Theory and pop culture, in French and English at once
Woke or Whateva pairs co-hosts Titi and Beck for talk about race, gender and culture that slides between French and English, often mid-sentence. Topics range from an essay on the happily-ever-after in romance and a critique of Canada's food guide to Palestine, with writer Sama, and blunt verdicts on OD Chypre.
PRESS PLAY
Woke or Whateva is a conversation show led by co-hosts Titi and Beck, and its rhymed intro song sums up the approach in one line: 'intellectual but down to play'. They live up to both halves. The pair read before they record, and they say so plainly, thanking Patreon supporters for funding their research, including articles behind paywalls. Then the talk takes over, sliding between French and English mid-sentence with laughter close behind. Race and gender sit at the center of this Montreal-based show led by Black women, though the subjects go well beyond them. Romance gets a close reading. One episode works from a 2010 essay by Catherine on the happily-ever-after, the core promise of the romance novel, and follows the same story into Disney princess films, chick flicks and songs. One host admits she would hardly watch anything without a love story somewhere in it. Diet culture gets the same scrutiny, and Canada's food guide is the main target. One participant, who mentions writing and speaking about the guide, vows to always be a hater of it, then weighs the 2019 edition's promise of cultural relevance, down to the languages it was translated into. Female friendship gets a feminist reading across two parts. It traces how women's lives diverged after the women's movement, with one friend running a company while another stays home, and it notes that class, race and sexuality shaped who shared those experiences. Pop culture gets the same energy. On OD Chypre, the hosts trade verdicts on Charles, Matisse and Arnaud, crowning Charles the most easygoing man in the house and asking for one logical reason to keep Matisse. The register shifts for 'Genocide in Palestine: the war of misinformation', which brings back the Palestinian writer Sama as a guest. That conversation describes Palestine as a place that was historically home to Muslims, Christians, Jews and Druze, and questions Britain's motives after the Second World War. It ends on a practical note: a promise to link sources and a push to seek out Palestinian voices over what the hosts call Western propaganda. Even the loosest episode has a point. Recorded with no set topic and introduced as something the pair would never release, it drifts from being cooped up with family during COVID to femininity coaches, misogynistic male podcasters and how comfortable people have become with fatphobia. Episodes close with the same sign-off, the two naming themselves as what the kids call woke or whatever. There is also a video version on YouTube for anyone who wants to watch as well as listen.
Made for: Suits a listener comfortable in both French and English who wants feminism, race and media criticism built on real reading but delivered with laughter and pop-culture tangents.
What sets it apart: Two co-hosts switch between French and English mid-sentence while working from essays and articles. They give a dating-show breakdown the same energy as a conversation about Palestine, so the show suits a listener who wants the reading and the jokes together.
Woke or Whateva is a black women led podcast based out of Montreal. The show is a space where Titi and Beck deconstruct the concepts of race and gender to make the information accessible to Black communities primarily. The duo's ability to vulgarise complex concepts while simultaneously adding an element of fun to their delivery has allowed for a deep connection and a very successful outcome with their audience.
A missing Creole translation in Canada's food guide might change how you hear the word 'inclusive'.
Press play if you want
Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A lively bilingual look at happily-ever-after as pleasure, cultural script, and response to patriarchy.
Woke or Whateva treats happily-ever-after as more than a soothing romantic finish, using Catherine's essay on why romance novels matter to mostly women readers as its starting point.
Titi and Beck press on who is really included when official food advice claims cultural relevance.
Titi and Beck use the Canadian food guide to ask how far official advice can really go when it claims to speak across cultures. Their focus is the 2019 guide, with its 31 translated languages, including 11 Indigenous languages, and the notable absence of Creole, patois, and…
A candid bilingual read on elimination logic, easy charm, and racial perception in the house.
The elimination table turns into a close read of reality-show loyalties, with Titi and Bec weighing why Charles seems to connect with the women while Matisse keeps tripping over the same social terrain.
A grounded, theory-led conversation about female friendship when once-shared lives begin to diverge.
Woke or Whateva treats female friendship as both emotional shelter and social structure, following Titi and Bec as they talk through merged attachment, differentiation, and the pressure that arrives when women's lives stop matching so closely.
A charged conversation about Palestine, media power, and the ethics of choosing which voices to hear.
Woke or Whateva returns to Free Palestine with Titi and Beck in conversation with Sama, a Palestinian writer and returning guest, for a discussion about who gets to define reality.
ABC Audio's Theranos fraud series that also introduces its other true-crime podcasts.
LA Times reporter Christopher Goffard traces con man John Meehan's fraud, abuse, and its Bravo TV adaptation.
Woke or Whateva uses a TikTok prompt to argue that romance has been sold as a way for women to survive patriarchy rather than escape it.
["Woke or Whateva\u2019s \u201cAbolir la culture de la di\u00e8te / Abolish diet culture\u201d argues that thinness is treated as health, beauty, morality, and status at the same time.", "Titi and Beck bring in Binta and Halima, two Black nutritionists based in Quebec, to ground the conversation in clinical and public-health expertise.", "They define diet culture as a system that moralizes food, fuels weight cycling, and shows up in family comments and medical visits where \"tu perds du poids\" replaces real care.", "The conversation also connects social media, Ozempic, Serena Williams, Adele, Lizzo, Sabrina Strings, and the Canadian food guide to the persistence of fatphobia and anti-Black racism."]
Woke or Whateva's "OD Chypre on en parle?/Let's talk about OD" treats Occupation Double as a case study in how Annie, the only Black woman in the house, is read by contestants, production, and Quebec viewers.
Woke or Whatever opens 2024 by using Between Women, Love, Envy, and Competition in Women's Friendships to examine female friendship dynamics.
Woke or Whateva centers a conversation with Palestinian writer Sama about Gaza, October 7, and the stories Western outlets repeated afterward.
TT and Beck record an improvised Woke or Whatever episode after a guest cancels, leaving them without topics, music, or a planned angle.
Woke or Whatever examines Black motherhood through Gabriela's experiences as a mother of Kwame, a five-year-old son, and Ariane's work as a perinatal support worker and mother of five children ages 2 to 15.
Titi and Bec examine whether consuming true crime is ethical, focusing on monetization, desensitization, victim empathy, and audience motives.
On Woke or Whateva, Titi and Big interview EJ about moving from childhood discomfort with gender norms to identifying as non-binary.
Woke or Whateva examines gendered violence against women through Quebec femicides involving Karine Bélanger, Cynthia Bussière, and Virginie Toussaint.
Titi and Beck introduce a sponsored episode with Dr.
The hosts introduce a pre-recorded episode about the experiences of veiled women in Quebec, featuring two guests.