Shame, Safety and Moving Beyond Cancel Culture
About this episode
Will Wilkinson and Natalie Wynn — both targets of online 'cancellation' — discuss the phenomenon from opposite directions. Wilkinson was fired from the Niskanen Center after a right-wing mob seized on a satirical tweet, while Wynn faced years of pressure from within the trans community after her ContraPoints channel grew. They debate when social shaming is a legitimate tool — as with #MeToo — and when it becomes disproportionate mob justice that picks arbitrary targets, creates enemies rather than allies, and is amplified by platform incentives. The conversation covers how Twitter's design turns disputes into pile-ons, why humanization matters more than persuasion (citing the gay-marriage turnaround), the role of safe spaces and context, and their advice for young activists: build real deliberative spaces and do local, material work.