Media/Criticism
I have preserved these two sections of FDR Liberated from the early days—when critical exposure and media attention on Molyneux were scarce—mostly for those with a historical interest in the chameleon-like career of Molyneux.
Believe it or not, FDR Liberated used to be a lone voice in the wilderness.
In the early days of this blog, almost no one except Stefan Molyneux’s fanatically devoted Freedomain Radio members had heard of him. Any attempt to tell people about this strange phenomenon—an obscure fellow making audio podcasts in his basement, convincing young people to abandon their families and send him money, was met with incredulity.
Nearly a decade later, that fact seems incredible. Stefan Molyneux has made thousands of podcasts, become a YouTube alt-right personality, and recreated himself several times over (abandoning his previous talking points with each new persona).
And there are so many people who have caught on—such as Time Magazine in this article (What I Learned as a Woman at a Men’s-Rights Conference)—that FDR Liberated itself may become the obscure Web site in a well-informed field of voices exposing Molyneux’s true beliefs.
And happily so. Well, it was fun while it lasted.
Media
The discovery of defooing
Until Kate Hilpern of the UK’s Daily Mail and Tu Thanh Ha from Toronto’s Globe and Mail came along, Molyneux’s “community” and the role he played in encouraging people to “defoo” had very little outside scrutiny. Thanks to them and a brave parent who came forward, everything changed.
Molyneux’s attack on Liberating Minds
Once upon a time there was a forum of ex-FDR members named Liberating Minds. Stefan Molyneux—who has a long and relentless history of trying to silence critical voices—blamed the forum for aiding Kate Hilpern’s exposure of his advocacy and assistance in encouraging young adults to defoo. So he tried to shut the entire forum down. The defining of Liberating Minds tells the true story of a forum Molyneux tried to silence.
The UK Guardian deception
In November 2008, the UK’s Guardian newspaper broke the first story about an FDR-defooed family. Molyneux wrote a response. It sounded truthful—unless you understood how Molyneux uses half-truths and slippery language to conceal the actual facts. I wrote a lengthy, line-by-line analysis of that response.
In fact, it was so long, it wouldn’t fit on the forum I had intended to post it. So instead I launched a blog. This blog. This is the article that created FDR Liberated.
Stefan Molyneux’s wife pleads guilty to “professional misconduct”
In a recent hearing, the Ontario College of Psychologists found Christina Papadopoulos (wife of Stefan Molyneux) guilty of professional misconduct for her participation in Freedomain Radio—particularly in its bizarre promotion of “defooing.”
Christina was severely disciplined but didn’t lose her practice. What saved her? Despite her advocacy of defooing on FDR and Molyneux’s constant praise of her as a co-creator of the concept, College investigators discovered that she never employed the idea in her own practice.
Molyneux’s interview with the BBC
After the Kate Hilpern’s exposure of Stefan Molyneux, the BBC wanted to know—did Molyneux actually tell Tom to leave his family? Molyneux said, “No.”
This article is about how Molyneux used lies and deception to hide the true role he played in Tom’s defoo: Molyneux, the BBC, and the Truth.
Suit claims Stefan Molyneux listened in on therapist wife and clients
A disturbing story reported by Tu Thanh Ha of Toronto’s Globe and Mail about both Molyneux and his wife, Christina Papadopoulos. She allegedly allowed Molyneux to listen in on private therapy sessions with her distraught patients and occasionally heckle them to join Freedomain Radio: Suit claims Stefan Molyneux listened in on therapist wife and clients.
Criticism
Critical Responses to Stefan Molyneux
What does it mean if a man who calls himself “the salvation of philosophy” is neither praised or attacked by his colleagues, but simply ignored? This article was a small collection of insights and criticism of Stefan Molyneux’s theories.
It’s been almost a decade since the article was originally written but no philosopher in any university anywhere has shown the slightest interest in Molyneux’s work.
Stefan Molyneux and the Wax Wings Affair
As Molyneux tried to climb the ladder beyond Freedomain Radio, to fulfill his self-image as the greatest philosopher in the world, he inevitably had a first encounter with an actual famous libertarian.
It didn’t go very well.
Tru Shibes—Stefan Molyneux’s quickest critic
This blog was begun before Molyneux discovered YouTube, and most of the writing concerned Molyneux’s activities within his Freedomain Radio “community.”
However, YouTube became the perfect medium for Molyneux, allowing him to use all of his powers of persuasion and rhetoric, his glibness covering up the contradictions and illogic in his hour-long rambles. And then came Tru Shibes, who deftly exposed him with devastating (and often hilarious) brief videos. Molyneux’s attempt to silence her was the beginning of his rejection from the libertarian community.