Episode 77: Making an ass out of u and me (assuming positive intent)

Authority Issues

In this episode, rachel and Kendall talk about:

• Dietary constraints for gout sufferers
• Non-traditional Thanksgiving fare and excitement about cabbage rolls
• Kendall's adventures in escalating vegetarianism
• The definition of "assuming positive intent"
• How the power dynamic matters
• Why it's unreasonable to expect marginalized people to assume positive intent by default
• Kendall realizes once again he's playing the game on "easy" mode
• When assuming positive intent works well, why it's valuable and to whom
• Why this episode has the "explicit" tag :)
• A time when Kendall did not assume positive intent
• The dangers of making "assume positive intent" a corporate policy
• How this relates to injustice in the greater social world
• Kendall's unflagging optimism about people
• rachel's tactics for navigating a situation where you can't assume positive intent
• Why intent is not as important as impact
• How to serve a colleague or employee who reports discrimination
• Our desire for more topics to discuss, tweet us at @djpiebob and @blatanterror with your requests!

Special thanks to Mel Stanley for our theme music <3