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The Same Drugs is an anti-transgender show by gender critical activist Meghan Murphy. Many guests are also anti-transgender activists.

2018

  • I’m starting a YouTube channel! Please support my work!
  • Update on my upcoming talk on gender identity ideology and women’s rights

2019

  • Graham Linehan on Twitter, trans activism, and why he won’t just shut up
  • Desperately Seeking Nuance: Meghan Daum on identity politics and the elusive nuanced conversation
  • Lisa Marchiano on emotional fragility and the medicalization of feelings
  • Taking the white pill: Katie Herzog refuses to be put into a box
  • I’m suing Twitter — here’s why
  • Debate: Does trans activism negatively impact women’s rights?
  • Jesse Singal on YA fiction fueds, identitarianism, gender dysphoria, and bad journalists on Twitter
  • Lionel Shriver on the cultishness of the left and having unpopular opinions
  • Can women legally be compelled to handle male genitals?
  • Gender Identity: What Does It Mean for Society, the Law, and Women — A talk by Meghan Murphy
  • Melissa Derby on the victim/oppressor narrative and intergenerational trauma
  • Heather Mason on the transferring of males to women’s prisons in Canada

2020

  • The Same Drugs Interview — Buck Angel
  • The Same Drugs Interview: Meghan Murphy and Karen Tumajz cancel themselves
  • The Same Drugs Interview: The Benjamin Boyce Story
  • The Same Drugs Interview: Arielle Scarcella isn’t afraid of being cancelled
  • The Same Drugs: Episode 12 — Tiger Queens
  • The Same Drugs Interview: Brendan O’Neill on the COVID lockdowns
  • The Same Drugs Interview: Mike Nayna on grievance studies & the trouble with social justice activism
  • dating apps
  • The Same Drugs Interview: Nancy Jo Sales on the false promises of
  • NOW PLAYING
  • The Same Drugs Interview: Toby Young on Free Speech, No Platforming, and Social Media Censorship
  • The Same Drugs Interview: Jon Kay on COVID, the lockdowns, and how to get the perfect frosted tips
  • The Same Drugs: Coleman Hughes on race, racism, police violence, and Black Lives Matter
  • The Same Drugs: Zaid Jilani on racism, riots, defunding the police, privilege theory, and Amy Cooper
  • The Same Drugs: Jon Kay on Tom Cotton, Wendy Mesley, the CBC, and the disintegration of media
  • The Same Drugs: MK Fain on trashing and infighting in feminism
  • The Same Drugs: Lisa Marchiano on new religions and activism
  • The Same Drugs: Jen Gerson holds the line
  • The Same Drugs: James Lindsay still thinks 2+2=4
  • The Same Drugs: Stuart Parker on identitarianism and the current state of the left
  • The Same Drugs: Bret Weinstein explains everything
  • The Same Drugs: Abigail Shrier on girls and the trans trend
  • The Same Drugs: Brendan O’Neill on Covid lockdowns, Trump, Big Tech, and Samuel Paty
  • The Same Drugs: Mark Crispin Miller on propaganda, masks, and academic freedom
  • The Same Drugs: Brittany Talissa King on BLM, polarization, and the power of conversation
  • The Same Drugs: Weird bodies, bad women, and flawed feminism
  • The Same Drugs: Vincent Emanuele is on the left, despite the left
  • The Same Drugs: Peter Hitchens wishes you an angry Christmas, not a merry one

2021

  • It’s not a good thing that Trump was banned from Twitter
  • The Same Drugs: Tom Slater on free speech, Big Tech, and Trump
  • The Same Drugs: Matt Taibbi wants a better media channel for a less polarized America
  • The Same Drugs: Helen Pluckrose on postmodernism, feminism, and Cynical Theories
  • The Same Drugs: Do Trudeau’s new travel restrictions violate the Charter?
  • The Same Drugs: Ani O’Brien on the problem with modern feminism
  • The Same Drugs: Heather Heying on gender identity, Twitter, and the lab leak theory
  • Why I was banned from Twitter
  • The Same Drugs: The thought police are here for Harry Miller
  • The Same Drugs: Ian Leslie on how to disagree (except about The Beatles)
  • The Same Drugs: Debunking myths about gender identity with Colin Wright
  • The Same Drugs: Jodi Shaw is fighting a ‘racially hostile’ environment at Smith College
  • The Same Drugs: Lindsay Shepherd on diversity, exclusion, and the free speech crisis on campus
  • The Same Drugs: Jonathan Kay on rape, due process, and the Steven Galloway case
  • Cancellation can be a blessing
  • The Same Drugs: CJ Hopkins on The New Normal
  • The Same Drugs: Ayaan Hirsi Ali on modern feminism and her new book, Prey
  • The Same Drugs: Jay Cameron on Bill C-10—the Liberal’s attempt to regulate Canadians’ online speech
  • The Same Drugs: Nancy Jo Sales on her life in the dating app inferno
  • The Same Drugs: Danielle Crittenden Frum on feminism, marriage, and gender roles in the modern world
  • The Same Drugs: Trans activists want to force BC courts to adopt “preferred pronouns”
  • The Same Drugs: Bill Ottman on the problems with social media and how we can fix them
  • The Same Drugs: Richie Hardcore on porn, masculinity, Muay Thai, and becoming a better person
  • It’s harder to have critical conversations about porn because of third wave feminism
  • Richie Hardcore on how to talk to kids about porn
  • The Same Drugs: Carole Hooven on testosterone and the male body
  • The Same Drugs: Jeanna Hoch is a stripper who found radical feminism
  • Are men able to compartmentalize more easily than women?
  • The Same Drugs: Helen Joyce takes on gender identity in her new book, ‘Trans’
  • There are different reasons people transition
  • The Same Drugs: Karin Litzcke on why the PPC could be the alternative Canadians are looking for
  • The Same Drugs: Jake Shields tells us what he really thinks
  • A hunter gatherer’s guide to love, sex, and dating, with Bret Weinstein & Heather Heying
  • Porn creates a kind of sexual autism
  • The Same Drugs: Bonnie Snyder on the politicization of education
  • The Same Drugs: Are incels the dangerous misogynists we thought?
  • What’s wrong with hormonal birth control
  • The Same Drugs: Pete Zaborszky on creating alternative social media platforms

2022

  • Is Australia turning into a dictatorship?
  • Alexandra Marshall on politics in Australia and encroaching totalitarianism in her country
  • Garrett Jonsson of Fight the New Drug on why you should stop using porn
  • Why are we trying so hard to normalize porn?
  • BJ Dichter on the Canadian truckers’ #FreedomConvoy
  • Frances Widdowson was fired as a professor at Mount Royal University for questioning ‘woke’ ideas
  • Justin Trudeau invokes the Emergency Act in an attempt to curtail democracy — what does this mean?
  • This is a class war: Trish Wood on the Covid response, the media, and disdain for the working class
  • Everything wrong in Western democracy today is as a result of a failed news media
  • Haunted by phantom honking’: Jon Kay on the Freedom Convoy and Trudeau’s Canada
  • What is the reality of life under communism?
  • Francis Foster: “I think we all went insane”
  • Francis Foster on communism, fear-mongering, and what it means to be a good man
  • Jake Shields on Jiu-Jitsu, masculinity, and Will Smith
  • Katie Herzog on the botched case of Florian Jaeger, #MeToo’d despite being cleared of all ‘charges’
  • Michelle Evans is standing up for parents (and kids!) in Texas
  • Daryl Davis on why you should make friends with your enemies
  • Mike Solana on political censorship, social media, and thought crime
  • “If the underlying sin of the capitalist is greed, the underlying sin of the socialist is envy”
  • Drunk on power? Sarah Hepola on blackouts, binge drinking, alcoholism, and women
  • Keri Smith on Leaving the Social Justice Cult
  • Taylor Silverman on being a female skateboarder and standing up for fair competition in her sport
  • Colin Wright was banned from PayPal and Etsy for standing for reality
  • Isn’t that the ultimate privilege? To just sit around and be offended?
  • Women Leaving the Left
  • Yannis Pappas on wokeness, YouTube, and why people become comics
  • Journalism used to be about questioning authority
  • Batya Ungar-Sargon on how journalism went woke
  • The truth behind Canada’s “mass graves” story
  • Terry Glavin on fake mass graves and Trudeau’s woke lies
  • Kevin Bardosh on the consequences of Covid policy in Canada
  • Is Trudeau following the tyrant’s manual?
  • Canada’s road to Beijing — John Carpay on the Trudeau government’s move towards a digital ID
  • Do feminists have good reason to criticize Matt Walsh?
  • West is Best: Konstantin Kisin reminds us not to take the West for granted, despite elite cynicism
  • The way to overcome arguments for censorship is with curiosity
  • Greg Lukianoff is making free speech great again
  • It might be the first time I ever vote Conservative
  • I’ve never experienced this level of division in Canada before’ — Tara Henley on leaving the CBC
  • Erin Friday on why we need to stop transitioning kids now
  • Socially transitioning your child is abusive — it’s a lie’
  • Americans are being misled about meat — finding ethical meat is hard, but Ben Spell wants to help
  • Ben Spell: If you control the food, you control the people
  • Vancouver is Dying’ — Aaron Gunn on Vancouver’s growing drug and crime problem
  • David “El Necio” Diaz on bare knuckle boxing and changing your life
  • David “El Necio” Diaz fought his demons and won
  • Pamela Garfield-Jaegar is bringing truth to therapy
  • “They’re weaponizing a half truth”
  • Genevieve Gluck on the truth behind the trans trend [Reduxx]
  • How to outrage everyone: Jimbob’s Savage Memes refuse to pick sides
  • Jennifer Sey left a corporate career she loved to tell the truth
  • “From the beginning, none of it made sense”: Jennifer Sey on why she spoke out against the lockdowns
  • Tristan Hopper on everything wrong with Canada in 2022

