Introducing: ‘Tough Love with Abigail Shrier’

We can’t keep it to ourselves any longer! We have great, great news. Abigail Shrier, our beloved contributing editor, will be writing a weekly column—and you, dear readers, will be a fundamental part of it. Because Abigail’s writing an advice column—one that’s essential for these times: No coddling, no dawdling. Just tough love.

Abigail has been part of The Free Press since the very beginning. We’re proud to have published her peerless investigative work into everything from bad therapy to the anti-Israel propaganda being taught in schools. She’s spoken out on some of the most controversial issues of the day—and been vindicated on almost all of them. Her bravery in doing so is an inspiration to our newsroom.

But—as her recent, gorgeous personal essay about her son proves—her power comes not only from her thick skin, but also from her heart.

The idea for this latest project with Abigail began when we asked her to write an edition of Things Worth Remembering earlier this year, and she told us she wanted to write about what When Harry Met Sally can teach us about love. At a time when so many young people seem to be giving up on dating, she argued that they have a lot to learn from the greatest rom-com ever made.

“No one tells young people what they most need to hear,” she observed—before going on to do just that. “You don’t know yourself as well as you might think. Give someone else a chance. By all means, study hard, travel, find a good job, have mimosas with friends. But don’t mistake subplot for storyline. When love arrives, drop whatever you were doing, grab an Uber, take the first flight out.”

When we read those lines, we realized that if anyone was going to tell our readers what they most needed to hear—it was Abigail.

So we asked her if she’d be interested in writing an advice column. And to our delight: She said yes.

We’re calling it Tough Love with Abigail Shrier, and it begins this week! It’s exclusively for paying subscribers, so if that’s you, mark your calendar: You’ll be able to read Tough Love every Thursday afternoon. It also means you can ask Abigail for advice yourself—starting today! Click right here to write her a letter.

If you’re not yet a paying subscriber, we have more great news for you: We’re extending the Thanksgiving sale until Thursday, so that as many of you as possible can sign up! You can get 25 percent off your first year, right now, by clicking here.

To give you a taste of what’s to come, we’re kicking off the column with a letter from none other than Nellie Bowles, who you’ll know as the queen of TGIF. It’s Nellie’s job to make fun of the news, but she wrote to Abigail that deep down she’s scared of what’s happening to the world right now—and is “feeling anxious about making any long-term plans because of it.” Scroll down to read Nellie’s entire letter.

And to read Abigail’s incredible response, make sure you sign up here to get Tough Love in your inbox Thursday. You won’t regret it: It’s reassuring and life-affirming and hard to swallow, all at once. Like the best advice. —The Editors

Dear Abigail,

I’m finding myself overwhelmed with anxiety about the news—and it’s getting in the way of making decisions. I worry about where things are going. I worry about the various political rages. About the extremes that threaten my nice peaceful life. Calm, sober people I know are talking about coming up with backup plans. I worry about artificial intelligence causing widespread psychosis, and I worry about masses of unemployed white-collar workers starting a violent revolution. (I’m totally serious.) And I’m feeling anxious about making any long-term plans because of it.

My instinct is to live as lightly as possible, so I can be nimble. If I’m honest, this has always been a problem of mine to some extent. Like, when we moved to New York, I didn’t want to have to buy furniture and commit to a new place, so we signed onto a two-year furnished sublet. This all has downstream effects: We have a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old. I know stability is essential for them. And if I’m really, really honest, I grew up in a family with some instability, so I worry that I’m re-creating that by refusing to commit to a long-term home.

But I genuinely, in my bones, think chaos is coming. What do I do? How do I build a stable life when I’m convinced we need to be ready to run?

Love,

Your Friend in Need, Nellie

Do you have a question for Abigail Shrier? If you’re a paid subscriber, you can click here to tell her what’s on your mind. If you’re not, subscribe here today. You get 25 percent off if you do so by Thursday!