As frequent readers know, I have been on something of a personal odyssey for the past few months grappling with the issue and rhetoric of political correctness.

I have been thinking about political correctness as a subjective language construct, a proxy for political conversations, a rhetorical tool to legitimize or delegitimize, and as an empty signifier that simply absorbs whatever meaning its user ascribes to it. I’ve been thinking a lot about the tradition of liberal democracy that has led us to this point in time.

This journey both inspired (and was provoked by) convening an Oxford-style debate in October on the motion: Be it resolved that political correctness has gone too far. For those interested in the discussion that unfolded that night, the debate is now available in its entirety on the podcast.