The Popaganda Podcast
by Shannon Perez-Darby & Tashmica Torok
Do you love reality television, true crime, memes, TikTok and all other forms of pop culture? Are you also interested in communal care outside of harmful state systems? Do you struggle to reconcile the two? Join Tashmica Torok and Shannon Perez-Darby on Popaganda, as we dive deep into our love of transformative justice, pop culture and where the two meet.Leave a 5-star review for The Popaganda Podcast and we might feature it in an upcoming episode! You can also send us love or suggest show topics by emailing us at [email protected]. Follow us on Social media! TikTok - @Popaganda_Pod YouTube - The Popaganda Podcast Instagram - @popagandapod Sponsored in part by: Accountable Communities Consortium and The Firecracker Foundation.Content Warning: The Popaganda Podcast explores the intersections of transformative justice, prison abolition, and pop culture. We will be talking in general about the existence of domestic, sexual and state violence and our experiences with
Episodes
-
Death of The Pastor's Wife
Welcome to the Church of That Man Ain’t Shit. Tashmica Torok and Shannon Perez-Darby get into Netflix’s Death of the Pastor’s Wife, the true crime docuseries about Mica Miller and her abusive (ex)husband, Pastor JP Miller of Solid Rock Church in Myrtle Beach. Tashmica breaks down how evangelical...
-
Lowkey Lost
When Tiffany goes missing in Insecure's "Lowkey Lost," the police tell her husband to wait. Instead, her friends pull up and join forces to find their friend. Shannon Perez-Darby and Tashmica Torok pull this episode straight from the vault and break down the Season 4 finale of Issa Rae's HBO...
-
A Last Ditch Effort: The Lesbian Bar Mask Mandate Backlash
A queer community venue in Western Massachusetts opened as a mask-required, Disability Justice–centered space. When the Last Ditch loosened its mask policy one day a week to stay afloat, a Boston Globe article fueled a viral backlash. Pop Culture Besties, Shannon Perez-Darby and Tashmica Torok…
more -
aka Charlie Sheen
Charlie Sheen like you've probably never seen him before. Especially if, like us, you aren't really a fan and the only thing you remember about him is, "WINNING." Listen as your hosts, Shannon Perez-Darby and Tashmica Torok discuss Sheen's revelatory 2-part documentary about his rise to fame,...
-
Law & Order SVU: Hubris with special guest Erin Miles Cloud
In this episode, Erin Miles Cloud joins pop culture besties Shannon Perez-Darby and Tashmica Torok for a breakdown of the Law & Order: SVU episode Hubris. Erin is the co-founder of Movement for Family Power and co-editor of How to End Family Policing: From Outrage to Action alongside Shannon…
more -
Rising Through the Fray
This special episode was made in partnership with the Capital City Film Fest, where Tashmica moderated a live panel with filmmaker Courtney Montour and skater Hawaiian Blaze following a screening of Rising Through the Fray. Courtney then joined Tashmica and Shannon to go even deeper. Rising…
more -
Taylor Frankie Paul, The Bachelorette, and Clocking DV Patterns in Reality TV
Days before Taylor Frankie Paul’s season of The Bachelorette was set to air, TMZ released footage of a violent incident between her and her ex, Dakota, from 2023. ABC pulled the season. Together, Shannon and Tashmica talk through what the video shows and what it doesn’t, why one moment of...
-
Adult Braces: Polyamory and Minding Other People's Relationships
Shannon Perez-Darby and Tashmica Torok dig into Adult Braces, Lindy West's new memoir, Adult Braces. The internet is in a tizzy about her 15-year partnership with Aham Oluo and the process of opening their relationship. We use the word 'process' intentionally. Polyamory is only one expression of...
-
ANTM: Aging Like Hot Ice Cream
What does it mean when the person who built the door is also the one controlling who walks through it? Netflix's Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model pulls back the curtain on two decades of harm styled as opportunity—and Shannon and Tashmica are not letting Tyra off the hook. This...
-
BAFTAs and BBC Broadcast the N-Word—On Purpose?
In this special short episode of The Popaganda Podcast, hosts Shannon Perez-Darby and Tashmica Torok talk about the BAFTAs moment that hit Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo in real time. The N-word was shouted by John Davidson, whose life inspired a nominated film, and who has Tourette Syndrome...
