September Reads
On the Misuse of Language and Misunderstanding Women's Sports
This month has seen the publication of two pieces I’m excited to share with my Substack readers. The first is an essay in Providence titled “How Liberals Hijacked Language.” If you’re of the liberal persuasion, don’t stop reading now, because I promise I have plenty of criticism for conservatives in this piece, too. This essay was the fruit of years of frustration both with fellow conservatives’ devaluing of language and liberals’ skill in manipulating it.
https://providencemag.com/2025/09/how-liberals-hijacked-language/
I was also delighted to see that Touchstone magazine published my Letter to the Editor in their September/October issue. Back in their May/June issue, Anthony Esolen had published an essay titled “Net Effects.” I have long admired Dr. Esolen’s work, and I was the proud owner of his translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy in college. I was therefore surprised and disappointed when I flipped open that issue of Touchstone and read his essay arguing that women should not play sports. (You can read his full essay here.) Although he exempted my sport, figure skating, from his critique (along with gymnastics and dance), suffice it to say that the athlete in me couldn’t rest until I had expressed my strong disagreement in writing. I would have loved to go into more depth on this topic, but letters to the editor have word limits, so I had to stick to the essentials. A taste:
Unfortunately, you can only access my letter (and Dr. Esolen’s response) if you have a subscription to Touchstone. (If you do, you can access the full issue here.) While Dr. Esolen and I clearly still disagree on this topic, I am grateful to Touchstone for publishing this exchange, and to Dr. Esolen for his gracious reply.