But Her Lyrics...

Content Warning: sexual assault, child abuse, addiction, racism, and other heavy themes are discussed.

Host Shawna Potter talks to Clementine Morrigan and Jay Lesoleil, the hosts of Fucking Cancelled (two L’s because they’re Canadian), a podcast that examines all things related to cancel culture in lefty/progressive circles. In this episode, Shawna aims to learn more about their critiques and what influenced them. They talk about real life experiences with cancel culture, the effects it has on victims of violence, trauma-responses, how to best support survivors of rape, sexual assault, and abuse, and so much more. If you’re asking yourself, “What’s the big deal, aren’t call outs just a consequence of bad behavior?” you’re not alone - and they have an answer ready.

This episode does not cover every facet or nuance of responding to harm. It should be noted that most of the content centers on gender-based violence, and therefore might not sufficiently address racism and other forms of identity-based violence. There is no one right way to respond to your own abuse or assault. While public call-outs are one tool in the toolbox, the guests of this episode argue that it is an ineffective and overused one.

Host Shawna Potter talks to SkyDxddy about her song, “7 Years.” They also discuss capital T Trauma, social media’s effect on victim blaming, asking for the help you need, deciding whether to throw bricks or start writing music. You’ll hear a cute little dog whimper, and lots of talk about sexual assault, and the mental health effects that can come with it, like anxiety and depression, and learn some grounding techniques if you’re feeling anxious or activated. It’s a beautiful, raw discussion not to be missed.

If you’re looking to understand addiction more, help yourself, or help someone in your life, this is a must-listen!

Host Shawna speaks to creator of the Drunk Punk Recovery program, Tim Spock, while he serves out a 15 year sentence in a correctional facility. They talk about how his zines found (and affected) Shawna, prison life, how religious overtones can turn people off from help, the brain chemistry of addiction, elements that make addiction programs work, harm reduction, and so much more. As we head into the holidays, this might be really timely for folks who are facing addiction-related struggles internally or externally.

Host Shawna talks to Maya and Sei of the Montreal (by way of Japan) surf rock band TEKE::TEKE about their song “Garakuta,” which details how all the used and disposable items we create will one day rise up and take over. We also discuss the desire to create a visual world through music, starting out as a cover band, who is considered disposable, and how much more trash there is in North America. How many Barbies have you found in the ocean?

Host Shawna talks to Sadie Dupuis (of Speedy Ortiz, Sad13, etc) about her start as a musician, singing in a children’s choir, songwriting, how that differs from writing poetry, surviving on tour, and her dogs. What’s your favorite flora and fauna? And don’t say van mushrooms, that’s already taken. Full version with bonus story available only at patreon.com/shawnapotter.

[TW: SA, r*pe, murder, violence]

Host Shawna Potter speaks to Palehound singer El about their song "Killer,"  a (platonic) love song about the desire to protect a friend from their abuser - and just how far they’ll go to do it. They discuss how El writes songs, the value of violence, and the considerations taken when writing songs about real people and their trauma. Then Shawna chats with Angeles Evans from TurnAround, an organization offering services to victims of trafficking, sexual assault and rape, and intimate partner violence (IPV). In this in-depth, long-form interview, they discuss how to help our friends affected by (IPV), what justice can look like, and what she wishes people knew about her violence-prevention work. It’s a must listen episode!

Host Shawna Potter talks to singer/songwriter Rozzi about her song, “Orange Skies,” a beautifully moody song about the forest fires affecting her state of California. They dig into how Rozzi and her writing partner were able to take an overwhelmingly large issue like climate change and personalize it. As you listen, can you tell it’s just the demo?! Later, Shawna speaks with climate justice activist Julia Nerbonne about how our small actions can make a big impact, as long as we get ourselves out of crisis mode. Also, vocal party tricks, Googling “what is the saddest key,” and what Noah’s Arc has to do with any of it.

Abortion Forever!

Host Shawna Potter speaks with self-proclaimed queerdo MuMu about her song, “Wrapped Up (Post-Roe)” - a song so nice it’s been released twice. She then interviews not one, but two experts from the Baltimore Abortion Fund. Listen to the entire episode to learn how abortion funds are mutual aid, how this issue is life and death but not black and white, what is SCOTUS up to (do we have to call it that?), and why you should be buying safe abortion pills online. Also, the power to delete, Pussy Riot, mom’s boyfriend sucks, and, wait, who wrote and starred in a movie musical?!

The official sponsors of this episode are First Defense Krav Maga, and Pupcakes and Pawstries, where you can use promo code waronwomen15 to get 15% off your next order.

Episode transcripts, important links, and ways to support Shawna and this podcast can be found at shawnapotter.com. Everything War On Women can be found at linktr.ee/waronwomen. For bonus episodes, behind the scenes content, and the chance to make special requests and get shoutouts on air, become a patron at patreon.com/shawnapotter.

Thanks to Brooks Harlan for chopping up War On Women’s song “Her?” to create the podcast theme song. Main podcast photo: Justin Borucki. To inquire about becoming a show sponsor, head to shawnapotter.com/contact.

