A podcast that claims to show humanity through intimate private stories. Now dabbling in politics and not even mentioning the humanity on the other side. Completely complicit in war crimes, hate, antisemitism and violation of women! Where is your humanity for the Israeli babies, women and children who were beheaded? How can this be called Genocide? Over 20% of voting Israelis are Arab Palestinians. Where did you get the idea of white supremacy? Over 50% of Israelis are Arab and Ethiopian! Where was the mercy of the Hamas terrorists when they beheaded and burned babies and families together. Forced husbands and children to watch their wives and daughters being raped in front of them before they murdered all of them? Do you think there are LGBT people in Gaza? They are stoned to death there. Why don’t I have the right to live in peace and security in my home? There is a difference between targeting and massacring innocent citizens and casualties of war. I am fighting a war for my existence here. Please do your homework before you spread lies of a terrorist organization… I invite you to come to Israel and experience the creativity, resilience, peace loving and liberal people we are. The fact that you don’t say a word about the Hamas crimes against humanity makes you complicit in their crimes and is simply anti-Semitic. Wish you would share your humanity with both sides. We are also human and suffering…

I listened all the way through SISTERS out of curiosity, thinking maybe it would change my already unfavorable opinion of KP. Instead, it made me unsubscribe from The Heart. I hated this series. KP is so intensely unlikeable and myopic here, and the smug, oh-so-edgy fetishization of her own mental illness is not only unoriginal, it’s cringe. Her sister comes off as unidimensional and desperate, a sap pining for KP’s love, something I’m sure KP intended. It felt like being stuck on a bad first date who won’t stop talking about how interesting they are. She’s not like other girls, you guys, she’s flawed and broken and that’s beautiful (eye roll).

Audio storytelling in a way that hits random topics, tells longer tales, or something else, but is always immersive and engaging. Delightful.

I laughed, I cried, I actually (surprisingly) grew to understand my own family better. Kaitlin has a big beautiful difficult story to tell here. She lays it out in a perfect arc. All the actual audio recordings of Kaitlin’s younger self really drew me into the truth and enormity of her quest. The audio is first-rate, even better with headphones or a good stereo. The attention to detail is welcome. Kaitlin Prest and her family show great bravery and candor for sharing this journey of healing with us all.

I can’t say how much the last couple of series - Sisters and DAD - have meant to me! I appreciate the way you and your family have made themselves vulnerable to share and contribute to these beautiful stories about complicated relationships. It made me feel hope for my own familial struggles. So relatable! Thank you!

You won’t be disappointed

WOW. Mermaid Palace is pure audio brilliance. I’ve been listening since the Audio Smut days & have always loved the style. The Shadows: Super sexy & smart. So quirky. LOVE it all. I want MORE PLEASE!! UPDATE: Mar 2023: SISTERS —-> OH MUH GAWWW. This is SOFA KING GGOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This freaking show!!. These freaking women!! This is sooo FREAKING good. & when I say “Good”, I mean SO GAWD DANG AMAZING. It’s funky & trippy & artsy. But not in a trying-to-hard way. It’s touching & moving, & funny. It plucks my heart strings in the most magical way. I always love the sound effects in all your work- the ones that are actually you vocalizing. SO WELL DONE. SO PERFECTLY PLACED in the most perfect moments. FREAKING AYE THIS IS SO GD GOOD!!!! I love all of your work. I’ve NEVWR heard anything like the work of Mermaid Palace. It’s special & it’s unique & it always leaves me wanting more.You girls are so talented. Absolute GEMS. 💋 💎

Stay rad

I can’t tell you how important it feels to have The Heart back. we are missing audio like this. Kaitlyn Prest was the first to bring it to us and continues to bring it to us, no matter what the industry is doing. Pleas never stop. It’s such a gift. Thank you thank you.

The Heart, more than any podcast I know, feels like a complete gift. It doesn’t ask anything of its listener, only to be still and taken away by mesmerizing sound and story. Am I making any sense? It feels giving and unselfish. Nothing is perfect but The Heart is close.

In just one episode so far, Sisters has managed to capture so much of the nuanced love and tension between siblings.

It’s so great to have new episodes from the Heart. Everyone should listen.

