Author Malcolm Gladwell admitted to being “ashamed” by his performance hosting a prominent sports conference discussing the “path forward for the inclusion” of trans athletes in women’s sports — claiming he was “cowed” by public pressure.
In a podcast released Tuesday, Gladwell, 62, expressed lament over a 2022 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference during which the “Outliers” author said he was “objective in a dishonest way.”
“I’m ashamed of my performance at that panel because I share your position 100 percent and I was cowed,” Gladwell told “The Real Science of Sport” host Ross Tucker, who appeared on the panel and argued against trans-inclusion.
Tucker noted that while most of his statements were met with silence, pro-trans panelists Dr. Joanna Harper and ESPN writer Katie Barnes received raucous applause for their arguments.
“My suspicion is that 90 percent of the people in the audience were on your side but 5 percent of the audience was willing to admit it,” Gladwell recounted.
Gladwell himself did not admit it at the time.
“[T]he trans athlete on the panel, at one point they turn to you, Ross, and they said, ‘Ross, you have to let us win.’ And it was at this moment that I realized this position, this argument has gone to the furthest extreme.”
“They’re not asking for a place at the table, they’re not asking to be treated with respect and dignity. What they’re asking is for no one to question their considerable physiological advantage they bring to the sport,” Gladwell said.
“I heard that and thought, ‘This is nuts,’ and yet I didn’t say anything.”
At the time, Gladwell outlined a remarkably different perspective.
Speaking about former UPenn swimmer Lia Thomas, the author said, “she’s an elite swimmer, she’s breaking lots of records right now” — and then asked whether she could qualify for the Olympic team.
He also characterized her participation in women’s sports as a “difficult case” and suggested it was only being discussed by Fox News.
In the podcast released Tuesday, Gladwell and Ross both averred that if the Sloan conference panel were held today, the outlook of the panel would be completely reversed.
The “Tipping Point” scribe explained simply by saying that the “cultural winds have shifted” beyond just sports.
“Even the advocates are having to shift their feet and make a different claim.”
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