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Independent journalist Andy Ngo joins Jamie Reed, and Cori Cohn to discuss his new book, The Zizians: Inside a Trans Death Cult (Center Street, October 13, 2026). Ngo traces how Jack LaSota, known as “Ziz,” went from a promising engineering career to the Bay Area rationalist scene, and built a group blending rationalism, radical veganism, and trans grievance politics that is now linked to at least eight deaths. We talk about the cult’s recruitment, the families left behind, why Ngo uses legal names and sex-based pronouns throughout, and why no Zizian in custody has yet been convicted. Get the book: Hardcover, ebook, and audiobook here. Follow Andy: Ngo Comment on Substack here. Informed Dissent is produced by the LGB Courage Coalition, a registered US nonprofit fully funded by small donations. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit informeddissentpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

On September 23, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on protecting women’s sports. Former Stanford goalkeeper and professional soccer player Carly Smolak testified alongside Kim Jones of ICONS and attorney William Bock. When it came time for questions, not a single Democratic senator stayed in the room to ask her anything. We think her story deserves to be heard in full. This episode opens with Carly’s testimony, then turns to a conversation with Jamie Reed and Cori Cohn. Carly won four national championships in Australian rules football as a player and coach. In 2023, a man joined her former women’s team. He turned out to be a registered sex offender convicted of abusing multiple children. The club quietly removed him without ever telling the women he had shared hotel rooms with, and the national governing body said there was nothing it could do. Carly also talks about growing up a gender-nonconforming girl in Oregon, why she’s almost certain she would have been pushed toward transition as a kid today, and what it was like to watch the Bay Area butch lesbian community she knew nearly disappear. Bio: Carly Smolak was a goalkeeper for the Stanford University women’s soccer team, and former professional soccer player for the Women’s United Soccer Association. She was also a decorated Australian Football player in the United States Australian Football League, winning four national championships as a player and coach. She recently testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the male convicted child sex offender that joined her former women’s Australian Rules Football team. She has been a lesbian long enough to watch Birkenstocks go in and out of style at least three times, and would much rather be surfing or tending to her garden than arguing about what a woman is. To the girls of the Camas High School cross country team in Washington: we see you, and we stand with you. Washington voters decide on Initiative 638 on November 3. You’ll find LGB Courage Coalition’s action alert here: Thanks for supporting Informed Dissent! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit informeddissentpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Jamie Reed and Cori Cohn sit down with Mia Hughes to discuss REPATH, Genspect’s new campaign to restore a psychological approach to gender distress. The REPATH campaign can be found here. In 2022, WPATH’s Standards of Care 8 finished a long shift in how gender distress is understood. It used to be treated as a psychological symptom to explore. Now it’s treated as an identity to affirm. Mia explains what “re-psychopathologization” means and what it doesn’t mean. REPATH isn’t about gender nonconforming people, who are not disordered. It’s about the drive toward hormonal and surgical body modification, and whether that drive should be assessed with real care, differential diagnosis, and psychological safeguards. Mia Hughes is a researcher and writer focusing on the history and ethics of gender medicine, psychiatric trends, and the phenomenon of social contagion. She is Director of Policy and Research, the lead on Genspect’s Repath campaign, and Director of Genspect Canada. Mia has contributed extensively to public debate on gender-related healthcare practices and the wider cultural moment in the era of modern trans activism. She is also the author of The WPATH Files, an investigative report based on leaked internal communications from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, which examines decision-making processes and standards of care within the field. In addition to her research, Mia engages in advocacy and public education, contributing articles and commentary across a range of media platforms. Her work has positioned her as a prominent voice in ongoing discussions about gender medicine, safeguarding, and clinical responsibility. Find Mia : Mia Hughes This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit informeddissentpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Killed