2023

  • Shannon Thrace was married to a man who decided he wanted to be a woman
  • Peter Boghossian on how to have tough conversations and change minds in a world that avoids Benjamin Dichter on how truckers ended the pandemic
  • What’s the connection between porn and sexual predators?
  • Jared Klickstein on our misguided approach to homelessness and addiction
  • Jared Klickstein on the “cosmic consequences” that helped him overcome addiction
  • Is the homelessness problem really about a lack of housing?
  • Is Landmark Forum a cult?
  • Are kids that aren’t allowed to medically transition really at higher risk for suicide?
  • Lots of girls don’t feel ‘feminine’ — it doesn’t mean you’re a boy
  • Michael Shellenberger on how the left got climate change, addiction, and prostitution wrong
  • Do leftist activists just hate civilization?
  • The left claims to care about victims—why don’t they care about victims of the sex trade?
  • Mary Harrington thinks feminism needs to go backwards, not forward
  • The pill has not been good for women
  • Matt Thornton on martial arts, self-defense, and building a healthier relationship to violence
  • How can you tell who is a threat and how can you protect yourself?
  • How can you recognize people with character disorders and avoid them?
  • What kind of man can’t handle Jiu Jitsu?
  • Why is the Canadian government trying to regulate what you see online?
  • The PDGA banned transwomen from competing as women after an anonymous survey of members
  • Why I moved away from the ‘feminist’ label and ‘feminism,’ the ideology
  • Jon Kay on trans players in disc golf, Dylan Mulvaney’s girlhood, misgendering, feminism, and more!
  • LIVE: Batya Ungar-Sargon on what the hell is going on in media these LIVE with Amy Sousa and K. Yang: Women’s spaces, realities, and sports
  • Robin Dunbar on friends—the cure for all that ails us
  • Karin Litzcke is an ex-NDP supporter now running for the Conservative Party of BC
  • Women fight back! Live with K. Yang and Isabella Malbin
  • Can mental health issues be cured with a pill?
  • Shannon Hayes on choosing happiness over ‘success’
  • An ex-john opens up about buying sex and why he became an advocate against the sex trade
  • Mike Nayna on bullshit PhDs, viral racism, and The Reformers
  • Blindsight is 2020: Gabrielle Bauer on the Covid dissenters
  • Siddharth Kara on sex trafficking and the horrors of modern slavery in cobalt mines
  • April Hutchinson is a Canadian powerlifter who refuses to lose her sport to men
  • Live from Canada! With Canada’s preeminent lesbian, Eva Kurilova
  • ‘These are not morally equivalent things’ — Batya Ungar-Sargon on Hamas’ attack on Israel
  • FULL INTERVIEW: Don’t turn your humanity over to the machine
  • ‘This is punishment for dissent’ — C.J. Hopkins: tried for satire in Germany
  • Philip Slayton on free speech in Canada, antisemitism, and what it means to be a Jew
  • Climate change isn’t everything

Michael Shermer is an American writer and anti-transgender activist. Shermer has devoted considerable space for anti-trans views in the publication Skeptic and on the podcast The Michael Shermer Show.

Background

Michael Brant Shermer was born September 8, 1954 in Los Angeles, California. Shermer earned a bachelor’s degree form Pepperdine in 1976 and a master’s degree in psychology from California State University, Fullerton in 1978. Shermer got involved in competitive cycling during this time.

Shermer earned a doctorate from Claremont Graduate University in 1991. Shermer helped found the Skeptics Society in 1991. Shermer has taught at Glendale Community College, Occidental College, and Chapman University.

For 18 years Shermer was a monthly columnist for Scientific American. Shermer has been dogged by accusations of sexual misconduct since 2013. Shermer has produced and appeared in a number of television shows about science and pseudoscience.

Anti-transgender activism

Shermer is especially angry about transgender athletes, trans and gender diverse youth, WPATH, and how Scientific American has gone “woke” due to their coverage of trans issues.

Shermer has also promoted and published anti-trans writings of other “gender critical” activists:

References

Tavris, Carol (April 17, 2023). Behind the Rhetoric: The Untold Story of “Gender-Affirming” Clinics. Skeptic Volume 27 Number 1 https://www.skeptic.com/reading_room/behind-rhetoric-untold-story-of-gender-affirming-clinics/

McCaffree K, Saide A (March 7, 2023). Trans, Identity and Institutional Controversies. Research Report: PADS-002 https://www.skeptic.com/research-center/reports/Research-Report-PADS-002.pdf

Hall, Harriett (June 9, 2022). A transgender controversy. Skeptic Volume 27 Number 1 https://www.skeptic.com/reading_room/transgender-controversy/

Davis, Lisa Selin (May 25, 2022). Trans Matters: An Overview of the Debate, Research, and Policies. Skeptic Volume 27 Number 1 https://www.skeptic.com/reading_room/trans-matters-overview-debate-research-policies/

Tavris, Carol (January 25, 2022). Trans Reality: “I Didn’t Know There Was Another Side.” Skeptic https://www.skeptic.com/reading_room/transgender-reality-i-didnt-know-there-was-another-side/

Selected anti-trans writing by Shermer

Shermer, Michael (November 14, 2024). Postmortem 2024. Skeptic https://michaelshermer.substack.com/p/postmortem-2024

Shermer, Michael (March 14, 2024). Death by Theory. Skeptic https://michaelshermer.substack.com/p/death-by-theory

Shermer, Michael (June 11, 2024). What’s It Like to Be Trans? [letter from a conservative transmedicalist] Skeptic https://michaelshermer.substack.com/p/whats-it-like-to-be-trans

Shermer, Michael (July 8, 2022). What is a Woman, Anyway? Skeptic https://michaelshermer.substack.com/p/what-is-a-woman-anyway

Shermer, Michael (March 7, 2024). Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, Redux—WPATH Edition. Skeptic https://michaelshermer.substack.com/p/extraordinary-popular-delusions-and

Shermer, Michael (December 9, 2021). Trans Athletes and Conflicting Rights. Skeptic https://michaelshermer.substack.com/p/trans-athletes-and-conflicting-rights

Media

Michael Shermer (). EPISODE # 160 Abigail Shrier — Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters. The Michael Shermer Show https://www.skeptic.com/michael-shermer-show/abigail-shrier-irreversible-damage-transgender-craze-seducing-our-daughters/

Michael Shermer (August 27, 2024). Are We Confused About Social Justice? (Helen Pluckrose). The Michael Shermer Show

Michael Shermer (May 14). Nellie Bowles — Reporting From the Frontlines of the Culture Wars The Michael Shermer Show

Michael Shermer (September 21). Colin Wright – Biology vs. Gender Ideology: The Science Behind the Debate. The Michael Shermer Show

Michael Shermer (September 15). Matt Ridley, Steven Pinker, and Michael Shermer Challenge Conventional Narratives. The Michael Shermer Show

Michael Shermer (August 17). Bones, Bias, and Backlash: Elizabeth Weiss on the Politicization of Anthropology. The Michael Shermer Show https://www.skeptic.com/michael-shermer-show/elizabeth-weiss-politicization-of-anthropology/

Michael Shermer (August 6). Richard Dawkins on Genetic Insights Into the History of Life. The Michael Shermer Show

Michael Shermer (). 461: Helen Pluckrose — Principled Strategies for Surviving and Defeating Critical Social Justice. https://www.skeptic.com/michael-shermer-show/helen-pluckrose-principled-strategies-for-surviving-defeating-critical-social-justice/

