IRL Comment Cards

Jamie Reed, Cori Cohn, and Lauren Leggieri open the episode with a wide-ranging conversation about the gap between what people say online and what they actually do in real life — and the platforms that shape both. Cori has quit X. Jamie has questions about Tumblr. The hosts dig into the psychology of online activism versus real-world action, anchored by a recurring hypothetical: a young anarchist whose convictions are vivid, whose memory is long, and whose relationship with a photocopier is deeply committed. Seriously — it’s all hypothetical.Guest SegmentIn December 2025, a coalition of parents, researchers, clinicians, and advocacy organizations — including the LGB Courage Coalition — filed a citizen petition with the Food and Drug Administration calling for urgent regulatory review of long-term, high-dose estrogen use in males. The FDA has 180 days to respond. That clock runs out in June 2026.Jamie and Lauren are joined by a physician and a regulatory expert who know both the science and the regulatory landscape inside and out. Together they break down what the petition asks for, what the evidence shows about cumulative estrogen exposure in male bodies — including dramatically elevated risks for stroke, venous thromboembolism, and breast cancer — and why the FDA has the authority and the obligation to act.The episode also addresses two battles playing out in real time: a coordinated campaign by trans activists to flood the FDA public comment docket in opposition to the petition, and an organized effort to attack and suppress the professional reputation of one of this episode’s guests, Dr. Lauren Schwartz. Both are worth understanding — because they illustrate exactly what happens when credentialed clinicians and researchers challenge the prevailing orthodoxy on gender medicine.The public comment portal is open now. Your voice matters — and this episode will tell you exactly how to use it.GuestsDr. Lauren SchwartzBoard-Certified Psychiatrist | Senior Fellow, Do No HarmDr. Lauren Schwartz is a board-certified psychiatrist in private practice, a mother of three, and a Senior Fellow with Do No Harm. Throughout her career, she has advocated for upholding the highest standards of care in medicine and mental health at local, state, and national levels.Her recent publications include an open-access review in Discover Mental Health, a commentary in The Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, a chapter in The War on Science co-authored with Dr. Art Rousseau (discussed in depth on Informed Dissent Episode 41, August 16), and contributions to Dr. Miriam Grossman’s book Lost in Trans Nation.In July 2025, Dr. Schwartz was invited to speak on an expert panel in Washington D.C. for the FTC. In January 2026, she was awarded a Distinguished Fellowship by the American Psychiatric Association. Her work has been featured in the New York Post, the Dallas Morning News, The Federalist, and City Journal, and she has appeared on Fox News, The Origins Podcast, and America Out Loud News.🔗 laurenschwartzmd.com | 🔗 Do No Harm profilePeter PittsFormer FDA Associate Commissioner | President, Center for Medicine in the Public InterestPeter Pitts is a former Associate Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and currently serves as President of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest and as a Visiting Professor at the University of Paris School of Medicine.With deep firsthand knowledge of how the FDA operates — its tools, its mandates, and its pressure points — Peter brings a uniquely authoritative perspective to the question of what the agency can and should do in response to the citizen petition on estrogen safety.🔗 cmpi.orgTake ActionThe FDA docket is open. Submit your public comment in support of the citizen petition before June 2026. Comments from parents, detransitioners, clinicians, researchers, and concerned citizens all count — and specific personal accounts carry particular weight.📋 Read the Petition: FDA-2025-P-7321 — Citizen Petition on Off-Label Estrogen Use in Males💬 Submit Your Comment: regulations.gov/docket/FDA-2025-P-7321The petition calls for:* A mandatory boxed warning naming stroke, cancer, sterility, and cognitive decline* A “Part 15” public hearing for transparent scientific debate on the record* A comprehensive safety review and REMS evaluation with a mandatory 20-year patient registry* Mandatory enhanced adverse event reportingEvery comment builds the public record. Use your voice.In MemoriamRon MillerFinally — we lost someone important this week. Ron Miller, co-founder of Campbell Miller Payne — the nation’s first and only law firm dedicated to representing detransitioners — passed away last month from brain cancer. He was thirty-eight years old. He leaves behind his wife, four children, and a legal framework he helped build for people the medical system harmed and the activist community abandoned. He will be missed. We will carry his work forward. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit informeddissentpodcast.substack.com/subscribe