Scott Tong is an American author and anti-transgender activist. Tong has covered trans healthcare for minors by uncritically platforming anti-trans activist Jennifer Block, former ex-trans activist Carey Callahan, and conservative transgender psychologist Erica Anderson, but providing no counterpoint to their misinformation.
Background
Scott Abundo Marco Tong was born on May 22, 1969 in Poughkeepsie, New York. Tong earned a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University in 1991.
Tong was a producer and off-air reporter for the PBS NewsHour. Tong served as a reporter for Marketplace starting in 2004, establishing their China bureau. In 2013, Tong was awarded the Knight-Wallace journalism fellowship at the University of Michigan.
Tong is author of the 2017 book A Village With My Name: A Family History of China’s Opening to the World.
Tong has appeared on PBS NewsHour and at the Aspen Ideas Festival and TedxFoggybottom. A biography on Tong’s website cited coverage including “the 2016-2017 globalization backlash; Water: The High Price of Cheap; Venezuela’s economic collapse; the triumph of the shareholder value model in the U.S. and the Price of Profits; the challenge of long-term job creation in the United States; the 2011 Japan tsunami and recovery; the 2011 famine in the Horn of Africa; and the economics of one child in China.”
Tong lives in Arlington, Virginia with spouse Catherine Lynn Thayer “Cathy” Tong (born 1968) and their children.
References
Staff report (February 27, 2019). Globalization Leads Reporter Back to School. Georgetown Magazine https://today.advancement.georgetown.edu/georgetown-magazine/2019/globalization-leads-reporter-back-school/
Brown, Jeffrey (Mar 31, 2016). Oil-rich Venezuela suffers as global prices plummet. PBS NewsHour https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/oil-rich-venezuela-suffers-as-global-prices-plummet
Aspen Ideas Festival (2013). “Marketplace” Presents: The Consumer Arms Race. Speakers: Kai Ryssdal, Nancy F. Koehn, Jocelyn Wyatt, Alexis Ohanian, Sarah Heyward, Scott Tong. https://www.aspenideas.org/session/marketplace-presents-consumer-arms-race [archive]
Brown, Eden (January 23, 2019). Local Author Tells Story of Discovery. Arlington Connection https://m.arlingtonconnection.com/news/2019/jan/23/local-author-tells-story-discovery/
Selected trans coverage by Tong
Tong, Scott (March 21, 2025). Trans health expert on navigating the use of treatments like puberty blockers for minors in the U.S. [with Erica Anderson] Here & Now https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2025/03/21/transgender-kids-health-care
Tong, Scott (March 20, 2025). How the UK’s ban on puberty blockers and hormones for trans kids is affecting gender-affirming care. [with Jennifer Block] Here & Now https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2025/03/20/uk-gender-affirming-care-kids
Tong, Scott (February 28, 2025). Iowa lawmakers pass bill eliminating transgender civil rights protections (with Katarina Sostaric). Here & Now https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2025/02/28/iowa-transgender-civil-rights
Tong, Scott (January 3, 2024 ). Why one Ohio therapist changed her mind about gender-affirming care for kids. [with Carey Callahan] KUAF https://www.kuaf.com/2024-01-03/why-one-ohio-therapist-changed-her-mind-about-gender-affirming-care-for-kids
Tong, Scott (March 16, 2023). The 3-week filibuster over Nebraska anti-trans bill is finally over. https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2023/03/16/anti-trans-bill-nebraska
Media
TEDx Talks (Aug 1, 2017). Who do corporations really work for? | Scott Tong | TEDxFoggyBottom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2jkWwlFGFY
Staff report (October 17, 2024). Scott Tong-Between the One and the Many. Sense of Community https://www.pbs.org/video/scott-tong-between-the-one-and-the-many-vit7og/
Resources
Scott Tong (scotttong.com) [2018–2023 – archive]
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
Wilson Center (wilsoncenter.org)
- Scott Tong
- wilsoncenter.org/person/scott-tong
WBUR (media.wbur.org)
- Scott Tong
- media.wbur.org/wp/2022/01/Scott-Tong-Bio.pdf
- Here and Now
- wbur.org/radio/programs/hereandnow
- original url heareandnow.org
The Globalist (theglobalist.com)
- Scott Tong
- theglobalist.com/contributors/scott-tong
X/Twitter (x.com)