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Virginia guiffre told you
In this episode of The Popaganda Podcast, survivor activists Shannon Perez-Darby and Tashmica Torok bring intimate storytelling and expert analysis to Virginia Giuffre’s posthumously published memoir, Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice.
Before “release the Epstein files” became the public’s favorite internet punchline, Giuffre was a teenager trying to escape her father’s sexual and physical abuse by running away—only to find herself working for Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago. She became one of the most prominent survivors to share detailed accounts of how Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein targeted, groomed, and sexually abused children—then trafficked them through Epstein’s network of rich, powerful global leaders and celebrities, including Prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
Tashmica and Shannon wade through the public’s performative shock and unproductive political theater to center one simple, devastating question: Why did we ignore the truth that survivors have been telling us for years?
As more unredacted files are released to the public, the justice promised by the criminal legal system only gets more elusive. The details are horrific, triggering, and retraumatizing for survivors of sexual violence—but don’t worry: this is not your typical true crime wrap-up.
Listen in as two pop culture besties who also happen to be survivors share survivor-to-survivor care and truth-telling, connecting Nobody’s Girl to the systems that enable harm, use children as political leverage, and prop up a criminal legal system that can’t—and won’t—ever live up to the hype.
Pop Culture Homework:
Read: (or listen): Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice
Read: “Sex Trafficking Prosecutions Won’t Stop the Next Epstein. Here’s What Will.” (Truthout)
Revisit: our episode on Sound of Freedom + how Christian nationalist anti-trafficking narratives shape public “common sense”
Revisit: our Wayward conversation + the troubled teen industry connections that show up here
Reflect: what would it mean to treat child safety like an emergency at scale—not a scandal, not a spectacle, not a campaign prop?
Sponsored in part by: Accountable Communities Consortium
Access: Transcript now available on Apple Podcasts
Credits:
Executive Producers: Shannon Perez-Darby and Tashmica Torok
Audio Production: Shannon Perez-Darby
Show Notes + Graphic Design: Tashmica Torok
breaking up with platforms: Boycotts, billionaires and fascist creeps
What happens when your comfort shows stop comforting—and your “fun little apps” start feeling like tiny extensions of state power?
In this episode, Shannon Perez-Darby and Tashmica Torok talk about how living under fascism is reshaping our relationship to pop culture, streaming, and the platforms we’ve treated like default companions. From canceling Hulu/Disney after the Jimmy Kimmel controversy (and the bigger question of what a boycott is actually asking for), to rethinking Spotify amid reports of ICE recruitment ads, we share what we’re wrestling with: values vs. convenience, visibility vs. safety, and how to stop “overstaying” in unhealthy relationships.
We also get real about grief (yes, even for a 20-year relationship with Grey’s Anatomy), the algorithmic slide into right-wing propaganda and diet-culture-as-evangelism, and why our nervous systems are demanding different kinds of stories right now—like audiobooks, games, and community-centered ways of staying connected that don’t depend on billionaire-owned platforms.
Are you in your breakup era, too? Then put on your softest sweatpants, order some takeout, and come on over for a lonely hearts club episode of The Popaganda Podcast.
Pop Culture Homework:
Listen: Dungeon Crawler Carl (audiobook)
Watch: No Other Land and support Masafer Yatta.
Reflect: What platform or subscription are you “overstaying” with—and what would a clean, loving exit look like?
Sponsored in part by: Accountable Communities Consortium
Access: Transcript now available on Apple Podcasts
Credits:
Executive Producers: Shannon Perez-Darby and Tashmica Torok
Audio Production: Shannon Perez-Darby
Show Notes + Graphic Design: Tashmica Torok