Meet New 1995 Society Inductee, Stephanie Slade!
Meet New 1995 Society Inductee, Stephanie Slade!
Stephanie Slade is a senior editor at Reason, the magazine of “free minds and free markets,” and the author of Fusionism: Liberty, Virtue, and the Future of the American Right, forthcoming from University of Notre Dame Press. Her writing has appeared in America magazine, The New York Times, U.S. News and World Report, the Online Library of Liberty, and elsewhere. She covers the intersection of religion and politics.
Slade is best known for her piece “Why I Am a Pro-Life Libertarian,” her magazine feature on booze-producing monks, and her defenses of fusionism (which probably isn’t what you think!).
Don’t miss her discussing the differences between comprehensive and political libertarianism on The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie.
In 2013, Slade was named a finalist for the Bastiat Prize for Journalism. In 2016, she was selected as a Robert Novak Journalism Fellow. She has been a guest on a variety of podcasts, including Jonah Goldberg’s The Remnant, Charlie Sykes’ The Bulwark Podcast, and The New York Times’ Ezra Klein Show.
Prior to joining Reason, Slade worked as a speechwriter and pollster. She’s a proud graduate of the University of Florida, where she studied economics and political science.
What moment or opportunity in your life played the most significant part in getting you to where you are today?
Deciding to take a large pay cut when I was 27 in order to move from political consulting into journalism. Sure it’s less lucrative, but I know now that this is what I was born to do.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve overcome in your career so far?
I was terrified of public speaking when I was younger. But I realized it was a skill that would be important to professional success in almost any field, so in college and during the first few years of my career I sought out public speaking opportunities whenever I could. I set aside plenty of time for preparation so I would feel as confident as possible going in. I adopted a habit of holding a dry erase marker in my hands to stop myself from trembling or fidgeting. And I soon discovered—to my own amazement, as you can imagine—that I was actually quite good at connecting with audiences. Public speaking is a big part of what I do now, and I’ve come to really enjoy it.
What piece of work or accomplishment are you most proud of?
As you may have heard, my first book, Fusionism: Liberty, Virtue, and the Future of the American Right, will be published this fall. Writing a book is an almost impossibly huge task, especially on a compressed timeline. But somehow I got it done, and I am so proud of what I was able to accomplish in the amount of time I had.
In your words, what motivates your belief in freedom?
My libertarian political views flow out of my Catholicism. Some people find that odd or surprising, but a core part of Christianity is a belief in the inestimable dignity of every human being. That’s why I revolt against the idea of one person or group of people forcing everyone else to live a certain way. We were given the great gift of free will by God, and we have a moral obligation to use it to better ourselves and to respect it in others.
What do you believe is the greatest challenge facing America today?
I write a lot about the rise of illiberalism on both left and right. Young people in particular seem to be increasingly drawn toward authoritarian and extremist ideologies. I’m very nervous about what it means for the future if up-and-coming generations lose faith in the ideals of rule of law and fair play and respect for those with whom you disagree.
What is the next big goal or project you’re working on? How can the AF community help?
Please consider pre-ordering my book! 😉
What advice do you have for those who want to advance liberty and make a difference in our society?
Don’t just live within your means. Live below your means. Put that extra money aside. Having a nest egg gives you leverage and, therefore, freedom. It allows you to choose a lower-paying career rather than a higher-paying one, as I did, so that you can go to work every day and enjoy what you do. It allows you to take risks, launch new projects, or even start over in a new field. It also allows you to walk away from things that don’t align with your values. A person who is not motivated by living as luxurious a life as possible is much harder to buy off.
What are you watching/reading right now?
I’m a big reader of classic lit. Moby-Dick is my favorite novel, and I’ve just finished reading In the Heart of the Sea, which is a fabulous and crazy book about the real-life sinking of a whaleship by a sperm whale in the Pacific Ocean, the event that supposedly inspired Herman Melville’s tale.
Last question: What does winning this award mean to you?
It’s an honor to be recognized by America’s Future, a group I’ve been involved with in one form or another for (holy moly) almost 15 years.