91 Comments
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TheOtherKC's avatar

So a Jew, a lesbian, and a furry walk into a BAR(pod)...

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TracingWoodgrains's avatar

Hey, everyone! I appreciate the warm welcome. I'm thrilled to be here helping out with the podcast and excited to take an active role in the community here moving forward. If anyone has questions or ideas, I'm around and always happy to chat.

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Jason's avatar

Why are you gay?

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TracingWoodgrains's avatar

Why aren't you? Dudes rock.

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Jason's avatar

👬🎸

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User's avatar
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Dec 8, 2021
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Jesse Singal's avatar

Hey I never intervene in this manner here but you really gotta chill. -Jesse

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TracingWoodgrains's avatar

Hm, didn't realize being an ex-Mormon carried such a stigma. I'll look into it!

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Cleuci's avatar

Mr. Woodgrains, I hardly know you and already I think you're a legend. Congrats on the job! Sounds like you'll fit right in with Jesse and Katie's sense of humor.

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Dec 8, 2021
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TracingWoodgrains's avatar

Really? Not a fan of left-handers, then? I thought that controversy mostly blew over back in the sixties.

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Dec 9, 2021
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TracingWoodgrains's avatar

Good question! I actually solved that awhile ago by learning to type with my feet. With a bit of practice, it's almost as fast, and it lets me wear the Chuck E. Cheese hands full-time. There's always a workaround for the determined.

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Carts Fixed 18 Bucks's avatar

Speech-to-text bro. It’s come a long way since that shitty dictation software from back when we all had those plastic desktop microphones that looked like an oversized Q tip.

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Lucas Williams's avatar

I can understand people not "getting" the furry thing (I don't either tbh) but what's there to be mad about here?

If a furry getting a job at a substack you like makes you this angry then maybe you need to get your shit together.

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Dec 9, 2021
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Edward Scizorhands's avatar

They're good dogs, Jordan.

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Brandon Berg's avatar

Watch out, Jesse! Trace is going to steal your girl.

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Cleuci's avatar

That's.... no?

tbh I don't know very much about furries but I'm pretty sure they don't have sex with animals. (Unless, of course, you're being pedantic and pointing out that humans are also animals. Then we're all guilty. Except for the virgins.)

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Tizzy's avatar

what about the masturbating virgins? WON'T ANYONE THINK OF THE CUBS?

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Edward Scizorhands's avatar

I don't have problems with Jews or dykes or furries or gays, but I draw the line at g*mers

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Dec 8, 2021
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Frantic Pedantic's avatar

What a pyle

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The Other Michael's avatar

Thank you for the informative process chart. It also explains why Bari Weiss is so successful - her highly-optimized, streamlined Substack operation has combined two of the steps!

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Carts Fixed 18 Bucks's avatar

…diversity hire. *smh*

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Piers's avatar

Left-handed? Yikes. This ain't it chief

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TheOtherKC's avatar

The left-handers and their sinister influence have spread far enough!

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Ape with Anxiety's avatar

As a fellow Ex-Mormon and someone who's rationalist adjacent you couldn't have made a better choice. He's really smart and a clear thinker and I've enjoyed interacting with him a few times online. He's really committed to philosophical charity.

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jonny's avatar

Still-Mormon here, and I agree!

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Ape with Anxiety's avatar

Awesome! Kudos to you for your open mindedness. And I'm not being sarcastic or condescending, I mean it and just don't know how to word it better.

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Dec 8, 2021
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Tytonidaen's avatar

It's all coming together now...

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Beki's avatar

Hope you’ve got a great med plan with the job that covers worming and flea treatment. Welcome!

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Edward Scizorhands's avatar

You can get ivermectin off-label from your PCP

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lucille bluth's avatar

Can you guys interview him for the pod? I'm dying to hear about the appeal of furry subculture from an actual furry, especially one that seems relatively normal!

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Tytonidaen's avatar

Seriously! I was thinking the same thing!

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jojoZ's avatar

Dan savage interviewed Matt baume on his podcast and they did basically this (I think the interview is paywalled though) https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2021/05/25/57677576/new-savage-lovecast-enter-the-world-of-furries-with-matt-baume

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Joseph Conner Micallef's avatar

I'm glad you found someone who is not a horse fursona. I don't think Jesse or his girlfriend could handle the sexual tension that would have come from such a choice.

In all seriousness: welcome dude and congrats!!!

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Carina's avatar

Congrats Trace! And props to K&J for hiring a member of a historically underrepresented group. Very inspirational.

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Colin B's avatar

Congratulations, Trace! I've enjoyed the segments you've already contributed to... actually, I've mostly enjoyed listening to Jesse squirm while being dragged through them, which is pretty much the same thing.

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celluloid_dream's avatar

Awesome! Big fan of TracingWoodgrains. He's one of the few people I know of where, agree or disagree, I read his posts and think "Yes, this was a well-considered opinion, described eloquently and with sufficient empathy. The internet is better for it."

P.S. I'm still sad the motte/schism thing had to happen :(

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Some Guy's avatar

Question I have always wanted to ask: do you think exposure to the talking animals in Disney movies as a child played a significant role in developing your furry identity? My pet theory has always been it’s a combination of Disney and divorce.

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TracingWoodgrains's avatar

My mum actually wasn't keen on Disney. She preferred the original fairy tales, so I didn't really watch many Disney movies as a kid (though granted, I did enjoy Robin Hood and Brother Bear). Books and video games were more my thing. Redwall, Narnia, Animorphs, Pokemon, Eragon, and Star Fox were all probably part of the origin more than anything to do with Disney.

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Some Guy's avatar

Is your Fursona a Badger Lord of Salamandastron and do you shout Eulalia whenever you enter a convention?

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Some Guy's avatar

I mean I know you said golden jackal but this is better, right?

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TracingWoodgrains's avatar

Badgers are cool and all, but if I were drawing from Redwall, let’s be clear: Taggerung is where it’s at. Otters were always the coolest Redwall heroes.

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TheNuclearBlonde's avatar

The email above this in my inbox said "Furry and Bright" from our local zoo. I suspect collusion. Obviously

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TracingWoodgrains's avatar

Hm... I played a character named Bright in D&D for awhile. Suspicious.

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Michelle's avatar

I accidentally ended up at a furry convention a few years ago that happened at an Embassy Suites in my hometown. The same hotel was simultaneously hosting several traveling girls’ soccer teams for a local tournament, which really seems like a scheduling mistake. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for some of the conversations between the girls and their parents upon seeing foxes, cats, and puppies waiting in line for the complimentary breakfast bar.

Anyway, welcome, Trace!

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The Other Michael's avatar

“Accidentally”.

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Michelle's avatar

Only god can judge me

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