Hey, it's Sinon Radio. This is John with the next in our summer mini-season of

rebroadcasts, a few of my favorite things. This episode was in my plans for this

summer, but I juggled the order and moved it up a couple of weeks, given the

Supreme Court. Actually, I'm thinking of two big news stories here in 2022, and

some might say it's odd to talk about these two things in the same sentence.

One is so much more substantive than the other, but hear me out. First, yes, the

US Supreme Court and its hard-right majority strikes down Roe v Wade after

almost 50 years, instantly making most abortions illegal in a bunch of

states, with bands expected soon in roughly half the states. The decision dobs

V. Jackson Women's Health Organization now takes its place in history,

igniting an awful new chapter in the struggle over abortion rights. And the

other story, the Johnny Depp Amber Heard trial. Yes, it was a fight between

celebrities that got way more than its share of attention, but as a cultural

Roe shock test, the trial was deeply revealing, no? Most feminists, and I'd like

to include myself in that camp, were disturbed if not shocked by the verdict,

the jury declared that Amber Heard did defame her ex-husband by describing

herself in a newspaper op-ed as a public figure representing domestic abuse.

But just as striking as the verdict was the tidal wave of public support for

Johnny Depp, the household name actor dude, and on the other hand what's been

called a frenzy of hatred for Amber Heard. It seems just about everyone from

dismayed feminists, to reactionaries, and in cells saw the public reaction to the

trial as a gleeful backlash against the Me Too movement. So is there a message

...