Weekly Roundup
Weekly Roundup
Reading, watching, & listening list
The Cancellation Playbook
For FAIR’s Substack, Rosie Kay writes the inaugural essay of our new series “Make Them Hear You: Stories from FAIR Artists.” She details the cancellation playbook—and how we can collectively rewrite it to heal the arts.
It is time for us to be these leaders. To rewrite the playbook. It will take a collective effort to restore balance within arts institutions, to remove the chilling effect of cancellation, and to bring back a sense of vibrancy and collaboration within the arts. By understanding the techniques used to stifle artistic freedom, we can call it out and stop it from happening to others. We now need to unlearn the habit of fear. Courage calls to courage, and you’re not alone. Join us as we throw out the old playbook and replace it with something new—together, we can stop cancellation campaigns before they start, and finally begin to heal.
A Researcher Found That Voters Might Be Less Racist and Sexist Than We Think -- But Journalists Weren’t Interested in the Story
For his Substack, The American Saga, FAIR Advisor Zaid Jilani writes about why we shouldn't be afraid of publishing good news, even if it goes against popular fatalistic narratives.
It should hardly be surprising that Americans think they live in a massively racist and sexist country if you can hardly open the newspaper without being bombarded with a story about how a lady in Central Park getting into a verbal altercation about dog walking is an indictment of all-pervasive American racism. It doesn’t have to be this way. “We live in really, really amazing times. It’s actually really unbelievable how much we’ve changed in the last decade, about feminist issues or anti-racist issues, really, really quite unbelievable,” van Oosten told me. If we want people to believe that the world isn’t quite as bad as we imagine it, we have to be willing to publish the truth, even when it’s positive.
The Media is Trying to Start a Civil War
Jillian Michaels and FAIR Advisor Michael Shellenberger discuss gender-affirming care for children, the Cass Report, Abigail Shrier's book "Irreversible Damage," and the W Path files.
Balls to the Walz
For her Substack, BROADVIEW, FAIR Advisor Lisa Selin Davis writes about the recent controversy over Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signing of the HF146, known colloquially as a trans sanctuary state bill.
Most people aren’t single-issue voters. For Democrats, Walz probably checks a lot of other boxes, and seems like a genuinely nice guy. But a majority of Americans polled don’t support the medical transition of minors, and I bet if they really understood how this law could be wielded, they wouldn’t support these laws, either.
My hope is that Walz will use this opportunity to shift gears on the subject, and the mainstream media will press him on the legality and ethics of this bill. But don’t worry—I am prepared for my hopes to be dashed.
How Did Planned Parenthood Become One of the Country’s Largest Suppliers of Testosterone?
For The Free Press, Jennifer Block writes about Cristina Hineman, who started testosterone after a 30-minute consult at Planned Parenthood and is now suing them.
The last time she went to Planned Parenthood in March of 2023, Hineman, then 19, held back tears as she told the nurse practitioner she had come to realize, with horror that still grips her, that it all had been a mistake. The consent form Hineman had signed stated, “You can choose to stop taking testosterone at any time. If you decide to do that, talk to your doctor or nurse.” But Hineman discovered there was no protocol for stopping, no handout. Her clinician had no advice except to contact a gender therapist. Hineman left a voicemail but said she never got a return call.
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