I got cushed

So I was listening to Cush: Things I say, show #28. I found it terribly inflammatory and I wrote his blog and told him so.

Interesting enough he used my post on his show, #29. After suggesting I see a proctologist, and arguing the fine points of his so-called ironic rant from #28 about women's obstruction of men's happiness by forcing men into marriage too early (this is one example of many other things for which women are responsible for, I guess), and misquoting of my quoting Robert Wright's "The Moral Animal," where Wright compares the qualities of mating turkeys to onastic men, Cush left me somewhat unfulfilled.

So I am creating a new word for the podcast community:

cushed: (transitive verb) pronounced 'kushd (infinitive verb: to cush) 1. to podcast borderline-objectionable material (of a sexist, racist, or bigoted nature) that may or may not elicit responses from offended listeners. 2. to deny intentions of the podcast by blaming the listener for listening incorrectly. 3. to claim a disguise of parody, satire or irony in one's podcast rather than taking responsibility for making an honest faux pax. 4. to misquote a listener's email or blog entry in a manner that only supports the originally denied intention of the podcast's borderline-objectionable material (also known as "blue material"). 5. to insult a podcast listener who writes in and subsequently dedicate a love song to the listener, which may or may not be taken as an apology for the aforementioned insult.

Usage: "You're cushing me." or "After writing in to respond to a podcast, I got cushed."

To be fair, Cush did back off a little and agreed we were probably on the same side in our criticism of gender stereotypes. He even dedicated a song to yours truly. Which made me feel a little better, but in a relly weird way. (Hence the fifth definition of being cushed)

I wrote him back directly and immediately. It was a long, hearfelt email attempting to clarify my position on the matter, and as of this writing, have heard nothing back. And actually don't expect to. But if he WERE to reengage, I would be most impressed at his courage and intellectual forte. So we will see.

The interesting thing is that I'm in hot pursuit on this topic of gender and am discovering that this is helpful to me in figuring out the direction of the podcast.

I was speaking to RG about being cushed and we're going to meet and talk next week. He's doing his dissertation about the systemic failures and inequalities of the health care system. He's also very interested in podcasting.

So whether Cush calls back or not, I feel obliged to thank him for inspiring me on this path. I knew I listened to his show for some reason, even though it is uncomfortable at times.

I wish him the very best.

(The marantz is getting closer, the marantz is getting closer, the marantz is getting closer.)