# Brutal Authority Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/risk-962579/brutal-authority Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/risk-962579/brutal-authority.md Podcast: [RISK!](https://stenobird.com/podcast/risk-962579) Published: 2026-05-26T16:00:00+00:00 Episode link: https://www.risk-show.com/podcast/brutal-authority/ Audio file: https://pdst.fm/e/pscrb.fm/rss/p/swap.fm/track/6bpBPtHL977KJxLX2zPs/mgln.ai/e/485/traffic.megaphone.fm/GLSS6630268313.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/risk-962579/episodes/brutal-authority Duration seconds: 3695 ## Resource Guest-host Taj Easton is in the chair this week, presenting these two stories on the long shadow of patriarchy with a particular attentiveness, repeatedly asking the same leading question: Are straight men okay? Cassidy Krug arrives at Stanford a diver of moderate ambition, then spends nine years being screamed at by a coach whose legendarily ruthless style drives her to the Olympics. Fifteen years after retiring, she still isn't sure whether what got her there was abuse, or maybe exactly what she needed. (Content note: domestic violence) Thomas Brazzle grows up desperate for his ex-Marine father's approval, but the man abandons his family after Thomas intervenes on his mother's behalf during a vicious assault by his father. Thirty years later, at his mother's funeral, his father reappears, and Thomas is stunned to find he's still desperate for the approval of a man who brutalized his mother, abandoned them all, and is now a stranger to him. Leave your reactions and find episode details and music credits at risk-show.com/podcast/brutal-authority Be Part of RISK! šŸŽŸ See RISK! liveā  in New York City on June 9, 2026 āœļø Pitch your storyā  ā¤ļø Support us on Patreonā  šŸ’µ Make a one-time donationā ā  via PayPal or Zelle to kevin@risk-show.com šŸ“š Shop merch or the RISK! bookā  šŸŽ“ Take storytelling classes with usā šŸŽ„ Hire Kevin as a coach or get personalized videos Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/risk-962579/episodes/brutal-authority/transcription-requests` ā€” Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/risk-962579/brutal-authority.md` ā€” Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.