Dutch version here.

‘I am embroiled in a big scandal, in the middle of storm on social media,’ said Ian Buruma on the phone from New York. ‘It is rather ironic: as editor of The New York Review of Books I published a theme issue about #MeToo-offenders who had not been convicted in a court of law but by social media. And now I myself am publicly pilloried.’

For the moment, he does not want to comment on his sudden departure from the renowned, bi-weekly The New York Review of Books. But because Vrij Nederland was about to publish a long interview with him, Buruma made an exception for VN – although he is not willing to go deeply into the case and he terminated the conversation after a brief exchange.

He is about to write a resignation letter to publisher/owner Rea. S Hederman, says Buruma. A month earlier, during the interview, he was very enthusiastic about his new job, his young editorial team and his wealthy, but progressive publisher. And he is still. Just as he is...