It’s “problematic.” In this mini episode, Jess rants about her dislike of this overly simplistic label (used to describe everything from people to paint colors), and Susie asks her why, if that’s the case, she can’t seem to stop using it.

FOR MORE:
If Everything Is ‘Trauma,’ Is Anything? (NY Times)
I Was Wrong About Trigger Warnings (The Atlantic) 
What If Calling People Out, We Called Them In? (NY Times)
The Problem With the Word 'Problematic’ (The Atlantic)

It’s “problematic.” In this mini episode, Jess rants about her dislike of this overly simplistic label (used to describe everything from people to paint colors), and Susie asks her why, if that’s the case, she can’t seem to stop using it.
FOR MORE:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/04/opinion/caleb-love-bombing-gaslighting-trauma.html">If Everything Is ‘Trauma,’ Is Anything?</a> (NY Times)</li>
<li><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/09/trigger-warnings-feminism-teen-girls-mental-health/674759/">I Was Wrong About Trigger Warnings</a> (The Atlantic) </li>
<li aria-level="2"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/19/style/loretta-ross-smith-college-cancel-culture.html">What If Calling People Out, We Called Them In?</a> (NY Times)</li>
<li aria-level="2"><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/10/problem-with-word-problematic/620289/">The Problem With the Word 'Problematic’</a> (The Atlantic)</li>
</ul>

Is there a cultural moment from your past that looks different in retrospect? Maybe it’s a scandalous tabloid story seared into your teenage brain or a political punchline that just feels wrong now. It might be a very specific red swimsuit that inspired a decade of plastic surgery (see: “Baywatch”) or the inescapable smell of an entire generation of prepubescent boys (Axe body spray, anyone?). Each week on IN RETROSPECT, Emmy-winning journalist Susie Banikarim and New York Times editor Jessica Bennett revisit a pop culture moment from the 80s and 90s that shaped them — to try to understand what it taught us about the world, and a woman’s place in it.

Talk to us at @inretropod, @susiebnyc and @jessicabennett on Instagram. New episodes each Friday.

Is there a cultural moment from your past that looks different in retrospect? Maybe it’s a scandalous tabloid story seared into your teenage brain or a political punchline that just feels wrong now. It might be a very specific red swimsuit that inspired a decade of plastic surgery (see: “Baywatch”) or the inescapable smell of an entire generation of prepubescent boys (Axe body spray, anyone?). Each week on IN RETROSPECT, Emmy-winning journalist Susie Banikarim and New York Times editor Jessica Bennett revisit a pop culture moment from the 80s and 90s that shaped them — to try to understand what it taught us about the world, and a woman’s place in it.
Talk to us at @inretropod, @susiebnyc and @jessicabennett on Instagram. New episodes each Friday.

In Retrospect with Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett

The Word We Won’t Use on This Show

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/090e0ddf-6770-4d30-a27d-b09900fa6c92/transcript