Michael Shermer (). Aella — From a Christian Upbringing to Sex Work

Michael Shermer (). Bradley Campbell — How to Think About Social Justice

Katherine Brodsky — How to Find and Free Your Voice in the Age of Outrage

Michael Shellenberger Explains Government Censorship of Social Media

Ayaan Hirsi Ali Converted to Christianity

Yascha Mounk — Identity Politics and its Discontents

Greg Lukianoff & Rikki Schlott — Cancel Culture and What to Do About It

Gad Saad — The Saad Truth About Happiness

Christopher Rufo Decodes Cultural Shifts in America

Umut Özkirimli — How the Left Can Make Its Way Back From Woke

Jean Twenge — Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents, and What They Mean for America’s Future

Bethany Mandel — How Radicals Are Erasing Innocence & Indoctrinating a Generation

Valerie Fridland — Like, Literally, Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English

Gerald & Patricia Posner on Evil

Louise Perry — The Case Against the Sexual Revolution: A New Guide to Sex in the 21st Century

Meghan Daum — The Problem With Everything: My Journey Through the New Culture Wars

Marty Klein — Sex Matters

Andrew Doyle — How the Religion of Social Justice Captured the Western World

Sabine Hossenfelder — Existential Physics: A Scientist’s Guide to Life’s Biggest Questions

Konstantin Kisin — An Immigrant’s Love Letter to the West

Helen Joyce — Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality

Frans De Waal on Sex and Gender Across the Primate Spectrum

Douglas Murray on The War on the West: Race, Politics, and Culture

Cathy Young — The Russian Riddle Wrapped in a Ukrainian Mystery Inside an American Enigma

Jesse Singal on Why Fad Psychology Can’t Cure Our Social Ills 

Dave Rubin — Left, Right, and Woke, based on his book Don’t Burn This Country: Surviving and Thriving in Our Woke Dystopia

Elizabeth Weiss on Woke Archaeology and Erasing the Past

Batya Ungar-Sargon Batya Ungar-Sargon — Bad News: How Woke Media Is Undermining Democracy

Sally Satel on Addiction, the Opioid Crisis, Deaths of Despair, and How Psychiatry Has Gone Woke

Heather Heying and Bret Weinstein on evolution and the challenges of modern life, based on their new book A Hunter-Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century

Steven Pinker on Rationality: What it is, Why it Seems Scarce, Why it Matters

Richard Dawkins on evangelizing for evolution, science, skepticism, philosophy, reason, and rationality, based on his new book Books Do Furnish a Life: Reading and Writing Science

Carole Hooven on T: The Story of Testosterone, the Hormone that Dominates and Divides Us

Bari Weiss & Bion Bartning on Their New Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism

David Buss — When Men Behave Badly: The Hidden Roots of Sexual Deception, Harassment, and Assault

Jordan Peterson & Michael Shermer on Science, Myth, Truth, and the Architecture of Archetypes

Niall Ferguson — Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe

John McWhorter — The Elect: Neoracists Posing as Antiracists and their Threat to a Progressive America

John McWhorter — The Elect: Neoracists Posing as Antiracists and their Threat to a Progressive America

Abigail Shrier — Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters

Greg Lukianoff — How Free is Free Speech?

Debra Soh — The End of Gender: Debunking the Myths About Sex and Identity in Our Society

Gad Saad — The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense

Scott Barry Kaufman — Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization

Dave Rubin — Don’t Burn This Book: Thinking for Yourself in an Age of Unreason

Douglas Murray — The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race, and Identity

Geoffrey Miller — Virtue Signaling: Essays on Darwinian Politics and Free Speech

Peter Boghossian — How to Have Impossible Conversations: A Very Practical Guide

Ben Shapiro — The Right Side of History: How Reason and Moral Purpose Made the West Great

Dr. Gad Saad — Doing Gad’s Work

Dr. Jonathan Haidt — The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting Up a Generation for Failure

Amy Alkon — Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence

Dr. Jonathan Haidt — Coming Apart

Resources

Michael Shermer (michaelshermer.com)

Substack (https://substack.com/)

X/Twitter (x.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Claire Lehmann is an Australian writer and anti-transgender activist. Lehmann is a key figure in the so-called intellectual dark web, described as a gateway to the far right. Lehmann is founding editor of anti-trans publication Quillette, also classified a pathway to right-wing radicalization.

Background

Claire (Jensen) Lehmann was born on July 18, 1985 and grew up in Adelaide, South Australia. Lehmann earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Adelaide in 2010. Jensen married Harold M. “Harry” Lehmann at age 27 and dropped out of graduate school when their first child was born in 2013.

Lehmann worked from 2011 to 2014 as a Policy Research Assistant at Australian College of Nursing and from 2015 to 2016 as a communications officer​ at National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance.

Lehmann has contributed to other anti-trans publications, including Rebel News, The Australian, The Dispatch, and Colin Wright’s Reality’s Last Stand.

Anti-transgender activism

Lehmann founded Quillette in October 2015. It was incorporated in Australia as Quillette Pty Ltd in 2018.

Lehman profiled anti-trans psychologist Lee Jussim in 2015.

Lehmann began writing for alt-right publication Rebel News in 2017.

References

Engber, Daniel (January 8, 2019). Free Thought for the Closed-Minded: Quillette pretends to be a platform for debate. It’s actually a soapbox for self-pity. Slate https://slate.com/technology/2019/01/quillette-claire-lehmann-intellectual-dark-web.html

Thielman, Sam (November 29, 2019). Villains: Steve Brodner illustrates some of the worst offenders in the disinformation world. Columbia Journalism Review https://www.cjr.org/special_report/villains-disinformation-steve-brodner.php

Lester, Amelia (November 11, 2018). The Voice of the ‘Intellectual Dark Web’ Claire Lehmann’s online magazine, Quillette, prides itself on publishing ‘dangerous’ ideas other outlets won’t touch. How far is it willing to go? Politico Magazine https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/11/11/intellectual-dark-web-quillette-claire-lehmann-221917/

Selected anti-trans writing by Lehmann

Lehmann, Claire (June 2, 2023). Trans Activists Have No Right to Pervert the English Language. Reality’s Last Stand https://www.realityslaststand.com/p/trans-activists-have-no-right-to

Lehmann, Claire (December 4, 2015). How a Rebellious Scientist Uncovered the Surprising Truth About Stereotypes. Quillette https://quillette.com/2015/12/04/rebellious-scientist-surprising-truth-about-stereotypes/

Lehmann, Claire (May 19, 2023). Trans activists have no right to pervert the English language, writes Claire Lehmann. The Australian https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/trans-activists-have-no-right-to-pervert-the-english-language-writes-claire-lehmann/news-story/a3809b3716c4c068c629e5df6b5224a9?amp&nk=13b72df8027fed82dcbc8a39446b952c-1684445053 [archive]

Lehmann, Claire (June 23, 2023). Why Queensland’s gender IDs are a dangerous defiance of science. The Australian https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/why-queenslands-gender-ids-are-a-dangerous-defiance-of-science/news-story/02b5575c2baae36536ebacc2ea48de15 [archive]

Lehmann, Claire (April 24, 2017). “Transgender is the new black”: More teens than ever want to “try out” a different sex. A Brisbane psychiatrist who works in a gender clinic has reported that many adolescents are now coming to him with the aim of “trying out” transgenderism. Rebel Media https://www.therebel.media/_transgender_is_the_new_black_teens_beg_to_try_out_a_different_sex [archive]

Lehmann, Claire (May 16, 2017). Platform for misandrist “screeds” ends, with death of feminist Fairfax Media. Rebel Media https://www.therebel.media/platform_for_misandrist_screeds_ends_with_death_of_feminist_fairfax_media [archive]

Lehmann, Claire (May 7, 2017). Nick Gillespie: Today’s universities are “constipated and stultified.” Rebel Media https://www.therebel.media/no_longer_a_place_for_dangerous_ideas_universities_constipated_and_stultified [archive]

Lehmann, Claire (May 2, 2017). Third wave feminist hypocrisy: “Deep down, they know they’re wrong” Daisy Cousens, freelance writer for the Spectator Australia and Quadrant Magazine, is a critic of third wave feminism. Rebel Media https://www.therebel.media/third_wave_feminist_hypocrisy_deep_down_they_know_they_re_wrong [archive]

Lehmann, Claire (April 13, 2017). Transgender athletes crush females: It’s “violence against women.” Last month, New Zealand transgender weight lifter Laurel Hubbard dominated, setting records in the women’s international competition held in Melbourne Australia. Rebel Media https://www.therebel.media/transgender_athletes_crush_females_it_s_violence_against_women [archive]

Lehmann, Claire (April 7, 2017). Here’s the real reason banks are suddenly launching “social justice” campaigns: HSBC has just announced that they will be offering their customers 10 gender neutral pronouns for their trans and non gender binary customers. Rebel Media https://www.therebel.media/here_s_the_real_reason_banks_are_suddenly_launching_social_justice_campaigns [archive]

Lehmann, Claire (February 27, 2017). How Libertarian Students Can Save Universities From Victimhood Culture. Rebel Media https://www.therebel.media/how_libertarian_students_can_save_universities_from_victimhood_culture [archive]

Lehmann, Claire (February 13, 2017). Why the old Left was better than the new Left. Rebel Media https://www.therebel.media/how_new_left_abandoned_old_left_s_fight_to_defend_liberal_values [archive]

Lehmann, Claire (May 29, 2015*). Feminism Must Be Reclaimed From Radicals. Quillette http://quillette.com/2015/05/29/feminism-must-be-reclaimed-from-radicals/ *note: this date is prior to the blog’s October 2015 founding.

