PODCAST · news
Listen Up Girl
by Zach Randles-Friedman
LGBTQ+ News in 10 minutes or less!
Episodes
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Ep. 389: Trans Sports Ban Fast-Track, Gay Couple Sues in Maine & Hunter Schafer on UK Bathrooms
Today on Listen Up Girl, the Alliance Defending Freedom asks the Supreme Court to fast-track a national trans sports ban through its emergency docket. Military and veteran spouses of trans kids tell Congress that anti-trans policy is pushing experienced service members out. A trans woman sues...
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Ep. 388: SCOTUS Protects Trans Inmates' Care, Judge Threatened & Russia Hunts Gay Journalist
Today on Listen Up Girl, the Supreme Court votes 7-2 to keep gender-affirming care in place for trans people in federal prisons. Federal Judge Ana Reyes says her family received death threats after the president called her a "crazed lunatic" over a D.C. golf course case. Russia puts gay…
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Ep. 387: LGBTQ+ News: Alabama Trans Candidates, St. Pete Pride, GameStop Lawsuit | Listen Up Girl
Alabama's Republican Party chair called two transgender state House candidates "mental disorders." Ally Montgomery and Terri Osborne answered with a question about groceries, gas, and rent. Today on Listen Up Girl: how two trans Democrats are turning anti-trans attacks into an affordability...
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Ep. 386: Musk Bankrolls Paxton, NHS Restricts Trans Patients, Harry Potter Gala Protest | LGBTQ+ News
Elon Musk just put $158 million behind Ken Paxton's Senate campaign in Texas, and in the same week, someone texted Republican voters while posing as a trans rights group. On this Sunday episode of Listen Up Girl, Zach Randles-Friedman breaks down the money and the texts, plus NHS England's new...
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Ep. 385: Texas GOP Says Anti-Trans Ads Aren't Working, Rainbow Crosswalk Fights | Listen Up Girl
Today on Listen Up Girl: two anti-trans measures on Colorado's November ballot that opponents say could reach every kid in the state, a former Texas House speaker admitting his party's anti-trans ads aren't working, Ukraine naming LGBTQ+ people in its new National Human Rights Strategy, the fight...
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Ep. 384: Texas School Cancels Little Shop, Meta Pays Anti-LGBTQ+ Creators | LGBTQ+ News
Today on Listen Up Girl: A federal judge orders Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to answer questions under oath about his anti-trans statements in the lawsuit challenging the trans military ban, and warns a deposition is next if he dodges. Former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, the first openly bisexual...
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Ep. 383: Talarico's Flu Becomes a Smear, Stonewall Museum Denied & Senegal Arrests | LGBTQ News
Vote for my podcast for the Listeners Choice Award: Everything and Anything and a bit gay: https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2026/shows/genre/lgbtq James Talarico took nine days off the campaign trail with the flu. A senior administration adviser responded by suggesting he'd had bottom...
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Ep. 382: Ohio Dems Silence Their Pride Caucus & a Trans Woman Deported to Africa | Listen Up Girl
Two trans members of the Ohio Democratic Party's Pride Caucus resign within 24 hours, saying party leaders blocked them from sharing a statement supporting the party's own candidate for governor. Today on Listen Up Girl: what happens when a party asks its Pride Caucus to stay quiet. Also today:...
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Ep. 381: HRC's Warning, "Hi Gestating" & a New Trial for Paris Lee | Listen Up Girl
Three weeks before the midterms, some Democrats are running ads that echo Republican attacks on trans people. Today on Listen Up Girl, Zach breaks down why HRC president Kelley Robinson says that strategy is "doing too much and getting too little," and what she says candidates should do instead....
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Ep. 380: Coming Out Day, Strictly's "Protect the Dolls" Shirt & India's Trans Law | Listen Up Girl
Today on Listen Up Girl: Sunday was National Coming Out Day, and we look back at how it started and why it still matters. The new White House press secretary holds her first briefing as her old posts pushing Pizzagate and false claims about trans people resurface. A Republican running for...
