Toxic
What happens when toxic masculinity goes unchecked for far too long? Domestic violence journalist and advocate Amanda Kippert along with co-host Jenna Brandl shine a spotlight on the men who have chosen to abuse more than just their male privilege. Through candid and unreserved conversions with survivors, advocates and experts, we're calling out the audacity of men, one abuser at a time. To end domestic violence, abuse, sexual assault, sexual harassment and general male bad behavior, it's time we call it as we see it.
Episodes
Ep. 115: Abuser Murders Girlfriend After Judge Lets Him Out While Awaiting Trial For Strangling Her
Sigh. Here we go again. In a case of this-can't-possibly-be-true-oh-my-god-why-is-the-system-so-broken-this-is-why-women-keep-dying, a Tucson, Ariz., judge set free Michael Martinez Duran from a Pima County jail while he was awaiting trial …
Ep. 114: Hey, Things Haven't Gotten Better. In Fact, They May Have Gotten Worse! Don't Worry, We're Here
This week’s installment of "Crappy News You Can’t Believe Is Real" kicks off with Republicans in the Senate deciding, “Nah, the American people don’t need to know about the Epstein files,” as they quietly murdered an amendment that would’ve…
Ep. 113: Spoiler Alert—Women Don't Roofie Themselves. Men's Audacity Has No Bounds But Joy Hoover Is Here to Help Us
One in four women will be the victim of rape or attempted rape in their lifetime and of those rapes, at least 25 percent of the perpetrators will use drugs to assist their sexual assault. Commonly known as roofies, this collection of drugs …
Ep. 112: Rich, White & Wrong: Ghislaine Maxwell Girlbossed In the Wrong Direction
Today we're unraveling the complex story of Ghislaine Maxwell — socialite, heiress, convicted sex trafficker and now prison camp roomies with someone from Real Housewives who tried to swindle elderly people out of their money. Totally the s…
Ep. 111: Tale As Old As Time—Survivor Accuses Politician of Sexually Assaulting Her at 18, Everyone Says "Shhhhhhh"
How many times have we heard this tale? A woman accuses a man in power of assaulting or abusing her. She is immediately put on trial, accused of "ruining a good man's reputation." His assault is swept under the rug and the survivor is calle…
Ep. 110: Dogs Are Now Hunting Murder Suspect Travis Decker While Trump’s Circus of Distraction Continues
Washington state police are still looking for 32-year-old Travis Decker, suspected of killing his three young daughters last Monday, June 2, near Rock Island Campground in Chelan County, Washington. It's just another heartbreaking example o…
Ep. 109: Inside the Netflix Documentary with Gabby Petito’s Mom, Nichole Schmidt
We’re honored to welcome Nichole Schmidt to Toxic today — a friend of the pod and a fierce advocate for survivors, especially young survivors of dating violence. In 2021, her 22-year-old daughter, Gabby Petito, was murdered by her boyfriend…
Ep. 108: Perimenopause: Understudied and Overheating Thanks to Misogyny
Is it hot in here or is it just us? If you're in the throes of perimenopause, you're going to feel right at home in this episode. As ladies of our mid-40s, we have to talk about this. Disclaimer: This is NOT a medical advice podcast. Thank…
Ep. 107: Jim Jones, Trump....It's Like All Cult Leaders Attended the Same Meeting or Something—Dr. Janja Lalich Confirms Our Suspicions
In the '70s, a charismatic minister named Jim Jones convinced thousands of followers of his Peoples Temple that he was for them, moving them from the U.S. where he was being investigated for running a cult (lol, nothing to see here) to an a…
Ep. 106: Deepfake Case Out of Minneapolis, Victims Are Told to Just Ask Man Politely to Stop
In another disturbing case of women's safety being not at all a priority, a man in Minneapolis turned images of some 80 women he sort-of-but-not-really-knew into graphic p*rn. When his WIFE found out, he fled town with his laptop in hand, p…
Ep. 105: What Fresh Hells Today? Trump's Dizzying Array of Distractions Discussed
Abusers know the routine: First, present yourself as a savior. Promise a romanticized, idyllic version of the future. Earn trust. Then, isolate. “It’s the world against us, baby.” Brainwash. “Don’t trust anyone but me.” And finally, control…
Ep. 104: Patrisha McLean Is a Survivor and Her Ex is Bitter About That
Patrisha McLean survived nearly three decades of abuse by her [unfortunately still] famous ex, Don McLean, singer of "American Pie." Once free, though Don tried his best to discredit her in the media (sound familiar?), she started her own n…
Ep. 103: Where Do We Go From Here?
