Episode 26: A Grand Unspurling Of Years Of Cliff Mass Hysteria
Blocked and Reported
Katie Herzog and Jesse Singal
4.6 • 4.1K Ratings
🗓️ 21 August 2020
⏱️ 62 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this week's episode, Jesse addresses an ugly rumor about him posted to Blocked and Reported's Apple Podcast review page. Then the hosts discuss Conor Friedersdorf's article in The Atlantic, "Anti-racist Arguments Are Tearing People Apart," which centers around the accusation that it was racist for a white man to bounce his friend's black baby on his lap during a Zoom call (really!). In the episode's main segment, Katie unspurls the yearslong battle between Cliff Mass and seemingly every progressive in the Seattle metro area, which recently culminated in his media-gig firing after he made an..................... unfortunate comparison on his personal blog. Also: Jesse does a rim-rocking dunk, the hosts discuss a potential cargo-shorts-related spinoff podcast, racist babies are denounced, and Katie unspurls the story of how she was blacklisted from a Seattle radio station.
Show notes/Links:
The Atlantic: Anti-racist Arguments Are Tearing People Apart - https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/08/meta-arguments-about-anti-racism/615424/
The Stranger: Cliff Mass Says Whatever He Wants (2011) - https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/cliff-mass-says-whatever-he-wants/Content?oid=8309158
KIRO: UW Prof. Cliff Mass called racist for opposing carbon tax initiative (2011) - https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/cliff-mass-says-whatever-he-wants/Content?oid=8309158
The Stranger: Cliff Mass's Responses to Women Scientists Make Seattle's Climate Change Discussions Toxic - https://www.thestranger.com/seattle/cliff-mass-says-whatever-he-wants/Content?oid=8309158
The Stranger: Cliff Mass Blames Liberals for the Lack of Progress on Climate Change - https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/10/06/25457183/cliff-mass-blames-liberals-for-the-lack-of-progress-on-climate-change
The Stranger: The Culture of Harassing and Demeaning Women Scientists - https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/11/17/25572044/the-culture-of-harassing-and-demeaning-women-scientists
Cliff Mass Weather Blog: The University of Washington Should Not Censor Faculty Social Media - https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-university-of-washington-should-not.html
KNKX: KNKX Public Editor report: science, politics, and Weather with Cliff Mass - https://www.knkx.org/post/knkx-public-editor-report-science-politics-and-weather-cliff-mass
Cliff Mass Weather Blog: A City in Fear Can Be Restored - https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2020/08/seattle-city-in-fear-can-be-restored.html
KNKX: KNKX to stop airing Weather with Cliff Mass, effective immediately - https://www.knkx.org/post/knkx-stop-airing-weather-cliff-mass-effective-immediately
Cliff Mass Weather Blog: My Firing at KNKX - https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2020/08/my-firing-at-knkx.html
Petition trying to get Mass fired from his job as a professor - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WIZgiqt1wkyOdx369sSJeIPFoQ8Wr-RA3wKZzJ5uxHU/edit
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.blockedandreported.org/subscribe
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Katie, what is happening? |
| 0:03.0 | Hey, Jesse, there's something I need to talk to you about. |
| 0:06.0 | Uh-oh. |
| 0:07.0 | So I got sort of a concerning message yesterday that I wanted to bring up with you. |
| 0:11.0 | Hmm. |
| 0:12.0 | Okay. |
| 0:13.0 | All right, it says, uh, the message that I got says, have Jesse single respond to these allegations. |
| 0:17.0 | I saw Jesse single at a clothing store in Brooklyn yesterday. |
| 0:20.0 | I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, but I didn't want to be a douche and bother him and ask him for photos or anything. |
| 0:25.0 | He said, oh, like you're doing now. |
| 0:27.0 | I was taken aback and all I could say was, huh? |
| 0:30.0 | But he kept cutting me off and going, huh, huh, huh, and closing his hands shut in front of my face. |
| 0:34.0 | I walked away and continued with my shopping and I heard him chuckle and walk off. |
| 0:38.0 | When I came to pay for my stuff upfront, I saw he was trying to walk out the doors with like 15 pairs of cargo shorts in his hands without paying. |
| 0:45.0 | The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional and was like, sir, you need to pay for those first. |
| 0:50.0 | At first, you kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the counter. |
| 0:55.0 | When she took one of those shorts and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually to prevent electrical interference. |
| 1:03.0 | And then turned around and winked at me. |
| 1:05.0 | I don't even think that's a word. |
| 1:07.0 | After she scanned each pair and put them in the bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning really loudly. |
| 1:13.0 | Wow. |
| 1:14.0 | Jesse, what do you have to say about these allegations? |
... |
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