Quillette Narrated

The self-esteem movements that once deranged America’s school curricula have since deranged the realm of identity activism.

The Gaza aid-site controversy and a crisis of journalism by Gary Geipel.

In his 2000 memoir A Personal Odyssey, Sowell recounts a parable that was read to him as a young boy and which he never forgot.

Fertility decline is not merely a demographic curiosity—it is a structural challenge with civilisational implications. So why are people so reluctant to take it seriously? By Andrew Glover

By rejecting any universally applicable standards of reason, it destroys the possibility of true conversation, of learning from and compromising with each other.

Zohran Mamdani’s father Mahmood is a postnationalist who advocates the dissolution of all nation states, which he views as intrinsically violent and unjust.

In his deliberately archaic new rendition of Homer’s epic, Jeffrey Duban takes a defiant stand against the modernisation of classical literature in defence of a disappearing tradition.

In a new book, Joan Smith critically examines the historical mistreatment of Ancient Rome’s leading women—including Emperor Augustus’ daughter Julia, who was denounced as a nymphomaniac and cast into exile.

The Australian security services have confirmed that Iran orchestrated antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne. This is not the first time leftist causes have been hijacked by Islamists. It is time we confronted this danger.

Charlotte Allen examines how Philip Roth biographer Blake Bailey's sexual misconduct allegations led to both men being cancelled and explores the broader cultural shift from the sexual liberation of the 1960s to #MeToo's scrutiny of male literary figures and their treatment of women.

Those fighting for social change today would do well to heed Bayard Rustin’s advice about how to build sustainable and effective political movements.

This is a story of some of the greatest findings in modern research, and of the dismal narrow-mindedness and motivated reasoning displayed by scholars who ought to know better.

Amid literary subcultures, competition has always been fierce and unrelenting and has become even more so in our age of elite overproduction. On social media, these embittered rivalries play out in public amid a chorus of backbiting worthy of Chekhov. Robert Huddleston

Eight decades later, the issues raised by the Russell case—the rights to free speech and academic freedom—have still not been settled.

The problem here is not a subset of Islamic thought, but the fundamentals of Islam itself. By Obaid Omer

Once seen as a model of progressive drug policy, San Francisco now stands as a morbid example of how that approach has gone astray.

In 2020, a Canadian university tore up its psychology department in search of a non-existent network of sexual predators. Documents obtained by Quillette reveal how administrators allowed it to happen.

Nurturing an alternative power structure in this kind of politically stunted society will be the work of generations. It can’t be summoned into existence by Western leaders seeking to appease domestic constituencies.

Few writers in our time were more committed to the novel or had more idealism about the heights the form could scale.

A tribute to the man who helped to revolutionise modern rock music and reality TV.

Whatever really happened between Zhang and Peng, the truth is that they were both already victims, having been raised in a society that completely denies the importance of the individual.

As a dissident Iranian, I support Israel’s efforts to weaken the Ayatollahs’ regime. I’m not alone in this. By Armin Navabi.

The contrasting lives and ambitions of two major figures in the fight for Indian Independence: General Kodandera Subayya Thimayya (“Timmy”) and Subhas Chandras Bose.

The questions at the centre of the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial are still contested today.

Bob Vylan’s “death to the IDF” chants at Glastonbury reveal how Britain’s economic despair has radicalised a generation and threatens to revive ancient hatreds.

Women create whisper networks to keep themselves safe from antisocial male behaviour. But unfortunately, such networks can be highjacked by our antisocial female peers. By ⁠Amy Eileen Hamm⁠

Clay Risen’s new book about the American “Red Scare” emphasises the injustices of anti-communism but minimises the true extent and danger of communist infiltration.

As an aggressive activist strategy, the “pinkwashing” charge is shameless and shrewd. As moral reasoning, it is inane.

The reason most teaching is bad is that most teaching follows a demonstrably bad model.

Netanyahu’s Nobel Prize gesture masks serious diplomatic divisions over Iran’s nuclear programme and the future of Gaza’s devastated population. Benny Morris

Twenty years after his death, what Hunter S. Thompson’s legacy—or lack of it—tells us about literature and manhood in our current moment.

How journalism exchanged the duty to inform for an ethic of customer satisfaction.

Othello and Iago represent two enduring behaviours whose conflicts have shaped much of humanity’s theory of mind and moral emotions to the present day.

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein has made a name for herself as one of STEM’s most implacable activists. Now the targets of her online attacks are fighting back.

Zohran Mamdani’s brand of socialism appeals to the luxury beliefs of New York’s middle classes. If his preferred policies are implemented, New Yorkers will suffer—and the poorest of them will be most impacted.

The Israel-Iran conflict may already be over, following the destruction of Iran’s nuclear facilities. But the future is deeply uncertain. By Benny Morris.

The struggle between the two middle classes is not just a matter of wealth and power, but also of retaining the social basis for democracy itself.

When Westerners hate the West.

Israel faces two major challenges: destroying the Iranian enrichment plant at Fordow and locating and eliminating the country’s stockpile of enriched uranium. For the first, it will need US assistance. By Benny Morris.

The Israeli attack on Iran is in line with its longstanding policy of never allowing its neighbouring enemies to acquire nuclear weapons. But it is also the latest episode in the wider war against Israel launched in late 2023 by Iran’s proxies. Written by Benny Morris.

For at least some, globalising the Intifada means exporting the tactics of Hamas to the West, thus threatening peaceful liberal societies everywhere.

The institution of monogamy in Classical Greece may have led to a host of phenomena that shaped the modern West: from individualism and abstract thinking to liberalism and democracy. Written by ⁠James Kierstead.⁠

The Trump administration’s decision to start revoking the visas of international students is vindictive, petty, and counterproductive.

Why are liberal democracies facing a crisis of meaning? In this video, we explore Roger Partridge’s powerful defence of Karl Popper’s Open Society—a vision of liberalism based on freedom, tolerance, and civic engagement. As figures like Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Jordan Peterson, and Peter Thiel call for a return to religion and nationalism, many argue that the West has lost its moral and spiritual foundation. But is abandoning liberalism the answer? Partridge argues that the real problem isn’t liberalism itself—but our failure to maintain the institutions and civic culture that once gave it meaning.

Hitchens didn’t just see how identity politics could warp a person’s ideas and principles—he understood that it could replace them altogether.

The urge to censor is based on a misunderstanding of what makes literature valuable.

The article "Too Many Moons" by Lawrence M. Krauss discusses the recent recognition by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) of 128 new moons of Saturn, bringing its total to 274. This prompts questions about whether the term "moon" needs a more restrictive definition, similar to the reclassification of Pluto as a dwarf planet. The article highlights the distinction between "regular" moons, which formed with the planet, and "irregular" moons, likely captured later by Saturn's gravity. With a proliferation of moons being recognized, the article suggests that the definition of what constitutes a moon might need to be reconsidered, potentially excluding very small or irregularly shaped objects

Two strands of Mill's philosophy were profoundly in conflict.

The current approach to energy and environmental policy isn’t just unsustainable—it has put us on a collision course with reality.

Donald Trump has an opportunity to influence the Qatari monarchy away from supporting jihad and towards promoting peace. But will he take it?