An Island of Sanity in an Uncertain Time
Let me introduce myself—I’m Cathy Young, writer at The Bulwark.
Hi, I’m Cathy Young. I’m glad to be here and wanted to take a moment to tell you a little about myself.
In March, my career as a writer and journalist took an exciting new turn: after more than thirty years of freelancing, I took a job as a staff writer for The Bulwark.
I had had job offers in journalism before and had turned them down, in large part because I valued my independence. The Bulwark was the first publication I was actually eager to write for. Partly, it’s because my values in the deepest sense—a commitment to individual freedom and limited government, a love for America as a great (if flawed) experiment in liberty, an interest in balancing the best of liberalism and conservatism—are aligned with those of The Bulwark. It’s also because I knew that where my views do not align with those of some or even most Bulwark staffers, they would still be respected, and I would not be pressured to conform or to toe the party line. (There isn’t one.) The Bulwark has a core vision, but it is also essentially pluralistic.
As it happens, I joined The Bulwark at a moment when the biggest story in the news was one to which I have a personal connection of sorts: Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. I was born in Russia (then the Soviet Union) and came to America as a teenager in 1980. While America is my home, I do have a special interest in what happens in my former country (and some expertise on the subject). In the 1990s, I excitedly followed the fall of the Soviet empire and the rise of freedom on its wreckage. In the 2000s, I watched, with growing dismay, the authoritarian rollback and the surge of imperial nostalgia under Vladimir Putin. What we’re seeing today is the bloody culmination of that path.
The Bulwark gave me a truly unique opportunity to cover the Russia/Ukraine story in depth—exploring, for instance, not only various aspects of the war in Ukraine but what this war means for the remnants of freedom in Russia. I’ve never felt prouder of any work I’ve done than I am of my recent articles on this subject. And The Bulwark’s other coverage and analysis of the war has also been superb; it’s truly become one of the go-to publications on this story.
We live in strange times when we have no idea what the future holds. But if there’s one thing I’m sure about, it’s that I won’t be disappointed about making a commitment to The Bulwark. You won’t, either.
—Cathy Young
Programming note: Tonight—Thursday, June 2 at 8:00pm ET—Bulwark editor, Jonathan V. Last, will lead an “Ask Us Anything” discussion with our newest colleagues Ted Johnson, Will Saletan and Cathy Young. To join this livestream, sign-up for a Bulwark+ membership today.
