Must-Listen: NPR’s Invisibilia Focuses on Sexual Assault and Ostracism of Abusers in the Virginia Hardcore Scene

I’m not a regular listener of NPR’s Invisibilia, so I was unaware of the month-old episode of the program, “The Callout,” until earlier today when a friend brought it to my attention (thanks, Janie!). But it’s thought-provoking in a way that I think will be useful to our community, and I haven’t seen it widely reported elsewhere, so I thought it worth sharing even if the episode isn’t new.

And why do I think listening to “The Callout” is valuable to the extreme music community? Well, here’s the episode description:

“A lot of communities today are taking a hard stand against sexual harassment and assault. Using social media shaming, ostracism, professional excommunication, whatever punishment is painful enough to shift the moral code by brute force. Through one incident in the Richmond, Va. hardcore music scene, we chronicle a social media callout and ask what pain can accomplish.”

Allow me to elaborate: “The Callout” presents a highly nuanced views of abuse and abusers, and it ultimately doesn’t “side” with either one they way you might expect. It recognizes the usefulness of pain as a means of growth and social value in ostracizing a wrongdoer (and even speaks to an anthropologist about how civilized society was born “at the end of many spears” and how that fact relates to callouts)… but it also acknowledges the shortcomings of what it calls “vigilante justice” (read: online shaming) and suggests that genuine repentance for crimes of your past should be met with forgiveness and a chance to right your wrongs. It doesn’t posit an easy solution to any of these issues.

In other words, there’s a lot to chew on here, whether you’ve called someone out, been called out, or both. Given everything that’s been going on the past few years, it’s going to touch a nerve with a lot of us. So while it’s long, I really, really think it’s worth it for you to make time to give it a listen.

You can do so below. If you prefer, you can download it here, or read a transcript of the episode here.