Trump "Tiny Hands" was sworn into the highest office in the land yesterday, leaving us all asking, "But seriously, no really, honestly, what in the actual eff?" As we enter this second iteration of a reoccurring nightmare that's actually re…
Ep. 102: Justin Baldoni Makes Sure It Doesn't End With Him—What Blake Lively Endured During His Dumb Movie
We've likely all heard the kurfuffle surrounding Blake Lively—how did she seemingly become one of Hollywood's most high-maintenance and hard-to-work-with actresses overnight? It turns out that the emperor doesn't actually have any clothes. …
Ep. 101: Hot Frosty and His Snow Nips Make Christmas Complete
In one of our favorite episodes of the year, we're deviating from our typical rhetoric and recapping a Christmas movie instead. A banger, if you will. In "Hot Frosty" the vet from Schitt's Creek is a snowman who comes alive (naked) after be…
Ep. 100: Abusive Husband Michael Tormented His Family for Years But Family Court Dropped All Charges, Accused Mom of Alienting Kids Instead
Many survivors of domestic violence don’t realize they’re being abused until years have passed. They convince themselves it’s something else—a bad day at work, a short temper, too much to drink or deep-seated childhood wounds that therapy m…
Post-Election Thoughts: We Women Will Need to Save Ourselves Again
Deep breath. It's been a week. We come to you downtrodden and unshowered to commiserate in our feelings, all of which are valid. No dissection of Kamala's campaign, no grand plans for the future today — just acknowledgment that things are s…
Ep. 99: Why Women Having Power, aka Kamala Harris, Pisses Some People Right Off
With the election TOMORROW (have you voted or made a plan to vote?) we had to discuss .... what is it about women having power that makes certain individuals (read: mostly men) so peeved? The idea of a woman in power intimidates and angers…
Ep. 98: In Her Own Words—Interview with Rachel Pickrel-Hawkins
In family courts around the country, judges are punishing protective parents who think it's not a swell idea for their abusive exes to have unfettered and unsupervised access to their children after a divorce. What sense does it make that t…
Ep. 97: Chrystul Kizer Kills Her Trafficker, Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison
Make it make sense. Known pedophile, child porn distributor and trafficker Randy Volar is arrested by police in Kenosha, Wisc., in 2018. Hundreds of abuse videos of underage Black girls are found in his possession. He is released the same d…
Ep. 96: OCD Affects More Girls and Young Women...But Why?
This week's episode is not depressing! *Golf claps* Jenna and Amanda welcome psychologist and author Bonnie Zucker who wrote Take Control of OCD: A Kid's Guide to Conquering Anxiety and Managing OCD and Parenting Kids With OCD, among others…
Ep. 95: Rachel Pickrel-Hawkins Is Going to Jail Even Though Her Husband Is Accused of Raping Their Daughter
Ah, what fresh hell befell us this week? It was hard to pick just one thing to be angry about. There was the Georgia school shooting on Wednesday, making it the 45th school shooting of 2024. At Apalachee High School, a gunman who wasn't a d…
Ep. 94: Uh, Strangulation During Sex Is Trending Among Young People—Talking With Dr. Debby Herbenick
Strangulation, often misnamed "choking" (that's when something's stuck in your throat, not when someone's pressing on it), is trending in the sex lives of college-age kids, and that's a problem. Apparently, the thought is that if it's conse…
Ep. 93: Project 2025 is One Option.....OR, THERE'S KAMALA.
