Ill Repute

This week is part two of our two parter on Cass Elliot. Sovereign Syre and Ela Darling talk about Cass's life after the break up of The Mamas And The Papas and her vindication as a solo singer.  Once money started coming in, Cass hosted artist salons at her large Laurel Canyon estate. She was kind and charismatic, easily making her the most popular one of the group. Joni Mitchell wrote several songs in her living room. At a soiree at her home one night, she urged her friends David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash to sing together at her place, thus forming Crosby Stills and Nash. She was also the only other person to sing on the first Crosby Stills and Nash album. David Crosby described her life, “She had possibly the nicest house of any of us, and she liked having people over… I remember an afternoon when I took Eric Clapton up there and he and Cass and Joni Mitchel played tunes.” Credits: Hosted by Ela Darling and Sovereign Syre Written by Ela Darling Produced by Joshua Anderson Support

This week on the podcast, Sovereign Syre and Ela Darling talk about Cass Elliot, in our opinion, the most important member of The Mamas and The Papas.  Credits: written by Ela Darling hosted by Ela Darling & Sovereign Syre produced by Joshua Anderson Contact/Support/More: http://ILLREPUTEPODCAST.COM Sources: Fiege, Eddi. Dream a Little Dream of Me : The Life of 'Mama' Cass Elliot. Pan Macmillan, 2005 Elliot-Kugel, Owen. My Mama, Cass. Elm Streeet Books, 2024. AutumnBay. “Make Your Own Kind of Music: A Cass Elliot Documentary Part 1. Mar 31, 2021.  https://youtu.be/pMD56G93XsQ?si=sT601sB5QK48uktZ AutumnBay. “Make Your Own Kind of Music: A Cass Elliot Documentary Part 2. August 26, 2021. https://youtu.be/_lvmohdhHgE?si=3DM5RIyOWQSrGHsR CassElliot.com Pochocki, Regina. Don’t Call Me Mama Anymore: The Story of Cass Elliot. Stinger News, May 5, 2021. "Biography" Mama Cass. Directed by Joan Owens, featuring Cass Elliot, Tom Smothers, Dave Mason, and Leon Bing. A&E Network, 2003.  Kloman, W

In the flash of the paparazzi's cameras, Anna had gone from stripper, to Playmate, to Playmate of the year, to the face of Guess Jeans. A contract rumored to have been worth millions of dollars. Anna’s beauty, sex appeal and supernatural charm had carried her to the edge of the finish line, all she had to do was cross it. In this week's episode, Sovereign Syre and Ela Darling conclude the story of Anna Nicole Smith's life. Support Us: http://patreon.com/illrepute More About Us: http://illreputepodcast.com Credits: Script by: Joshua Anderson Hosted by: Ela Darling & Sovereign Syre Produced by: Joshua Anderson Sources: https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2007/04/04/anna-nicole-smith-anatomy-of-a-feeding-frenzy/  https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2006/02/rack-and-ruin.html  https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2001/02/02/it-s-very-expensive-to-be-me/  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_K._Stern  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Nicole_Smith  https://people.com/parents/all-about-dannie

In part one of a two parter, Sovereign Syre and Ela Darling delve into the origins of a 2000s icon.  Anna Nicole Smith was a polarizing, misunderstood figure. Often  remembered for being an absolute trainwreck. Her rise to fame, from the girl next door to supermodel, made her a media darling, her campy, over the top persona, and ditzy girl humor on one of the earliest reality shows made her a queer icon, and her slide into addiction and despair made her a tragic figure of mythic proportions.  I mean, she’s become a trope in rap songs alongside the likes of Donald Trump and Monica Lewinsky. Iconic. Support Us: https://www.patreon.com/illrepute More About Us: https://illreputepodcast.com Credits: Script: Joshua Anderson Hosts: Sovereign Syre & Ela Darling Producer: Joshua Anderson Sources: https://www.thedailybeast.com/anna-nicole-smith-netflix-doc-claims-her-tragic-life-story-was-a-fraud https://nextwaving.wordpress.com/2008/02/09/the-strange-case-of-anna-nicole-smith/ https://www.reuters

From the silent era's vamps to the Golden Age goddesses of Hollywood, the bombshell has always been an enchanting figure, shaped and reshaped by societal desires and anxieties.  The bombshell is not a static ideal. It has morphed and adapted, mirroring the shifting landscapes of culture and feminism. Today, in the digital age, the bombshell exists in a new dimension, where social media amplifies both empowerment and objectification. We are left to question: Is the bombshell a symbol of female agency, or merely a construct designed to titillate and control? This exploration will delve into the complex history of the bombshell inits various incarnations, and examine the power it wields. Support: http://patreon.com/illrepute Contact: illreputepod@gmail.com Learn More: http://illreputepodcast.com Credits: Script by Joshua Anderson Hosted by Sovereign Syre & Ela Darling Produced by Joshua Anderson Sources: The Online Etymology Dictionary by Douglas Harper:https://www.etymonline.co

