while knowing you hated steak

  • What does logic have to do with it?

• To be clear: We are anti-vagina whipping

• Do women want sexual freedom, to be protected class — or both?

• Please don’t trot out experts to support your insupportable point

• Nancy knee-jerks over journalism

• Is consent really black and white? And if so, why has it spawned five million think pieces and hours of podcasts like this?

• Jon Ronson puts Sarah to sleep but “in a loving way.”

• “If my literary hero appeared to me when I was 22 when I happened to be hot and not a binge-drinking chubby lonely-heart watching Real World marathons while hungover on the futon …”

Plus, Sarah hates the “cup of tea” consent video, some love for fact-checkers, the 1-minute video that’s made Nancy laugh 20 times, and much more!