Zooier Than Thou
- Author TogglesHappyZoo
- Creation date
Listen @ zoo.wtf
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Thoughts About the Episode
Happy Halloween!
Ahhh this episode is so much fun! And it’s likely the first episode we actually finished a whole week before release! Very happy with this one. The skits turned out great, and we got to a large chunk of our e-mail backlog, many of which had some pretty substantive questions that I hope we addressed well.
So after we finished the rap from last month, I messaged Kynophile and told him I wanted to do a pop-punk song about getting fucked by 14 werewolves, and I sent him some examples of the genre since that’s not really his background. Before I could start writing, Kyno sent me a parody of Cute Is What We Aim For’s “The Curse of Curves,” and it was pretty excellent. One problem: not a lot of WEREwolf references. He came back with the changes, and it was perfect! So I put the track together with the help of some zoo musician friends, and the rest is history! It turned out SO GOOD. Kyno told me he was feeling a little insecure, since he hadn’t put anything quite like that arrangement to paper since college, but I think he proved he has the chops!
I put out a call for Halloween skits, and Kyno also submitted a modified version of one of his stories, and that turned out to be the best skit in the episode, in my opinion. Great acting, great audio cues, just all around fantastic.
Since Kynophile had helped do half of the work for the episode anyway, I reached out to see if he wanted to co-host, and he agreed! Kyno’s pretty busy with a ton of other projects, so I’m really happy he was able to lend as much time as he did to make this episode particularly fantastic.
Like last year’s Howloween episode, I think this does showcase some of our best skit-work. I’m pleased with how this one turned out, and I’m happy with how much fun it was to produce.
We were on track for me to have a pleasant and easy weekend. That is, until YouTube banned our account. Their claim? Our account violated their TOS against pornography. Which is laughable, except for a specific (and new) clause banning “bestiality or the promotion of bestiality.”
Luckily, I had most of the episodes backed up, but I had to recreate some of the more recent ones, which was a bit of a pain in the ass. Plus, simply spinning up a single version of the account just meant we’d get banhammered again. Making redundant backups, tagging them, etc. takes a ton of time. Shout out to Harley for making me a python script that could pull all the info from our website into convenient text documents, or it would have been significantly worse.
ZooTT started with a foundation of being decentralized so that we couldn’t effectively be deplatformed. Even when YouTube or Spotify go down, we always have rss.zoo.wtf which can be accessed with any browser or podcast client. Still, YouTube does serve a good portion of listeners. In thinking about how to make ourselves resilient on the platform — frankly, most podcast segments don’t violate their TOS — we were inspired by this idea of being decentralized. Soon, we’re going to make it easy for ANYONE to upload their favorite ZooTT segments to YouTube. Rather than merely having a central hub that can be taken down in one fell swoop, if random people post their favorite segments, then there’s always a chance for those segments to be found when searching for zoophilia on YouTube.
That’s the idea, anyway. Not sure how Content ID will rear it’s ugly head in response, but it’s difficult to plan ahead for that when no one really knows how it works.
Stay tuned to our bonus.zoo.wtf feed for more information on that when the project is completed.
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What did you think of the 14 Werewolves song? Any e-mails that spoke to you? Let us know in the comments, or e-mail us!
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You can subscribe to our RSS feed using your favorite podcast application: rss.zoo.wtf
Don't forget to subscribe to our Bonus Content feed: bonus.zoo.wtf
You can subscribe to us on Twitter @ZooierThanThou, @OneBigGrumpyRat, @ACatWhoLovesYou, @CanisGnosis
You can contact us using the anonymous web form at zoo.wtf
Listen @ zoo.wtf
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Thoughts About the Episode
This is the first blog I'm writing on ZooCommunity.org! And it's upsettingly late! Like, basically a month late. I've been working really hard and haven't been able to work up the chutzpah to actually sit down and write about this episode. Suffice it to say, it's been a pretty hectic month.
It’s a shame, because I felt like this, of all episodes, needed to be featured on ZooVille, and I might just crosspost it there anyway. It can be a bit of a toxic place for trans zoos, so I thought maybe this episode would make the trans people there feel a little less alone.
