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Entrenched racism is all around us. This is not a new phenomenon nor the first time racism has been headline news – and yet we have a seemingly incredible ability to forget the atrocities committed daily as long as they aren’t at the top of the news cycle.

We can’t continue being intermittently outraged before falling back into business as usual. You may think there isn’t much you can do as an individual to enact change, but there is. Beyond joining organisations campaigning for change, becoming more politically active and engaged, making informed voting decisions, and educating your children, there is something far simpler we all need to do: reflect.

It is important that we recognise our white privilege and reflect on where we have inadvertently contributed to systemic racism. It isn’t comfortable to confront your flaws, but if we are ever to change society then we need to be honest about our past and present. The future can be better. We can change.

As such, we wanted to reflect on our biases when it comes to our media consumption and content creation. We often get things wrong, but we are trying, in our way, to make a difference. This is a discussion, not a blame game. We hope to share some of the instances where we feel we have unintentionally contributed to or simply accepted a reinforced and harmful power structure to help others reflect on their own entrenched biases.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Terra Nullius by Claire G. Coleman
• The Changeling and The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle
• Ormeshadow by Priya Sharma
• Hammers on Bone by Cassandra Khaw
• Lost Gods by Micah Yongo
• Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeannette Ng
• The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco
• Beneath the Rising by Premee Mohamed
• Wolf Light by Yaba Badoe
• Kindred and the Parable Duology by Octavia E. Butler
• The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins
• Do You Dream of Terra-Two? by Temi Oh
• Rosewater by Tade Thompson
• Bad Feminist: Essays by Roxane Gay
• Monstress by Marjorie Liu
• Tangle’s Game by Stewart Hotston
• Mo Dao Zu Shi and Tian Guan Ci Fu by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
• Eliza Chan
• N.K. Jemisin
• Nnedi Okorafor
• Samuel R. Delany

• Showgirls
• Deep Blue Sea
• Star Trek
• Buffy
• Red Dwarf
• The Golden Girls
• Crazy Rich Asians
• Black Panther
• Alien
• Ghostbusters
• Attack the Block
• The Grudge
• Get Out
• Anjaan: Special Crimes Unit
• The Ghost Bride
• Ever Night
• The Untamed
• Guardian
• Kidulthood
• Tale of Arang
• Death at a Funeral (2010)
• Hidden Figures