Blocked and Reported – Episode 303: Interrogating Viral Wokeness: A Case Study In Discursive Misrecognition (In Canada)
April 13, 2026
Hosts: Katie Herzog and Jesse Singal

Overview

In this episode, hosts Katie and Jesse return to their signature analysis of internet-fueled cultural battles, focusing on viral claims about "woke excess" in Canada. They probe a recent viral video of a Canadian politician using a sprawling 2SLGBTQIA+ acronym, viral complaints about wokeness, and Canadian university hiring practices, all while situating these examples within their real sociopolitical context. The hosts also reflect on the rise, “death,” and evolution of so-called "wokeness" in cultural and elite institutions, with their mix of irreverence, self-deprecation, and often sardonic cultural critique.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Opening Banter and Basketball Feuds

• [00:09–07:02]
  • Jesse and Katie riff about a Substack post questioning Jesse's basketball prowess by Ethan Strauss, with Jesse admitting Strauss is actually "surprisingly good" at basketball.
  • Jesse recounts integrating into a church basketball group in a new city by leaving a note with his details; Katie marvels at his audacity and the West Coast’s (relative) openness compared to East Coast frosty vibes.
  • Notable Quote:
    • Jesse: “One of the nice things about pickup basketball is you can just show up—like, it’s a genuine meritocracy.” [03:34]
    • Katie: “It’s surprising that anybody who does well on Substack is good at basketball. Except for Sherman Alexie. He played college basketball.” [01:58]

2. Follow-up: AI Energy & Environmental Discourse

• [07:06–15:19]
  • The hosts revisit a recent episode on AI plagiarism, now fielding expert feedback on AI’s actual energy use vs. Google.
  • Katie relays: While individual queries are 3–10x more energy-intensive than Google searches, the real energy drain is training large models.
  • Jesse notes selective outrage about tech energy use often misses broader, more impactful contributors.
  • Dams and the environmental impact of hydroelectric power spark debate, with both acknowledging trade-offs surrounding environmental harms (e.g., salmon, orcas) vs. fossil fuels.
  • Memorable Moment:
    • Katie: “There are some tragic stories about orcas whose babies are dying and they, like, wear them like hats... It’s very sad.” [14:55]
    • Jesse: “I’m pro-dam, whatever you want.” [14:00], but later: “That’s actually sad. I retract what I said about dams having no downsides.” [14:52]
  • Timestamps:
    • AI energy use: [08:20–12:54]
    • Hydroelectric/dam debate: [13:42–15:15]

3. On Using AI in Writing: Ethics, Perceptions, and Scandal

• [15:19–17:38]
  • Response to a comment accusing Katie and Jesse of quietly using AI for their writing. Katie jokes about running her book manuscript through ChatGPT for fake sales projections.
  • They clarify: using AI for advice isn’t the same as passing off AI-generated text as one’s own, and express personal and professional aversion to the latter.
  • Notable Quote:
    • Jesse: “I can’t imagine passing off AI writing as my own. It would feel so weird. So much of my identity is bound up with being a writer.” [16:54]

4. The 'Death' of Wokeness? Examining Cultural Shifts

• [17:41–41:16]
  • Jesse discusses his recent Dispatch article critiquing the narrative that backlash against trans issues is a “manufactured” panic fueled by center-left punditry or billionaires, arguing that maximalist policies (e.g., blanket self-ID for trans prisoners) created a real backlash.
  • Katie recounts the NYT’s “Is Wokeness Dead?” roundtable with three Brooklyn culture critics, who play a game rating terms like 'problematic,' 'microaggression,' 'safe space' as "dying" or "dead” (see [29:28–30:36]).
  • They discuss the cultural vibe shift: mainline institutions are disassociating from overtly woke idioms, but they note the impulse is not entirely gone—it's “transmogrifying.”
  • The Loudoun County, VA, school board controversy and similar U.S. cases illustrate how policy overreach coupled with denial or dismissal by activists has prompted backlashes.
  • Notable Quotes:
    • Jesse: "You can't spend 10 years pushing a very specific set of policies and then complain when people don't like them... It's cowardly." [26:47]
    • Katie: “The vibe has shifted. I wish she’d asked about the term non-binary. When people can admit that non-binary is, like, and has always been a very silly concept, then it’ll be truly dead.” [31:55]
    • Jesse (on gender): “At its peak, it was extremely essentialist. It was literally: ‘that male is wearing a dress—they must not identify as male,’ which is the exact opposite of where we wanted to get.” [37:31]
  • Timestamps:
    • Dispatch article/Self-ID debate: [17:57–25:05]
    • NYT "Is Wokeness Dead?" segment: [29:28–38:20]