Media

Unsupervised Learning with Razib Khan and Claire Lehmann (July 27, 2025). Claire Lehmann: after the Intellectual Dark Web. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUwQSvwGzto

Network State Podcast with Balaji Srinivasan and Claire Lehmann (July 16, 2025). Claire Lehmann on the Internet Century. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCoegnhTaDs

The Dishcast with Andrew Sullivan and Claire Lehmann (May 9, 2025). Claire Lehmann On Staying Independent. https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/claire-lehmann-on-staying-independent

The Good Fight with Yascha Mounk and Claire Lehmann (May 1, 2025). Claire Lehmann on The Psychology Behind Wokeness. https://www.persuasion.community/p/claire-lehmann-on-the-psychology

Centre for Independent Studies with Tom Switzer, Louise Perry, and Claire Lehmann (March 28, 2025). Biological reality vs progressive ideals | Louise Perry & Claire Lehmann. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hN7T2L4f1g alt url https://www.cis.org.au/commentary/video/biological-reality-vs-progressive-ideals-louise-perry-claire-lehmann/

The Free Press / Honestly with Bari Weiss, Brianna Wu, Claire Lehmann, and Batya Ungar-Sargon (February 25, 2025). DEBATE: Will Trump’s Blunt Approach End the Ukraine War? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L59ypLV8HIg

Quillette with Claire Lehmann and Michael Shellenberger (December 2, 2024). Censorship, Pharmaceuticals & Nuclear Energy: Michael Shellenberger & Claire Lehmann in Conversation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bz-lenJ0T0U

Quillette with Claire Lehmann and Michael Shellenberger (November 29, 2024). Australia’s Misinformation Bill & Under 16s Social Media Ban: Michael Shellenberger & Claire Lehmann. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUFb6J7zE5c

Quillette with Iona Italia and Claire Lehmann (September 30, 2024). Speeches from Quillette’s Claire Lehmann and Iona Italia at the Quillette Social in Sydney (2024). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHr5QZiC7fk

Melody Rachel (June 18, 2024). Why I Challenge Left-Wing Dogma – Claire Lehmann. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH4tCCZj49I

Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (May 23, 2024). Was The Sexual Revolution A Mistake? | Claire Lehmann & Louise Perry | ARC Off-Stage Conversation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE02p5y6ofY

Mercatus Center with Tyler Cowan and Claire Lehmann (November 21, 2023). Claire Lehmann on Speaking Freely | Conversations with Tyler. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA01e5B9aOI

Maiden Mother Matriarch with Louise Perry and Claire Lehmann (November 5, 2023). Biological Denialism – Claire Lehmann | Maiden Mother Matriarch 38. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyuham3HjMY

Quillette with Claire Lehmann and Zoe Booth (June 27, 2023). It’s Hip to be “Trad.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIHtTRgXucA

Quillette with Claire Lehmann and Zoe Booth (June 8, 2023). Quillette’s Bias. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxBKpbvBM6o

Unsupervised Learning with Razib Khan and Claire Lehmann (October 17, 2022). Claire Lehmann: An Australian at the heart of the heterodox web. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkFn1yno7r4

Newsmax Australia with Nick Cater and Claire Lehmann (September 13, 2022). Cancel culture will lead to society’s downfall: Claire Lehmann | Nick Cater. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI_mJ9sboAE

Newsmax Australia with Nick Cater and Claire Lehmann (September 13, 2022). Lefitst ideologies have infiltrated science and medicine: Claire Lehmann | Nick Cater. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r41cbsM605I

Coleman Hughes with Claire Lehmann (August 26, 2022). Quillette, IDW, and Conspiracy with Claire Lehmann. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGNScV9wYo4

Jordan B Peterson with Claire Lehmann (April 11, 2022). Quillette’s Founder: Starting The Most Controversial Magazine In The World | Claire Lehmann | EP 243. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psmPAXGGHoU

Centre for Independent Studies (April 11, 2021). Cancel Culture Crusades | Claire Lehmann. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9IzVjiHTQ8

UnHerd / Lockdown TV with Freddie Sayers (February 19, 2021). Claire Lehmann: Facebook has made a bad miscalculation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kjSUai1E9I

Sky News Australia / Inside the News with Rita Panahi and Claire Lehmann (December 17, 2020). Treatment for children with gender ambiguity ‘shouldn’t be hyjacked by activists.’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jnhFOOUq8Q

TRIGGERnometry with Konstantin Kisin, Francis Foster, and Claire Lehmann (August 23, 2020). “Activism Has No Place in Journalism” – Claire Lehmann. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sfx8krJ6N3A

John Anderson with Claire Lehmann (Mar 5, 2020). Free Thought | Claire Lehmann. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKXqbiHa4Yo

Sky News Australia / The Friday Show with Rita Panahi and Claire Lehmann (October 4, 2019). Activist academics are not scholars: Claire Lehmann. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ13W8fQ29A

Rebel Wisdom with David Fuller and Claire Lehmann (April 17, 2019). Claire Lehmann & Quillette, Thinking Differently. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMTrywlKnW4

The Rubin Report with Dave Rubin and Claire Lehmann (September 28, 2018). Free Thought, Outrage, & the Alt Right | Claire Lehmann | MEDIA | Rubin Report. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afmxd42UNZA

The Rubin Report with Dave Rubin and Claire Lehmann (September 26, 2018). Respecting Ideas, Even Dangerous Ones (Pt. 1) | Claire Lehmann | MEDIA | Rubin Report. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMXYeD6xeRs

Minds Podcast with Brian. Dimitri, and Claire Lehmann (July 8, 2018). Claire Lehmann on Quillette Magazine, Mythcon, Social Politics and More. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QABvZrUxd8

The Dissenter with Ricardo Lopes and Claire Lehmann (May 17, 2018). #26 Claire Lehmann: Quillette, Leadership in the Feminine, Ethical Journalism. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDRiIm0SBL8

Jordan B Peterson with Claire Lehmann (March 10, 2018). Quillette: Discussion with Founder/Editor Claire Lehmann. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUs72-WqmwI

Rebel News with Mark Latham, Gavin McInnes, and Claire Lehmann (August 9, 2017). Mark Latham’s Outsiders: Google vs. Free Speech (Guests Gavin McInnes, Claire Lehmann). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS1MEEf9Wcc

Rebel News (May 16, 2017). Claire Lehmann: Rabid feminist Fairfax Media is dying. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATWwGClglno

Rebel News with Ezra Levant and Claire Lehmann (April 30, 2017). Claire Lehmann: Why I was blacklisted by Australian media. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-R0iyvEzKU

Rebel News (February 13, 2017). Why the old Left was better than the new Left. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zr1vkFM2kfo

Michael Tracey with Claire Lehmann (October 20, 2016). MT + Claire Lehmann. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdBRXont25Y

Resources

Quillette (quillette.com)

Lehmann & Co (lehco.com.au)

Vendorable (vendorable.com)

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

The Australian (theaustralian.com.au)

The Dispatch (rebelnews.com)

Rebel Media (therebel.media) [archive]

  • Claire Lehmann
  • therebel.media/claire_lehmann [archive]

Tim Pool is an American right-wing podcaster and anti-transgender extremist.

Background

Timothy Daniel “Tim” Pool was born on March 9, 1986. Pool’s parent Michael D. “Mike” Pool (born 1959) was a Chicago firefighter. Tim Pool’s siblings include:

  • Christopher Michael “Chris” Pool (born 1984): works with Tim, and was known on YouTube as “Reactor”. The two had a dispute over the trademark for Subverse, later renamed SCNR (pronounced “scanner”)
  • Lisa Brady Pool (born 1980): briefly worked for Tim

Pool’s parents divorced. Pool attended a Catholic school until completing the fifth grade and later left school at age 14.