What a world we live in: Our first female President on the brink. MAGA people sporting MyPillows on their ears. Hannibal Lecter being exalted at the RNC for no logical reason whatsoever. Undoubtedly everyone heard President Biden's announce…
Ep. 92: Why Don't We Believe Women? Survivor Records Abuser, Still Accused of Lying
For the love of all things holy, can we just start believing women? I guess not. That's why we're going to keep doing this podcast. Jazzy reached out to Toxic to tell her story after escaping an abusive partner, with whom she had a child. …
Ep. 91: Creepy Pastor John-Paul Miller Tries to Gaslight His Congregation Before Wife's Death
On April 27, 30-year-old Mica Miller from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was found dead at Lumbar River State Park in North Carolina from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to her temple. Leading up to her death, her pastor husband John-Paul Mil…
Ep: 90: Women Are Fed Up: The 4B Movement Says Eff Off to Men. Plus—Why Does Arizona Need More Babies? It's Already So Hot Here
The Arizona Supreme Court, in all its supreme wisdom, recently ruled that a Civil War-era law from 1864, which amounts to a total ban on abortion, could be enforced. Because why not return to the time before women were ever in government, b…
Ep. 89: Power and Money Has Allowed Sean "Diddy" Combs to Abuse Women for 30 Years
It's time for Amanda and Jenna to break down Diddy's misdeeds. For the past 30 years, we've heard the rumblings but now, thanks to some brave survivors speaking out, it's all coming to light. Like so many rich and powerful men before (and a…
Ep. 88: Ally Toyos Is Silent No More—Her Story of Surviving Parental Reunification Camp at 16
Family court can be an effed up place. Instead of protecting kids and listening to women, it's unfortunately mostly run by men who side with men and listen to men about men things. As such, if an abusive parent has enough money, they can no…
Ep. 87: Turns Out, Men CAN Stop Rape, Say Men Who Run MCSR
When masculinity is narrowly defined as lumberjacking and giant biceps, men who don't fit this stereotype are left feeling like they need to prove their manliness in other ways—sometimes harmful and violent ways. A narrow and outdated defin…
Ep. 86: The Taylor Swift Conspiracy Theories Exist Because We Can't Just LET WOMEN LIVE
In yet another chapter of the popular tome, It's All Her Fault: Why Women Can Never Do Anything Right Including Simply Breathing, we discuss why women who manage to be talented and successful are then torn down for being talented and succes…
Ep. 85: We're Talking Grooming, But Not the Body Hair Kind
Can you believe it's been three years of Toxic? And wouldn't you know it, we haven't run out of toxic topics to discuss yet. Go, society! Thank you for sticking with us through the hard conversations. To celebrate, we were given the best pr…
Season 3! Ep. 84: Jill Duggar Wearing Pants Isn't Actually the Bravest Thing She's Done
Welcome to 2024 where a good number of men are still audacious beyond belief and women are still saying "WTF just let me live, dammit" every five seconds. Among them, many of the daughters who grew up Duggar, as in TLC's most viewed show ev…
Ep. 83: "The 12 Men of Christmas" Was a Banger — Jenna and Amanda Review
Hey cats and kittens, we didn't want to leave you on this holiday without a non-depressing, one might even say "lighthearted" episode. And this is it. Based off your votes, we both (regrettably) watched the zinger "12 Men of Christmas," a L…
Ep. 82: Tyesha Wayne, Another Survivor of Domestic Violence Arrested for Self-Defense
We’ve seen this story play out one too many times. After a documented history of domestic violence by her partner Daniel Walker, 40-year-old Tyesha Wayne of Sahuarita, Arizona fought back this past August. While he attacked her in their gar…
Ep. 81: We Finally Need to Talk About Brad Pitt
One of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's children created a post on Instagram lamenting his "f*cking awful human being" of a dad, calling the Oscar winner a "terrible and despicable person" who will "never understand the damage you have done t…
Ep. 80: Maine Shooter Robert Card Likely Mad at Women (Shocker) and a Maryland Judge is Killed for Protecting a Mom
In breaking news, it seems guns aren't the only problem America has. We know half the population may not like this news, but it appears men are also an epidemic. Not all but far too many males are throwing temper tantrums with semi-automati…
Ep. 79: When Mimi Tried to Leave for the Final Time, He Took Her Hostage
In this survivor story, Mimi bravely shares with us what happened in 2012 when she decided to leave her abusive boyfriend for the last and final time. She knew he was an avid gun collector, but it never occurred to her that he would actuall…
Ep. 78: Dishing on Danny Masterson—Who Doesn't Do Drugs But Will Slip Them to Others—the Hullabaloo Around Catching Danilo Cavalcante But No One Else and the Gross Entitlement of Luis Rubiales
Oh, we have some beef with some dudes in this episode. First up is once-escaped murderer Danilo Cavalcante and the upwards of 500 law enforcement officials who searched weeks for him (say it with us: What I want from each and every one of y…
Ep. 77: Will He Kill You? The Warning Signs You Need to Know That an Abuser Is Heading Toward Homicide
Statistics tell us that five women every single day will be murdered by their male intimate partners. EVERY DAY. Until we can do a podcast that's called, "How to Not Murder Your Partner" and trust that abusers will listen to it, we have thi…