-
Pluribus
What if the apocalypse showed up… as excellent customer service? In this episode of The Popaganda Podcast, survivor activists Shannon Perez-Darby and Tashmica Torok bring pop culture obsession and Transformative Justice-flavored analysis to Pluribus (Apple TV+), Vince Gilligan’s sleek, unsettling...
-
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...
-
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...
-
Die Hard: Copaganda Final Boss
Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? In Tashmica’s house, absolutely—and it’s also a masterclass in copaganda. In this special holiday episode, Shannon and Tashmica rewatch Die Hard the way Tashmica’s family does every year: loud, talk-back style, like a Christmas Rocky Horror—except the...
-
Wayward
What if our best tool for fighting fascism is embracing all of our ‘Wayward’ teens and their imagination for resistance? In this episode, Shannon and Tashmica rave about the talented nonbinary artist Mae Martin (they/them), and Wayward, the limited series they created for Netflix. Set in 2003…
more -
Pee-Wee as Himself
Fascism trains us to shrink. Pee-wee shows another path: bold, maximal, unashamed. What can Paul Reubens teach us about refusing to comply in advance? In this episode, hosts Shannon Perez-Darby and Tashmica Torok discuss the pressure to get small under rising Fascism—and how Paul Reubens, through...
-
We Are Lady Parts
This week on Papaganda, Shannon and Tashmica dive into We Are Lady Parts, the brilliant British sitcom about an all-Muslim punk band that has captured hearts with its humor, complexity, and radical tenderness. From awkward first gigs to the band’s unapologetic “villain era,” we explore themes of...
-
Pop Culture Chisme 2025
What if you could sit in on our group chat—unedited, unfiltered, and supported by a quick check-in with Daddy Google? In our 2nd annual Pop Culture Chisme episode, we unpack the messiness of reality TV, the chokehold The Pit had on us, and the power of Alex Cooper naming abuse in sports. This…
more -
Sinners: Black History, Biracial Hauntings, and the Horrors of White Supremacy Culture
What do you get when you mix juke joint resistance, supernatural horror, and a masterclass in Black storytelling? Sinners—Ryan Coogler’s 2025 genre-defying masterpiece—sets the Mississippi Delta on fire, and The Popaganda Podcast is here for that Smoke (and Stack). In this episode, co-hosts…
more -
Adolescence
Adolescence isn’t your typical TV crime drama. Stephen Graham, creator and writer of the hit Netflix miniseries, isn’t asking you to figure out who did it—he’s asking you to consider why. Shot entirely in one continuous take, each episode of this four-part series follows 13-year-old Jamie, a boy...
-
CCFF x Popaganda Presents: Firebreak
The Popaganda Podcast is an official Cast & Crew Sponsor of the 15th Annual Capital City Film Fest. Join cohosts Shannon Perez-Darby and Tashmica Torok in an episode spotlighting the Midwest premiere and Closing Night Feature Firebreak, a deeply moving documentary screening. Firebreak follows...
-
King of the Apocalypse
Dakota Adams and the Cost of Extremism. This episode unpacks King of the Apocalypse, a new documentary exposing Stuart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers and key figure in the January 6th insurrection. But this isn’t his story—it’s about the people who survived him. Through the eyes of Dakota...
-
Neil Gaiman: Power, Control, & Consent
What do Neil Gaiman, Scientology, and NDAs have in common? More than you'd think—and none of it is good. Join hosts Shannon Perez-Darby and Tashmica Torok as they break down the accounts of harm, the power imbalances, and the larger cultural problem with how we talk (or don’t talk) about consent....
-
Anatomy of Lies
On this episode of The Popaganda Podcast, Tashmica and Shannon talk about the explosive new psychodrama series, Anatomy of Lies, which uncovers the jaw-dropping story of Elisabeth Finch, a Grey’s Anatomy writer who fabricated her life story, exploited the empathy of her colleagues, and used the...
-
It Ends With Us
Shannon and Tashmica discuss It Ends With Us, a TikTok famous, bestselling romance novel written by Colleen Hoover now adapted into the recently released blockbuster drama. Based on the relationship between the author's mother and father, It Ends With Us follows the life and love of the fictional...
