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After gaining the new hosts on the pod, I initially knew I would be resistant to the change, as I loved our OG ladies and the content they produced. I wanted to give the new additions a chance to really settle into their roles before publishing any feedback on them, and I've come to the following list:
(FYI I do sub to the patreon as well, this is more of a general review on their hosting style and general direction for the pod, as I perceive it)
Cons:
They give out WAY too much personal information/details about themselves and their lives-to the point I'm seriously concerned about how simple it might be for someone malicious to track them down. I can barely pay attention to them half the time because I'm in shock about the extremely specific details they are just handing out.
They don't appear to have that much experience working with men and dating men outside of their families. Compared to our OG hosts, I feel like the new hosts keep recycling the same 5-6 stories and ideas, and on top of that, they don't even seem to be active in the dating pool in any serious capacity. I'm not sure how they expect to connect with FDS if they're not actually trying to date.
To add to the last point, their advice seems very out of date. They have a lot of mottos/slogans that have been floating around on the internet for 5+ years, if not a full decade. To be honest, if I met these women IRL and had these same conversations, I wouldn't take advice from them.
They're incredibly stiff, and seem to spend a quarter of each pod just complimenting each other, or it's basically their own personal therapy session. I wouldn't mind as much if it was informative or there was a lesson to learn, but it leads back to point #2. I find myself struggling to listen to the pod without getting bored. I'm hoping some of this will change with more experience, maybe they're still too new.
Pros:
They are clearly very well spoken, in an academic sense. They seem to be very stable and confident in their personal lives, and are obviously very invested in the pod, and invested in giving back to the FDS community.
There is a clear, concise format to the pod. Personally, I prefer the more informal conversations from the OG hosts, because it felt like talking to friends. But it might be a good idea to keep it more structured now that they're working on growing and expanding the brand-keeps it more professional (for better or worse).
They do have very clear analysis of some of the cultural topics they have brought onto the pod. Now, this conflicts a bit with issue #3 in the con list, but I can appreciate that they're sticking to handbook-esque FDS values.
Now that being said, my overall conclusion is:
I don't like the new hosts, for the FDS podcast. HOWEVER!
I think they would be much better suited for re-starting the FDS Political Strategy podcast.
They seem to focus their pod topics on very broad cultural/political ideas, which I would love to see them discuss in their academic way-on the political pod. The FDS pod was supposed to focus on dating strategy, and I feel like they haven't really been scoring any points in that department, or even attempting to in any serious manner.
Anybody else have similar feelings? Or do you like the way the new hosts have changed the pod? xx
Personally I like the new hosts, but you’re right that their version of the pod is quite different feeling. I was bummed that Female Political Strategy didn’t last long, and I enjoy the new hosts delving into more of that vibe, but I do agree with you that it would be more suited to Female Political Strategy than the dating pod.
That said, they’ve been doing some episodes about the handbook rules, and have expressed their plans to continue doing so. I think they bring really different insight than the previous hosts, given their cultural and age differences, and I like hearing what they have to say. If anything.. they could be more mean regarding men.
Their standards are high though, and the reason neither of them are currently dating someone is because they haven’t found suitable partners in their area after applying the handbook rules. So I’m not entirely sure whether that counts as “not dating” since they have said they would be dating if anyone met their standards. Since we don’t advise lowering our standards just because we haven’t found someone who meets them, and they’re not explicitly opposed to dating, I’m not sure it’s fair to judge them as unfit hosts simply due to not being attached to a man.
I've been meaning to post about this as well.....It just doesn't click to me. With the OG's, I would always look forward to listening to their podcasts because it just felt like it was big sisters giving advice. But I can never find myself finishing the episodes anymore. When we were on reddit, I would be on FDS a good amount of time, it felt like my safe space. It felt like I found my sisters. But now...? Honestly, sometimes I want to delete my account & I know I'm not the only one who feels this way.
FDS doesn't feel like FDS anymore.
And as of today (January 22, 2025), they have released an entire episode on astrology.
Stupid is as stupid gets.
Thanks for the review! I’ve been avoiding the podcast since we got new hosts, because I didn’t click with any of them when they were being interviewed. Now I know a little about what to expect - and I’m sadly not looking forward to it.
I loved the OG ladies too - they were a perfect mix of funny, harsh, and kind.
Do they still do Roast A Scrote? Those were amazing and very educational.
I used to listen almost immediately when they uploaded a new episode. I’m 2 episodes behind now because I don’t feel that excitement anymore.
I still listen though. What I do like is that one of the hosts is older. She sounds like she’s in her 40s, I like that, she can bring some different wisdom.
However, I do agree with a lot of your pros and cons. They talk about their trauma a lot and yes, it does sound like they don’t date. I think they probably have a lot of dating experience but dating has changed so much in the past few years. So a lot of what they say is already dated.
I really didn’t like their episodes about the election. It could be because I’m not American so it’s not my election. But there’s other podcasts that I listen to and I really enjoyed their American election episodes.
I didn’t like the first episode after the election. It was so tone deaf. I’m
Canadian and dont like trump, but I knew the dems would lose because they’ve completely lost the plot. They seemed to think Kamala lost because the general public is uneducated and only smart people voted for Kamala but that attitude is WHY you guys have trump as your president now.
Anyway, I do like they’ve gone back to the basics with the handbook. It’s always nice to have a refresh and clearly there’s many women on here that need to listen to those episodes. I’m still gonna be listening and they might get better as they get more used to being on the pod. I’d imagine it’s hard to do and it’s a lot of pressure so I’m trying to not be so harsh for now.
I LOVED the OG ladies and - not at all knocking the new hosts - but it is not possible to recapture that same podcast without them IMO. It's like when a major TV shows loses the main actor and then continues the show with a replacement. It doesn't mean it's not great, it's just a different show now.
I do like some of the episodes they have done - the divorce episode was especially interesting to me. I went on a few dates with a divorced guy recently and the episode had so much wisdom that I could totally see was true in the guy. For instance, men instantly jumping back in after their marriage end because they truly can't function without us. That rings true af!
I definitely miss roast a scrote, and a lot. It was hilarious. If the podcast was only roast-a-scrotes I would still listen to it and never miss an episode.
I'm so behind! I didn't even know they had re started the podcast.
I thought the podcast was dead. I haven't seen a single update. Also where is the change FDS promised to make? The site is a dying ship.
Great post! Couldn't have written it better myself. I also agree the hosts would be better suited for Female Political Strategy, not the Dating one. Isn't one of them (I forgot her name, but the older one) gay? 🤔 Just like you, I've been finding myself snoozing for some episodes and yeah, the hosts do seem to glaze each other. I'd also appreciate it if the podcasts were more consisent and/or if the hosts informed us if there will be an episode or not. I wanted to support them on Patreon as well, but with this inconsistency it doesn't really look trustworthy 😬. Thank you for your input! What do you think of the RedFem Podcast? Have you listened to it?
Yikes. just saw that they had Meghan Murphy on. Although she does some good work, she is a Trump supporter and has this weird hatred for Taylor Swift. She wrote a whole article about how "boring" Taylor is and even dehumanized her by referring to her as a "thing". I think it's part of her grift to get more right wingers subscribing to her. Here is an article from her blog where she says that voting for Trump is the "the best way forward." https://www.meghanmurphy.ca/p/is-a-vote-for-trump-a-vote-for-women.
And here is her article hating on Swift for...existing? https://www.meghanmurphy.ca/p/why-i-wont-shut-up-about-taylor-swift?utm_source=publication-search