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Ep. 379: Book Bans Hit a Record, Gay Dads Win an Apology & Coming Out Day | LGBTQ+ News Oct 10
On Tuesday, a federal rule cuts off Medicaid and CHIP funding for gender-affirming care for minors. California, Maine, and Illinois are stepping in with state money. Virginia and Arizona, both led by Democratic governors, are not. Today on Listen Up Girl, Zach breaks down what that means for...
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Ep. 378: Judge Orders Gay Man Back From Equatorial Guinea, GOP vs. Buttigieg & More | LGBTQ News
A gay man who grew up in Arizona was deported to Equatorial Guinea, a country he had never been to, and held in a hotel where he says he was beaten. Today on Listen Up Girl: a federal judge orders the government to bring Ahmed Soliman home, and why dozens of others are still waiting. Also today:...
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Ep. 377: Annie Andrews Slur, Alito on Marriage & Oklahoma Birth Certificates | LGBTQ News Oct 8
The president used an anti-trans slur three times against South Carolina Senate candidate Dr. Annie Andrews, who isn't trans. Today on Listen Up Girl, what that attack says about the campaign strategy behind it, and why distancing yourself from trans people doesn't buy protection. Also today:...
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Ep. 376: What a Democratic House Could Do for Trans People | LGBTQ+ News Oct 6
Can a Democratic House actually protect trans people with the orange convicted felon still in office? Today on Listen Up Girl, Vermont Rep. Becca Balint, the only out LGBTQ+ member of the House Judiciary Committee, lays out the tools: subpoenas, oversight hearings, and the power of the purse. She...
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Ep. 375: Fewer Teens Coming Out, Gay Frog Conspiracy & a Trans Dad Killed | Listen Up Girl
Are fewer young people queer, or are fewer willing to say so out loud? Today on Listen Up Girl, new federal youth survey data shows the share of ninth graders identifying as gay or bisexual dropped from 17% to 11% in two years, while older teens and young adults are holding steady. Also today:...
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Ep. 374: Renee Good's Wife Sues ICE Officials, Gay Men's Chorus Denied Arts Grant | Listen Up Girl
Today on Listen Up Girl: Becca Good and Renee Good's family file two federal lawsuits over Renee's killing by an ICE officer in Minneapolis, naming Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, and other senior officials. Elliot Page joins the Gender Liberation Movement to demand that NYU Langone, Mount Sinai…
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Ep. 373: LGBTQ+ Youth Crisis Line Returns, Turkey Indicts Pop Star Over a Dance | Listen Up Girl
Today on Listen Up Girl: The "Press 3" option for LGBTQ+ youth is back on the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, after Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi wrote it into federal law. But The Trevor Project was shut out of running it, and the administration won't say how counselors will…
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Ep. 372: Newsom Signs 6 LGBTQ+ Bills, Teachers Afraid to Stop Bullying | LGBTQ+ News Oct 1
Today on Listen Up Girl: California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed six LGBTQ+ bills into law, including AB 1930, which blocks state agencies from helping federal investigators access trans people's medical records. A new Human Rights Campaign Foundation survey of 826 educators finds that teachers in...
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Ep: 371:Title IX Rollback Erases LGBTQ+ Students, Serbia's Gay President & More | Listen Up Girl
Today on Listen Up Girl: The Education Department formally rescinded the 2024 Title IX rule protecting LGBTQ+ students and restored the 2020 rules with no public comment period. The administration asked the Supreme Court to let the Bureau of Prisons cut off hormone therapy and other...
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Epn 370: Alyssa Edwards Answers Paxton, the FCC Targets Gonzo & a Lesbian Bar Goes Viral |
Ken Paxton spent a week attacking Drag Race star Alyssa Edwards to score points against James Talarico. She answered with an open letter and one line: Texas is big enough for all of us. Today on Listen Up Girl, Zach Randles-Friedman breaks down the exchange and what it says about the Texas Senate...
