Abigail Shrier is an American author and former opinion columnist for ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

''.

Early life and education

Shrier is the daughter of Peter B. Krauser and Sherrie L. Krauser, both judges in the state of Maryland. She grew up in a Conservative synagogue, and was educated in a Jewish day school that was predominately Conservative. She graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in philosophy, and earned a Kellett Fellowship. She then attended the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, where she received a

B.Phil. Bachelor of Philosophy (BPhil, BPh, or PhB; or or ) is the title of an academic degree in philosophy that usually involves considerable research, either through a thesis or supervised research projects. Unlike many other bachelor's degrees, the ...

in philosophy, and

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

, where she was a Coker Fellow.

Career

From 2018 through 2020, Shrier wrote opinion pieces for the ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

''. In 2020, Shrier's book '' Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters'' was published by

Regnery Publishing Regnery Publishing is a politically conservative book publisher based in Washington, D.C. The company was founded by Henry Regnery in 1947. In December 2023, Regnery was acquired from Salem Media Group by Skyhorse Publishing, with Skyhorse ...

. The book supports the rapid onset gender dysphoria hypothesis. Shrier has previously criticised individuals who use the

singular they Singular ''they'', along with its inflected or derivative forms, ''them'', ''their'', ''theirs'', and ''themselves'' (also ''themself'' and ''theirself''), is a gender-neutral third-person pronoun derived from plural they. It typically oc ...

, comparing it to

idol worship Idolatry is the worship of an idol as though it were a deity. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the Abrahamic ...

. Shrier appeared on the ''

Joe Rogan Experience ''The Joe Rogan Experience'' is a podcast hosted by American comedian, presenter, and UFC color commentator Joe Rogan. It was initiated on December 24, 2009, on YouTube by Rogan and comedian Brian Redban, who was its sole co-host and producer ...

'' to discuss her views on transgender people, a conversation that was also streamed on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

and subsequently sparked complaints from the platform's employees. Her book was controversial for its views about

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

issues and has been described by the author and other commentators as subject to a campaign of

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

. It was first withdrawn, and then reinstated, by retailer Target. ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'' gave the book a positive review, and included it in their 2020 list of Economist Books of the Year. A reader erected a billboard in Los Angeles that read, "Get the facts, read this book", in support of the ideas in the book. Her book was criticized by psychiatrist Jack Turban in 2020 for misinterpreting and omitting scientific evidence to support her claims.

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

also reported that hundreds of Amazon employees petitioned to stop the book's sale on Amazon, criticizing its harmful portrayal of the transgender community. In 2024, Shrier published ''Bad Therapy: Why the Kids aren't Growing Up'', which details her thoughts on the origins and solution to the American mental health crisis. In 2025, she was awarded the

RealClearPolitics RealClearPolitics (RCP) is an American political news website and polling data aggregator. It was founded in 2000 by former options trader John McIntyre and former advertising agency account executive Tom Bevan. It features selected polit ...

Samizdat Prize, alongside

Linda Yaccarino Linda Yaccarino (born December 21, 1963) is an American media proprietor serving since June 2023 as chief executive officer (CEO) of X Corp., X Corp. She previously served as chairwoman of global advertising & partnerships at NBCUniversal from 2 ...

, CEO of X, and

Jonathan Turley Jonathan Turley is an American attorney, legal scholar, writer, commentator, and legal analyst in broadcast and print journalism. A professor at George Washington University Law School, he has testified in United States congressional proceedings ...

.https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2025/01/17/eyes_on_the_prize_samizdat_152211.html

References

External links

* https://www.c-span.org/person/?129486/AbigailShrier {{DEFAULTSORT:Shrier, Abigail Year of birth missing (living people) Living people The Wall Street Journal people Alumni of the University of Oxford Columbia College (New York) alumni American opinion journalists American women columnists Jewish American journalists Jewish American non-fiction writers Jewish women writers American women journalists American women non-fiction writers 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American Jews Jews from Maryland Journalists from Maryland Writers from Maryland ja:アビゲイル・シュライアー