-
I believe you, Big Bird.
On the sweetest episode of The Popaganda Podcast, Tashmica tells Shannon a heartwarming story about Big Bird, Snuffleupagus, and the political aspirations of America's longest-running children's TV show, Sesame Street. Big Bird loves his best friend, Aloysius Snuffleupagus and all he wants to do…
more -
The Walking Dead with Guest Mia Mingus
On this episode of The Popaganda Podcast, Tashmica and Shannon talk with guest Mia Mingus about the post-apocalyptic TV series, The Walking Dead. Viewers watched in horror as Negan brutally murdered Glen in front of his wife Maggie. None of us knew that we'd be on a Transformative Justice journey...
-
The Popaganda Podcast: Come for the pop culture. Stay for the abolition.
The Popaganda Podcast is an award-winning social justice podcast that explores the pop culture we love and how it inspires us to build a safer, more just world for everyone. Hosts Shannon Perez-Darby and Tashmica Torok are lifelong survivor activists and pop culture besties who use elevated...
-
Get Raptured, Bitch!
On this episode of The Popaganda Podcast, Tashmica guides Shannon through the American religious thriller film series, Left Behind. In what feels like an accelerated Vacation Bible School experience, they discuss how and why traditional Evangelical Christian teachings have been used to implement...
-
Mathilda Zeller: Never Whistle at Night
On this episode of The Popaganda Podcast, Shannon and Tashmica talk with Mathilda Zeller, author of "Kushtuka”, one of the 29 spine-tingling horror stories included in Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology. She also got in trouble with Tashmica at a tamalada for talking…
more -
How we Failed Amber Heard
On this episode of The Popaganda Podcast Shannon and Tashmica discuss how we failed Amber Heard. Despite decades of work to disrupt the stigma and myths surrounding domestic violence, the Depp v. Heard trial gave us all a look at how the court of public opinion continues to demonize survivors...
-
Grey's Anatomy
On this episode of The Popaganda Podcast Shannon and Tashmica are joined by special guest, Hoai An Pham, an abolitionist organizer, graphic designer, animator, public health student, and avid lover of Grey's Anatomy. Together they discuss the radical storytelling that pops up in the halls and...
-
Lingo Plinko! Conservatorship
Our guest zara raven (zara/z), taught us a lot about conservatorship through their love of Britney Spears. Turns out, we were only scratching the surface of this important Disability Justice issue. Find out more on this week's episode of Lingo Plinko. Find the full show notes and links at...
-
Baby Reindeer
Join Tashmica and Shannon as we discuss the Netflix drama Baby Reindeer. We explore the complexities of surviving domestic and sexual violence, the nuanced portrayals of male survivors and our deep love of the character Teri played by the fabulous and brilliant Nava Mau. Come for the pop culture....
-
True Detective Night Country
True Detective Night Country was a massive success with not-so-great reviews. Led by Kali Reis, the first Indigenous lead of an HBO series, Hollywood legend Jodie Foster, and Issa Lopez, the Mexican Filmmaker who created, wrote, and directed this powerful supernatural thriller, this season had us…
more -
Satan Wants You
In today’s episode of The Popaganda Podcast, Tashmica introduces Shannon to the Satanic Panic of the 1980s through the award-winning documentary, Satan Wants You. To scare people back into a Sunday pew, the Catholic Church funded the publication of a book based on the account of a woman who…
more -
Britney Spears with Guest Zara Raven
Shannon Perez-Darby and Tashmica Torok discuss Britney Spears, the nuances of conservatorship, mad liberation, and the liberatory possibilities of dancing on the internet with our first guest ever - mad queer mama, Zara Raven. Zara Raven isn't just our premiere Abolitionist Britney building a…
more -
Lingo Plinko! Abortion Trafficking is the New Satanic Panic
What do abortion and human trafficking have in common? Find out on this week's episode of Lingo Plinko. Read the full article at https://accountablecommunities.com/writing Find the full show notes and links at www.popagandapod.com
-
Sound of Freedom
Tim Ballard is a lying, McLiar face (allegedly) but that doesn’t mean that he hasn’t had an indelible impact on how everyday Americans understand or misunderstand the sexual exploitation of children around the globe. But how did this qanon-tinged thriller become the 10th biggest domestic film of...