by the In-Laws, Meta’s Body Dysmorphia Reckoning, The Last Ditch This week Jamie Reed and Lauren Leggieri take on two stories that you want more details on. Segment 1: The killing of Jonathan McKinseyJonathan McKinsey, 40, director of engineering for New York Times Games, was shot dead on September 26 in a Dublin, California, park parking lot. Her in-laws, both 77, are charged with murder with a lying-in-wait special circumstance. Behind it was a bitter custody fight, with dueling restraining orders and abuse allegations on both sides. We also dig into McKinsey’s backstory: a female transition in 2010, before the youth gender boom, and a 2011 Texas marriage. Segment 2: Meta’s settlement and the body dysmorphia verdictMeta settled with a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from nearly every state. The deal is $17.1 billion, about $18 billion counting Texas’s separate agreement. It comes with new defaults for teens: a two-hour daily cap, a nighttime block, and a ban on cosmetic-surgery filters. We walk through the California jury verdict that found Instagram and YouTube contributed to a young woman’s body dysmorphia. We explain why parents’ Facebook feeds are full of law firm ads, and what families of trans-identified teens with co-occurring depression, eating disorders, or self-harm should know before calling one. And we ask the obvious question: if platforms can drive teen distress about the body, why is distress about sex characteristics off-limits? Thanks for listening to Informed Dissent! This post is public so feel free to share it. Sources McKinsey case * New York Times, “California Couple Charged With Murder in Shooting of Son-in-Law” (Karlamangla and Qin, Sept. 30, 2026) Meta settlement * New York Attorney General: https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2026/attorney-general-james-secures-171-billion-and-groundbreaking-reforms-meta * Connecticut Attorney General: https://portal.ct.gov/ag/press-releases/2026-press-releases/settlement-with-meta * Colorado Attorney General: https://coag.gov/press-releases/weiser-announces-historic-settlement-with-meta/ Further reading * SF Chronicle on the case and the 2011 Texas marriage: https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/man-shot-killed-dublin-in-laws-suspects-22451686.php * KTVU on the divorce and restraining orders: https://www.ktvu.com/news/dublin-shooting-nyt-engineer-jonathan-mckinsey-divorce-battle * ABC7 on the charges: https://abc7news.com/story/new-york-times-engineer-jonathan-mckinsey-california-couple-accused-killing-son-law-public-park-charged-murder/19892829/ * CBS News on the K.G.M. verdict: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/meta-youtube-social-media-addiction-lawsuit-verdict/ * Missouri Lawyers Media on Meta pulling plaintiff-recruiting ads: https://molawyersmedia.com/2026/04/10/meta-pulls-ads-recruiting-plaintiffs-social-media-addiction-lawsuits/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit informeddissentpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Simon LeVay is a British-born neuroscientist who has served on the faculties of Harvard Medical School and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. He achieved international fame with a 1991 Science paper that reported on a difference in the structure of the hypothalamus between gay and straight men, a study that helped trigger an avalanche of new biological research into sexual orientation. Since retiring from laboratory science, LeVay has authored or co-authored 12 books, including Gay, Straight, and the Reason Why, the textbook Discovering Human Sexuality, and the historical novel The Donation of Constantine. His earlier books include The Sexual Brain and Queer Science: The Use and Abuse of Research Into Homosexuality (MIT Press, 1996). He has appeared on numerous TV and radio shows, including The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. April 13 Provost’s Lecture with Simon LeVay - SBU News +3 Referenced in this episode * Simon LeVay, Gay, Straight, and the Reason Why: The Science of Sexual Orientation (2011) * Simon LeVay, The Sexual Brain (1993) * “Gay scientist draws criticism over remarks on trans kids,” Bay Area Reporter (2016): https://www.ebar.com/story/246901/redirect This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit informeddissentpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Jamie, Lauren, and Cori talk with evolutionary biologist and Manhattan Institute fellow Colin Wright about a new HHS-commissioned study he co-authored, “Where the Clinic Meets the Movement: Does Gender Ideology Arm Left-Wing Authoritarian Psychology?” The survey of 1,208 U.S. adults found that agreement with mainstream “gender-affirming” clinical guidance (APA, WPATH, AAP) correlates strongly with left-wing authoritarianism — and independently predicts justification of political violence, even controlling for political identity. We’re still waiting on NPR’s story on the report. Our opponents are well-funded. We aren’t. Everything we do depends on the support of people just like you. If this work has value to you, please become a paid subscriber or make a donation today. Your support keeps this movement alive. Visit our website⁠ to help fund the reporting, advocacy, legislative testimony, educational outreach, and community-building efforts that make the LGB Courage Coalition a leading national voice for evidence-based care and homosexual rights. Paid subscriptions and donations are what make all of this possible. To support our work or submit a tip, visit the LGB Courage Coalition website. