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Podcast: The Unspeakeasy With Meghan Daum
Episode: The Making of A Gender Heretic, with Ben Appel
Description: This week, Ben Appel joins me to talk about his new book, Cis White Gay: The Making of a Gender Heretic, a memoir about leaving one kind of cult only to stumble into another. Raised in a rigid Christian community, Ben found refuge in the gay rights movement and, later, the Ivy League—until "allyship" started to look less like solidarity and more like a loyalty oath.  We discuss  • Why he chose the deliberately provocative title Cis, White, Gay — and what reactions revealed about current identity politics. • How queer "community" has become increasingly moralized, hierarchical, and policed — and what gets lost w...