July 14, 2025 edition
Paying subscribers receive early access to this episode. It will go out to everyone on Monday.
This episode starts with a Very Special introduction in which I explain what’s been going on with the podcast over the last six months (lots of different offerings, which possibly caused some confusion) and talk about the ongoing challenges of the subscriber model. (Short version: please stick with me.)
I then have the great pleasure of interviewing evolutionary biologist Dr. Carole Hooven, who’s been a speaker at several Unspeakeasy events but never actually a guest on the podcast. As we approach the four-year anniversary of the publication of her book, T: The Story of Testosterone, the Hormone that Dominates and Divides Us, Carole recounts how a media appearance defending “male” and “female” as meaningful scientific categories led to unexpected controversy and her eventual departure from Harvard, where she’d taught for many years. She talks about how ideological influence has made even basic scientific facts about sex contentious and cites the importance of precise use of language, especially on topics like sex differences and women’s rights.
She also argues that a predominantly female, progressive teaching culture favors girls’ learning styles—while boys, wired differently by biology, are stigmatized and alienated.
Finally, we discuss a recent controversy surrounding her husband, MIT philosophy professor Alex Byrne (who was a guest on the podcast back in March 2024), after he was invited to contribute to a U.S. Health and Human Services report on sex and gender. Although the team was politically diverse, Alex’s name was leaked via PDF metadata, and he faced fierce criticism from activist students and colleagues.
Want to follow more about the Alex saga? Here is a good place to start.
Links to Carole’s work
TED talk: How Testosterone and Culture Shape Behavior, 2024
Appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, 2021
Appearance on Fox News about “woke” medical schools, 2021
Article in The Free Press about leaving Harvard, 2024
Guest Bio:
Dr. Carole Hooven is a human evolutionary biologist, the author of T: The Story of Testosterone, the Hormone that Dominates and Divides Us, and a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
Carole will be a guest speaker at the big Unspeakeasy weekend-a-palooza, October 11-12 in New York City. Use promo code HOOVEN1800 for $700 off the ticket price.
Info and tickets here.
Housekeeping
📖 Order my new book, The Catastrophe Hour: Selected Essays, on Amazon or directly from the publisher here.
📘 The Catastrophe Hour book club for yearly paying subscribers starts June 11 and will run for 14 consecutive Wednesdays, 3-4 pm ET. We will meet on Zoom.
📹 The Unspeakeasy Live livestream takes place every Thursday at 3:00 p.m. ET. Look for a notification on your Substack app when we’re live.
Stuff to read and listen to:
New York Times, Jan 31, 2025: The L.A. Fires Taught Me To Accept Help
Recent(ish) solo episodes :
January 9: The First 24 Hours
January 16: The Immaterial World
January 27: Housing Wars
February 5: Remembrance Of Things Past
February 13: What Is A "Catastrophe?"
March 2: A Mental Infection
March 31: Dignity Is Out Of Style
📺 Visit The Unspeakable on YouTube.
✈️ The Unspeakeasy’s 2025 retreat season is underway. It includes a just-announced COED retreat with more attendees and multiple speakers. October 11-12 in New York City. Programming and ticketing info here.
🎫 But wait, there’s more . . . I will be In Conversation With™ (remember how much Joel Stein hated that phase?) with the unparalleled Lionel Shriver in NYC on September 3 talking about The Catastrophe Hour. This is happening at The Village Underground comedy club from 6 to 7:30pm. Tickets are on sale now and are just $18 if you purchase before August 1.
Oh, and thank you to The Free Press for including The Catastrophe Hour in its summer reading guide. Emily Yoffe not only liked the book but called it “a beautiful object, and so packable it can fit in a purse.” It’s true!
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