Books
Our Last Innocent Moment
If there can possibly be anything good to come out of the horrors of the last three years, it is this: some of us, at least, have been shaken awake. We now know that we are under attack. We are under attack not so much for the particular things we say or do but simply for wanting to be free, for wanting to be able to think through our lives, and for wanting our lives to be the products of our own choices.
Whatever happened over the last few years, we have been fundamentally changed by it. There’s no reclaiming the innocence we lost. Life is more serious now. Our obligations are more weighty, or just more apparent. There are certain truths we came to see that can never be unseen. And everything is so much more complicated than we thought.
This is a dark time for humanity. But darkness always creates the greatest opportunities for growth and self-awareness, and for us to intentionally remake ourselves for the better. The moment is upon us. We can’t reclaim the innocence we lost in 2020, but we can use our experiences to remake a more innocent world for ourselves and for our children. We can, I dare say, create something even greater.
Whatever you’ve been through over the last four years, whatever you left unsaid and undone, whatever you’ve lost, and however it changed you, this book is for you.
My Choice
In the fall of 2021, Dr. Julie Ponesse saw her academic career of 20 years fall apart after she refused a Canadian university’s COVID vaccine mandate. This is her account of the battle and its aftermath, written with passion and intelligence. But Dr. Ponesse’s story travels beyond the personal and examines the ethical and philosophical dimensions of our pandemic response.
If there is anyone out there who feels alone in the struggle to preserve personal choice and freedom, this book offers some very human advice on how to move forward and makes it clear that your voice deserves to be heard.
Our Last Innocent Moment Reviews
“Simply brilliant! As an advertisement once put it, the author writes beautifully and will help you make sense of it all.”
— Scott E. Douglass
“I’m absolutely thrilled by Our Last Innocent Moment by Julie Ponesse is in print and hope it is widely read. Everyone needs this. It is not a long book but it is a literary masterpiece with elegant prose driven forward in every sentence by deep psychological and philosophical insight. It somehow manages to be personal but not tackily revealing, expository of everyone’s personal struggles without being drippy or wallowing in victimhood, and broadly aspirational without being dopy and resorting to ideological cliches. You should give it a try. I think it would mean something extremely important to you and everyone. Everyone knows something hugely dramatic happened starting March 2020. It wasn’t just the bizarre policies and rules. And it wasn’t only the alienation of the common people from the elites who rule them. Something more profound took place. It was a shift in the way we all viewed the world around us. We are left with something darker and ominous with which to contend. Nothing functioned like it was supposed to and the rest of us are left picking up the pieces.This book does as good a job as possible to achieving something very difficult: it creates a deep connection between writer, reader, and the world around us. In that sense, it is a source not only of insight but of healing.”
— Jeffrey Tucker
“Our Last Innocent Moment is a brilliant analysis of a new world emerging in the aftermath of a global event that rocked the foundation of western society. Dr. Julie Ponesse runs a fine toothed comb over the human spirit to reveal the tragically beautiful reality we now find ourselves in. These pages serve as both a reflection on a period of grim inhumanity and a roadmap guiding the way forward.”
— Jason James (host of Brave New Normal)
“A very thought provoking and insightful compilation of essays. Highly recommend. Motivating, inspiring, reflective and a wonderful read. Definitely recommend.”
— Amanda Helmle
Brownstone Insights Review
Take Heart! Some fantastic news: Julie Ponesse’s gorgeous book, Our Last Innocent Moment, is out in physical and digital. Nothing can prepare you for the power of this work. It’s a masterpiece.
My Choice Reviews
“One day, it’ll be clear that those few who resisted the authoritarian insanity of ‘COVID, ‘ and suffered for it, were entirely in the right, while those who jeered and slandered them were wrong. For her bravery and lucidity, and her exemplary humanity, Julie Ponesse will stand out among the very few professors in that noble number.”
— Mark Crispin Miller, Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University
“Dr. Ponesse’s personal story and her deep dive into all the ethical questions surrounding this pandemic are poignant reminders of the classical liberal world we are leaving behind and the dark authoritarian world that is emerging in its place. But Dr. Ponesse’s courageous stand and her uncompromising love of ffreedom provide us with a much-needed example of how to reverse the tide.”
— Julius Ruechel, author of Autopsy of a Pandemic
Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship
A Lone Pine of a Woman: A Review of Julie Ponesse’s My Choice
“Julie Ponesse is an inspiration — a modern-day Socrates who was unafraid to stand up for the truth and to question authority, even at the cost of losing the job she loved. Her book is essential reading not just for those interested in the ethical debates around vaccine mandates, but for anyone who is concerned about the dark turn Western civilization seems to have taken in response to the pandemic. Her book and example are a source of light in the encircling gloom, pointing us towards a freer, safer, and more hopeful future.”
— Nick McBride, author of The Humanity of Private Law