His transition required thirteen operations and took place over four years, with no one the wiser. Dillon went on to be a surgeon himself, and traveled the world with various naval vessels for six years, living life as a man, with no one suspecting his origins.  He was ultimately outed because of his nobility.  There are peerage records that are made of everyone's descendancy and changing one’s names in those had been impossible and eventually someone noticed the discrepancy.  After living as Michael Dillon for fifteen years, he was onboard a ship when he got a cable from England. It was from The Daily Express as said “Do you intend to claim the title since your change-over?” Sources: Out of the Ordinary by Michael Dillon Info: http://illreputepodcast.com    

Today, we are taking on our first man. Because sometimes men do important stuff for women. Like creating the field of plastic surgery. He’s a saint that changed the lives of thousands of wounded soldiers during WWI and pioneered many of the cosmetic procedures that are used today…primarily on women. Ladies and Gentlemen, Dr. Harold Gillies Sources:  The Facemaker by Lindsey Fitzharris https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Gillies Credit:  Written by Sovereign Syre Hosted by Sovereign Syre & Ela Darling Produced by Joshua Anderson Contact:  illreputepod@gmail.com Follow:  IG @eladarling69 @sovereign_syre @weareillrepute   TikTok @illreputepod @callmesovvy @eladarlingx  Twitter/X: @sovereignsyre @eladarling @illreputepod  Facebook: ILL REPUTE! A podcast Watch: http://youtube.com/@ill_repute   Shop: http://importantadult.com

“Prozac Nation is a young person’s book, both in terms of its author and its target audience…What seemed most important to me about Wurtzel’s writing was that she had been messy, and she was willing to detail that mess without apology…It was a radical departure from how I’d seen women write about themselves…Whether we like it or not, Prozac Nation really did change the landscape when it comes to the way women write about themselves. It laid the groundwork for the what Jia Tolentino called the “personal-essay boom” of the early 2010s, an era when no detail was too graphic, no humiliation too private for sharing.”   It’s important to understand what was going on in the culture at this time. Prozac had just become popular, and record numbers of people were being diagnosed with depression. The chart topping artists were Depeche Mode, Nirvana, and Nine Inch Nails, bands whose messages were those of apathy and wallowing in despair, and a few months before Prozac Nation was published, Kurt Cobain committed suicide.

This week Sovereign Syre and Ela Darling profile writer and icon, Elizabeth Wurtzel. A beautiful, young, Harvard graduate whose memoir Prozac Nation got her on the New York Times Bestseller List and made her an overnight celebrity. She also suffered from major depression and was one of the first people to be prescribed the drug Prozac.  She was both a media darling, and roundly mocked by others, for what was precieved as a kind of narcissism endemic of a news generation, a cohort labeled Gen X.  Support Us:  http://patreon.com/illrepute Contact Us:  illreputepod@gmail.com Follow Us:  ILL REPUTE! links: http://linktr.ee/illreputepod Sovereing Syre’s links: http://linktr.ee/sovereignsyre Ela Darling’s links: http://zez.am/eladarling Sources: Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America by Elizabeth Wurtzel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/no Elizabeth_Wurtzel https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/07/books/elizabeth-wurtzel-dead.html https://lithub.com/how-did-elizabeth-wurtzel-survive-us/ https://www.curbed.com/2022/1

Roselyn “Rosie” Keo was the daughter of Cambodian refugees. When she was younger, her parents got caught up in gambling and nightlife, taking off for Atlantic City, leaving Rosie and her siblings to be raised by their elderly grandparents. She was a wild child, getting in fights, having bad boyfriends, typical teenage rebel stuff. She was growing up Rockland County, and by the age of 17, she dropped out of school and got a job working at New York City Diner to help with expenses at home. There was a gentleman’s club nearby called, Lace, and the dancers would often come into the diner after their shifts. One night a manager at Lace tipped her $20 bucks on a $20 dollar ticket and told her she should hit up the club if she was interested in making “real money.” Soon after she went to the club, lied about her age, and started working the pole.  What followed became the basis for the hit film Hustlers starring Jennifer Lopez, Lizzo and Cardi B.  Contact Us:  illreputepod@gmail.com Follow Us:  ILL REPUTE! links: ht

