Mary Tedeschi Eberstadt is an American essayist, novelist, and author of several books of nonfiction. Her writing has appeared in publications including ''
Quillette
''Quillette'' () is an online magazine founded by Australian journalist Claire Lehmann. The magazine primarily focuses on science, technology, news, culture, and politics. It also has a podcast, hosted by Jon Kay.
''Quillette'' was created in ...
'', ''TIME'', the ''Wall Street Journal'', the ''Washington Post'', ''National Review'', ''First Things'', ''The Weekly Standard'', and other venues. In March 2017, she was named senior research fellow at the Faith & Reason Institute. Eberstadt spoke at the Edmund Burke Foundation's inaugural National Conservatism Conference in July, 2019.
Education and personal life
Eberstadt grew up in rural upstate New York. She graduated magna cum laude in 1983 from
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
, where she was a four-year Telluride Scholar. Eberstadt is married to author and demographer
Nicholas Eberstadt
Nicholas Eberstadt (born 1955) is an American political economist. He holds the Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a political think tank. He is also a Senior Adviser to the National Bureau of Asia ...
.
Professional career
Eberstadt has written for a wide variety of magazines and newspapers. ''New York Times'' columnist
David Brooks has twice awarded Eberstadt's writing a "Sidney," his annual award for best essay writing of the year. Columnist
George Will
George Frederick Will (born May 4, 1941) is an American libertarian-conservative political commentator and author. He writes regular columns for ''The Washington Post'' and provides commentary for NBC News and MSNBC.Hadas Gold, Gold, Hadas (May ...
has called Eberstadt "intimidatingly intelligent," and author
George Weigel
George Weigel (born 1951) is a Catholic neoconservative American author, political analyst, and social activist. He currently serves as a Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Weigel was the Founding President of the ...
has called her "our premier analyst of American cultural foibles and follies, with a keen eye for oddities that illuminate just how strange the country's moral culture has become."
In 2016, HarperCollins published Eberstadt's latest book, ''It's Dangerous to Believe: Religious Freedom and Its Enemies'', which chronicles the rise in discrimination against religious believers in the United States and elsewhere during an era of ascendant secularism.
The book argues that the sexual revolution has inadvertently generated a new, rival, secularist Western faith, complete with quasi-religious ritual and theology; and that this new secularist faith must learn to coexist in civility alongside traditional Judeo-Christianity, rather than seeking to drive other men and women of faith from the public square.
Thomas Farr of the Religious Freedom Project said that "every man and woman of the left should read this book."
Robert P. George called it "a powerful manifesto."
Russell D. Moore
Russell D. Moore (born 9 October 1971) is an American theologian, ethicist, and preacher. In June 2021, he became the director of the Public Theology Project at ''Christianity Today'', and on August 4, 2022, was announced as the magazine's incomi ...
of the Southern Baptist Convention said that "this book will equip you to know what's happening to America's first freedom and will inspire you to act."
In its review of the book, ''Publishers Weekly'' noted the one-sided nature of her arguments: "Casting believers almost entirely as innocent victims without any political or cultural power causes the work to lose some nuance, as does her assertion that Western secularism places Islam off limits for critique. For traditional Christians, Eberstadt provides a language to defend their position, a comforting sense that their persecution is real, and a view of the irony of progressives curtailing freedom....
e final chapter's call to attend to rhetoric and avoid generalization powerfully makes the case for more civility in the midst of intense disagreement." Writing in the ''Weekly Standard'', Jonathan Last called the book "brilliant" and a "tour de force, essential reading for anyone wondering how our civilization can survive the current moment."
Eberstadt is the author of several other books, including ''How the West Really Lost God,'' published in 2013. ''How the West Really Lost God,'' fortified with an intensive study of both historical data and contemporary popular culture, proffers the original thesis that the undermining of the family in Western culture has in turn helped power religious decline.
Francis Fukuyama
Francis Yoshihiro Fukuyama (; born October 27, 1952) is an American political scientist, political economist, international relations scholar and writer.
Fukuyama is known for his book ''The End of History and the Last Man'' (1992), which argue ...
wrote of the book, "Mary Eberstadt is one of the most acute and creative social observers of our time. She is not afraid to challenge received wisdom and her insights are always well worth pondering."
Rodney Stark called the book "A brilliant contribution to the really big question about the future of the West, and a pleasure to read."
The review in ''The Economist'' said that the "elegantly written book repeatedly shows that strong families help to keep religious practice alive, and that too many people see a causal connection running exclusively in the opposite direction." Writing in ''The American Conservative'', Rod Dreher called the book "stunning," adding that "Eberstadt's contribution is to make an argument that not only does religion cause family formation, but family formation causes religion."
Eberstadt also authored ''Adam and Eve After the Pill: Paradoxes of the Sexual Revolution,'' published in 2012. The book examines how the sexual revolution has produced widespread discontent among men and women, and has harmed the weakest members of society. Eberstadt explores the portrayal of the sexual revolution in pop culture voices, pinpointing "a wildly contradictory mix of chatter about how wonderful it is that women are now all liberated for sexual fun--and how mysteriously impossible it has become to find a good, steady, committed boyfriend at the same time." A review in the ''Washington Times'' stated that "in this concise, elegantly written book, Eberstadt marries brilliant analytical power with wry wit" and called it "an enormous contribution to understanding both modern moral culture and the significance of current political debate."
Eberstadt's first book, ''Home-Alone America: The Hidden Toll of Day Care, Behavioral Drugs and Other Parent Substitutes,'' argued that separating children from family members at early ages is linked to childhood problems such as obesity and rising rates of mental and behavioral disorders. The book also connected these problems to popular culture, particularly as reflected in adolescent music (including the award-winning chapter, "Eminem is Right"). R.