I had a little trouble with this episode. Sigma had proposed it when we got a letter from a transphobic zoo the episode prior, and I let them and Lovecat mostly take the reins on organizing it. They did great, and Vee was super helpful, as well, but I didn't have time to attend the meetings and oversee the episode's development. One major conflict that happened in our chatroom of trans zoos involved Ray Blanchard's typologies. It seemed like something that was important to discuss prior to including, but I missed the meeting I set up because I couldn't get away from my other job in time, and the topic slipped through the cracks. When we started recording and the topic came up, it blindsided the guest host, who later voiced their issues, ultimately leading to that part of the discussion being cut. I felt it was more important not to alienate the people we were trying to connect with, than to keep a discussion in which we didn't address people's concerns about the topic. Sigma was very adamant that we revisit the topic, though, so we spent another couple of weeks talking about it together and released a bonus episode. I'm hoping our discussion was nuanced enough not to alienate our trans audience, and so far the response has been positive, but I worry about it.
The rap, though? That was so much fun, and even better than the first rap, imo. @Kynophile and I worked together and made each other's verses better, and the collaboration aspect of it was really rewarding! Looking forward to doing this every month!
Also enjoyed doing the Ranma 1/2 Secret Zoo segment, put together by Canis and LC. Found that song at the end to tie it together and MWAH! Came out lovely in the end!
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Are you trans, or do you have any trans friends? Let us know in the comments what you thought of the episode!
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You can subscribe to our RSS feed using your favorite podcast application: rss.zoo.wtf
Don't forget to subscribe to our Bonus Content feed: bonus.zoo.wtf
You can subscribe to us on Twitter @ZooierThanThou, @OneBigGrumpyRat, @ACatWhoLovesYou, @CanisGnosis
You can contact us using the anonymous web form at zoo.wtf
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Healthy, Happy, and Zooey 2020
Our longest episode yet is jam-packed with zooey wellness! Plus, join Canis for a guided meditation, solve the Mystery of the Moth Man at the Mill, experience the first zoo rap song (we think!), remember a fond old friend, and help a frustrated mare solve her problems!zoo.wtf
Thoughts About the Episode
If you've been waiting for a Season 2 episode that really goes the distance, here it is! Some really great discussions, some pretty good Scooby Doo impersonations, and an unexpectedly good rap song, all packed into a dense little package.
The rap was especially fun, and started from simply sharing hip hop music in twitter chats with zoos and writing little rhymes at each other. DoggieDearest was keen on doing a music collaboration, so we put it together for this episode. I was really worried about delivering something that was actually good, not cringy, and I think we actually pulled it off!
As promised, the focus on animal welfare in this episode is substantial, with over an hour and a half devoted specifically to that topic. I fear we tended to be very dog-centric, but that's just where the center of our expertise tended to fall. We tried to be inclusive of other animals, as well, and hopefully what we talked about is relevant for non-canine-centric zoos as well.
I dunno, I think this episode just hits different, as the kids say. It's good. I hope you like it. We worked really hard on it.
In slightly less episode-related news, I think I'll be moving my blogging away from ZooVille in the near future. I'm not satisfied with the way the site is run, and there's a new site in the works that addresses a lot of the concerns that I have with this site. I considered leaving this site altogether, to take a strong stand against policies that I felt were destructive to the community discourse, but I don't want to leave new zoos out in the cold when they inevitably stumble onto this site looking for something positive. There's really not a whole lot of positive discourse here at all, and if ZooTT can be that light, I think it should be.
ZT will think it's because he's a libertarian, but the owner of the new site is also libertarian, proving that people of the same values can make different choices, either to the credit or to the detriment of the forums they run. This place is basically a toxic waste battleground. I'm moving somewhere that embodies the kind of positivity I want to see. I hope to see you there when it's announced!
Did you find our mental wellness tips useful? Tell us about it in the comments, or e-mail us!
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You can subscribe to our RSS feed using your favorite podcast application: rss.zoo.wtf
Don't forget to subscribe to our Bonus Content feed: bonus.zoo.wtf
You can subscribe to us on Twitter @ZooierThanThou, @OneBigGrumpyRat, @ACatWhoLovesYou, @CanisGnosis
You can contact us using the anonymous web form at zoo.wtf
Now available on Apple, Google, Spotify and Amazon!