SPONSOR LINKS: 

firstdefensekravmaga.com 

shoppe.pupcakesbarkery.pet

SHOW LINKS/RESOURCES:

https://linktr.ee/Musicofmumu

Live session version of “Wrapped Up”: https://youtu.be/wfWsZZJr9To

“Honeymoon Sex” music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMsLKFHk5Ro

“Free the Nip” on Big Mouth: https://soundtracki.com/shows/big-mouth-season-6-soundtrack

Best summer ever: https://www.hulu.com/movie/best-summer-ever-e4c333a7-8c3e-4c50-b19a-e147e1ddc67a

keepourclinics.org

abortionfunds.org

Prochoiceamerica.org

Abortionfinder.org

https://shoutyourabortion.com/

I Need An Abortion: ineedana.com

Plan C Pills: plancpills.org

BAF's website: baltimoreabortionfund.org

National Network of Abortion Funds: abortionfunds.org

Episode 20 - The very first live episode! My patrons got exclusive early access to the original live YouTube episode and after some very light editing, it's available to everyone as a regular old bonus podcast episode. I interviewed my friend and band mate Jenarchy about a song they wrote over 10 years ago in the band NOMORE, "Totalitarian Aggroculture." Listen in to hear us talk about politics (they're bullshit), power and resources, Gainesville vs. Europe, board games, working with a producer the first time, potential WOW cover songs, and what constitutes a karaoke emergency. Full disclosure: I talk and laugh way too much for this to be considered a proper interview.

If cryptic messages from the past are warning us about the future, are we likely to listen? Join host Shawna Potter for a very quick chat with historian Mike Dash about “Hunger Stones.” In his second appearance on the pod he gives some background on what could be a War On Women song but just isn’t…yet? Folklore versus bureaucracy. Science versus the middle ages. A cool story, or a warning to save the planet? And are the melancholy vibes literally carved into stone more emo or metal? You decide!

Lauren Ruth Ward spends some time breaking down her song “Must Be Nice,” a fed-up feminist catchall chorale, with host Shawna Potter. They talk about the unique way this song was approached, female masturbation, being born a feminist, songwriting when you’re in a band versus as a solo artist, and what it’s like to work with all women after mostly working with men. Also, Shawna begs her favorite place to eat in Las Vegas to send her free food through the postal service.

Harm occurs on an unfortunately wide spectrum. How do we find the appropriate and commensurate path for repair? How do we know if someone is overstating harm? When does the pursuit of justice turn into the abuse of others? And what do we do about it? Listen as host Shawna speaks with Sarah Schulman, author of Conflict is not Abuse: Overstating Harm, Community Responsibility, and the Duty of Repair about this important, difficult, and somewhat controversial topic. Content Warning: sexual violence, victim-blaming, abuse, harm

Sarah Schulman is a novelist, playwright, screenwriter, nonfiction writer, journalist and AIDS historian. Her 20th book LET THE RECORD SHOW: A Political History of ACT UP, New York 1987-1993, was called a "masterpiece" by the New York Times and was a finalist for The John Kenneth Galbraith Prize in Nonfiction from PEN.  Her play, THE LADY HAMLET, premiered at The Provincetown Theater in the summer of 2022. Sarah is an Endowed Chair in Nonfiction at Northwestern University.

Speaking with Shawna is guest Hannah Brancato, co-founder of the culture-jamming FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture, the organization behind The Monument Quilt for survivors of rape and sexual assault, and their allies. They discuss collaborating on the music video, what it was like to see the effects of their activism in real time, and the difficult necessity of living our values. Learn all about the War On Women song “Say It” - insight on making the video (including how they ensured full consent from everyone appearing in the video), critiques of the song, a short history of WOW’s self-titled album, and more.

What’s up with the Second Wave Feminist to TERF pipeline? How dangerous to trans people are they really? Are lesbians really disappearing? (Spoiler, no). Host Shawna explains the War On Women song “Second Wave Goodbye” and speaks with Carrie Evans, former policy director of Equality Maryland, to discuss the real dangers of trans-exclusionary radical “feminism” and how we can better focus our energy to fight for trans rights. Sprinkle in some old Dan Savage sayings and a little science, as a treat. Listen through the end to hear the song in question.

It's the premier episode for Season 2! Shawna breaks with tradition and dives deep into a topic that should be a War On Women song, but just isn’t…yet? She speaks with freelance drug journalist Adryan Corcione about an article they wrote titled, “How the Criminalization of Testosterone Attacks Gender Variant People.'' Listen in to hear about how you can’t write a song about everything, the hurdles gender variant people face when accessing basic healthcare, the risk of being outed at the dentist due to bureaucratic controlled substance policies, the erasure of trans men, harm reduction, and more.

Shawna has a casual look back at season one and shares what changes we can expect in season two.

