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The Unburdened LeaderMeet leaders who recognized their own pain, worked through it, and stepped up into greater leadership. Author: Rebecca Ching, LMFT
Meet leaders who recognized their own pain, worked through it, and stepped up into greater leadership. Each week, we dive into how leaders like you deal with struggle and growth so that you can lead without burnout or loneliness. If you're eager to make an impact in your community or business, Rebecca Ching, LMFT, will give you practical strategies for redefining challenges and vulnerability while becoming a better leader. Find the courage, confidence, clarity, and compassion to step up for yourself and your others--even when things feel really, really hard. Language: en-us Genres: Education, Personal Journals, Self-Improvement, Society & Culture Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
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EP 148: Naming as Leadership Practice: Soraya Chemaly on Language and Power
Episode 148
Friday, 13 February, 2026
There is a well-known cognitive phenomenon that we are all susceptible to, and even more so when we’re stressed. And we’re all at least a little stressed and overwhelmed right now.The illusory truth effect catches us when we repeatedly hear statements and begin to assume they are true through repetition and familiarity. Things feel true, even if they couldn’t be further from it. Research has shown that sheer repetition can even override facts when we know better.Naming–systems, feelings, what we’re witnessing, what’s missing, what’s wrong–is a powerful antidote to the illusory truth effect. Naming forces us to slow down. It interrupts the repetition. We can’t meaningfully talk about integrity, values, courage, or innovation if we refuse to look directly at what is.My guest today reminds us that we can’t disrupt what we can’t name. And we can’t heal what stays vague.Soraya Chemaly is an award-winning author and activist. As a cultural critic, she writes and speaks frequently about gender norms, social justice, free speech, sexualized violence, politics, and technology. The former Executive Director of The Representation Project and Director and co-founder of the Women’s Media Center Speech Project, she has long been committed to expanding women’s civic and political participation.Her most recent book, All We Want is Everything: How We Dismantle Male Supremacy, has been called “a potent rallying cry for a beleaguered feminist movement.” In it, she challenges dearly held beliefs about gender and equality today, drawing clear lines between the dynamics of intimate inequality and global anti-feminist, anti-democratic backlash and machofascism.Content warning: Discussion of details of the video footage leading up to Renee Good’s murder, less-detailed discussion of sexual and gender-based violence and harassmentListen to the full episode to hear:Why we need to name systems clearly and specifically in order to challenge themHow male supremacy encompasses concepts of sexism, misogyny, and patriarchy and frames them as part of a larger hierarchical systemHow we’re witnessing DARVO play out at scale in our government and media, as well as in personal interactionsHow deepfakes use the pervasive threat of sexual violence against women to dehumanize and enforce subjugationHow women play roles in passing on and enforcing male supremacyHow “the boy crisis” reinforces norms of masculinity at the expense of girls and womenWhy big tent politics that asks everyone but cis, straight men to give up fundamental rights cannot be a yardstick of successLearn more about Soraya Chemaly:WebsiteInstagram: @sorayachemalyAll We Want is Everything: How We Dismantle Male SupremacySubscribe to UnmannedLearn more about Rebecca:rebeccaching.comWork With RebeccaThe Unburdened Leader on SubstackSign up for the weekly Unburdened Leader EmailResources:Dechêne, A., Stahl, C., Hansen, J., & Wänke, M.. The Truth About the Truth: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Truth Effect. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 14(2), 238-257Pennycook, G., Cannon, T. D., & Rand, D. G. (2018). Prior exposure increases perceived accuracy of fake news. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 147(12), 1865–1880Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel KahnemanFazio, L. K., Brashier, N. M., Payne, B. K., & Marsh, E. J. (2015). Knowledge does not protect against illusory truth. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 144(5), 993–1002.EP 96: Rage to Action: The Leading Power of Women’s Anger with Soraya ChemalyEP 117: Rethinking Resilience: Moving from Bouncing Back to Relational Resilience with Soraya ChemalyJennifer Joy Freyd, PhD.What is DARVO ? | Jennifer Joy Freyd, PhD.11. Boy Crisis Asides and the Invisible People and Power Living in Them | UnmannedAfterlives, Abdulrazak GurnahRadiohead - CreepI'd Love to Change the World - Ten Years AfterDon't Let's Go to the Dogs TonightBlondieThe Beginning Comes After the End: Notes on a World of Change, Rebecca Solnit