_________________________Zoo Pride 2020!
The ZooTT crew is joined by several new zooey content creators for this celebration of zoo pride! Plus, explore the positive aspects of being a zoo, enjoy an opera that goes to the dogs, and examine what it means to be proud to be a zoo!zoo.wtf
Thoughts About the Episode
Wow, what a Zoo Pride month it's been! I've had Zemen over for a couple of weeks, we visited another zoo way down south, I got to participate in a 24 hour Zoo Pride Twitch stream, and we got to put together this episode with submissions from zoos we've never heard from before! And the month is only half-way through, with more zooey fun to come!
This is the most people we've had on an episode at once. We started with 10, but due to technical issues, we ended up with 9. Even so, I was super thrilled to feature people who hadn't been on the podcast before. I wasn't sure exactly where the discussion would go, but once the cast was assembled, I found myself surrounded by zooey content creators that were doing really cool things! So this pride episode celebrates all the new zooey stuff happening alongside our humble podcast, from twitch to twitter, from book clubs to blogs. This is what Fausty and I wanted to cultivate when we started this podcast, and he would be thrilled to know that people were taking up the baton and doing things that matter to them, creating content for the zoo community. Speaking of, a notable theme of the episode is that if you want to see it, someone else does, too, and maybe it's worth being the person to get it started up! If you need help, we'll be happy to lend a paw!
Thanks so much to everyone who sent in submissions! I noticed a couple from ZooVille, so I totally appreciate it! I hope you enjoy the two montages we put together, and I hope that this episode fills you with pride and encourages you to do great things!
Were you inspired by our Zoo Pride episode? Is there zooey content YOU want to see? Tell us about it in the comments, or e-mail us!
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You can subscribe to our RSS feed using your favorite podcast application: rss.zoo.wtf
You can subscribe to us on Twitter @ZooierThanThou, @OneBigGrumpyRat, @ACatWhoLovesYou, @StoriesZoo, @JoeyStreamy!
You can contact us using the anonymous web form at zoo.wtf
Now available on Apple, Google, and Amazon!
_________________________A Culture of Caring
Lovecat and Canis are joined by Steeeve to discuss zoo culture and the foundations for a healthy community. Plus, get the full scoop on Ryme City, and join Zooey and Tex as they cover Bitch Basics 101.zoo.wtf
Thoughts About the Episode
I'm sorry it's taken so long for me to post this episode on ZooVille. To be frank, the state of the world definitely has be pretty depressed and lethargic, and work is killin' me. Getting motivated to do so much as post on twitter has been a chore lately.
Speaking of, if you're not already following our bonus episodes RSS feed, consider checking it out:
bonus.zoo.wtf
Earlier in the month, we released some old outtakes of Fausty talking about his encounter with Butler County police that left him in a coma for three days. Police brutality is absolutely a reality for zoos, and if there's anything we should be able to empathize with as a community, it's victims of police brutality.
So, month two of me taking a back seat as a host and stepping out of the spotlight. And month 16 of me recognizing we definitely need a project manager who can keep us on task so we get things done on time! As for the episode, I'm happy with the conversations that took place, and I dig our little Pokémon skit. It's a good episode. But I wish we could enjoy the process more, because we're all procrastinators who do everything at the last minute. So if you know a trustworthy zoo who might be interested in helping with project management, have them e-mail me! It's a position that comes with some security risks, so understand that if you apply, you likely won't just immediately be put to work. I'd prefer for it to be someone I know and trust, so it will take some time for that to happen if we haven't already met face to face.
And let's talk about the GOOD stuff! Zoo pride is next month! WOOH! I'm gonna visit with a different zoo every single weekend! I'm super pumped, and I can hardly wait! Do me a favor! Send us an e-mail with your Zoo Pride Day/Week/Month plans! I wanna hear them! We're also taking audio submissions, and we wanna hear what positive aspects of what makes you, you, are directly attributable to being a zoophile. We can mess with your voice on request.
Send an email to pride@zoo.wtf with the subject “Zoo Pride Audio Submission.” Format can be wav, mp3, m4a, aiff, or even ogg as long as it’s not from telegram. You can record using your phone, a computer mic, or a fancy podcasting mic — it doesn’t matter!
Tips: try to record yourself in a quiet environment — no TV in the background, no wind, etc. Ironically, a closet is a great place to record because your soft clothes will absorb all the sound and make a clean, clear recording!
