Tatter

Asks, "What would Fox & Friends do?"; tries to always do the opposite

About the show

Hosted by social psychologist Michael Sargent, this podcast has become a place for conversation about policy and politics, where Sargent talks with people who nerd out on the topics, bringing extensive knowledge, including knowledge of the limits of their knowledge. These nerds don't have the pocket protectors and social awkwardness of nerd stereotypes. They have wit, a love of fun, and most importantly, an understanding gained from the tattered pages of journals, books, and printouts of statistical analyses, or they've been tattered by experience. As host, Sargent isn't above asking dumb questions, because he knows we all learn from the answers.

If you're looking for overconfident, ill-informed (or misinformed) bloviation, this isn't the place for you. (But maybe Fox & Friends is.) If that's the opposite of what you want, then stick around.

Tatter on social media

Episodes

  • Episode 35: Fear of Falling (w/ Ashley Jardina)

    February 25th, 2019  |  39 mins 38 secs
    identity politics, politics, race, white consciousness, white identity

    My conversation with Ashley Jardina, author of "White Identity Politics"

  • Episode 34: I Am. I Am. I Am. (w/ J.R. & Vanessa Ford)

    January 8th, 2019  |  1 hr 2 mins
    gender identity, trans, trans youth, transgender

    My guests, Vanessa and JR Ford, talk to me about their family's story, and about the joys and challenges facing transgender youth.

  • Episode 33: A Christmas Tatter

    December 23rd, 2018  |  40 mins 40 secs
    christmas, cinema, film, movies

    Eight guests discuss their favorite Christmas movies, and what makes a Christmas movie a Christmas movie.

  • Episode 32: Movements (w/ Dan Kaufman)

    December 17th, 2018  |  38 mins 39 secs
    organized labor, politics, scott walker, wisconsin

    A conversation with Dan Kaufman, author of The Fall of Wisconsin: The Conservative Conquest of a Progressive Bastion and the Future of American Politics.

  • Episode 31: Not Yet (Andersen v. Planned Parenthood)

    December 10th, 2018  |  12 mins 52 secs
    abortion, kavanaugh, roberts, supreme court

    A conversation with University of Texas law professor (and CNN Supreme Court analyst) Stephen Vladeck, about the Court's decision not to take up a case at least partly related to abortion

  • Episode 30: Slurred Speech

    November 26th, 2018  |  1 hr 26 mins
    gendered slurs, philosophy, racist slurs, slurs

    A discussion of slurs--especially gendered slurs, as well as racial and ethnic slurs--with philosopher Lauren Ashwell

  • Episode 29: Mission Creep (On Carrying Implicit Bias Too Far)

    November 5th, 2018  |  31 mins 37 secs
    history, iat, implicit bias, psychology, racial justice

    A conversation about implicit bias, and potential overextension and overapplication of it, with Jonathan Kahn, author of Race on the Brain.

  • Episode 28: Magnolia In Bloom (Mississippi Politics)

    October 15th, 2018  |  26 mins 42 secs
    democrats, mississippi, politics, republicans, senate, supreme court

    A chat with Geoff Pender, political editor of the Clarion-Ledger, based in Jackson, Mississippi; we discuss the upcoming U.S. Senate special election, as well as what might come from Mississippi and land before the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • Episode 27: Class Action

    September 18th, 2018  |  30 mins 2 secs
    affirmative action, college admissions, harvard, merit, university admissions

    My conversation with Julie J. Park, of the University of Maryland, as we discuss college and university admissions, merit, affirmative action, and their relationships to Asian-Americans and other groups.

  • Episode 26: A Mighty Pen, Part II (Another Discussion of the Kavanaugh Nomination)

    September 2nd, 2018  |  56 mins
    abortion, brett kavanaugh, diversity, labor law, scotus, supreme court, trump

    A conversation with legal experts Jonathan Adler and Brianne Gorod, as we discuss the record and thinking of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh

  • Episode 25: A Mighty Pen, Part I (Discussing the Kavanaugh Nomination)

    August 14th, 2018  |  58 mins 28 secs
    abortion, brett kavanaugh, environmental law, guantanamo, national security, scotus, supreme court, trump

    A conversation with law professors Peter Margulies and Stephen Vladeck, as we discuss the record and thinking of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh

  • Episode 24: Old Times Forgotten (Talking Southern Politics)

    August 10th, 2018  |  36 mins 42 secs
    arkansas, arkansas politics, national politics, southern politics

    A conversation ranging from Arkansas politics to national politics, with Hendrix College politics professor Jay Barth.

  • Episode 23: Policy of Truth (or, How to Tell a Good Story)

    August 6th, 2018  |  58 mins 25 secs
    melanie green, moth, peter aguero, psychology, storytelling, tara clancy

    A discussion of live, true, first-person storytelling (e.g., on The Moth), and how to do it well, featuring Moth GrandSLAM champion tellers Peter Aguero and Tara Clancy, as well as researcher Melanie Green.

  • Episode 22: Moats and Bridges

    July 23rd, 2018  |  30 mins 31 secs
    catholic church, james martin, jesuit, lgbt, lgbtq

    My conversation with Father James Martin, SJ, editor at large for America: The Jesuit Review. Most of our discussion addressed his advocacy for the Catholic church engaging LGBT people with respect, compassion, and sensitivity.

  • Episode 21: Brotherly Love

    July 16th, 2018  |  31 mins 40 secs
    christianity, philadelphia, police, race

    A conversation with G. Lamar Stewart, Vice-President of the National Black Police Association, Greater Philadelphia Chapter, touching on implicit bias, faith, community-police interactions, and more, including (of course) the infamous Starbucks arrest from this past April.

  • Episode 20: The Humean Stain, Part 2

    July 9th, 2018  |  56 mins 33 secs
    bias training, iat, implicit association test, implicit bias, race, racism, social cognition, social psychology, social science

    The second part of a conversation about implicit racial bias, and about one well-known implicit measure, the Implicit Association Test.