Happy final days of December, Meteor readers,

We want to thank you for choosing to spend this last year with us. There are a lot of great newsletters out there, and the fact that so many of you are keeping us in your rotation motivates us to keep getting better. (Speaking of better, you can help us improve by filling out this survey if you’re feeling it!)

Before we roll into 2025, we wanted to share some of your (and our) favorite Meteor stories and podcast episodes of the year. Enjoy your break, and you can keep up with us here in the meantime.

Voguing for Trans Liberation at New York’s Most Brutal Jail

Rikers Island is one of the nation’s most notorious jails, and incarcerated trans people there are treated especially inhumanely. But during Pride 2024, Mik Bean reports, Rikers was also the site of the second annual vogue ball for trans incarcerees. “So many ballroom legends and icons have passed through Rikers Island,” notes Jordyn Jay, founder of Black Trans Femmes in the Arts (BTFA), which organized the ball. “I think we came in with the intention of bringing joy and excitement to the women who were detained.”

The Threat of Ozempic “Coercion”

Few things seemed as top of mind this year as weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro. Samhita Mukhopadhyay spoke to fat activist and author Virgie Tovar about how America’s fatphobic culture removes the freedom of choice to lose weight or not. “What amazes me is there are a million potential health interventions available to human beings, but no one sees any of those,” Tovar says. “Weight loss is the only solution we’re comfortable with.”

Methodists Overturn Long-standing Homophobic Rules 

Comedian and seminary dropout Bailey Wayne Hundl unpacks the United Methodist Church’s landmark decision to allow LGBTQ+ parishioners to become ordained ministers. “I never thought this change would come in my lifetime,” Hundl writes.

The Dark Menergy of the Kendrick/Drake Feud

The loudest rap beef of the year was brimming with what music critic Julianne Escobedo Shepherd called “the expendability of women’s trauma.” In an in-depth analysis of the feud and fans’ responses to it, she peels back the layers to show us who really loses when two grown men decide to squabble in public.

She Needed an Abortion in Alabama

Tamara Costa had a partial molar pregnancy and needed an immediate abortion. But all she got was a sticky note with the phone number of a clinic 580 miles away from her home. As part of our United States of Abortion series, this film by Amy Elliott and story by Julianne Escobedo Shepherd show how one state’s severe laws punish families in terrifying health situations.

“Polarization is Poison”

In the wake of the 2024 election, reporter Megan Carpentier knew who she wanted to ask for advice: activists who have lived under (and resisted) authoritarian regimes around the world, from Hungary to Turkey.

And a Few of Our Favorite Podcast Episodes…

“We Did Not Consent to Chaos” (UNDISTRACTED)

Just 36 hours after Americans re-elected Donald Trump, Brittany Packnett Cunningham sat down with the people she most wanted to process this with: group chat regulars Dr. Brittney Cooper and Dr. David J. Johns. This is a conversation of righteous rage, deep disappointment, and total honesty. Worth a first and second listen.

Rutgers Women’s Basketball & the Racist Radio Host  (In Retrospect)

In this award-winning two-part special, hosts Susie Banikarim and Jessica Bennett revisit the story of the 2007 Rutgers women’s basketball team—which made it to the finals of the NCAA championship, only to be met with racist vitriol from popular radio host Don Imus. But the Scarlet Knights pushed back—and one of them shares her personal reflections here.

Love Abortion? Don’t Talk to the Cops! (The A-Files)

All around the country, people have been arrested and criminalized for trying to access abortion care. In this episode, hosts Renee Bracey Sherman and Regina Mahone talk to Rafa Kidvai of the Repro Legal Defense Fund about that reality, and some surprising rules for responding to legal threats. Worth a re-listen, as cases like this mount.

Debating Trans Rights? Maybe Talk to Trans People…with Laverne Cox (America, Who Hurt You?) 
The debate about trans rights is everywhere, from sports headlines to school board politics, but the people shouting the loudest are almost never trans folks themselves. In this episode, Laverne Cox joins host Sarah Jones to break down the misinformation.

Enjoy our work? We hope that you’ll consider supporting media made by and for women, girls, and nonbinary people, via The Meteor Fund. There’s one week left in our impact drive, and at this particular moment in time—when we know how important independent journalism is—we’d love to count you in. You can learn more about The Meteor Fund and donate here. 

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