5. Wokeness North of the Border: Canada Case Study

a. Parliamentary Viral Video: Dissecting the Acronyms

• [42:54–49:04]
  • Review of a viral video: New Democratic Party MP Leah Gazan uses the term “MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+” in Parliament, prompting Elon Musk to tweet “Canada is cooked.”
  • Katie and Jesse investigate: The NDP is a fringe party (2% of seats, lost official status) torn between ultra-identitarian and more “economic” left factions.
  • The hosts play other NDP convention clips showing equity-card melodramas mirroring American DSA-parody moments.
  • The viral acronym is explained:
    • MMIWG = “Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls”
    • 2SLGBTQIA+ = “Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, +”
    • Actual government impact is minimal; Gazan is not representative of broader Canadian governance or public opinion.
  • Notable Quote:
    • Katie: “It does make me a bit nostalgic for the heyday of woke nonsense, which we were just disparaging. Robin DiAngelo, I miss you—come back to me.” [43:05]
    • Jesse (on acronym): “I didn’t even recognize most of those letters. What does it stand for?” [49:04]

b. "Genocide" Claim Reality Check

• [49:04–51:03]
  • The hosts cite Canadian journalist John Kay: The term “genocide” as used in reports is misleading, as 86% of murders of Indigenous women are perpetrated by Indigenous men, mirroring intra-group victimization patterns found across demography globally.

c. University of British Columbia Disability-Only Job Listing

• [52:00–56:08]
  • Highlighted by right-wing Twitter but sourced directly: UBC is hiring a forestry professor, legal only for “people with disabilities”.
  • Katie and Jesse walk through the exhaustive equity application, spoofing their self-identification for illustrative purposes.
  • They observe the legal, practical, and cultural limitations such policies can create, noting that it is unique to Canadian affirmative action law.
  • Notable Quote:
    • Jesse: “It’s obviously a form of identitarianism we find really weird... it’s like going back in time to 2020 or whatever, but I guess it's Canada. Canada is always about six to 50 years behind us in terms of technology and culture.” [55:49]

d. Context and Final Thoughts on Canadian Moderation

• [56:08–58:28]
  • Katie underlines that Mark Carney, Canada’s new prime minister, is a moderate banker technocrat, not at all ideologically radical.
  • “Woke” viral moments, absurd as they appear, are not representative of mainstream Canadian culture or governance.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (With Timestamps)

• Jesse: “One of the nice things about pickup basketball is you can just show up—like, it’s a genuine meritocracy.” [03:34]
• Jesse: “You can't spend 10 years pushing a very specific set of policies and then complain when people don't like them... It's cowardly.” [26:47]
• Katie: “It does make me a bit nostalgic for the heyday of woke nonsense, which we were just disparaging. Robin DiAngelo, I miss you—come back to me.” [43:05]
• Jesse: “It’s obviously a form of identitarianism we find really weird... it’s like going back in time to 2020 or whatever, but I guess it's Canada.” [55:49]
• Katie: “All of this makes Canada look like a ridiculous place. But… Even if this job listing comes out of a public university… at this moment, the ruling party, the ruling class, is pretty moderate.” [56:08]

Structure & Segment Timestamps (Select)

• Basketball cold open / pickup stories: [00:09–07:02]
• AI, energy, and environmental impact: [07:06–15:19]
• AI in writing & listener commentary: [15:19–17:38]
• Dispatch article/trans policy backlash: [17:41–25:05]
• The “is wokeness dead?” roundtable & analysis: [29:28–38:20]
• Cultural vibe shifts, anti-woke backlash: [38:58–41:16]
• Canadian viral "woke" events & their context: [42:54–58:28]

Closing Vibe

The hosts reflect that, while internet-fueled panic about “woke Canada” erupts over marginal or local phenomena, actual Canadian governance remains moderate and pragmatic. Through familiar banter, bemused skepticism, and righteous annoyance, Katie and Jesse reinforce their mission: to cut through viral culture war fog, parsing fact from hyperbole—with jokes and sighs along the way.