Pool became involved in the Occupy movement and produced media using innovative techniques.

Pool was reportedly dating Alison Neubauer.

Podcast

Timcast IRL is an influential podcast hosted by Pool. It is notable for hosting a disproportionate number of conservative and anti-transgender guests.

The podcast quickly became a key platform for laundering right-wing and anti-transgender extremism into mainstream media. A 2018 report by Data & Society found that the show was part of a network of YouTube channels logrolling alt-right and intellectual dark web extremism: “By connecting to and interacting with one another through YouTube videos, influencers with mainstream audiences lend their credibility to openly white nationalist and other extremist content creators.”

  • Ann Coulter
  • Seth Dillon
  • Wokal Distance
  • Dinesh D’Souza
  • DC Draino
  • Tom Fitton
  • David ‘Viva’ Freihert
  • Nick Freitas
  • Matt Gaetz
  • Marjorie Taylor Greene
  • Tayler Hansen
  • Drew Hernandez
  • Sara Higdon
  • The HodgeTwins
  • Zaid Jilani
  • Benny Johnson
  • Alex Jones
  • Michael Malice
  • Bethany Mandel
  • Jaimee Michell
  • Chadwick Moore
  • Jack Murphy
  • Enrique Tarrio
  • Connor Tomlinson
  • Andrew Torba
  • Donald Trump Jr.
  • Chloe Valdary
  • Vaush

On a YouTube channel, Mike Pool has apologized for the division and hate Tim Pool displays toward trans people.

References

Captain, Sean (January 6, 2012). Threat Level: Livestreaming Journalists Want to Occupy the Skies With Cheap Drones. Wired https://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/01/occupy-drones/

Dredge, Stuart (July 30, 2013). How Vice’s Tim Pool used Google Glass to cover Istanbul protests. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/jul/30/google-glass-istanbul-protests-vice

Marantz, Andrew (December 4, 2017). The Live-Streamers Who Are Challenging Traditional Journalism. The New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/12/11/the-live-streamers-who-are-challenging-traditional-journalism

Lewis, Rebecca (September 18, 2018). Alternative Influence: Broadcasting the Reactionary Right on YouTube.Data & Society https://datasociety.net/library/alternative-influence/ [PDF]

Makuch, Ben (July 10, 2019). Trump Invites Fringe Social Media Company Popular With Nazis to the White House. Vice https://www.vice.com/en/article/qv7q87/trump-invites-fringe-social-media-company-popular-with-nazis-to-the-white-house

Pool, Christopher (February 5, 2020). I need help with legal fees. GoFundMe https://www.gofundme.com/f/txe8r-i-need-help-with-legal-fees

Basko, Susan (April 2020). Tim Pool, Chris Pool, and the Subverse Trademark. https://suebasko.blogspot.com/2020/04/tim-pool-chris-pool-and-subverse.html

Paul, Kari (March 5, 2021). A few rightwing ‘super-spreaders’ fueled bulk of election falsehoods, study says. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/05/election-misinformation-trump-rightwing-super-spreader-study

Sommer, Will (March 11, 2021). YouTube Star Tim Pool’s News Site Collapses Amid Allegations He Took a Cat Hostage. Daily Beast https://www.thedailybeast.com/youtube-star-tim-pools-news-site-collapses-amid-allegations-he-took-a-cat-hostage

Silverman, Robert (August 1, 2021). How ‘Coward and Phony’ Tim Pool Became One of the Biggest Political YouTubers on the Planet. Daily Beast https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-coward-and-phony-tim-pool-became-one-of-the-biggest-political-youtubers-on-the-planet

Edison Hayden, Michael (July 7, 2021). ‘We Make Mistakes’: Twitter’s Embrace of the Extreme Far Right. Southern Poverty Law Center https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2021/07/07/we-make-mistakes-twitters-embrace-extreme-far-right

Pool, Tim (July 13, 2022). The January 6 Committee Misrepresented Me. Newsweek https://www.newsweek.com/january-6-committee-misrepresented-me-opinion-1724357

Media

Mike Pool (February 17, 2023). Tim Pool’s Dad sends a message. YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQajMrkCzRc

Resources

Tim Pool (timcast.com)

Subverse (subverse.net)

SCNR (scnr.com)

Wikitubia (youtube.fandom.com)

  • Tim Pool
  • youtube.fandom.com/wiki/Tim_Pool

Wikpedia (en.wikipedia.org)

Facebook (facebook.com)

YouTube (youtube.com)

  • Timcast
  • https://www.youtube.com/subversenews

Minds (minds.com)

Instagram (instagram.com)

Twitter (twitter.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

What Is a Woman? is a 2022 American anti-transgender propaganda piece distributed online by conservative media outlet The Daily Wire.

Hosted by anti-trans extremist Matt Walsh, the piece was released to subscribers in June 2022, soon followed by a companion book, What Is a Woman?: One Man’s Journey to Answer the Question of a Generation.

Background

Walsh and the project’s producers created an anti-transgender front group called The Gender Unity Project in order to lure trans participants in under false pretenses. Using the name Makenna Lynn, Daily Wire associate producer Makenna Waters would contact potential interviewees. Associate Rebecca Dobkowitz also contacted people using a false name.

People who said they were contacted include MMA fighters Fallon Fox and Alanna McLaughlin, Miss Nevada USA winner Kataluna Enriquez, and Debi Jackson, parent to trans youth Avery Jackson.

Trans activist Eli Erlick revealed the scam in February 2022. The Gender Unity Project site was registered in 2021 to Justin Folk of Project Veritas.

The film was produced by Justin Folk, Dallas Sonnier, and Charlotte Roland. Folk directed.

Overview

On-camera interviews include:

Others who appear in the film include Don Sucher, Rodrigo Lehtinen, Naia Ōkami, and Carl Trueman.

References

 Baragona, Justin (February 8, 2022). Far-right troll tried to dupe trans people into joining his anti-trans documentary. The Daily Beast https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-daily-wires-matt-walsh-tried-to-dupe-trans-people-into-joining-his-anti-trans-documentary

 (February 8, 2022). Anti-trans Matt Walsh tries to lure trans people into fake documentary. Los Angeles Blade https://www.losangelesblade.com/2022/02/08/anti-trans-matt-walsh-tries-to-lure-trans-people-into-fake-documentary/

Collman, Ashley (February 10, 2022). Trans activists accuse conservative podcaster Matt Walsh of trying to lure them into participating in an anti-trans documentary. Insider https://www.insider.com/matt-walsh-accused-luring-trans-people-into-anti-trans-doc-2022-2

Collman, Ashley (February 15, 2022). Conservative film crew continues to try and trick trans activists into appearing in mysterious documentary, Miss Nevada USA says. Insider https://www.insider.com/miss-nevada-usa-also-targeted-by-anti-trans-documentary-crew-2022-2

Walsh, Matt (2022) What Is a Woman?: One Man’s Journey to Answer the Question of a Generation. DW Books, ISBN 978-1956007008

Robinson, Nathan (June 15, 2022). “What Is A Woman?” is a feature-length exploration of conservative ignorance and prejudice. Current Affairs https://www.currentaffairs.org/2022/06/what-is-a-woman-is-a-feature-length-exploration-of-conservative-ignorance-and-prejudice

Resources

Gender Unity Project LLC (genderunityproject.org) [deleted – archive]

X/Twitter (x.com)

  • GenderUnityProj [suspended]

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

Daily Wire (dailywire.com)

IMDb (imdb.com)

The Daily Wire is a conservative American media organization. They are a major source of gender critical anti-transgender propaganda.

Key people

Additional contributors

  • James Beevers
  • Hank Berrien
  • Charlotte Pence Bond
  • Michael Brown
  • Dillon Burroughs
  • “Christina Buttons”
  • Gina Carano
  • David Cone
  • Brett Cooper
  • Jake Crain
  • Blain Crain
  • Brandon Drey
  • Mairead Elordi
  • Justin Folk
  • Amanda Harding
  • Ian Haworth
  • Georgia Mae Howe
  • Katie Jerkovich
  • Zach Jewell
  • Virginia Kruta
  • Leif Le Mahieu
  • David Marcus
  • Tim Meads
  • Mary Margaret Olohan
  • Tim Pearce
  • Amanda Prestigiacomo
  • John Rigolizzo
  • Luke Rosiak
  • Ryan Saavedra
  • Asche Schow
  • Dallas Sonnier
  • Charlotte Roland
  • Allison Williams
  • Greg Wilson
  • Ben Zeisloft

Resources

The Daily Wire (dailywire.com)

Data & Society is an independent nonprofit research organization which aims to “advance public understanding of the social and cultural implications of data-centric technologies and automation.”

