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Heart Reacts

Heart Reacts

By: Craig Gent and Sarah Jaffe
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“Pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the feels.”


We are HEART REACTS, an advice podcast for everyone trying to remain emotionally functional through the collapse of late capitalism. We’re here to answer all of the questions about love, friendship, family, and even work that you might want to ask two people who have spent adulthood trying to apply their radical political analysis, more or less successfully, to their personal lives.


We are Craig Gent, a writer and researcher living in Leeds, and ⁠Sarah Jaffe⁠, a journalist and author based in New Orleans.


You can send us your questions at www.askmeanything.cc/heartreacts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Craig Gent and Sarah Jaffe Hygiene & Healthy Living Personal Development Personal Success Relationships Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Episode 38: An Easier Time Showing Up

    Episode 38: An Easier Time Showing Up
    Mar 30 2026
    Welcome to HEART REACTS, an advice podcast for all of us trying to remain emotionally functional through the collapse of late capitalism. This episode contains discussion of sexual violence; there is a content note at the beginning of the discussion, and it ends at 23:00.This week, we sit with the news that U.S. labor icon Cesar Chavez had abused young girls, and consider the relationship between this story and a type of letter we often get. Then we hear an update of sorts from our Lonely Male letter-writer, and think about the challenges of being the friend who usually does the social labor: when do you get to take a break?Stuff We Talk About:Fight the power – in your pyjamas: the film about the day Glasgow kicked out immigration enforcersDolores Huerta’s civil rights legacy was inextricably linked with Cesar Chavez. Then she accused him of abuseCesar Chavez, a Civil Rights Icon, Is Accused of Abusing Girls for YearsHarold Meyerson: Cesar FallsTrade Union Accused of Sitting on Report Into ‘Toxic’ Culture700,000 Female Farmworkers Say They Stand With Hollywood Actors Against Sexual AssaultJames Muldoon, Love Machines'I hugged armed man to stop him bombing hospital'We are Craig Gent, a writer and researcher living in Leeds, and ⁠Sarah Jaffe⁠, a journalist and author based in London.Buy Craig's Book: CyberbossBuy Sarah's Book: From the AshesYou can send us your questions at ⁠www.askmeanything.cc/heartreacts⁠.This episode was produced by, well, us! We apologize for any inconsistencies in audio quality. If you liked it and want to help keep us going, and help us improve our recording process, you can support us at ⁠patreon.com/HeartReacts⁠. You can subscribe to the show wherever you get podcasts, and please do rate us on those podcast apps! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    1 hr and 6 mins
  • Episode 37: Reversing the Decline

    Episode 37: Reversing the Decline
    Mar 13 2026

    Welcome to HEART REACTS, an advice podcast for all of us trying to remain emotionally functional through the collapse of late capitalism.


    This week we have a follow-up from a previous questioner who wants more advice on what to do when your union breaks your heart--how to forgive, how to forget, and how to fix a labor movement that often doesn't take its duty of care seriously. And of course we check in about dogs, films, and life in late capitalist hell.


    Stuff We Talk About:

    Crime 101

    Disabled People and Care Workers Must Build Common Cause in the Fight for Better Conditions by Jamie Hale

    Judith Stepan-Norris and Maurice Zeitlin, Left Out: Reds and America’s Industrial Unions

    Nate Holdren, Injury Impoverished: Workplace Accidents, Capitalism, and Law in the Progressive Era

    Erik Loomis, Empire of Timber: Labor Unions and the Pacific Northwest Forests

    Les Leopold, The Man Who Hated Work and Loved Labor: The Life and Times of Tony Mazzocchi

    Death Panel Podcast


    We are Craig Gent, a writer and researcher living in Leeds, and ⁠Sarah Jaffe⁠, a journalist and author based in London.

    Buy Craig's Book: Cyberboss

    Buy Sarah's Book: From the Ashes

    You can send us your questions at ⁠www.askmeanything.cc/heartreacts⁠.

    This episode was produced by, well, us! We apologize for any inconsistencies in audio quality. If you liked it and want to help keep us going, and help us improve our recording process, you can support us at ⁠patreon.com/HeartReacts⁠. You can subscribe to the show wherever you get podcasts, and please do rate us on those podcast apps!

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 1 min
  • Episode 36: Being Taught Not to Feel

    Episode 36: Being Taught Not to Feel
    Feb 27 2026

    Welcome to HEART REACTS, an advice podcast for all of us trying to remain emotionally functional through the collapse of late capitalism.


    We're back! And we have thoughts on masculinity, heterosexuality, and capitalism. First about the Olympics, and the pleasures and misfires of watching sports through the lens of the nation, and then we answer a letter about being a "lonely male," and how to learn to be comfortable with feeling.


    Stuff We Talk About:

    Men's Freestyle Skiing Big Air Final (Highlights)

    I, Tonya

    Red Army

    Miracle

    Craig: No Crying Shame

    A.S. Hamrah on Tech Won't Save Us


    We are Craig Gent, a writer and researcher living in Leeds, and ⁠Sarah Jaffe⁠, a journalist and author based in London.


    Buy Craig's Book: Cyberboss


    Buy Sarah's Book: From the Ashes


    You can send us your questions at ⁠www.askmeanything.cc/heartreacts⁠.


    This episode was produced by, well, us! We apologize for any inconsistencies in audio quality. If you liked it and want to help keep us going, and help us improve our recording process, you can support us at ⁠patreon.com/HeartReacts⁠. You can subscribe to the show wherever you get podcasts, and please do rate us on those podcast apps!

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 12 mins
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