It's the end of Season Two! We did it! This week we conclude our series on Ada Lovelace.  In September 1843, Ada Lovelace published her paper on the Analytical Engine in Scientific Memoirs under the title "Sketch of the Analytical Engine, with Notes from the Translator.". Ada was 27 years old, an aristocratic, married mother of three children at the time. Her final published paper included seven important Notes labeled A-G that contained her observations, her assertions, and, it turns out, her legacy...she also cooked up a scheme to use her mathmatical skills to run a gambling operation to fund the building of said engine. Depsite her mother's efforts, Ada Lovelace would turn out to be just as corruptable as her notorious father, Lord Byron.  Contact Us:  illreputepod@gmail.com Follow Us:  ILL REPUTE! links: http://linktr.ee/illreputepod Sovereing Syre’s links: http://linktr.ee/sovereignsyre Ela Darling’s links: http://zez.am/eladarling Merch:  http://importantadult.com Support Us:  http://patreon.com/illrepu

 “Plot: A young wife is suddenly widowed. Left with four children. She is totally unskilled for the labor market, and deeply in debt. Her home and all she has are repossessed. However… she has one choice. She is the sole heir to a tremendous fortune. If she can deceive her dying father, and never let him know she is the mother of four children whom he would despise. “Four children are imprisoned in an upstairs room of a huge mansion. Their playground is the attic. The two older children are twelve and ten, named Christopher and Cathy. The younger two are twins, age three when they go to live upstairs. “Without sunlight, Cory and Carrie cannot grow. Their lives become a virtual endurance test to outlive the dying grandfather, who stays always on the first floor, taken care of by a private duty nurse, and a staff of servants. “The years pass. The grandfather doesn’t die. The mother marries again and gradually drifts away from her children.” In her letter, Virginia emphasizes that the children’s grandmother cons

In today's episode, we discuss VC Andrews, a writer who created her own genre of fiction and scandalized a generation of young female readers. We cover Virginia's early life, her emergence as a writer, and the real life inspiration for her most famous novel, Flowers In The Attic.  Contact Us:  illreputepod@gmail.com Follow Us:  ILL REPUTE! links: http://linktr.ee/illreputepod Sovereing Syre’s links: http://linktr.ee/sovereignsyre Ela Darling’s links: http://zez.am/eladarling Merch:  http://importantadult.com Support Us:  http://patreon.com/illrepute Sources:  https://nypost.com/2022/03/12/flowers-author-vc-andrews-life-was-as-creepy-as-her-novels/ The Woman Beyond The Attic: The V.C. Andrews Story by Andrew Neiderman https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1981/09/20/blooms-of-darkness/7e133556-82cd-43a0-94a6-03738d628099/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flowers_in_the_Attic https://youtu.be/J8s-P9Cy6DQ?si=zmllGBz62KkdeqYC https://www.angelfire.com/tx4/completevcandrews/recluse.htm

When one of the smartest women in England, Anne Isabella Milbanke, fell in love with the most scandalous, and handsome, creative genius of his time, Lord Byron, the fallout was nothing less than a national scandal. Their young daughter, Ada, was caught in the crossfire. Ada spent her early childhood being used as a bargaining chip in her parents divorce, and a bitter reminder to Anne Milbanke, of Lord Byron's many betrayals. Desperate not to have her daughter turn out like her drunken, whore of an ex-husband, Milbanke insisted on Ada having the most exclusive STEM education money could buy. While Ada still showed the libertine tendencies of her father, she was almost predestined to become the Mother of Computer Science. This week, we look at the turbulent childhood and rigid education that brought Ada Lovelace right up to the doorstep of technological innovation.  Support Us:  http://patreon.com/illrepute Contact Us:  illreputepod@gmail.com Follow Us: ILL REPUTE! links: http://linktr.ee/illreputepod Sovereing

In the conclusion of our series on Misery Lit and Literary Fraud, we discuss two more famous cases of fabricated memoir and what our conspicuous consumption of trauma porn tells us about ourselves and the cultural narratives around female suffering.  Contact Us:  illreputepod@gmail.com Follow Us:  ILL REPUTE! links: http://linktr.ee/illreputepod Sovereing Syre’s links: http://linktr.ee/sovereignsyre Ela Darling’s links: http://zez.am/eladarling Merch:  http://importantadult.com Support Us:  http://patreon.com/illrepute Sources https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/khouri-admits-lies-20040818-gdjkm0.html https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/bestsellers-lies-exposed-20040724-gdjerm.html https://www.theage.com.au/national/khouri-the-troubled-life-of-a-fake-20040731-gdyd40.html https://australia-explained.com.au/mavericks/helen-demidenkos-hand-that-signed-the-paper https://www.bu.edu/bostonia/summer09/hoax/ https://www.smh.com.au/culture/books/from-the-archives-1995-writer-demidenko-revealed-to-be

