Kathryn Schulz
American journalist and author; staff writer at The New Yorker; won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing for an article on earthquake and tsunami risk in the Pacific Northwest, and the 2023 Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Memoir or Biography.
Kathryn Schulz did not write this page. ppll compiled it from their own words, each linked to the source. Is this you? · Report a mistake
What they believe
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The popular inspirational image of Thoreau cannot survive a serious reading of Walden
This vision cannot survive any serious reading of “Walden.”
newyorker.comSaid 12 Oct 2015This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These one: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 7 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
Each is a — compiled by korrents.com, not by them: the one-line wordings are korrents', the quotes are theirs.
Recent
The popular inspirational image of Thoreau cannot survive a serious reading of Walden
This vision cannot survive any serious reading of “Walden.”
Pond Scum (The New Yorker, published online as “The Moral Judgments of Henry David Thoreau”) Said 12 Oct 2015
Walden is less environmental literature than a fantasy about rustic life and escaping responsibilities to other people
But “Walden” is less a cornerstone work of environmental literature than the original cabin porn: a fantasy about rustic life divorced from the reality of living in the woods, and, especially, a fantasy about escaping the entanglements and responsibilities of living among other people.
Pond Scum (The New Yorker, published online as “The Moral Judgments of Henry David Thoreau”) Said 12 Oct 2015
Living in great fear of the slippery slope is a sign of having no sense of balance
Only those with no sense of balance must live in so much fear of the slippery slope.
Pond Scum (The New Yorker, published online as “The Moral Judgments of Henry David Thoreau”) Said 12 Oct 2015
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Following one's conscience is no safe theory of governance, because private moral compasses err and disagree
People routinely perpetrate wrongs out of obedience to their conscience, even in situations when the law mandates better behavior. (Consider the Kentucky county clerk currently refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.) Like public institutions, private moral compasses can err, and different ones frequently point in different directions.
Pond Scum (The New Yorker, published online as “The Moral Judgments of Henry David Thoreau”) Said 12 Oct 2015
Democracy exists to settle conflicting claims of conscience by means other than decree or force
It is the point of democracy to adjudicate among such conflicting claims through some means other than fiat or force, but Thoreau was not interested in that process.
Pond Scum (The New Yorker, published online as “The Moral Judgments of Henry David Thoreau”) Said 12 Oct 2015
Rejecting every certainty but one's own is zealotry, and issuing contradictory decrees on whim is despotism
To reject all certainties but one’s own is the behavior of a zealot; to issue contradictory decrees based on private whim is that of a despot.
Pond Scum (The New Yorker, published online as “The Moral Judgments of Henry David Thoreau”) Said 12 Oct 2015
Basing beliefs on personal intuition and revelation substitutes anecdote and authority for evidence and reason
And that is the second problem with basing one’s beliefs on personal intuition and direct revelation: it justifies the substitution of anecdote and authority for evidence and reason.
Pond Scum (The New Yorker, published online as “The Moral Judgments of Henry David Thoreau”) Said 12 Oct 2015
What is a korrent?
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Where they publish
Site kathrynschulz.com Author site
Her author site, centred on the memoir Lost & Found, with events and a newsletter sign-up.
Link verified 3 Oct 2026.
x.com @kathrynschulz X account linked from her site
Elsewhere newyorker.com The New Yorker contributor page
Her New Yorker articles as a staff writer: long features and essays on books, science and culture.
Link verified 3 Oct 2026.
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