Again, the question is: What positive traits in yourself do you associate with being a zoophile? It can be your empathy for non-humans, your unique worldview, whatever! Anything that’s positive for you that you wouldn’t have without being a zoo!
The episode drops on July 15. Please have submissions in by July 8. And stay tuned for more ways you can contribute to this year’s Zoo Pride episode!
Reminder! Please take the time to visit helpsavemy.dog and leave a donation. Lucy is showing improvement! This is a super hopeful case, so if you DO have anything to spare, consider donating it!
Wanna be a part of our Zoo Pride episode? Tell us about it in the comments, or e-mail us!
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You can subscribe to our RSS feed using your favorite podcast application: rss.zoo.wtf
You can subscribe to us on Twitter @ZooierThanThou, @CanisGnosis, and @ACatWhoLovesYou
You can contact us using the anonymous web form at zoo.wtf
Now available on Apple, Google, and Amazon!
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Mixed Relationships: Zoos and Non-Zoos
Doodle and Kitty host this episode about romantic relationships between zoos and their non-zoo human partners. Plus, a legendary hero has a thing for mares, Calon has a confession to make, and Steeeve joins Zooey to answer your most salacious questions!zoo.wtf
Thoughts About the Episode
Gosh, this past month has gone by so fast, I don't even know what to say. It's all a blur. I guess we start with the fact that the response to the furry episode was overwhelming! At times, literally so. It brought a lot of attention to what we've been doing, and that attention comes with negative things in addition to the positive. It's to be expected, but it's been a bit of a learning curve. We've nailed down things pretty well, and I've learned a WHOLE lot about the back end of our website and about DNS entries.
We've met a lot of new zoos, one of whom chose this episode to craft a coming out letter to his friends for us to air. He delivered it flawlessly, to be honest.
Speaking of, I've also become wary of this whole project becoming "The Toggle Show," so I'm making an effort to step back. Though I feature in this episode to help with interviews, Doodle and Kitty took this apt opportunity to host, and Steeeve took my place during Ask Zooey. This isn't supposed to be about me. I'm not supposed to be a celebrity. I'm kind of the "rat of all trades," so a lot of the duties tend to fall to me when they need to be done on a timeline. But the fact is that I have a very, very strong paw in creating these episodes, so I'm all over them. This has led some people to comment on my "prominence" as a zoo, and I feel like that's not what this show is meant to do. We want to feature regular zoo voices. It's not about creating celebrities. It's about giving us a voice. So I'm hoping to have more new voices featured in coming episodes, and less of your favorite rat boyfriend.
I'm also a little worried we're getting a little human-centric, as of late. Certainly, it's topical to talk about two-legger zoo issues, but I feel like we're missing some of the animal-centric activism we started out with. Our next few episodes are lined up, but after that, I think wanna revisit Healthy, Happy, and Zooey, and really try to dive into more animal-centric topics for a bit. Plus, I wanna get back to that original Ask Zooey feel from before we took listener emails, where we were able to tell things from a four-legger perspective. Tl;dr: less hand, more paw.
I've been pretty exhausted as of late, and I know it shows here in this journal, but I hope it doesn't show in our episodes. Like I said, a lot of the production of making this happen falls to me, but I'm fortunate that we're getting a little help from folks, including someone who can take some of the audio work off my paws, and that will be a huge relief. I do really miss Doug's guidance. Sometimes I feel like it's a struggle to stay on the path we set out on, but I hope by taking it a step at a time and trying to keep the zoo community and animal welfare in mind, we'll stay on course.
Speaking of that, there's an issue I'd like to bring to your attention, if you haven't seen it already.
"Copyright drama" is not an apt description of this problem. It's an issue of privacy, security, and basic respect for the zoo community. Please take the time to read the comments and weigh in on the poll.
Thanks for listening to be blather. Now it's time to enjoy a nice weekend off, at last.
Reminder! Please take the time to visit helpsavemy.dog and leave a donation. Lucy is showing improvement! This is a super hopeful case, so if you DO have anything to spare, consider donating it!
Are you in a mixed zoo/non-zoo relationship? Tell us about it in the comments, or e-mail us!
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You can subscribe to our RSS feed using your favorite podcast application: rss.zoo.wtf
You can subscribe to us on Twitter @ZooierThanThou, @OneBigGrumpyRat, and @1DapperDonkey
You can contact us using the anonymous web form at zoo.wtf
Now available on Apple, Google, Spotify, and Amazon!
