The Making of A Gender Heretic, with Ben Appel

Update: 2025-11-10

Description

This week, Ben Appel joins me to talk about his new book, Cis White Gay: The Making of a Gender Heretic, a memoir about leaving one kind of cult only to stumble into another. Raised in a rigid Christian community, Ben found refuge in the gay rights movement and, later, the Ivy League—until "allyship" started to look less like solidarity and more like a loyalty oath.

We discuss

• Why he chose the deliberately provocative title Cis, White, Gay — and what reactions revealed about current identity politics.

• How queer "community" has become increasingly moralized, hierarchical, and policed — and what gets lost when dissent is framed as betrayal.

• The difference between taste and taboo — and how aesthetic preferences are now treated as political statements.

• Why "representation" has replaced excellence as the highest cultural virtue.

• How literary gatekeeping operates today — from publishers and prize committees to informal online watchdogs.

• The loneliness of ideological nonconformity in queer and creative circles.

• The professional and social costs of questioning orthodoxy — including lost friendships, lost opportunities, and subtle blacklisting.

Guest Bio:
Ben Appel is a writer and commentator whose memoir, Cis White Gay, traces his path from a strict Christian sect to progressive activism—and his break with movement orthodoxy; he's written for outlets like Newsweek, UnHerd, and more, and publishes on Substack.

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