On a very special episode of ILL REPUTE! we interview Ret. Constable Tom Wood of Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1983, Constable Wood was called to investigate the murder of Sheila Anderson, a local sex worker. During his investigation, he came to understand that the sex industry had changed, and so did the way they needed to police it.  Tom tells us how he came to see the problem as one of public safety before criminal justice, and he met the challenge head on. While Sheila's death goes unsolved, it also saved countless lives.  Support Us: http://patreon.com/illrepute Contact Us:  illreputepod@gmail.com Follow Us:  ILL REPUTE! links: http://linktr.ee/illreputepod Sovereing Syre’s links: http://linktr.ee/sovereignsyre Ela Darling’s links: http://zez.am/eladarling Tom Wood's links: https://www.tomwoodwriter.co.uk/  

Misery Literature is a genre of memoir that details the real-life struggles and adversities of individuals, focusing particularly on themes of abuse, poverty, addiction, and survival against the odds. They are usually harrowing stories of the author's survival through complex trauma, usually told from the first person perspective, which generally end in, if not a happy conclusion, at least a ray of hope as the abuse cycle is broken...but when Tragedy becomes profitable, charlatans reach for their quills.  Support Us:  http://patreon.com/illrepute Contact Us:  illreputepod@gmail.com Follow Us:  ILL REPUTE! links: http://linktr.ee/illreputepod Sovereing Syre’s links: http://linktr.ee/sovereignsyre Ela Darling’s links: http://zez.am/eladarling Merch:  http://importantadult.com Sources https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/khouri-admits-lies-20040818-gdjkm0.html https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/bestsellers-lies-exposed-20040724-gdjerm.html https://www.theage.com.au/national/khouri-the-troubled-l

The plague led to a drastic reduction in population, labor shortages, and social upheaval. Entire villages and towns were depopulated, and some regions saw a collapse of agricultural and economic systems. People in the 14th century had little understanding of the causes of the plague, and various responses were attempted, including quarantine measures, flagellant movements, and persecution of minority groups, such as Jews and lepers. None of these measures were effective in halting the spread of the disease. This disruption of the social and economic order created a climate of fear, uncertainty, and hardship. In times of crisis, people often sought explanations and scapegoats for their suffering, which could include the persecution of perceived outsiders and those accused of witchcraft. Support Us:  http://patreon.com/illrepute Contact Us:  illreputepod@gmail.com Follow Us:  ILL REPUTE! links: http://linktr.ee/illreputepod Sovereing Syre’s links: http://linktr.ee/sovereignsyre Ela Darling’s links: http://zez.

The European Witch Craze, also known as the Witch Hunts or the Witch Trials, was a period of intense persecution of individuals accused of witchcraft in Europe from the late 15th century to the 18th century.Thousands of people, primarily women, were accused, arrested, tried, and often executed as witches during this time.  The witch hunts were rooted in the belief that certain individuals, known as witches, had made pacts with the devil or evil spirits. They were believed to possess supernatural powers, including the ability to harm others, fly, shape-shift, and cast spells. Witchcraft was seen as a grave threat to society and Christianity.  Support Us:  http://patreon.com/illrepute Contact Us:  illreputepod@gmail.com Follow Us:  ILL REPUTE! links: http://linktr.ee/illreputepod Sovereing Syre’s links: http://linktr.ee/sovereignsyre Ela Darling’s links: http://zez.am/eladarling Merch:  http://importantadult.com Sources:  Caliban and the Witch by Silvia Federici Witchcraft, Lycanthropy, Drugs and Disease by Hom

This week on ILL REPUTE! Sovereign Syre and Ela Darling welcome their very first guest! Dr. Kim Tallbear is a Native scholar who literally wrote the book on Native American DNA, and has become the defacto expert on self-indigenization, more commonly known as race shifting, ethnic fraud, or pretendianism. We talk with Dr. Tallbear about what indigenous ethnic fraud is, why it's perpetrated so easily and frequently, what the fraudsters get out of it, and what we can do to disrupt it.  Find Dr. Tallbear:  https://kimtallbear.substack.com/ https://mediaindigena.com/podcast/ https://www.amazon.com/Native-American-DNA-Belonging-Promise/dp/0816665869 Works Cited: Playing Indian Becoming Indian https://open.spotify.com/show/7w7liLa9F90MIdONjqoloL Other Pretendian Cases: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/03/04/a-professor-claimed-to-be-native-american-did-she-know-she-wasnt https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/25/magazine/cherokee-native-american-andrea-smith.html https://macleans.ca/longforms/the-curious-case-