No Apologies: How to Find and Free Your Voice in the Age of Outrage―Lessons for the Silenced Majority
In No Apologies, Katherine Brodsky argues that it's time for principled individuals to hit the unmute button and resist the authoritarians among us who name, shame, and punish. Recognizing that speaking authentically is easier said than done, she spent two years researching and interviewing those who have been subjected to public harassment and abuse for daring to transgress the new orthodoxy or criticize a new taboo. While she found that some of these individuals navigated the outrage mob better than others, and some suffered worse personal and professional effects than others, all of the individuals with whom she spoke remain unapologetic over their choice to express themselves authentically. In sharing their stories, which span the arts, education, journalism, and science, Brodsky uncovers lessons for all of us in the silenced majority to push back against the dangerous illiberalism of the vocal minority that tolerates no dissent-- and to find and free our own voices.
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I read this book over a year ago when it was first published. My role as a tenured professor at Berea College ended in 2018 due to a few ravenous political ideologs and an administration that saw a survey I’d created as a way to eliminate a persistent critic. Katherine’s own experience coupled with her deep curiosity and engaging reporting was very helpful and reassuring for me: I was not alone. The experiences of the many targets she describes show a pattern of institutional betrayal in the face of mob hysterics. The alleged crimes are often seemingly trivial, and we targets seem to have been almost randomly selected. Rep Jasmine Crockett recently asserted that “only mediocre white boys” had anything to fear from cancel culture. No Apologies provides strong contrary evidence. Further evidence focused on investigations of academics can be found in Nick Wolfinger’s excellent anthology, Professors Speak Out (2025).
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