The whole team was so ahead of their time in using the medium as an intentional art form. It’s experimental, beautiful, totally paradigm shifting in what podcasts have the ability to achieve. I LOVE this body of work. As left podcasts shift to increasingly narcissistic contrarianism, the heart offers a communal, healing salve for our collective soul.

No one is doing it like the heart and audio smut has been doing this for a long time. Fresh, experimental but approachable, with honest and important perspectives

There’s nothing else like the Heart out there. This podcast is a beautiful part of building the world I want to live in. Many episodes leave me flabbergasted just by the fact that they exist and that someone was willing to be this vulnerable and share so deeply. ❤️❤️❤️ so much gratitude.

The beautiful, evocative audio essays I’ve listened to this year on the heart regularly demonstrate such a deep understanding of both story and sound design that transport me into new experiences. What a gift!

Like I said. Feminist journalism

Thank you for the vulnerability of your show. It has been good company over the years and the honest perspectives and creative story telling are so moving.

You will inevitably end up enlightened, crying, or with your hand down your pants.

Really great show and I always look forward to it. So happy it’s back!

The ad reads are painful to listen to. They feel so slowed down, monotone, and forced.

I really liked the idea of Race Traitor going in, but it's impossible not to come at a show about race, told by a white person, without some higher level of scrutiny. I was disappointed to find Phoebe's point of view lacked a sense of self-awareness and self-reflection. The very thing that her black friends pointed out as a problem of hers (a privileged kind of combativeness) seemed to be the driving force behind the story here. I think that some real vulnerability and looking into her own issues (instead of her parents) would have made all the difference, but this comes off as another privileged white person centering their story without offering any greater perspective.

Listen to it if you are either white, rich, straight, cis-male

....

While I admire the efforts to talk about race, I kept feeling like all we were hearing about was how Phoebe coped with her guilt at being white.

What an interesting podcast an innovative way in our 21st century time of exchanging information. As a brown woman I am intrigued- keep up the good work young lady! Carry on!

Thank you for taking this on and giving voice to the emotions and ugly truths white feminists so often hide from or obscure.

Miss KP. These artists are disorganized and put me to sleep. BORING. I was glued to this show post this mush mouthed.... I can’t even understand what they are saying.

I have only listened (so far) to the four episodes of Phoebe Unter’s serialized mini-series “Race Traitor” and WOW! What an incredibly invaluable exercise for the mind, body and soul –– it felt like I was bending, stretching, swelling, burning even at moments, all towards a better version of myself with the new awareness and perspective Phoebe and the other voices in the episodes brought to my life. I believe anyone who is wrestling with sentiments, voices, feelings of anti-racist work (which hopefully we all are for a long while) will find a beautiful feeling of fellowship (i.e. wow, I am not alone! this must be the system talking in / through / around me! I can do this! I can keep going!) –– balanced with just the right amount of discomfort to realize that resting on our laurels and however many layers of awareness and action we have experienced is simply not ok, and to then recommit to more, different, and better self and group work. For context: I am a white heteronormative 35yr old woman who has been aware of and learning to own up to my naivety and ways I am complicit in our brutally racist system since 2016… I, like many others, have felt an incredible surge of urgency to go deeper and further with this personal work, to do it to whatever extent is necessary to actually be helpful to the collective effort to dismantle said system. I am beyond grateful to the creators of this mini-series for re/fueling me.

all wumben, wimpuns, woomuds, mannish boys, faeries & androgynes should listen. i hate saying "high production value" but I can hear the sexy & interesting things you do with audio. vulnerable ! smart ! firey ! nk and phoebe make me want to look within myself and make political art! I want moooore.

Just listen

Years back I learned of The Heart’s existence from either Dan Savage, Kevin Allison, or Roman Mars. A robustly-produced listening experience with a quirky side, I found it eye-opening in its transparent, authentic exploration of feelings and topics, from which other podcasts often steer away. Now, in June 2020, there’s no better time to dive head-first in to Phoebe Unter’s series Race Traitor. Though social media can feel overwhelming with potential avenues of action, the self-education of podcast-listening is one of the most helpful and least-burdensome resources available (especially for white people like me, wondering how to help in ways besides throwing money at organizations). Give it an episode. Give it three. Listen with a friend. Afterward, what conversations will you have with yourself? With others? Thanks to Phoebe, Kaitlin and the entire The Heart team for all your efforts.