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Ep. 369: Queer Clubs Vanish From Instagram, FDA Pick's Anti-Trans Record & More | Sept 26, 2026
Listen Up Girl | Saturday, September 26, 2026 Alaska Senate candidate Mary Peltola, a former Anchorage Pride grand marshal, faces allegations from former staffers that she used anti-gay and ableist slurs. Her campaign denies the anti-gay slur and says she regrets the other language. Queer voters...
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Ep. 368: Senator Rants About "Furry Pilots" & Trans People + Remembering Harriet Hancock
Six stories today, two of them political. Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville spends twenty minutes on the Senate floor warning about "furry pilots" and calling trans people mentally ill. HIV and STI samples from the Seattle LGBTQ+ Center are now processed at a lab in Texas, raising privacy concerns...
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Ep. 367: UNT Erases Its LGBTQ Archive Page, Talarico Shifts on Trans Athletes & UN Sounds the Alarm
pisode: Listen Up Girl, Wednesday, September 23, 2026 Host: Zach Randles-Friedman Today's episode is about visibility: who gets seen, who gets erased, and who decides. Story 1: UNT pulls its LGBTQ archive page The University of North Texas deleted the webpage for its LGBTQ archive, a collection…
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Ep. 366: LGBTQ+ News: Vance's Drag Nun Blunder, Seattle Poly Rights & More September 22, 2026
Today on Listen Up Girl: VP JD Vance falsely calls the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence "devil-worshipping" at a Kansas rally — and gets their name wrong in the process. A Duluth, Minnesota man faces hate crime charges after allegedly stabbing a man in a bar bathroom over his perceived sexual...
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Ep. 365: Boebert Ethics Bombshell, Kaptur's Anti-Trans Ad & India Court Win | Sept 21
Today on Listen Up Girl: a sworn ethics complaint accuses Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert of affairs with two female staffers and one male aide, Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur runs anti-trans ads ahead of Election Day, India's Allahabad High Court orders police protection for a Hindu-Muslim lesbian couple,...
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Ep. 364:McBride Misgendered, Madonna's VMA Return & AFAN Turns 40
Today on Listen Up Girl: Delaware Congresswoman Sarah McBride, the nation's first transgender member of Congress, is misgendered twice by a Republican congressional candidate at a public forum — and he gets removed from the stage. Michigan state Senator Jeremy Moss talks to the Washington Blade...
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Ep. 363: Census Proposal Could Out Trans Americans, Cuba's New Gender Law
YouTube Description: Today on Listen Up Girl: The Trump administration's proposed 2030 Census rules could effectively force transgender Americans to disclose their status just by filling out a mandatory form. The Pentagon's mandatory testosterone screening policy for troops faces a public FDA...
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Ep. 362: Trans Woman Shot in Baltimore, Chris Pappas One Step From History | LGBTQ News Sept 15
Today on Listen Up Girl: Baltimore's LGBTQ+ community mourns Sophie Lee, a 27-year-old trans woman shot and killed in the Barclay neighborhood. New Hampshire Congressman Chris Pappas wins his state's Democratic Senate primary, putting him one win away from becoming the first openly gay man…
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Ep. 361: Turkey's LGBTQ+ Crackdown, Grindr's $35M Settlement & Bob Mackie's Death
Today on Listen Up Girl: Turkish authorities launch a nationwide crackdown on LGBTQ+ groups, detaining dozens and drawing condemnation from human rights organizations across Europe. An Indiana prosecutor declines to charge the woman behind the false report that separated Pete Buttigieg's family....
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ep. 360: Nike's Trans Healthcare Fight, Wales's Surgery Crisis & a Cricket Comeback | Listen Up Girl
Today on Listen Up Girl: shareholders push Nike to reconsider trans-inclusive healthcare coverage, over 450 patients in Wales have gender-affirming surgeries cancelled with no review yet underway, Saddle Lake Cree Nation declares itself a safe haven for gender-affirming care amid Alberta's youth...
