The Naval Academy canceled a speech by author and podcaster Ryan Holiday after he declined a request not to reference 381 books and literary works removed from its library as part of a review of diversity, equity and inclusion materials, according to an opinion piece he authored for The New York Times.
Holiday, who has hosted a series of lectures on the virtues of Stoicism to midshipmen for the past four years, was scheduled to speak to the sophomore class on the theme of wisdom on April 14.
About an hour before his scheduled talk, Holiday received a phone call, he recounted in the Times Opinion piece titled “The Naval Academy Canceled My Lecture on Wisdom.” According to Holiday, Navy officials told Holiday they were worried about “reprisals” related to a portion of his speech that referenced the 381 books recently removed. They asked him to omit that topic from his remarks, he wrote.
“When I declined, my lecture — as well as a planned speech before the Navy football team, with whom my books on Stoicism are popular — was canceled,” Holiday wrote.
Navy media officials could not be reached for comment Saturday.
Holliday is the author or co-author of 28 books on Stoicism and has delivered speeches to the Cleveland Browns, Nike, Google and the White House Communications Agency.
Some titles removed from the Navy’s Nimitz Library include “How to Be an Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi, “White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America” by Anthea Butler, “Writing/teaching: Essays Toward a Rhetoric of Pedagogy” by Paul Kameen, and “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Literarian Award recipient Maya Angelou.
Other titles included themes of feminism, civil rights and racism, along with books surrounding Jewish history, including “Memorializing the Holocaust: Gender, Genocide and Collective Memory” by Janet Jacobs.
The decision to remove books came after the Naval Academy announced it would no longer consider race, ethnicity or sex as a factor for admission, a response to an executive order signed by President Donald Trump, according to federal court documents.
Holiday said it was important to address the issue in his speech.
“As an author, I believe deeply in the power of books,” Holiday wrote in The Times. “As a bookstore owner in Texas, I have spoken up about book banning many times already. More important was the topic of my address: the virtue of wisdom.
“As I explained repeatedly to my hosts, I had no interest in embarrassing anyone or discussing politics directly. I understand the immense pressures they are under, especially the military employees, and I did not want to cause them trouble. I did, however, feel it was essential to make the point that the pursuit of wisdom is impossible without engaging with (and challenging) uncomfortable ideas.”
© 2025 the Catonsville Times (Ellicott City, Md.). Visit www.baltimoresun.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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