This episode of But Her Lyrics… tackles track 10 on Wonderful Hell, “The Ash Is Not The End.” Host Shawna interviews Ian Danskin (of Innuendo Studios), whose videos about the alt-right, gmr/gte, and angry white men directly inspired the lyrics. Find out what a spinal injury, Adult Swim, and Elliott Smith have to do with any of it. The band talks about how writing and recording this song was a little different than all the others, but it all starts with a surprise appearance by a former WOW tour-mate! Be sure to listen til the end to hear Shawna’s request for help deciding what the hell should happen next. It’s not often you get to tell a feminist what to do!

This episode of But Her Lyrics… tackles track 9 on Wonderful Hell, “In Your Path” Host Shawna, with the band, describe how this song is based off of a feminist Chilean protest chat from the Las Tesis collective. They also talk about how weird it was to make a music video for the song (OUT NOW) in the middle of a pandemic. The episode ends with an interview with Margaret Killjoy, a transfeminine author, musician, and podcaster, who teaches Shawna about personal safety while protesting. As always, Jenarchy and Sue need a reminder of what song we’re talking about, Brooks talks music theory, and Dave, who everyone thinks is very chill, assures us he is not chill as you think. Also, Rosie the rescue makes an appearance.

This episode of But Her Lyrics… tackles track 8 on Wonderful Hell, “Her?” Host Shawna interviews media critic and author Jennifer Pozner, who explains why negative portrayals of female politicians in the media are so dangerous. She also gives us a lesson in media literacy and permission to blame everything on Trump. Shawna then gets nerdy with the band on riffs, beats, and women in politics.

This episode of But Her Lyrics… is a bonus episode! Host Shawna interviews each band member about joining and playing in War On Women. Let’s get deep about sleeping versus partying, sexism in the music industry, getting mentally healthy together, how most bands are fuck ups, and doing what we do. Our badass patrons get a shout out, and Shawna begs for a Taco Bell sponsorship. Potatoes forever!

This episode of But Her Lyrics… tackles track 7 on Wonderful Hell, “Seeds.” Host Shawna speaks with friend and fellow activist Brittany Oliver on what it takes to be an ally in the fight against white nationalism. They also ponder the state of the White House when the last guy left. Shawna answers questions from Patreon (and recommends NOT drinking heavily before heading into the studio), and someone in the band is a bit worried about playing the beginning of this song live. Can you guess who?

This episode of But Her Lyrics… tackles track 6 of Wonderful Hell, “Big Words'' with Emily May of Hollaback! Host Shawna and Emily talk through some of the best advice they've gotten from mentors, lessons learned in activism, knowing when your anger no longer serves you, fucking up as a white woman (and learning to do better), and the words Emily shared with Shawna to help her get through the personal conflict that inspired this song. This is a good episode for the music nerds, too! The band gets deep about the drum beat Dave wrote at a soundcheck in Toronto.

This episode of But Her Lyrics… tackles track 5 of Wonderful Hell, “White Lies'' with cannabis advocate and activist, Kassia Graham from Cannaclusive.  Host Shawna and Kassia discuss how volatile the cannabis industry is, not only due to the racist history of policing and the war on drugs, but also the inconsistencies of cannabis legalization across the country. The band talks about recording the song, and share their feelings about the subject matter.

This episode of But Her Lyrics... is part 2 of track 4, "This Stolen Land," with guest Dr. Meranda Roberts. Shawna and Meranda speak about land acknowledgements, feeling erased from history, and how colonialism and genocide make the current border crisis possible. You don't have to listen in order, but be sure to catch the last episode of But Her Lyrics... for part one of "This Stolen Land" with guest, Emily Heger, an Equal Justice Works legal fellow with the Human Rights Initiative of North Texas. As usual, Shawna also answers questions from patrons and interviews the band about writing this song and the subject matter.

This episode of But Her Lyrics... is part 1 of track 4, "This Stolen Land," with Emily Heger, an Equal Justice Works legal fellow with the Human Rights Initiative of North Texas. Her work focuses on winning asylum for women and girls fleeing gender-based violence. Shawna and Emily really dig into the current issues facing people when they arrive at the border of Texas and Mexico. Be sure to catch the next official episode of But Her Lyrics... for part two! The subject matter of this song is so vast that Shawna will be speaking with Dr. Meranda Roberts on the history of colonialism and genocide within these borders that make the current border crisis possible.

This episode of But Her Lyrics... tackles the title track, “Wonderful Hell,” with activist and musician Ryan Harvey. In December 2019, while they both played a holiday toy drive fundraiser at the Ottobar, their conversation after the show was the direct inspiration for this song. They talk about balancing the activist in them that wants to provide music that can make a difference in the current political moment, against being an artist that needs to be inspired and can still get burnt out. 

This episode of But Her Lyrics... tackles "Milk and Blood" the second song on War On Women's album 'Wonderful Hell.' Shawna interviews author and activist Carol J Adams on the overarching theme of the song, the intersections between sexism and meat-eating. Shawna reveals a personal experience connected to the lyrics, and chats with each band member to hear their thoughts.

The first official episode of the show tackles "Aqua Tofana," the first song off War On Women's album 'Wonderful Hell.' Shawna interviews British historian Mike Dash on the legend that inspired the song, explains how the rest of the song came together, and chats with each band member to hear their thoughts.