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit informeddissentpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Jamie Reed sits down with two leaders from Themis Resource Fund to discuss the organization’s work connecting detransitioners with attorneys willing to take their cases, the funding and logistical challenges of building litigation against gender-medicine providers, and what it takes to pursue accountability through the courts. Named after the Greek goddess of justice, Themis has become a central piece of infrastructure for detransitioners seeking legal recourse — this conversation covers how the organization operates, the obstacles it runs into working within the legal system, and what’s ahead for the growing wave of detransitioner litigation. Guests: Kathleen Dooley — Kathleen is a recovering attorney with more than 30 years of experience practicing civil litigation primarily in the defense arena. She is currently serving as Board Member and Secretary of Themis Resource Fund. Her interest in the subject of trans-identifying youth and the ideological capture behind it came as a result of her observation of her children’s friends declaring a trans identity. As an attorney, she recognized the potential for lawsuits against the medical and therapeutic professions and the need for funding to give the lawsuits liftoff. Finally, Kathleen has been a lifelong Democrat, albeit a disillusioned and disenfranchised one at the moment, so don’t even try to paint her as a rightwing nut job. Lynn Chadwick first experiences of parent advocacy were during her years working as a neonatal intensive care nurse. After her two oldest adult children announced trans identities and medicalized, she started a parent group which today consists of about 500 parents. She founded Themis Resource Fund in 2023. If you find this podcast important, please like, subscribe, and share it. This content is free because our mission is to educate the public — and that means making it accessible to anyone who’s curious or needs to hear it. That access depends on your support. If you’re able to donate or become a paid subscriber, we’d be grateful. If you can’t, leaving a review, subscribing for free, and sharing the show all help just as much. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit informeddissentpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Our final episode addressing public libraries and gender ideology takes us into an organization that was created “In April of 2023, a small group of librarians from various regions across the country initiated virtual discussions regarding the potential establishment of a new professional library organization. Their motivations stemmed from a perceived shift in the library profession towards what they viewed as divisive social activism.” We were joined by guest Caleb H. May, a founding member of the Association of Library Professionals (ALP). He has served as 1st Vice President, President, and Immediate Past President of ALP and is currently serving as Treasurer. He served the first decade of his career as a director of public libraries in Kansas and Kentucky and is currently the Director of Library Services at Manhattan Christian College in Manhattan, Kansas. He is also the author of “Reviving Library Neutrality in an Age of Activism,” an article published on the U.S. Dept. of Education Homeroom Blog in December 2025. In this episode we also discuss the Fifth Circuit’s ruling in Little v. Llano County — which the Supreme Court declined to review, letting stand a decision giving government officials final say over public library collections in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi — and a recent rule coming out of Alabama regarding transgender materials in that state’s public libraries. Find out more about ALP here. We have merch! Check out our mugs, tote bags and shirts here. Thanks for listening to Informed Dissent! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit informeddissentpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to part two of our Library Series. If you missed part 1, it aired last week. Part 1 was about the books themselves. This week we are joined by a guest: John Chrastka is co-founder and executive director of EveryLibrary, the national political action committee for libraries, and the EveryLibrary Institute, a public policy and tax policy think tank for libraries. Since 2012, EveryLibrary has supported public libraries in numerous funding negotiations, political challenges, and over 165 election cycles, winning over $2.8 billion in stable tax dollars for libraries. The EveryLibrary Institute supports funding-focused research and training for library leaders, as well as outreach to the public about librarians. If you appreciate this show please like, subscribe, and share. Comments below — we read every week. We have merch available here! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit informeddissentpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