2018 YouTube report

In 2018, Rebecca Lewis released a report on a network of YouTube accounts that uplifted people and channels associated with the alt-right or “reactionary right” movement. The report was focused on white nationalism and far-right extremism, but the same “mainstream” conservative accounts have frequently been involved in laundering anti-transgender extremism into mainstream media.

YouTube personalities mentioned include:

References

Lewis, Rebecca (September 18, 2018). Alternative Influence: Broadcasting the Reactionary Right on YouTube. Data & Society https://datasociety.net/library/alternative-influence/ [PDF]

Resources

Data & Society (datasociety.net)

Twitter (twitter.com)

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Medium (medium.com)

  • points.datasociety.net [deleted]

Mastodon (mastodon.social)

Jennifer Kabbany is an American writer and anti-transgender activist. Kabbany is editor of anti-trans publication The College Fix and has appeared in the media to attack trans people.

Background

Jennifer Messera “Jenn” Kabbany was born in 1975 and graduated from Rancho Buena Vista High School in 1993. After a year of community college, Kabbany transferred to Santa Barbara City College, earning an assopciate’s degree in 1997. Kabbany earned a bachelor’s degree from San Diego State in 2002.

Since marrying journalist Chad Christopher Dawson (born June 17, 1976), some publications have come out under the name Jennifer Kabbany Dawson. The couple has two children.

From 2002 to 2013, Kabbany worked in various capacities for the North County Times and San Diego Union-Tribune. Kabbany has worked for and contributed to FrontPage Magazine, The Weekly Standard, The Washington Times, and the National Review.

Anti-transgender activism

Kabbany has appeared on platforms with anti-trans views, including Benjamin Boyce, OANN, Andrew Klavan, Wilfred Reilly, and Debra Soh.

References

Blair, Billie G. (2011). How To Build A Fire: Organizational Change Management (1st Edition), edited by Jennifer Kabbany Dawson ISBN 978-0979588167

Kabbany, Jennifer June 3, 2012). Life lessons learned at college. San Diego Union-Tribune https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-kabbany-life-lessons-learned-at-college-2012jun03-story.html

Resources

Twitter (twitter.com)

The College Fix (thecollegefix.com)

Muck Rack (muckrack.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

Bari Weiss is an American opinion writer, author, and key historical figure in promoting and platforming anti-transgender extremism. Weiss is founder of anti-trans group blog The Free Press. In 2025, Weiss sold the blog to Paramount and was named editor-in-chief of CBS News.

While at the New York Times, Weiss popularized the intellectual dark web (IDW), a group of public intellectuals whose reactionary and anti-progressive views are also often anti-trans. The IDW has been described as “a gateway to the far right.”

Weiss has platformed, appeared with, promoted, and logrolled for other anti-transgender extremists and activists, including J.K. Rowling, Alice Dreger, Jesse Singal, Katie Herzog, Abigail Shrier, Sue Evans, Suzy Weiss, Caitlin Flanagan, Julie Bindel, Hannah Barnes, Carole Hooven, Leighton Woodhouse, Michael Shellenberger, J. Michael Bailey, Aaron Sibarium, Maud Maron, Jamie Reed, Andrew Sullivan, Lisa Selin Davis, and Helen Lewis.

Background

Bari M. Weiss was born March 25, 1984 to Lou and Amy Weiss, owners of Weisslines, a flooring retailer. Weiss has three siblings, including anti-trans activist Suzy Weiss. Weiss grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After high school, Weiss lived in Israel for about a year through the Nativ College Leadership Program sponsored by United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.

Weiss earned a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University in 2007.

Weiss is a prominent activist in pro-Zionist causes, a self-described “Zionist fanatic.” An article in Jewish Currents noted that “Weiss has a long history of claiming to support free speech while trying to curtail the speech of Palestinian rights advocates.” While at Columbia in 2004, Weiss helped promote but does not appear in the video Columbia Unbecoming, a collection of testimonies from 14 students who felt they were not able to express pro-Zionist views freely at Columbia University and Barnard College. The film was backed by The David Project, a pro-Israel group based in Boston that became Hillel in 2019. In December 2004 Weiss was involved in creating the organization Columbians for Academic Freedom, which targeted several professors in Columbia’s Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures (MEALAC) department. Weiss stated that Columbia Unbecoming was edited to include published comments by the targeted professors: “We put the mentions of the publications in the film to expose the racism of these professors.” Three of the targeted professors took leaves of absence following a Columbia investigation that largely cleared them of wrongdoing. In 2006, Weiss was editor of The Columbia Current, a student publication about Jewish affairs.

A 2005 article in the Columbia Blue and White noted:

Her name has become a buzzword in the suspended but probably not defunct MEALAC intimidation scandal. But once more, for the record, it is Bari Weiss, C’07. It began with a skimpy documentary from Boston-based Zionist group The David Project, which featured several Columbia students accusing Middle East Studies professors of intimidation. But the debate has since sprawled to include defenders of Israel and Palestine, students’ rights and professors’ rights, what constitutes academic freedom, and has pitched one small chunk of passionate students against another. As one of four founders of the controversial students’ rights group Columbians for Academic Freedom (CAF), and the only one yet to graduate, Bari seems next in line to succeed her new boyfriend and former General Studies Student Body President Ariel Beery, G’05, as the voice of slighted students everywhere.

Even though Bari has been to Israel about a dozen times, and deferred coming to Columbia for a year to work on a kibbutz, she doesn’t fit perfectly into what some conservative and Zionist activists seek in a talking head. For one thing, Bari wants to see a Palestinian state. Moreover, her activist work as the founder of the Columbia Coalition for Sudan may prevent her from becoming the new face of the Ziorganizers.

In 2007, while living in Israel on a Dorot Fellowship, Weiss wrote for Haaretz and The Forward. From 2011 to 2013, Weiss served as a senior editor at Tablet, then worked at the Wall Street Journal from 2013 to 2017. From 2017 until resigning in 2020, Weiss was a staff writer and editor for the opinion section of the New York Times.

While at the New York Times, Weiss published a 2018 puff piece promoting the “renegades” and “heretics” of the intellectual dark web. Anti-trans historian Alice Dreger backed out just prior to publication. People Weiss mentions in the piece include Sam Harris, Eric Weinstein, Bret Weinstein, Dave Rubin, Heather Heying, Jordan Peterson, Ben Shapiro, Douglas Murray, Maajid Nawaz, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Christina Hoff Sommers, Joe Rogan, Candace Owens, Milo Yiannopoulos, Charlie Kirk, Richard Dawkins, Claire Lehmann, Debra Soh, Michael Shermer, Steven Pinker, Stefan Molyneux, Mike Cernovich, Alex Jones, Charles Murray, and Kanye West.

Am I a member of this movement? A few months ago, someone suggested on Twitter that I should join this club I’d never heard of. I looked into it. Like many in this group, I am a classical liberal who has run afoul of the left, often for voicing my convictions and sometimes simply by accident. This has won me praise from libertarians and conservatives. And having been attacked by the left, I know I run the risk of focusing inordinately on its excesses — and providing succor to some people whom I deeply oppose.

Weiss authored the 2019 book How to Fight Anti-Semitism. The tactics Weiss learned though pro-Zionism reflect the similar tactics Weiss has used to attack trans rights, framing it as a “free speech” debate where anti-trans activists are fearless truth-tellers being oppressed and “cancelled” by “illiberal” opponents.

After anti-trans extremist Elon Musk bought Twitter in October 2022. Musk soon gave several writers access to internal Twitter documents. Dubbed the “Twitter Files,” the findings were released over the next several months. Authors were Bari Weiss as well as Matt Taibbi, Michael Shellenberger, Lee Fang, David Zweig, Alex Berenson, and Paul D. Thacker. Weiss published the second installment, on Twitter’s “visibility filtering” practices, on December 8, 2022. Then on December 12, 2022, Weiss published the fifth installment, regarding suspension of President Donald Trump’s Twitter account around the time of the January 6, 2021 United States Capitol attack.

Weiss was married to Jason Kass from 2013 to 2016 and married Nellie Bowles in 2021. They have two children.

Anti-transgender efforts

Weiss was a key figure in securing funding for anti-trans group Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism.