Albert Mohler
Richard Albert Mohler Jr. (born October 19, 1959) is an American evangelical theologian, the ninth president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and host of the podcast ''The Briefing'', where he daily analyzes ...
, president of the
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) is a Baptist theological institute in Louisville, Kentucky. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. The seminary was founded in 1859 in Greenville, South Carolina, where it was at ...
, called it "a book that should be read by every concerned parent, pastor, and policy maker."
Eberstadt served as a senior fellow at
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
'
Hoover Institutionfrom 2002 to 2013. From 1990 to 1998, Eberstadt was executive editor of ''National Interest'' magazine. From 1985 and 1987, she was a member of the Policy Planning Staff at the
US State Department
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...
and a speechwriter for then Secretary of State
George P. Shultz
George Pratt Shultz (; December 13, 1920February 6, 2021) was an American economist, businessman, diplomat and statesman. He served in various positions under two different Republican presidents and is one of the only two persons to have held fou ...
. From 1984 to 1985, she was a special assistant to Ambassador
Jeane Kirkpatrick
Jeane Duane Kirkpatrick (née Jordan; November 19, 1926December 7, 2006) was an American diplomat and political scientist who played a major role in the foreign policy of the Ronald Reagan administration. An ardent anticommunist, she was a lo ...
. Eberstadt was also a managing editor of the ''Public Interest''.
Eberstadt is also the founder of the Kirkpatrick Society, named after her late mentor, Jeane Kirkpatrick. Founded in 2011, the Kirkpatrick Society is based in Washington, D.C. and is a professional and literary society for women working in journalism, government, television, radio, book editing, think tanks, and foundations. The Kirkpatrick Society is made up of over 300 women and meets on a monthly basis. As of January 2017, the
American Enterprise Institute
The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right Washington, D.C.–based think tank that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare. ...
assumed responsibility for the management and operations of the Kirkpatrick Society.
On March 15, 2017, Eberstadt became a senior research fellow at the Faith & Reason Institute.
In 2019, Eberstadt released Primal Screams. Wherein she postulates that the sexual revolution and female contraception of the 1960s contributed to identity politics. She says that it contributed to premarital sex, skyrocketing rates of abortion, fatherless homes, family shrinkage and family breakup. She especially blame smaller families for a lack of family role models for young people, and thus a breakdown of understanding between genders. The end of the family and church-life is deemed as the cause why people seek belonging in identity politics.
Animal welfare
Eberstadt is known for her writings on
animal welfare
Animal welfare is the well-being of non-human animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures such as longevity ...
, and the moral connections she draws between the
anti-abortion
Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...
and pro-animal movements. Her widely discussed 2009 essay in First Things, "Pro-Animal, Pro-Life," was followed by a number of other, related pieces on the subject, among them "The Truth About Religion and Animals," "Support for Animal Welfare Grows on the Right," and "Why Animal Lovers Should Abhor Planned Parenthood."
''The Loser Letters''
Eberstadt published her first work of fiction in 2010, ''The Loser Letters: A Comic Tale of Life, Death, and Atheism.'' The book satirically follows the experiences of a young Christian converting to atheism.
P. J. O'Rourke wrote that "Mary Eberstadt is the rightful heir and assignée of CS Lewis, and her heroine in ''The Loser Letters'' is the legitimate child (or perhaps grandchild) of 'the patient' in ''The Screwtape Letters''."
Playwright and director Jeffrey Fiske adapted the book for the stage, which had its world premiere at The Catholic University of America in September 2016 starring World Champion and Olympic Gymnast Chellsie Memmel. According to Kathryn Jean Lopez of ''National Review'', "The timing of this adaptation by playwright Jeffrey Fiske may just be an opportunity to catch millennial "nones" with an invitation. It's also a nudge to conservatives and others to get creative. Polemics alone won't change the world." Writing also for ''National Review'', Stanley Kurtz noted that this play could serve as a test of free speech on other college campuses. "What if The Loser Letters were to go on a tour that included some secular colleges?," he asked. "I'd like to believe the play would be courteously received at any school, but I can't help feeling that heads might explode—with protests or worse to follow. I only hope we get a chance to find out."
Recognition
In 2014, Eberstadt gave
Seton Hall University
Seton Hall University (SHU) is a private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesan un ...
's commencement address and was awarded an honorary degree. The choice of Eberstadt as the school's commencement speaker brought dissent from some faculty members, who objected that her values were not consistent with those of the university. ''USA Today'' listed Eberstadt's address in its compilation of notable 2014 commencement speeches, alongside the speeches of
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...
,
John Legend
John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and record producer. He began his musical career by working behind the scenes, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Ever ...
, and
Eric Holder
Eric Himpton Holder Jr. (born January 21, 1951) is an American lawyer who served as the 82nd Attorney General of the United States from 2009 to 2015. Holder, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama, was the first African America ...
.
In 2014, the Siena Symposium for Women, Family, and Culture at St. Thomas University in Minnesota awarded Eberstadt a Humanitarian Leadership Award. She also received a Leadership Award from the Catholic Lawyers' Guild of Nebraska that same year. In 2009, Mt. St. Mary's University in Emmitsburg, Maryland awarded its Presidential Medal of Honor to Eberstadt and her husband, Nicholas.
References
External links
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20th-century American essayists
21st-century American novelists
21st-century American essayists
21st-century American women writers
American animal welfare scholars
American magazine editors
American Roman Catholics
Cornell University alumni
Hoover Institution people
Critics of atheism
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
American women essayists
American women novelists
Women magazine editors