The WNBA is having a moment.
asserted
WNBA → have → moment
Attendance for this year’s WNBA All-Star Game surpassed the NBA’s All-Star Game.
asserted
Attendance → surpass → Game
Games and events can be viewed in a record number of places, from broadcast to cable and streaming.
asserted
Games → view → cable
And just this week, Angel Reese of the Atlanta Dream set a single-game record.
asserted
Reese → set → record
But the stories about the WNBA capturing national attention in recent weeks are about none of that.
asserted
stories → capture → that
Instead, the focus has been on two retired NBA players, including Enes Kanter Freedom, who showed up courtside at an August 23 Chicago Sky–Indiana Fever game wearing a T-shirt that said “Woman: noun.
asserted
that → retire → Woman
“I don’t believe that he’s being genuine in any realm, in order to create this mass hysteria of sorts for an issue that’s actually simply a non-issue,” says Angela Perry, a WNBA content creator, tells The Intercept Briefing.
asserted
Perry → believe → Briefing
This week on The Intercept Briefing podcast, host Jessica Washington speaks to Perry and journalist Katelyn Burns about how the premier women’s professional basketball league has found itself at the center of a right-wing manufactured panic.
asserted
league → speak → panic
“The right has made such hay out of trans women in women’s sports that they need to keep inventing controversies in order to keep this issue front of mind,” says Burns who writes for the independent newsletter Burns Notice and co-hosts the Cancel Me, Daddy podcast.
asserted
who → make → podcast
“We have a midterm election coming up, and to be frank with you, the only thing that the right has done besides terrorizing immigrants is banning trans women from women’s sports.
asserted
right → have → sports
It’s at the center of almost all of their policies,” continues Burns.
asserted
Burns → ’ → policies
“They are inventing controversies about trans people in sports where there are no trans people involved.”
asserted
They → invent → sports
They’re already talking about not wanting women to have the right to vote,” says Perry.
asserted
Perry → talk → right
There’s a political party trying to scale us back to what they perceive was a time where things were better.
asserted
things → ’ → us
But really, it was when women were more controlled.”
asserted
women → control → ?
“The bigger issue is that the people who think that they’re protected, it’s always going to get to the protected class eventually,” warns Perry.
asserted
Perry → think → class
“Right now, the focus is trans, and people think they’re safe because ‘I’m not trans.
asserted
I → think → ?
I’m a cis woman and I’m protected.’
asserted
I → ’m → ?
But it will impact you.”
asserted
it → impact → you
For more, listen to the full conversation of The Intercept Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listen.
asserted
you → listen → Podcasts
Welcome to The Intercept Briefing, I’m Akela Lacy, senior politics reporter at The Intercept.
asserted
I → welcome → Intercept
And I’m Jessica Washington, politics reporter at The Intercept.
asserted
I → ’m → Intercept
Jessie, in typical August fashion, it feels like things have kind of slowed down somewhat with Washington in recess amid the final days of summer.
asserted
Washington → feel → summer
I’m personally looking forward to having a little space to catch our breaths, as we enter the final midterm stretch before everyone turns their attention toward November.
asserted
everyone → look → November
ICE announced a record high in July arrests and deportations, and the Department of Homeland Security is continuing to expand its attacks on legal immigration.
asserted
Department → announce → immigration
Nobody fret: Democrats are still melting down over Hasan Piker, while House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries met recently with Jared Kushner.
asserted
Jeffries → fret → Kushner
A majority-Black town in Indiana went without power — and very little news attention — for two weeks.
asserted
town → go → weeks
Dolly Parton died.
asserted
Parton → die → ?
And as we close out the sixth month of the Iran war, the Trump administration made a big show of announcing an “economic D-Day” with new sweeping sanctions and claiming, yet again, that this would end the war.
asserted
this → close → war
What have you been hearing on those fronts this week?
asserted
you → hear → fronts
I have to say: The second Trump administration is the only time in history where this could be considered a slow news cycle.
uncertain
this → have → history
So with ICE, we have really been seeing a huge surge in detention and deportations.
asserted
we → see → detention
What I’ve been hearing from advocates on the ground is that it’s also coincided with an increase in violence.
asserted
it → hear → violence
We’re seeing ICE use tactics like car kettling, even putting pepper spray and pepper balls into vehicles on the road.
asserted
ICE → see → road
There’s a lot of dangerous activity happening with ICE — and a lot less coverage than we saw in January and February.
asserted
we → ’ → January
In regards to Gary, Indiana, I think it’s been heartening and disheartening of a news cycle, in the sense that at first people really were not paying attention.
asserted
people → think → attention
So for those who don’t know: Thousands of residents in the predominantly Black community [were] without power for two weeks after a storm caused massive outages.
asserted
storm → know → outages
There’s a lot of anger right now because people are simultaneously being squeezed by these exorbitant electricity bills, but then they also don’t have power to meet their basic survival needs — for their medical equipment, for their refrigeration of food.
asserted
they → ’ → food
It’s a story that we keep seeing repeat.
asserted
we → ’ → that
In Jackson, Mississippi, for example, residents of the also predominantly Black community, have been plagued for years by both expensive water bills and years of water shut-offs and boil-water notices.
asserted
residents → plague → offs
…and 278 more, not listed.
The Aporia
