Are we sure America isn't at war in Ukraine?
My NYT debut, plus plans for a Substack book club
Hello again!
First, briefly, a few dozen of you signed up so I’d have the minimum list size to apply for an invite-only training run by Substack. I want to thank you again—and let you know I got in! The first session is today, so we can safely assume my emails will be way better from here on out.
Next, I’ve shared this all over social media, so it’s probably old news by now, but I’m still very excited about my first piece at The New York Times:
Are we sure America is not at war in Ukraine?
My article was also featured in Tuesday’s opinion newsletter from the Times, where the editor I worked with most closely wrote:
This [question of whether Americans would know if we’d joined a war] drew me in when I read the first draft of Kristian’s essay. It seemed like a good time to dig into what exactly it means to “join” a war, and during the editing process Kristian and I went back and forth on that verb, “join,” and how much it could either convey or conceal. It was so evasive in this context, we concluded, that it’s used only twice, and very carefully, in the final essay.
I can’t resist an argument that tries to excavate the true meaning of words, particularly the words that officials use to communicate with us. And when it comes to the decision to go to war it seems especially important that we all understand what we’re saying to one another.
It does indeed, and you can read the whole piece here. (That’s a gift link to let you hop the paywall.)
I’ve also published a handful of other articles since I was last in touch:
Elections are too online | Reason
Biden’s dangerous equivocation on Ukraine | The Hill
Evangelicals can agree: We’re women, not ‘bodies with vaginas’ | Christianity Today
Why aren’t we out of Yemen yet? | Reason
Next time I email, I’ll share an excerpt of Untrustworthy which will appear in the July/August issue of Christianity Today. It’s about expertise, why we doubt it, and how to wield it well.
Join my book club
I thought I’d already mentioned my plan to host a book club about Untrustworthy exclusively for subscribers here, but I can’t seem to find it in my recent emails. Since that (real or imagined) announcement, I’ve decided to do four weeks of Q&A from mid-October to mid-November, starting right after the release on Oct. 11.
For the first three weeks, we’ll take three chapters at a time, and I’ll answer subscriber questions in posts here. You can ask about themes in the book, my research process, connections to current events—whatever strikes your fancy! And for the fourth week and final two chapters, I’ll schedule a Zoom meeting (or similar) to chat live.
My very first blog, back in 2009, had a Q&A format, and I did a lot of Q&A in my early years on Tumblr, too (shout-out to anyone on this list from that era!). I always liked the format, partly because it’s a break from coming up with my own topic ideas and partly because I enjoy the challenge of concise, accessible explanation it brings.
All that to say: I’m looking forward to the book club and hope you’ll participate!
Lastly, you can still pre-order at a steep discount + free shipping from my publisher, and pre-orders (from anywhere) are really important to a book’s success these days. I’ll also have info soon on how you can get free, pre-release, digital access to Untrustworthy as well as an opportunity to win a hard copy.
Best,
Bonnie
