Recent articles
April 9, 2026
Young Adult Novels, Starring Various Pundits, That I Made Up
Matt Yglesias & the Legend of Big Muggy. Everyone’s favorite contrarian blogger searches for a mythical giant turtle in the Amazon, risking life and limb in his quest to bring sensible centrism...
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April 6, 2026
Real Feelings for Fake Beauty
the desire to live in a beautiful built environment can't be snarked away
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April 2, 2026
Perhaps There Are Options Other Than "Toxic Confidence" and Insecurity-as-Identity
everything that is not forbidden is compulsory
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March 30, 2026
We Have to Hold the Line Against the Cruel Pseudoscience of Facilitated Communication
the New York Times seems hellbent on restoring public faith in the comprehensively discredited practice
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March 27, 2026
Stephen Policoff's "A Ribbon For Your Hair"
not for the faint of heart
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March 25, 2026
Subscriber Writing, March 2026
Hello folks!
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March 24, 2026
When People Say They Want to Send Their Kid to a Good School, They Usually Mean Schools Without "Bad Kids"
parents intuitively understand that a school's "quality" is a product of how its student body was selected
freddiedeboer.substack.com
March 23, 2026
Stat Inflation is Bigger Than Any of the NBA's (Many) Other Problems
who cares about a triple double anymore? who is thrilled by a 50 point game?
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March 20, 2026
Great Writers "Tell" All the Time
there is no alternative, really
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March 17, 2026
Overlearning
I largely agree with this piece by Maarten Boudry called “The Fallacy Fallacy.” The central insight is quite correct: the kind of fallacy hunting that’s become popular in the era of online forums a...
freddiedeboer.substack.com
March 14, 2026
There Are Many Different Ways to Commodify Black Culture
white praise is still the white gaze
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March 12, 2026
What People Want From Our Schools Has Never Been Accomplished, Anywhere, Ever
educating an entire society into prosperity is a radical modern fantasy, not "getting things back to normal"
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March 11, 2026
Call For Subscriber Writing, March 2026
It’s that time again!
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March 7, 2026
The NFL Media is Structurally Anti-Player
even though the people within it generally aren't
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March 6, 2026
The Incel's Veto and Other Observations
why have those with the least exposure to sex and romance become so influential in our public debates about them?
freddiedeboer.substack.com
March 4, 2026
Twice-Annual Subscription Drive
I am still trying my best, and it's still $5
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March 2, 2026
Hollywood Franchise Reboots Are Full of Overpowering, Stultifying Reverence
I don't need new movies to venerate older movies!
freddiedeboer.substack.com
February 27, 2026
If the Las Vegas Raiders Don't Trade Down From the First Overall Pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, They'll Regret It
the team has much deeper problems than Fernando Mendoza can fix
freddiedeboer.substack.com
February 25, 2026
This Tourette's Controversy is What You Get When Disability Stops Being a Medical Reality and Becomes a Social Culture
people who deny that Tourette's can provoke racist outbursts are wrong, but when we've turned disability into a social prop, what do you expect?
freddiedeboer.substack.com
February 23, 2026
What Eileen Gu Has Done is Totally Ordinary, Usually Invites Zero Controversy, and Has Routinely Benefitted the United States
the heart of witless nationalism is "it's different when we do it"
freddiedeboer.substack.com
February 20, 2026
Cozy Girl Lifestyle is a Rational Response to a Winner-Take-All Culture
parleys don't hit and followers don't accumulate, but hot chocolate never fails
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February 17, 2026
No, That's Not What "the Research" Says About Exam Schools
pretty much the opposite, in fact
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February 16, 2026
The Luol Deng Law
it's better to win than lose, and it's better to have good players than bad players
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February 13, 2026
I'm Offering Scott Alexander a Wager About AI's Effects Over the Next Three Years
because that's the only way to get anybody to take skepticism seriously anymore
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February 11, 2026
Live with Freddie deBoer
A recording from Freddie deBoer's live video
freddiedeboer.substack.com
February 10, 2026
The Greatest Tension Within 21st Century Progressivism Remains Unresolved
you can't be both a carceral feminist movement and an anti-police state movement
freddiedeboer.substack.com
February 8, 2026
Please Join Me, Michael Angelakos, and Jaime Lowe as We Talk Being Bipolar Out Loud on Substack Live
Tuesday 2/10 at 7PM EST!
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February 5, 2026
Two Out of Two Pretentious Born-Rich Ivy League Doctors Agree: Psychiatry is Over!
the LA Review of Books would never pull this shit with any other group
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February 4, 2026
When Demand for Victims Outruns Supply
vibes come and go, but the great victim scavenger hunt of the 21st century continues
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February 2, 2026
Announcing My Next Book, All in Your Head: Illness as Identity, Trauma as Fashion, and the Desire to Be Disordered
coming from Simon & Schuster 10/27
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