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Ep. 359: Kansas AG Targets Conversion Therapy Bans + Ghana Archbishop Speaks Out
Today on Listen Up Girl: Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach gives three cities 60 days to repeal their local conversion therapy bans, leaning on a recent Supreme Court ruling. In Ghana, Archbishop Cyril Kobina Ben-Smith reverses his past support for anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, publicly opposing a...
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Ep. 358: 9/11's LGBTQ+ Heroes, ICE Detains Philly Drag Queen & Iceland's Blood Ban Win
This September 11th episode opens with a tribute to LGBTQ+ people lost in the 2001 terrorist attacks, naming gay Flight 77 co-pilot David Charlebois and gay Flight 93 passenger Mark Bingham, who helped storm the cockpit before the plane went down in Pennsylvania. The episode then turns to its...
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Ep. 357: LGBTQ+ News: Missouri Scandal, Miss Continental Crowned & NYC's First Gay Wedding
Today on Listen Up Girl: a Missouri Republican is charged with plotting to plant cocaine on his own primary opponent, a hate group celebrates a canceled hockey Pride night, Northern Ireland's Pride organizations bar their own government from official participation, one mom's 19-year fight to make...
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Ep. 356: Sarah McBride vs. Pete Hegseth, Elliot Page's Hollywood Silence & More | LGBTQ+ News, Sept 8
Today on Listen Up Girl: Congresswoman Sarah McBride calls for Pete Hegseth's impeachment, Elliot Page opens up about Hollywood's silence since "The Odyssey," the first drag queen on U.S. "Big Brother" talks life after eviction, a new Arlington bar honors gay rights pioneer Lilli Vincenz, Black...
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Ep. 355: Passengers Duct-Tape Anti-Gay Flyer, Dallas Stars Drop Pride Night | LUG, Sept 8
Today on Listen Up Girl: passengers restrain a man mid-flight after a racist, anti-gay outburst, a Wisconsin campus assault case heading to trial, the Dallas Stars dropping Pride Night and the fan backlash, a major trans rights win in Bulgaria, a San Francisco library preserving LGBTQ+ children's...
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Ep. 354: Love, Community & Resistance: 6 LGBTQ+ Stories You Need Today
Today's episode: Texas state Rep. Venton Jones marries the man he proposed to on the House floor. A trans South Asian immigrant nonprofit in San Francisco rallies community support to stay open. Connecticut lawmakers threaten subpoenas after a children's hospital quietly ends gender-affirming…
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Ep. 353: 6 LGBTQ+ News Stories You Missed This Week — SCOTUS, Idaho, South Carolina & More
Today on Listen Up Girl: the administration asks the Supreme Court to allow the immediate firing of 29 transgender troops ahead of trial, six transgender Idahoans sue over a bathroom law with penalties up to life in prison, a South Carolina family is driven out of state after years of harassment,...
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Ep. 352: 22 States Sue Over Care Funding Rule, Idaho Minister Guilty | Sept 4
Three stories today. Twenty-two states sue the federal government over a new rule stripping Medicare and Medicaid funding from gender-affirming care for minors, set to take effect October 13th. An Idaho minister is found guilty of trespassing after refusing to leave the governor's office during a...
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Ep. 351: Markey Crushes Anti-Trans Rival + Christian Employers Win EEOC Shield
Today on Listen Up Girl: Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey wins his primary by nearly 30 points after making trans rights the centerpiece of his campaign against a challenger who'd questioned defending trans kids. A new EEOC settlement gives thousands of Christian-affiliated employers a permanent...
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Ep. 350: SCOTUS, MA Hospitals & a Tucson Shooting | LGBTQ News Sept 2
On this episode of Listen Up Girl, Zach Randles-Friedman covers the administration's return to the Supreme Court seeking to reinstate its ban on transgender military service, after a federal appeals court ruled the policy likely unconstitutional — a ban that remains in effect for now regardless…
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Ep. 349: California's LGBTQ+ Bill Deadline + Another NBA Star Attacks the WNBA | LGBTQ+ News Aug 31
Today's LGBTQ+ news: California lawmakers race today's deadline to get a slate of LGBTQ+ bills — including a fix for injectable PrEP coverage — to Governor Newsom's desk, former NBA player Matt Ryan inserts himself into the WNBA's manufactured trans athlete debate, Georgia Southern University…
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Ep. 348: Milo Yiannopoulos Detained by ICE + Houston Opens LGBTQ+ Teen Shelter | LGBTQ+ News Aug 30
Today's LGBTQ+ news: far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos gets detained by ICE despite years of cheering the agency on, Houston opens its first emergency shelter built for unhoused LGBTQ+ teens, a GOP-led group refuses to correct a misleading voter guide misusing pediatricians' name to sell an...