We’re kicking off a three-part series — Overdue: Libraries and the Gender Ideology Reckoning — looking at how gender ideology moved into America’s public libraries, and what it will take to move it back out. Part 1 is about the books themselves. Part 2 goes to the boardroom. Part 3 is about what you can actually do about it. This week, we start where the story starts: the shelf. Guest: James LaRue James LaRue is the former director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom and a longtime voice on collection development, censorship, and the politics of what gets shelved — and what doesn’t. We talk about how children’s collections became a battleground, who’s really deciding what your library carries, and what “intellectual freedom” has come to mean in practice versus in principle. LaRue is the retired director of the Garfield County (Colorado) Public Library District. Author of "The New Inquisition: Understanding and Managing Intellectual Freedom Challenges," (2007) and “On Censorship: A Public Librarian Examines Cancel Culture in the US,” (2023) LaRue was director of the Freedom to Read Foundation, and ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom from January 2016 to November 2018. In This Episode: * How collection development policy actually works — and where it’s been quietly rewritten * The gap between “anti-censorship” rhetoric and the reality of what’s being curated * What parents and patrons don’t know about how a book ends up on — or off — the shelf Coming Up:Next week — Part 2: The Board, with EveryLibrary’s John Chrastka, on governance, trustees, and how policy gets made (or blocked) behind the scenes. Please like, subscriber and share. We also have merch! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit informeddissentpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

This week: Trojan horses, teal handguns, and a stand-your-ground laws in Wyoming. Jamie Reed, Cori Cohn, and Lauren Leggieri are back together again, with two stories that have absolutely nothing to do with each other, except that both involve someone pretending to be someone they are not. First up: Christopher Nolan finally releases his $250 million, IMAX-shot, five-years-in-the-making Odyssey — and somewhere between Zendaya as Athena and Travis Scott as a bard, Ellen Page shows up as Sinon, a character who isn’t even in the actual Odyssey. Then: a story out of Laramie, Wyoming, that the Times seems almost uncomfortable having written, and photographing. A trans identified man named Rihanna Kelver packs a teal handgun for road trips, gets into with three men, draws a gun — and ends up facing 15 years. In one of the most gun-friendly states in the country. We break down what actually happened, what the law says, and what the coverage gets right and wrong. Like, subscribe, and share this episode — and check out our merch! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit informeddissentpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

This week, Jamie sits down with Cynthia Dill — a Maine civil rights attorney, former Democratic state legislator, and 2012 U.S. Senate candidate — to talk about the case that’s put her at odds with her own party. Dill represented the House and Senate districts covering Cape Elizabeth, South Portland, and part of Scarborough during six years in the Maine Legislature. She ran statewide against Angus King and Charlie Summers in 2012, then moved into media: political columns, commentary on Maine Public, and eventually her own podcast and outlet, Cyndicate Media. Now she’s litigating Mountain v. Liberty — a lawsuit filed on behalf of female inmates at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham against MDOC Commissioner Randall Liberty and Warden Ben Beal, alleging retaliation against women who objected to being housed with male inmates. The case has drawn Department of Justice attention and put Dill, a lifelong Democrat, in the position of arguing against her own party’s corrections leadership. Jamie talks with Dill about the case itself, what it’s cost her politically, whether she still calls herself a Democrat, and what conversations with sitting legislators in Augusta actually sound like behind closed doors. You can find Cynthia on X. You can support our show and find our merch here! As Always…Stay Informed and Ready to Dissent. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit informeddissentpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Informed Dissent — Show Notes, Week of August 1, 2026 In this episode: LeAnne and Cori hold down the fort while Jamie and Lauren are on vacation, covering the Sophie Cunningham/WNBA firestorm, cracks in Democratic Party unity across two swing-state races, and new data on pediatric gender diagnoses in Oregon. Sophie Cunningham & the WNBA rallies * Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham (a Missouri native — Rock Bridge High School, University of Missouri, most decorated player in program history) sparked national controversy with ESPN comments about protecting girls in locker rooms and sport from biological males. * Seattle incident: Two teenage fans holding pro-Cunningham signs at the Fever-Storm game were allegedly confronted by Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton. The WNBA suspended Keaton for five home games and issued an undisclosed fine. * Portland rally (Fri, July 31): Kara Dansky and many others to rally outside the Fever-Fire game. * Minneapolis rally (Sun, Aug 2): Jennifer Sey, founder of XX-XY Athletics, will rally outside Target Center ahead of the Fever-Lynx game. * Full remaining Indiana Fever schedule linked here. Coming up * Next week: the Mountain v. Liberty case on housing biological males in Maine women’s prisons, with attorney Cynthia Dill. * Starting in August: our full series on libraries. Find our merch here. Informed Dissent is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit informeddissentpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

James Esses — psychotherapist, former criminal barrister, founder of Just Therapy, co-founder of Thoughtful Therapists, founder/coordinator of the Declaration for Biological Reality, Honorary Fellow at the Centre for Heterodox Social Science, University of Buckingham. Jamie, Lauren, and Cori are joined by James Esses ahead of the July 26th High Court judicial review of the PATHWAYS puberty blocker trial. James — alongside Keira Bell and the Bayswater Support Group — is a claimant in the case challenging the Health Research Authority and MHRA’s decision to approve the trial. This conversation covers the trial’s history, the regulatory reversal that let it proceed, and what’s legally at stake this weekend for the children already enrolled. PATHWAYS Trial: - 2024:UK bans puberty blockers for pediatric gender dysphoria outside of clinical research, following the Cass Review. - PATHWAYS approved as the sanctioned research exception — a King’s College London / South London and Maudsley NHS Trust study of GnRH analogues in patients under 16, commissioned by NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Research. - February 11, 2026: MHRA writes to trial sponsors raising safety concerns. - February 23, 2026: Health Secretary Wes Streeting confirms to Parliament that the trial has been paused. - Early 2026: Bell, Bayswater Support Group, and Esses file for judicial review against the HRA and MHRA, arguing the regulators failed to properly weigh foreseeable risk to cognition, bone density, and fertility against anticipated benefit. - June 2026: MHRA approves a modified protocol — minimum age requirement, updated patient information — clearing PATHWAYS to proceed, subject to the outcome of the judicial review. - Recruitment date: Originally set for August 1, 2026, pending the court’s decision. - July 26, 2026: High Court hears the judicial review. Further Reading: - Sex Matters coverage of the trial pause and judicial review - Transgender Trend on the modified protocol - The Free Press on the trial’s approval to enroll 11-year-olds - James Esses’s Substack and Just Therapy directory This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit informeddissentpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

This week on Informed Dissent, Jamie Reed sits down with Maya Forstater to talk conversion therapy law, the puberty blocker trial, and Amnesty International. About Maya Forstater Maya Forstater is Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Sex Matters. She became a public figure after losing her job at the Center for Global Development over her tweets on sex and gender — the resulting employment tribunal case established that ordinary beliefs about the two sexes are protected under the Equality Act 2010’s characteristic of belief. Before co-founding Sex Matters, she spent two decades as a researcher, writer, and advisor to think tanks and cross-sector initiatives on international tax policy, climate finance, and human rights in supply chains, and helped found both the Let Toys Be Toys campaign and the Ethical Trading Initiative. 🎧 Like, subscribe, and share if this episode hits home. 🛍️ Grab LGB Courage Coalition merch at lgbcourage.org This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit informeddissentpodcast.substack.com/subscribe