Tiger Mom Amy Chua Takes Washington

Honestly with Bari Weiss

The Free Press

News, Society & Culture

4.6 • 7.8K Ratings

🗓️ 1 February 2025

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Fourteen years ago, Amy Chua published Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. It was received less like a book and more like a nuclear bomb. Here are some headlines from the time: “Why I Will Never Be a Tiger Mom.” “Why Amy Chua Is Wrong About Parenting.” “Amy Chua Is a Circus Trainer, Not a Tiger Mother.” “The Human Race Needs Elephant Mothers, Not Tiger Mothers.” “Amy Chua's Recipe for Disaster and the Externalized Cost of Book Sales.” Then, just as the publicity around Tiger Mother died down, Amy came out with The Triple Package, about why some ethnic groups succeed. People called her racist. Then she came out in support of Brett Kavanaugh's court nomination in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal (before he was accused of sexual assault by Christine Blasey Ford). Afterward, people accused her of misogyny and grooming. And she was almost forced out of Yale for it. Then, in 2021, she was accused of hosting boozy dinner parties during COVID lockdowns and “dinner party-gate” was born. Yale punished her by barring her from teaching her “small group” first-year student contingency. Fast-forward to 2025. And the tables have turned. Being a strict “tiger mom”? In. Free speech? In. Wokeness and hypersensitivity? Out. Covid lockdowns? Definitely out. Vicious character assassinations at Senate confirmations? Out. As Free Press reporter Peter Savodnik just wrote: “The ideas that Chua was pilloried for are suddenly back in fashion.” Just a few weeks ago, she attended the inauguration of the incoming president and vice president—one of whom happens to be her former student and mentee. It’s easy to be a weather vane—to go where the wind blows. It's hard to be Amy Chua—to stand up for your beliefs even when they are not popular, even when it means personal consequences. On today’s episode, live in D.C. during inauguration weekend, Chua explains how and why she won—and what it feels like to be vindicated. If you liked what you heard from Honestly, the best way to support us is to go to TheFP.com and become a Free Press subscriber today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I want to introduce you to Uber Teen accounts, a connected account for your teen with trackable trips
0:05.7	and highly rated drivers. With Uber Teen accounts, your kid can feel a sense of independence
0:11.3	and you can feel a sense of relief. When you order a car with Uber Teen, you can follow their
0:16.9	entire ride on a live tracking map. It's perfect for those times where you want to be there,
0:21.9	but you can't. When your teen requests a trip, they are matched with highly rated and experienced
0:27.0	drivers, and you receive real-time notifications. Every trip comes with enhanced safety features,
0:33.5	pin verification to ensure your teen enters the right vehicle and live trip tracking for parents.
0:39.3	Plus, you, the parent, can contact the driver directly from the app.
0:43.4	Add your teen to your account today.
0:45.5	Available in select locations, see the Uber app for details.
0:49.4	From the free press, this is honestly and I'm Barry Weiss.
0:53.0	14 years ago, Amy Chua published a book called Battle Him of the Tiger Mother.
0:58.0	It was received less like a book and more like a nuclear bomb.
1:02.0	Here are some headlines from the time, and many of these outlets have actually gone back and changed their headlines
1:07.0	because of how right you have been.
1:09.0	But the ones that are still standing,
1:11.0	why I will never be a tiger mom,
1:13.2	why Amy Chua is wrong about parenting,
1:15.6	Amy Chua's recipe for disaster, and on and on it went.
1:20.5	And then just as the publicity for this first book began to die down,
1:24.8	Amy decided to publish a book called The Triple Package about why some
1:28.2	ethnic groups succeed, subtext being why others do not, and you can imagine what their reaction
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in -54 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Free Press, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Free Press and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.