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Ep. 347: Texas Drag Ban Struck Down AGAIN + Pastor Calls Out MAGA for Claiming Dolly
Today's episode of Listen Up Girl covers six stories, with two carrying a political throughline. A federal judge in Texas, David Hittner, struck down the state's Senate Bill 12 drag show ban for the second time, ruling it unconstitutionally vague and overly broad enough to sweep up cheerleaders,...
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Ep. 346: NY Worker Sues Over Anti-Gay Bias, 179 in Congress Back LGBTQ+ Preschoolers & More
Today's episode of Listen Up Girl covers six stories, with only two carrying a political throughline. A Grand Island, New York wastewater treatment plant employee, Timothy Burns, has filed suit against the town, alleging years of homophobic harassment, a false report meant to damage his...
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Ep. 345: Tim Curry Dies at 80, a Trans Healthcare Court Win & Spider-Man Punches a Bigot
Today's episode of Listen Up Girl covers seven stories spanning politics, law enforcement, entertainment, and remembrance. The episode opens with Smithsonian curator Katherine Ott, who has spent more than twenty years building LGBTQ+ history collections at the National Museum of American History...
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Ep. 344: Dolly Parton Dies at 80: An LGBTQ+ Tribute + 7 More LGBTQ+ Stories
Today's episode is a tribute episode. We open with an extended remembrance of Dolly Parton, who died August 25 at age 80 after a brief cancer battle, honoring decades of unwavering support for the LGBTQ+ community — from GLAAD galas to early marriage equality advocacy to a catalog of songs about...
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Ep. 343: Judge Blocks White House on Gender-Affirming Care, Trans Vet Loses License & More
Today's episode of Listen Up Girl leads with its single political story: a federal judge in Massachusetts struck down an administration rule that would have removed gender-affirming care from the list of essential health benefits protected under the Affordable Care Act, a ruling brought by a...
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Ep. 342: Log Cabin Drops Trans People, Fake Mickey Mouse Outrage & a Sapphic Elsa Hope
Today's episode of Listen Up Girl covers six stories with only one political headline of the night. The Log Cabin Republicans, a self-described organization of conservative LGBT people, formally announced they are narrowing their national advocacy mission to focus exclusively on lesbian, gay, and...
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Ep. 341: LGBTQ+ Now 12% of US + MAGA Candidate's Underwear Model Past Exposed
Show Notes: New HRC Foundation analysis of Census Bureau data finds LGBTQ+ adults now make up 12% of the U.S. population (~26.5 million people); bisexual adults are the majority within that group. Spanish race walker Maria Perez set the inaugural world record in the women's half marathon race…
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Ep. 340: Zero Politics: Trans Joy, Adam Lambert & a Pharmacy's Pride Comeback
Today's Listen Up Girl takes a deliberate break from political coverage to spotlight six stories of LGBTQ+ community, resilience, and joy. First, Slovenian hurdler Mitja Zubin faced a wave of homophobic comments after his debut at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham — and instead…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
LGBTQ+ News in 10 minutes or less!
HOSTED BY
Zach Randles-Friedman
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Listen Up Girl have?
Listen Up Girl currently has 388 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Listen Up Girl about?
LGBTQ+ News in 10 minutes or less!
How often does Listen Up Girl release new episodes?
Listen Up Girl publishes regularly with 388 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
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Who hosts Listen Up Girl?
Listen Up Girl is created and hosted by Zach Randles-Friedman.
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