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The Furry Fandom
Toggle is joined by Canis Gnosis for this dive into the furry fandom. Featuring interviews with Wolfie and Tugs, this extra-long episode is packed with entertainment! Plus, solve crimes with a loose-rocket cop, practice social distancing, and learn how to get laid!zoo.wtf
Thoughts About the Episode
We've had this episode on the docket for months! We were going to do it last month, but it got pushed back so Canis could join us as a host, and boy, I guess the timing is about as good as it can be! Lots of drama about zoos on furry twitter right now, including the exhuming of a 12-year-old incident with a furry artist. Sometimes you just get lucky with being topical, but it comes at the expense of the mental well-being of a lot of zoos.
This was a blast to record, to be honest. Tugs, our non-zoo furry guest, was very charismatic, and the interview is really loose and entertaining. We have what might be one of my favorite goofy sketches to date, as well, featuring our German friend from ZETA verein as a German Shepherd cop.
Quarantine has been interesting. There's less work to do at work, which means a bit more time to focus on other projects like ZooTT, but honestly, a lot of it has gone to Animal Crossing and fielding comments across our social media sites. I worry about other people, though. There's a lot of friends who are suffering right now, whether with unemployment, difficulty paying bills, or just feeling isolated and lonely. Couple that with a lot of really bored kids on twitter writing the "n-word" and sending death threats on our pages, and you've got a bad recipe for deteriorating mental health.
While finishing this episode up, a weird thing happened. A lot of zoos on twitter got a message about how a right-wing extremist group called Dissident Furs, led by Len Gilbert ("The Furred Reich" author), is behind all this anti-zoo rhetoric on twitter, utilizing sock puppet accounts, driving divisive rhetoric, and bolstering anti-zoo callout accounts. There's a lot we don't know about the validity of the effectiveness of their reach, but we do know that it IS the stated goal of Dissident Furs to purge the furry fandom of "degenerates," and explicitly zoophiles. Because we don't have an effective way of really verifying this information yet, we haven't really moved on it, but since this is a "thoughts about this episode" section, I figured I'd include it here, since it's been on our minds this week.
Reminder! Please take the time to visit helpsavemy.dog and leave a donation. Lucy is showing improvement! This is a super hopeful case, so if you DO have anything to spare, consider donating it!
What're your thoughts on the furry fandom? Let me know in the comments, or e-mail us!
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You can subscribe to our RSS feed using your favorite podcast application: rss.zoo.wtf
You can subscribe to us on Twitter @ZooierThanThou, @OneBigGrumpyRat, and @CanisGnosis
You can contact us using the anonymous web form at zoo.wtf
Now available on Apple, Google, Spotify, and Amazon!
_________________________The Path Forward
Sigma and Toggle discuss the positive future ahead of zoos to kick off a brand new season of ZooTT! Plus, meet a ninja who's bark matches his bite, and catch up with Randy the Ram!zoo.wtf
Thoughts About the Episode
Gosh, I literally ran out of disk space on my computer trying to export this out this morning! Time for some heavy-duty clean-up!
We had originally scheduled to talk about the furry fandom this episode, but at the request of Lovecat so that an important guest would be able to appear on that one, we switched to this topic and brought ZooVille's very own @SigmatoZeta on board to host! I've always enjoyed his posts here, which are generally very thoughtful and well-written. If you haven't checked it out yet, he keeps a blog right here on ZooVille!
My goal this time was to release on a set date, and have everything ready to go on time. Well, various emergencies struck last week, and though we were working right up until the last minute, we DID manage to get it out more or less on time. That's one step toward getting back on a set schedule!
Reminder! Please take the time to visit helpsavemy.dog and leave a donation. Fausty would have wanted that.
What're your thoughts on the path forward for the zoo community? Let me know in the comments, or e-mail us!
_________________________
You can subscribe to our RSS feed using your favorite podcast application: rss.zoo.wtf
You can subscribe to us on Twitter @ZooierThanThou, @AskZooey, @OneBigGrumpyRat, and @ACatWhoLovesYou
You can contact us using the anonymous web form at zoo.wtf
Now available on Apple, Google, and Amazon!