Fake Debates and Late Converts

Malcolm Gladwell's Trans Sports Apology and What It Tells Us About This Whole Debate

Catch-up service:
Suicide as a Bargaining Tactic
Notes on the Greatest Night In Pop
Rationalist Cults of Silicon Valley
The Data Says We’re Doing Fine So Why Are We Furious?
How Humans Got Language
The Diderot Effect

NOTE: this one is ‘too long for email’ so click through at the end or click on the title above to read online.

On Monday 29 September I’m going to be talking John & Paul at a 5x15 event (five speakers talk for 15 minutes each), along with a great panel of speakers including Geoff Dyer and Laura Bates. It’s in a lovely venue in Notting Hill. Come along if you can.

Some exciting news: John & Paul has been longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize, the most prestigious nonfiction book prize. It’s in fine company, as you can see below. I must say I think our spine comes off pretty well here…

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On a recent sports podcast, Malcolm Gladwell talked about his love of running, his views on youth sports (he half-jokingly suggests that parents should be banned from watching their children compete), and how the ‘ten thousand hours rule’ gets misinterpreted. It’s an entertaining 108 minutes, only about two minutes of which have drawn attention.

Those were the minutes in which Gladwell declared opposition to transwomen athletes being allowed to compete against women. It’s the first time he has done so. Unusually, for a high-profile figure, he expressed a clear and unambiguous view on this thorny topic, while admitting to getting it flat-out wrong in the past. For this he has been roundly, angrily condemned, mainly by the people he is now agreeing with.

This week, I want to delve into this affair (I’m reclaiming ‘delve’ from the machines) because I think it tells us a lot about the debate around transgender participation in sport, and also about the trans debate more generally. I also want to explain why, with qualifications, I think Gladwell ought to be applauded rather than condemned.

First, a little background.