-
Lingo Plinko! Criminal Legal System
Why do Shannon and Tashmica say the criminal legal system instead of the criminal justice system? Tashmica breaks it down with a little help from the Bureau of Justice and the Vera Institute for Justice. Functions of Criminal Justice Why we say "criminal legal system," Not "criminal justice…
more -
Tom Cruise & Scientology
Tom Cruise once claimed Scientology had solved humanity’s greatest challenges. To which Shannon and Tashmica say, “What now?” The Popaganda Podcast kicks off season 2 with a conversation about “Tom Cruise on Tom Cruise, Scientologist”. An American actor, producer, and celebrity Scientologist, Tom...
-
The Popaganda Podcast Season 2 Trailer
The Popaganda Podcast: an award-winning social justice podcast about the pop culture we love and how it inspires us to build a safer, more just world for everyone. Hosts Shannon Perez-Darby and Tashmica Torok are former latchkey kids who grew up to become survivor activists and pop culture…
more -
Lingo Plinko! Box Breathing
Lingo Plinko is a minisode of The Popaganda Podcast with Shannon Perez Darby and Tashmica Torok. On Monday, we dropped a bonus episode about the HBO original documentary, Great Photo, Lovely Life that came with a trigger warning and an encouragement to listen with care. So instead of breaking…
more -
Great Photo, Lovely Life
CW/TW: child sexual abuse. In anticipation of the Popaganda season 2 launch on April 22nd, cohosts Shannon Perez-Darby and Tashmica Torok reconnect to discuss the original HBO documentary, Great Photo, Lovely Life. This poignant film follows Photojournalist Amanda Mustard as she investigates her...
-
Pop Culture Chisme
Popaganda Season 2 launches on April 22nd but Shannon and Tashmica can’t wait that long to talk pop culture chisme and transformative justice. In this bonus episode, we talk about cults, communes, and the surveillance state through the experiences of the recently released but not quite free Gypsy...
-
Radical Visions - It Takes More Power to Build Than to Burn
It takes more power to build than to burn and Shannon Perez Darby and Tashmica Torok want to build. In the season finale of The Popaganda Podcast, you are invited to jump into a time machine and look into their radical visions for a future where transformative justice practices and abolition...
-
True Crime
In episode 5 of The Popaganda Podcast, Tashmica Torok guides Shannon Perez-Darby through where her love of True Crime began and how it has changed over time. The people who are the most interested in the True Crime genre are also those who experience the highest rates of sexual and domestic...
-
Lingo Plinko! TERF
Lingo Plinko is a minisode of the Popaganda Podcast with Shannon Perez Darby and Tashmica Torok. During these short and sweet segments, we'll be breaking down our working definitions of the transformative justice terms that we use throughout the podcast episodes. So far, you’ve heard us drop the...
-
TikTok Beef
One thing about Shannon Perez-Darby and Tashmica Torok is they're gonna get to the bottom of a TikTok beef. In episode four of Popaganda, join them as they scroll through a collection of bookmarked beefs and discuss cancellations that have pushed popular influencers into digital exiles. Whether...
About this show
Do you love reality television, true crime, memes, TikTok and all other forms of pop culture? Are you also interested in communal care outside of harmful state systems? Do you struggle to reconcile the two? Join Tashmica Torok and Shannon Perez-Darby on Popaganda, as we dive deep into our love of transformative justice, pop culture and where the two meet.Leave a 5-star review for The Popaganda Podcast and we might feature it in an upcoming episode! You can also send us love or suggest show topics by emailing us at [email protected]. Follow us on Social media! TikTok - @Popaganda_Pod YouTube - The Popaganda Podcast Instagram - @popagandapod Sponsored in part by: Accountable Communities Consortium and The Firecracker Foundation.Content Warning: The Popaganda Podcast explores the intersections of transformative justice, prison abolition, and pop culture. We will be talking in general about the existence of domestic, sexual and state violence and our experiences with
Hosted by
Shannon Perez-Darby & Tashmica Torok