I thought the old version of the heart was great but this is taking it to the next level. The title of this review says it all. The heart has become an invaluable resource for those of us queer feminists who’ve maybe taken racism 101, this is 102. For those of us who can slip into feelings of superiority when we see other white people being “worse” than us. All with high production values and thoughtfully written scripts

I wish I listened to this podcast before I had sex for the first time & for the rest of my sexual journey. Phenomenal words & insight. Touched by the mind of women.

I used to be intrigued by this podcast for the first few seasons with its dream-like story telling. But now, speaking as a privileged halfrican, I don’t feel sorry for you because I know the height of privilege is marked by the ones who live to complain. Live to serve those that you love, and do what you can to make others lives better. Otherwise your complaints become noise in the sea of cacophony. We’re all sorry you’re not seen equally in the eyes of society. God knows I’ve been discriminated against for many things. But I’m not running from bombs, and you’re running a podcast, probably young and healthy enough to survive covid despite its blatant attack on poc having equal access to health care 🤷🏾‍♂️

I love every episode and everybody all to be funny, charming, engaging and inspirational. I appreciate vulnerability and it quite honestly is all I want to listen to or read and this podcast always feels vulnerable and honest. 💚 what a gift

I’ve been a fan of The Heart for years & always find solace in how every story embodies curiosity + pleasure exploring topics that are often very personal + difficult. The new iteration spearheaded by NK + Phoebe is 🔥erotic af above everything else. Get into it

The group of women that put this podcast together are amazingly talented. They create works of audible art that take issues in progressive politics (be it racism, feminism or homophobia) that engage the listener into questioning their own lives. They are not afraid of making the listener uncomfortable. This will be a turn off for some but it is often a necessity step that needs to be taken & felt in order to facilitate meaningful change. You gals rock!

The first few seasons were really pretty amazing and special. This season it’s fallen into the death spiral of “intersectional identity politics” and I can’t stomach it any more. No more focus on the intimate subtleties of the heart, no no no, not without a diatribe about micro aggression, race shaming, and anti patriarchy. Oh well, nothing lasts forever 🤷🏻‍♂️ (yes I’m a white male, so you can disregard my comment)

I found the one episode I attempted to listen to nothing more than self indulgent drivel. Don’t waste your time listening to this podcast when there are so many smart interesting podcasts out there.

I’m finding the new episodes thought-provoking and creative. I can’t wait to hear more!

I’ve been listening to “The Heart” since the beginning of its Raditopia days and I’m sorry to say I’m stepping away. The topics discussed in the new episodes are important and should be talked about, but the new round of content fails to deliver the all important “what should I do now?” at the end. It has the same flaw as many TED talks: you go into great detail about a horrible issue, make sure the listener emotionally connects to it, and then fade out with an enigmatic “who know what we do from here?”. This show is clearly not for a wider audience anymore. I don’t need my hand held, I’m not ignorant of how my mere existence makes other people’s lives harder, but I’m not going to stick around to be shamed just to be shamed.

I really love the direction you all have taken the podcast. It’s really unique and includes voices and perspective I haven’t heard anywhere else. That’s invaluable, thanks so much for sharing.

This is a great find - we came across you on social media and thought we'd check you out - we're really happy that we did. We're working from home in a smallish city in Maine, where there isn't a ton to do right now as the state's basically been shut down for the time being, so interesting and entertaining podcasts are filling that gap and keeping our spirits up. Keep up the great work - we cannot wait to listen to more. <3 Yergy & Drewby from The Misery Machine

Thank you NK & Phoebe! I love both of your voices. Thank you for making complex and deep media!

Sometimes I love this show. Sometimes it makes me bang my head against the wall. The newer stuff is not my favorite.

The first couple of seasons were good. Now it’s becoming more abstract with a moody drawl that is tiring.

Amazing voices. Unlike anything out there. Creative. Satisfying to my ears and mind. Reminds me that there are beautiful complex and necessary voices. With stories that need to be told heard and held.

I keep listening but not sure why. After a while, the podcast just feels so college and self indulgent. Getting tired of the whispers and ASMR vibe.

Garbage pro abortion ads. Don’t tell me how to feel about it. 10 seconds in....and for that reason, I’m out.