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
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Available in select locations. See the Uber app for details. From the Free Press, this is Honestly, and I'm Barry Weiss. Fourteen years ago, Amy Chua published a book called 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, and many of these outlets have actually gone back and changed their headlines because of how right you have been. But... The ones that are still standing, Why I Will Never Be a Tiger Mom, Why Amy Chua is Wrong About Parenting, Amy Chua's Recipe for Disaster, and on and on it went.
And then just as the publicity for this first book began to die down, Amy decided to publish a book called The Triple Package about why some ethnic groups succeed, subtext being why others do not, and you can imagine what the reaction was. She was racist, she was bigoted, she was some kind of ethnic chauvinist.
Then she came out in support of Brett Kavanaugh's court nomination in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. Now, crucially, this is before he was accused by Christine Blasey Ford. Still, people accused you of misogyny and grooming, and you were almost forced out of Yale.
To add to that plate, in 2021, she was accused of hosting boozy dinner parties, would have said, during COVID lockdowns, and thus Dinner Party Gate was born. Yale punished Amy by barring her from teaching her small group first-year student contingency. I don't know what that is. It's some Yale thing. Now, let's fast forward to where we are sitting right now in January of 2025.
And everything is coming up Amy. Today, being a strict tiger mom, in. What? Yes. Yes. Yes. Gentle parenting is out, and we will talk about that. No offense to anyone in this room who's doing that, but I will judge you. Free speech, in. Wokeness and hypersensitivity, very much out. COVID lockdowns, definitely out. Vicious character assassinations and mob rule, hopefully those are out.
Simply put, Amy Chua, I believe, has won, or as my colleague Peter Savodnik just wrote in the Free Press, the ideas that Chua was pilloried for are suddenly back in fashion. And here she is now, attending the inauguration of the incoming president and the vice president, one of whom happens to be her former student and mentee. And it's not Trump because he didn't go to Yale Law School.
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