If you have been online in the past few weeks, you’ve consumed at least one “take” about the viral “lesbian bar story.” According to The Boston Globe, “all hell broke loose” when the Greenfield, Massachusetts-based Last Ditch bar posted a cheery Instagram announcement about mask optional Saturday nights.

The Boston Globe played up the backlash—some from Greenfield community members, some from Internet strangers all too happy to add to the ire. But there’s a missing link between Last Ditch’s Instagram post and the Globe’s coverage.

Who or what tipped off the state’s major newspaper to the situation developing in historically caricatured Western Massaschusetts?

This week, Spitfire News’ Kat Tenbarge returns to the pod, revealing the story’s likely origins in a noted transphobe’s podcast. Kate, Christine, and Kat critique the tone of the Globe story and what it reveals about mainstream media’s biases against COVID precautions, queer people, disabled people, and the intersections thereof.

Cancel Me, Daddy is a progressive media criticism show hosted by journalists Katelyn Burns and Christine Grimaldi. New episodes every other week.

Stream on our YouTube channel—remember to ring the bell! Listen via Apple or Spotify. Be sure to check out the merch store—Merch Me, Daddy!

Episode Links:

- Grab a discounted bundle subscription to Katelyn’s and Christine’s newsletters at their TrustFnd collab! https://trustfnd.com/collaboration/bundle-pass-bvco--bvCOiGCVS51ajgYKJKbR

- Subscribe to Kat Tenbarge’s Spitfire News, https://spitfirenews.com/about?modal=signup, and follow her on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/kattenbarge.bsky.social.

- Support local journalism! Subscribe to The Greenfield Recorder, https://recorder.com/subscribe/.

- Madison Schofield, Erin-Leigh Hoffman, and Aalianna Marietta for The Greenfield Recorder: Greenfield takes stock of viral attention: Businesses, officials weigh in after coverage of lesbian bar Last Ditch takes national spotlight, https://recorder.com/2026/09/24/greenfield-lesbian-bar-mask-controversy/

- Madison Schofield for The Greenfield Recorder: Last Ditch in Greenfield bolsters security amid national attention, https://recorder.com/2026/09/30/greenfield-last-ditch-security-increase/

- Annalisa Quinn for The Boston Globe: A Western Mass. lesbian bar required KN-95 masks. When it changed the rules, all hell broke loose, https://archive.ph/2026.09.22-175848/https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/09/22/magazine/greenfield-last-ditch-bar-backlash/

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The right-wing outrage machine could not stand Dr. Jason Arday, the University of Cambridge’s youngest ever Black professor. And so, the coalition of journalists, pundits, and academics could not let the 41-year-old’s academic record stand.

Scorned white academics in the United Kingdom and from the United States unduly interrogated Jason Arday’s credentials and accomplishments. British tabloids amplified the intense and disproportionate scrutiny and pundits around the world doubled down on it.

The right turned Jason Arday into an international story, a cautionary tale for the consequences of diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI. They hounded Dr. Jason Arday until his death in August 2026.

This week, Katelyn and Christine discuss the playbook used to discredit Black academics with Dr. Jenn Jackson (they/them), a Syracuse University professor and the author of Black Women Taught Us: An Intimate History of Black Feminism. Dr. Jackson speaks with Katelyn and Christine about how racist right-wing smear campaigns fit into the larger conversation about Trump’s DEI backlash.

Cancel Me, Daddy is a progressive media criticism show hosted by journalists Katelyn Burns and Christine Grimaldi. New episodes every other week.

Stream on our YouTube channel—remember to ring the bell! Listen via Apple or Spotify. Be sure to check out the merch store—Merch Me, Daddy!

A note on care:

This episode discusses suicide and death. If you are struggling, support is available:

US: Call or text 988

UK: Call Samaritans 116

Episode Notes

- Grab a discounted bundle subscription to Katelyn’s and Christine’s newsletters at their TrustFnd collab!

- Connect with Dr. Jenn Jackson via their website, www.jennmjackson.com, and their handle @jennmjacksonphd on Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky

- Buy Dr. Jenn Jackson’s Black Women Taught Us: An Intimate History of Black Feminism via The Flytrap Media’s Bookshop.org affiliate link

- Request Black Women Taught Us: An Intimate History of Black Feminism from your local library—it makes a difference! Search for your local library via zip code.

- Juana Summers for NPR’s All Things Considered: A professor’s death brings new focus to how Black academics are treated

- Philip Martin for NPR member station GBH in Boston: Black women at Harvard accused of plagiarism to attack DEI programs, supporter says [transcript]

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.