I've read Quillette; it's an overwritten bore of a site desperately in need of a dominatrix editor. It's fixated on academic outrages like a dyspeptic animal returning relentlessly to its own pile of sick. Those of us who don't give a shit about the inner soap-operations of colleges and universities will find little there except thickets of overwritten whine.

In summary, I think the majority of Quillette contributors would do well to get jobs in the real world far away from the ivy-covered vines of academe ... but ...

... to suggest anyone who publishes one of those tedious screeds should be booted out of academia simply because of the platform itself? No.

Kevin, I acknowledge that some of the articles published in Quilette are a bit self-serving. But I also think that, in a way, it's a necessary first step for many of the authors there, who have had no other venue to get their ideas out. What's interesting to me is that Quilette, from what I've seen, is actually fairly heterodox; I've seen conservatives, libertarians and liberals all published there. Which is a lot more than one can say for most academic journals today. The editors do need to remind authors that, in leveling their j'accuses, they need to attack the idea, not the person.

I'm waiting for the Journal of Controversial Ideas to get up and running. Really curious to see what kinds of things they will be publishing.

"And any member of our field who publishes with Quillette should lose all credibility."

Any publication that dares to publish articles that run counter to the prevailing orthodoxy must be shut down. It's easier to shut down the publication itself than to play whack-a-mole with each author. Heresy must be stamped out by any means necessary.

Anyone remember the University of East Anglia email scandal? "The third shocking revelation of these documents is the ruthless way in which these academics have been determined to silence any expert questioning of the findings they have arrived at by such dubious methods – not just by refusing to disclose their basic data but by discrediting and freezing out any scientific journal which dares to publish their critics' work." [emphasis mine]

One of Thieme's followers then followed up with the astonishing suggestion that there should be a literal blacklist of academics who have written for the magazine.

Leftists love blacklists. So do authoritarians, but I repeat myself.

These are the accusations that are intended to shut down any discussion or debate.

Debate merely legitimizes heresy and, therefore, must be shut down.

it's an overwritten bore of a site desperately in need of a dominatrix editor

Hmmmm...I see a revenue stream there. Create a companion site, quillette.xxx, and live stream the dominatrix editor flogging a hapless writer on pay-per-view.

Anyone remember the University of East Anglia email scandal?

Yes. Keep that - and this - in mind when someone dares to say that the science is settled. Of course, I'm looking forward to the day that this Thieme person is herself placed on that black list.

These friggin' leftists are beginning to sound like a Devo song.

People who think that academics who write in an alternative journal must be blacklisted should really consider moving to a country that's more comfortable for them, such as China, Russia or Cuba.

I've taken quite a bit of abuse online for my publications. Fortunately it took my employer about 15 years to notice because they were so social-media oblivious. Nevertheless, once they noticed I had to change the topics I worked on. Censorship sucks. If someone really is evil/stupid/paid for, the best remedy is to point and laugh. Of course Leftists have no sense of humor...

"Leftists love blacklists. So do authoritarians, but I repeat myself."

Indeed. For anyone who is new here, this bears repeating: The Left never had an issue with authoritarianism per se. All of that peace-and-love-and-understanding stuff from the 1960s was just recruiting slogans. The Left only had a problem with someone other than themselves being the authority. Dictatorship is great if you're the dictator.

Google "define bigotry".

"intolerance toward those who hold different opinions from oneself."

This dovetails with the conversation yesterday about the unscientific sciences and the unaccomplished elites.