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Portrait of Pamela Paul

Pamela Paul

I’m interested in how ideas spread throughout culture and society and in how they evolve. I’ve written about everything from literature to theater, Nikki Haley to Joe Biden, the Cultural Revolution to Colleen Hoover, “American Dirt” to Robert Caro, cashless retail to gun control. I write from the perspective of a lifelong liberal. It’s from this place that I often write about illiberal progressive orthodoxies, in particular around identity, language, morality, gender ideology, class and free speech.

Most recently, I was the editor of The New York Times Book Review, but I’ve been working since I was 14, and my varied experiences — as a cashier in a supermarket and a sales clerk in retail, a waitress in New York, a wine server in French Catalonia, a librarian and high school teacher in Chiang Mai, Thailand, an ice cream scooper in Paris, a caterer in college — informs everything I do. I studied history at Brown University.

I worked on the business side in media throughout my twenties, in publishing, television and documentary film. I began my journalism career as a correspondent in London and New York for The Economist where I covered global arts, film and books. As a freelancer, I was a contributor to Time magazine and was a columnist for The Times’s Styles section. I often wrote about science, health, family, the workplace, culture and demographic and consumer trends.

I joined The Times in 2011 as the children’s book editor and became the editor of the Book Review in 2013 as well as host of the weekly Book Review podcast. I began overseeing all books coverage in 2016 and joined Opinion as a columnist in 2022. In addition to a weekly column, I occasionally write longer pieces, most recently on pediatric cancer.

I am the author or editor of eight books: “Rectangle Time,” “How to Raise a Reader “(co-author), “My Life with Bob: Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues,” “The Starter Marriage and the Future of Matrimony,” “Pornified,” “Parenting, Inc.” and “By the Book: Writers on Literature and the Literary Life.” My most recent book is “100 Things We’ve Lost to the Internet.” I have two forthcoming picture books, “It Simply Can’t Be Bedtime!” (2025) and “The Path” (2027).

Coming from a decade in the newsroom and two decades as a freelance writer, I apply those same standards and rigor to my work as an Opinion columnist. I always write what I believe to be accurate and true, even if it means presenting facts and opinions that challenge readers rather than reaffirm their preconceptions or preferences. I strive to write about complicated issues with clarity, nuance and sensitivity. I never blurb books. I avoid or disclose potential conflicts. I prefer to express my opinions on platforms other than social media. You can read this to learn more about our ethical guidelines.

Latest

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    Pamela Paul

    The Real Royal Scandal Is on Us

    What will it take for a culture sick with its own wolfish appetite for self-exposure to try to get better?

    By Pamela Paul

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    Pamela Paul

    Adding Insult to Injury

    A good account of injury can reveal strength, character, forbearance, humility, comedy or tragedy.

    By Pamela Paul

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    Pamela Paul

    Please Let It Not Be a Woman

    If Donald Trump chooses a woman to be his running mate, it would send an insidious message.

    By Pamela Paul

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    Pamela Paul

    ‘Antiracism’ Was Never the Right Answer

    Ibram X. Kendi became a national arbiter on race, even though his reductionist approach was at odds with principles of free inquiry and expression.

    By Pamela Paul

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    Pamela Paul

    Have Some Sympathy

    It’s gotten a bad rap as we’ve been told that empathy is what matters.

    By Pamela Paul

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    Pamela Paul

    The Borking of Joe Biden

    The impeachment inquiry is just the latest twisted Republican abuse of Democratic precedent.

    By Pamela Paul

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    Pamela Paul

    A Lightbulb Went Off

    I get that we have to let incandescents go, but the chilly, shrill light of their replacements doesn’t compare.

    By Pamela Paul

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    Pamela Paul

    Don’t Call Her ‘Karen’

    A viral video about a dispute over a rental bike was about much more. Or perhaps much less.

    By Pamela Paul

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    Pamela Paul

    Let’s Say Gay

    “Queer” has begun to overtake other labels of sexuality. But what does it mean?

    By Pamela Paul

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