Nearly two-thirds of Americans say they cannot express their beliefs because they fear others will be offended. What this means is that conversations vital to the future of our country and our culture are not happening. And while we’re biting our tongues — or perhaps because we are — the forces of cancellations and censorship advance, stamping out heterodoxy wherever they find it.
One woman who has refused to stay quiet is my friend Abigail Shrier.
You might remember her from this column she wrote for us, The Books Are Already Burning, published a couple months ago.
Or you might know her name because of her book, Irreversible Damage, which The Sunday Times called “explosive” and The Economist named one of its Best Books of 2020.
Abigail is among the most fearless journalists working today. She’s a recipient of this year’s Barbara Olson Award for Excellence and Independence in Journalism. And she also writes on Substack; her most recent piece is about how public schools hide children’s gender transitions from pupils’ parents as a matter of policy. (You read that right.)
One of the reasons I love talking to Abigail is that she consistently sees around the bend. And so I’m thrilled that this Thursday at 8pm EST (5pm PST) we’re going to host an event for subscribers only.
We’re going to talk about Abigail’s latest reporting, the state of the culture war, and how to find the courage necessary to stand up and tell the truth.
So mix your favorite cocktail and join us. Zoom details will be shared on the morning of the event.
If you haven’t yet become a subscriber and want to join us for this conversation, please sign up here:
P.S. Apologies for the multiple emails! We couldn’t live with the typo in the previous draft.
I love the name change to FREE PRESS from HONESTLY.
Regarding teenage girls and social contagion - it's worth remembering the 2021 LeRoy High School story, a psychogenic illness that swept through a group of 18 teens (mostly but not exclusively girls) who developed identical, tourette's like tic disorders. The national media became involved, and all sorts of hypotheses were offered for its etiology - Lyme disease, environmental toxins, etc. Eventually Erin Brockovich launched an investigation, determined to "uncover" the hidden source of the disease. Of course, after a few months the symptoms entirely went away, and nothing further was written about it, out of politeness and respect for the girls' privacy. Had there been an activist social media at the time magnifying and giving a platform to the issue they might never have had the chance to desist with their symptoms.