Weiss is also a founder of the University of Austin, a school conceived in 2021 by Joe Lonsdale, Pano Kanelos, Niall Ferguson, and Weiss. Anti-trans activists who have been listed as associated with the school include Coleman Hughes, Michael Shellenberger, Peter Boghossian, Richard Dawkins, Rob Henderson, Sohrab Ahmari, Jonathan Haidt, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Glenn Loury, Kathleen Stock, Andrew Sullivan, Steven Pinker, Caitlin Flanagan, Nadine Strossen, Tyler Cowen, and Larry Summers. One event sponsored by the school was a “debate” between Deirdre McCloskey and Kathleen Stock in which they largely agreed.

Weiss is the founder and editor of The Free Press (formerly Common Sense) and the host of the podcast Honestly. The Free Press has been described as “best known for anti-trans fearmongering.” In a 2024 New York Times profile, Matt Flegenheimer wrote:

Ms. Weiss and Ms. Bowles resettled in Los Angeles, telling associates it was a respite from the pitilessness of New York.

She assembled a small staff and promised to cover stories that others ignored while affording grace to those with whom she clashed.

At an early team retreat, where Ms. Weiss asked the group to share something that informed their values, she chose a clip from “Transparent,” the 2010s television series with a trans protagonist, which she said she found moving despite what she assumed were political differences with the show’s creator.

“Bari said that she’d chosen it because she never wanted to forget the humanity of those with whom she vehemently disagrees,” said an attendee, Megan Phelps-Roper, a former member of the Westboro Baptist Church (and now fierce opponent of its bigoted teachings) who worked with Ms. Weiss.

Podcast

Weiss began a podcast in 2021 titled Honestly with Bari Weiss and frequently has guests on to discuss their gender critical views, including:

See also on this site

References

Molloy, Parker (October 9, 2025). CBS News just made a terrible mistake. DAME https://www.damemagazine.com/2025/10/09/cbs-news-just-made-a-terrible-mistake/

Perry, Sophie (October 7, 2025). ‘Gender-critical’ queer journalist Bari Weiss appointed editor-in-chief of CBS News. PinkNews https://www.thepinknews.com/2025/10/07/bari-weiss-gender-critical-trans-cbs/

Redford, Patrick (October 6, 2025). Bari Weiss Signs Huge Deal To Usher CBS News Into Its Vichy Era. Defector https://defector.com/bari-weiss-signs-huge-deal-to-usher-cbs-news-into-its-vichy-era

Villareal, Daniel (October 6, 2025). Queer “anti-woke” journalist Bari Weiss is now CBS News’ editor-in-chief. That’s troubling. LGBTQ Nation https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/10/queer-anti-woke-journalist-bari-weiss-is-now-cbs-news-editor-in-chief-thats-troubling/

Wiggins, Christopher (October 6, 2025). Anti-trans queer journalist Bari Weiss named editor in chief of CBS News. The Advocate https://www.advocate.com/news/bari-weiss-cbs-news-chief

Wiggins, Christopher (October 6, 2025). Who is Bari Weiss, the right-wing anti-trans queer woman being given the keys to CBS News? The Advocate https://www.advocate.com/news/who-is-cbs-bari-weiss

López, Quispe (October 6, 2025). Who Is Bari Weiss? What to Know About the New CBS News Leader and Her Anti-Trans Past. them https://www.them.us/story/bari-weiss-cbs-news-free-press-anti-trans

Ferguson, Malcolm (October 2, 2025). Bari Weiss, Who Thinks Everything Is Woke, Will Be CBS Editor in Chief. Anti-woke, anti-trans, pro-Israel Bari Weiss will soon lead one of the biggest media companies in the U.S. The New Republic https://newrepublic.com/post/201302/bari-weiss-cbs-editor-in-chief

Mirkinson, Jack (September 4, 2025). Vile Grifters Are Taking Over Establishment Media. The Nation https://www.thenation.com/article/society/bari-weiss-free-press-cbs-news-paramount/

Hurwitz, Sophie (August 19, 2025). I Went to the Free Press Party for Under-30s. All I Got Was Ennui. The Nation https://www.thenation.com/article/society/i-went-to-the-free-press-party-for-under-30s-all-i-got-was-ennui/

Sweeney, Billie Jean (July 24, 2025). “A Shameful Chapter”: How Anti-Trans Disinformation Drowned Out Science and Gripped the Mainstream. Assigned Media https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/anti-trans-disinformation-drowned-out-science-mainstream

Staff report (November 15, 2024). “Scapegoating trans people isn’t it.” Jane Coaston’s Blistering Critique of Bogus Election Year Blame Game. GLAAD https://glaad.org/scapegoating-trans-people-isnt-it-jane-coastons-blistering-critique-of-bogus-election-year-blame-game/

Villareal, Daniel (November 8, 2024). Lesbian Fox News guest blames “gender fluidity” for Democrats’ Election Day losses. LGBTQ Nation https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2024/11/lesbian-fox-news-guest-blames-gender-fluidity-for-democrats-election-day-losses/

Green, Emma (June 5, 2023). Is It Possible to Be Both Moderate and Anti-Woke? A small nonprofit launched by the journalist Bari Weiss devolves into tribalism. The New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-activism/is-it-possible-to-be-both-moderate-and-anti-woke

Ennis, Dawn (May 14, 2023). AAPA conference cancels anti-trans Bari Weiss after complaints. Los Angeles Blade https://www.losangelesblade.com/2023/05/14/aapa-conference-cancels-anti-trans-bari-weiss-after-complaints/

Carman, Ashley (April 21, 2023). A Podcast About J.K. Rowling’s ‘Cancellation’ Has Reached Over 5 Million Listeners. Bloomberg https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-04-21/bari-weiss-s-hit-podcast-about-j-k-rowling-s-beliefs-on-trans-people

Henry, Vesper; Tirell, Alyssa (April 13, 2023). Timeline: The unfolding saga between The Free Press and a Missouri gender clinic. Media Matters https://www.mediamatters.org/bari-weiss/timeline-unfolding-saga-between-free-press-and-missouri-gender-clinic

Zimmerman, E. Alexander (April 9, 2023). Opinion: Legacy media’s coverage of transgender people is disingenuous and irresponsible. Niner Times https://www.ninertimes.com/opinion/opinion-legacy-media-s-coverage-of-transgender-people-is-disingenuous-and-irresponsible/article_ef033df8-d684-11ed-90f7-03ed83da7462.html

Wiggins, Christopher (April 5, 2023). Mom’s Interview With Anti-Trans Media Draws Criticism After Teen Responds. The Advocate https://www.advocate.com/media/transgender-teen-mother-interview

Riedel, Samantha (April 6, 2023). A Trans Teen Is Debunking an Article That Attacked Their Gender Clinic. them https://www.them.us/story/trans-teen-debunking-gender-clinic-article

Urquhart, Evan (April 6, 2023). Emily Yoffe Takes Sides Against a Vulnerable Youth. Assigned Media https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/emily-yoffe-takes-sides

Cooper, Ryan (March 2, 2023). The Useful Idiots Fueling the Right-Wing Transphobia Panic. The American Prospect https://prospect.org/blogs-and-newsletters/tap/2023-03-02-right-wing-transphobia-panic/

Krueger, Katherine (March 2, 2023). Bari Weiss Is Full of Shit: Her big trans panic story turned out to be nonsense, just like everything else she does. Discourse Blog https://www.discourseblog.com/p/bari-weiss-is-full-of-shit

Urquhart, Evan (March 2, 2023). What is Bari Weiss’ “Free Press”? Assigned Media https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/what-is-the-free-press

Urquhart, Evan (February 10, 2023). Missouri Woman Claims Gender Clinic Pushes Transition on Youth. Assigned Media https://www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-news/reed-allegations-distorted-vague

Urquhart, Evan (December 9, 2022). The Anti-Trans Hate Account That Bari Weiss Says Is Yet Another Right-Wing Voice Censored by Twitter. Slate https://slate.com/technology/2022/12/twitter-files-bari-weiss-libsoftik-elon-musk.html

Weiss cites the platform’s treatment of Libs of TikTok, a Twitter account that remains active despite its connection to multiple acts of terror and intimidation from far-right extremists, including multiple bomb threats against a children’s hospital. This portrayal of Libs of TikTok as representative of accounts posting conservative views is alarming. […]

Weiss may be best known for a column introducing “the intellectual dark web,” a group of anti-progressive types fixated on the concept of cancel culture and the idea that liberals routinely censor conservative ideas. With the Twitter Files, she describes herself leading a team that has been given “broad and expanding access” to Twitter’s internal documents and communications. This group includes opinion writer Abigail Shrier, who is best known for writing Irreversible Damage, a book opposing transition for female-assigned people on the grounds that an unproven social contagion is the root cause of transmasculine identities.

