What is Persuasion?

Persuasion is a publication and community for everyone who shares three basic convictions:

  • We seek to build a free society in which all individuals get to pursue a meaningful life irrespective of who they are.

  • We believe in the importance of the social practice of persuasion, and are determined to defend free speech and free inquiry against all its enemies.

  • We seek to persuade, rather than to mock or troll, those who disagree with us.

In the past years, the political and intellectual energy has been with illiberal movements. Too often, the advocates of free speech and free institutions have been passive, even fatalistic. It is high time for those of us who believe in these enduring ideals to stand up for our convictions.

Read Our Founding Manifesto

What will Persuasion Do?

Persuasion is a platform for publishing interesting ideas. It is a convener of pressing debates. Most importantly, it is the nucleus for a community that seeks to shake the defenders of the free society out of their complacency.

Persuasion features:

  • An online magazine on the threats to the free society—and reflections on how to fight back—with contributions from authors you already love and others you are yet to discover.

  • A weekly podcast in which leading thinkers discuss the most urgent questions of the day without chasing yesterday’s headlines.

  • Live events in which speakers who share a commitment to the values of a free society passionately debate what policies and practices can best realize them.

  • Book clubs in which well-known authors lead discussions of their favorite works.

  • A weekly Happy Hour at which community members can speak openly, debate freely, and draw inspiration from one another.

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Why subscribe?

By subscribing to Persuasion, you will never have to worry about missing a thing: every new article will go directly to your inbox.

If you join us as a paid subscribing member, you also get access to:

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Who’s involved?

We have assembled some of the most insightful, principled, and stylish thinkers from across the ideological spectrum and from around the world: Our community includes Thomas Chatterton-Williams and Garry Kasparov, David French and Emily Yoffe, Elif Shafak and Francis Fukuyama, among others, in addition to our founder, Yascha Mounk.

Here’s a full list of our Board of Advisors and the editorial team.

Pitch us!

We’re always on the lookout for new perspectives and interesting pieces, whether from established authors or first-time writers. If you have an idea for a thought-provoking article that contributes to our goal of promoting a philosophically liberal approach to the big debates of the moment, do send us your idea at:

pitches@persuasion.community

The best way to see whether your idea would fit well in Persuasion’s pages is to read other pieces we’ve published. We pay authors a fee for articles we publish.

Please send a short pitch, not a full draft. Good pitches should:

  • Add to the conversation. Be original and clearly written.

  • Be short. About three concise paragraphs is usually right. 

  • Give a feel of the piece you want to write. The pitch should model the style of the proposed article, not promise what you’ll do (“I will argue that…”).

  • Please include a short bio of yourself, citing pertinent qualifications and/or why you’re the person to write such a piece. (A sentence or two is sufficient. Feel free to include links to other published material.)

Subscribe to Persuasion

The community for those who believe that a free society is worth fighting for.

People

Yascha Mounk 

Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Persuasion Author, The Identity Trap

Luke Hallam

Senior Editor at Persuasion. Contact: luke.hallam@persuasion.community

Jonathan Haidt

Social psychologist and professor at NYU-Stern. Research on moral psychology as it relates to political polarization, democratic dysfunction, capitalism, and Gen Z.

Nathaniel Rachman

Nathaniel Rachman is a recent history graduate from the University of Oxford, where he wrote for and edited The Oxford Student.

Norman Ornstein

Norman Ornstein is an emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and a contributing editor at The Atlantic.

Emily Yoffe

Senior editor, The Free Press

Steven Pinker

I'm a cognitive scientist in the Department of Psychology at Harvard, who teaches, does research, and writes books on language, mind, and human nature.

Moises Naim

Distinguished Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. moisesnaim.com

Tom Rachman

Managing Editor, Persuasion

Jonathan Rauch

Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution; contributing writer, The Atlantic

Seth Moskowitz 

I'm a freelancer writing about elections and politics. Sign up for my newsletter at https://sethswriting.substack.com/; follow me on Twitter @skmoskowitz; or email me at sethmoskowitz 0 [at] gmail .com

David French

David French is a senior editor at The Dispatch a columnist for Time, and a member of Persuasion's Board of Advisers.

Sheri Berman

Professor at Barnard College, Columbia University

David Hamburger

Executive Director at Persuasion

John McWhorter

John McWhorter is the host of Lexicon Valley. In his spare time, he teaches linguistics at Columbia University and writes a regular column for the New York Times.

Martin Eiermann

Martin Eiermann is a sociologist and an Associate Editor at Persuasion. He is currently writing a book on the politics of privacy in the United States.

Ivan Krastev

Persuasion advisory-board member is chairman of Centre for Liberal Strategies and permanent fellow at IWM Vienna. His latest book is "Is it Tomorrow, Yet?"

Garry Kasparov

Author, speaker, chairman of the Renew Democracy Initiative and the Human Rights Foundation. 13th World Chess Champion.