It is unsurprising that this team highlighted the treatment of an account notorious for its anti-trans activity. But Libs of TikTok goes far beyond expressing political opinions about transgender issues. That would certainly be allowed under Twitter’s policies, which exist to curb harassment, violence, and hate speech, not opinions. In fact, Libs of TikTok has repeatedly highlighted specific individuals, events, and institutions with inflammatory language, often falsely suggesting they are guilty of heinous acts against young children. The account’s spotlight has repeatedly resulted in harassment and violent threats toward the individuals involved, in a process typically referred to as stochastic terrorism. Those targeted include doctors and hospitals that provide gender-affirming care for youth, teachers and schools with inclusive policies, and all-ages or youth-focused drag events.

Contrary to the extremist rhetoric, gender-affirming care is supported by all mainstream medical organizations as potentially lifesaving for young people with gender dysphoria. It is also perfectly possible to speak with children about the existence of transgender people and about families headed by same-sex parents in an age-appropriate, nonsexual way.

Winters, Kelley (October 9, 2021). Transgender Affirmation in Retrograde. Trans Policy Reform Blog https://transpolicyreform.wordpress.com/2021/10/09/transgender-affirmation-in-retrograde/

Gill-Peterson, Jules (September 13, 2021). From Gender Critical to QAnon: Anti-Trans Politics and the Laundering of Conspiracy. Stated disavowal of their own bias doesn’t account for how liberals rhetorically shelter political violence. New Inquiry https://thenewinquiry.com/from-gender-critical-to-qanon-anti-trans-politics-and-the-laundering-of-conspiracy/

Greenwald, Glenn (March 8, 2018). NYT’s Bari Weiss Falsely Denies Her Years of Attacks on the Academic Freedom of Arab Scholars Who Criticize Israel. The Intercept_ https://theintercept.com/2018/03/08/the-nyts-bari-weiss-falsely-denies-her-years-of-attacks-on-the-academic-freedom-of-arab-scholars-who-criticize-israel/

Roth, Jordan (May 26, 2005). An academic freedom fighter. Jerusalem Post https://www.proquest.com/docview/319478492?sourcetype=Newspapers alt url [full text] https://www.meforum.org/campus-watch/an-academic-freedom-fighter

Swindler, Josie (September 2005). Campus Characters. [p. 5-6] The Blue and White https://s3.amazonaws.com/BWARCHIVE/2005/sep05.pdf

Coverage in anti-trans press

Stiles, Andrew (October 7, 2025). Liberal Media, Activists Silent as Bari Weiss Makes LGBT History at CBS News. Washington Free Beacon https://freebeacon.com/media/liberal-media-activists-silent-as-bari-weiss-makes-lgbtq-history-at-cbs-news/

Testa, Jessica (October 6, 2025). How Bari Weiss Won: At The Free Press, she battled “wokeness” and buddied up with billionaires. Now she’s the editor in chief of CBS News. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/business/media/bari-weiss-free-press-cbs-news.html

Flegenheimer, Matt (August 11, 2024). Bari Weiss Knows Exactly What She’s Doing. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/11/business/media/bari-weiss-free-press.html

Selected writing by Weiss

Weiss, Bari (July 15, 2023). When Ideology Corrupts Medicine—and How One Reporter Exposed it. A conversation with Hannah Barnes about the medical scandal at Tavistock, the UK’s flagship youth gender clinic. The Free Press https://www.thefp.com/p/when-gender-ideology-corrupts-medicine-tavistock

Weiss, Bari (July 14, 2020). Resignation letter. https://www.bariweiss.com/resignation-letter [archive]

Stephens, Bret; Weiss Bari (October 10, 2018). Why Is Israel Scared of This Young American? New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/10/opinion/israel-lara-alqasem-bds.html

In March, the writer Andrew Sullivan described each of us as a “Zionist fanatic of near-unhinged proportions.” It was a cheap shot. The word “near” should not have been a part of the sentence.

Otherwise, we happily plead guilty as charged.

Weiss, Bari (May 8, 2018). Meet the Renegades of the Intellectual Dark Web. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/08/opinion/intellectual-dark-web.html

Weiss, Bari (September 12, 2017). Opinion: A Political Conservative Goes to Berkeley. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/12/opinion/conservative-berkeley-ben-shapiro.html

There’s no question that Ben Shapiro loves to provoke college students. He once brought a diaper to a campus speech to offer to “self-indulgent pathetic children who can’t handle anyone with an opposing point of view.” In another, while entertaining a question from a young woman who called for greater sensitivity toward transgender people, he shot back: “If I call you a moose are you suddenly a moose?”

Yet this sharp-tongued Never Trumper was also, according to the Anti-Defamation League, by far the most bullied Jewish journalist of 2016

Weiss, Bari (August 1, 2017). When Progressives Embrace Hate. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/01/opinion/womens-march-progressives-hate.html

We just saw what happens to legitimate political parties when they fall prey to movements that are, at base, anti-American. That is true of the populist, racist alt-right that helped deliver Mr. Trump the White House and are now hollowing out the Republican Party. And it can be true of the progressive “resistance” — regardless of how chic, Instagrammable and celebrity-laden the movement may seem. 

Weiss, Bari (November 16, 2004). In the Name of Academic Freedom. Columbia Spectator https://www.columbiaspectator.com/2004/11/16/name-academic-freedom/

Book

Weiss, Bari (2019). How to Fight Anti-Semitism. Crown, ISBN 978-0593136058

Media

Free Speech Champions with Inaya Folarin Iman, Bari Weiss, Helen Lewis, Katie Herzog, and Mick Hume (May 22, 2021). Can truth survive the new journalism? Feat. Bari Weiss, Helen Lewis, Katie Herzog & Mick Hume https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2wz6SuQSuY

Resources

Bari Weiss (bariweiss.com) [archive]

The David Project (davidproject.org) [archive]

The Current (columbia.edu/cu/current)

  • Ediotrial Staff (2006) [archive]
  • columbia.edu/cu/current/editors.html
  • columbiacurrent.org [archive]

Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)

Substack (substack.com)

  • bariweiss
  • earlier url: thefp.com/people/2067309-bari-weiss
  • original url: bariweiss.substack.com/people/2067309-bari-weiss
  • The Free Press
  • thefp.com
  • Common Sense with Bari Weiss
  • bariweiss.substack.com [archive]
  • commonsense.substack.com [archive]
  • commonsense.news [archive]

Honestly (honestlypod.com)

Tablet (tabletmag.com)

  • Bari Weiss
  • tabletmag.com/contributors/bari-weiss

LinkedIn (linkedin.com)

Forward (forward.com)

Note: In 2025, this site phased out AI illustrations after artist feedback. The previous illustration is here.

Christina Hoff Sommers is an American author and anti-transgender activist. Sommers is critic of “gender feminism” or “victim feminism” and has supported many anti-trans activists over the years.

Background

Christina Marie Hoff Sommers was born on September 28, 1950 in Petaluma, California. Sommers earned a bachelor’s degree from New York University in 1971 and a doctorate in philosophy from Brandeis University in 1975.

After writing several works on ethics, Sommers began a career questioning “gender feminism,” a set of tenets central to third-wave feminism. Sommers went on to write several books on the subject:

  • Who Stole Feminism?: How Women Have Betrayed Women (1994)
  • The War Against Boys (2000)
  • Freedom Feminism: Its Surprising History and Why It Matters Today (2013)

Sommers married philosopher Frederic Tamler “Fred” Sommers (1923 – 2014). Sommers’ stepchild is philosopher Saul Tamler Sommers (born 1970).

Anti-transgender activism

Sommers is sympathetic to other anti-transgender activists and frequently platforms people with anti-transgender views. From 2018 to 2022 Sommers and Danielle Crittenden hosted the podcast The Femsplainers, which described trans women as “men identifying as women.” The hosts have suggested that trans women would violently attack people who questioned their gender identity. Their many anti-transgender guests over the years include Jordan Peterson, Debra Soh, Claire Lehmann, Meghan Murphy, Caitlin Flanagan, Emily Yoffe, Heather Heying, Bridget Phetasy, Andrew Sullivan, Meghan Daum, Mona Charen, Dave Rubin, Abigail Shrier, Bari Weiss, Katie Herzog, Corinna Cohn, Angus Fox, “Two mothers,” Carole Hooven, and Helen Joyce.

References

 29 January 2018 8:15 AM, @Femsplainers.

TERFWars: Men identifying as women are challenging women’s sports, women’s groups, women’s spaces, and even the very definition of womanhood. Disagree — and they may threaten to beat the crap out of you. New episode w #MeghanMurphy. L

Resources

American Enterprise Institute (aei.org)

X/Twitter (x.com)

IMDb (imdb.com)