Paleo Retiree writes:
This isn’t the dazzling Chris Marker/Erroll Morris/Adam Curtis doc about the present moment that we might dream of, but it’s admirable and thoughtful anyway. David Fuller, a British video journalist turned life coach, uses Cathy Newman’s recent Channel 4 interview with Jordan Peterson as a pretext for weaving together a lot of what’s in the air these days: old media vs. new media; Trump and Brexit; red vs. blue; #metoo and the Alt Right … Could be better, sure, and adjust your expectations to enjoy something no-budget and largely homemade. Slickness isn’t the point. But to my knowledge there’s nothing else out there like it — and you’ll certainly find nothing comparable in the MSM.
Watching the vid is like hanging out in the livelier reaches of Twitter or in certain private groups on Facebook. You’re among people who are sharp, tuned-in and far ahead of the usual pundits; you’re wondering with them about what the hell’s going on around us, connecting some dots; you’re venturing ideas, reactions and thoughts … I do wish the video were more irreverent and lighthearted. It’s as earnest as an ol’ ‘90s “men’s movement” talk, and it could definitely do with a few blasts of Milo. But what the hell, it’s genuinely personal, it’s smart and it’s dealing with live topics and issues.
One impish thought? No disrespect meant to Jordan Peterson, Bret Weinstein, Eric Weinstein, Gad Saad and the other courageous, good people who make up today’s Intellectual Dark Web — but what’s really new about all this? 20 (!) years ago, a lot of smart people started doing end-runs around traditional media in order to swap ideas, information, jokes, observations and even thoughts online. They used a technology called “blogging,” and good lord if the blogworld wasn’t a lively and freewheeling scene. Are we to pretend that blogging never happened? Are we to consider the new Intellectual Dark Web a more serious thing than blogging because its stars are mostly professors? Or do we just shrug and marvel once again at how long it takes some people to catch on?
Related
- Douglas Murray covers a lot of the same ground in his piece for the Spectator.
- Murray’s book “The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam,” is great, btw, as well as hyper alarming. Perhaps it’s already too late for Europe.
- A well-done appreciation of Jordan Peterson in the Irish Times.
- Vice magazine catches up with the JP phenomenon. The giggly soyboy interviewer/host is a sight to behold.
- Is Peterson helping lost boys become men? Is that why liberals hate him?
Progressives hate Jordan Peterson because he said that the Emperor has no clothes on BBC 5 for everyone to hear!
LikeLike
The fact that all that amazing content pumped out during the height of blogging has been with forgotten or, for many, never encountered, is the sad nature of the beast. Digital content is ephemeral.
LikeLike
Even assuming the question was rhetorical, I’ll venture a hypothesis on the downfall of blogging that’s as vanilla as they come. Whether a cause or effect, increased consumption of social media has shortened attention spans that have probably been in decline for decades. Writing and consuming a smart blog takes time and some effort. Not nearly as satisfying as consuming, per units of neural investment, a 120 second gotcha clip or 144 character twitter zinger.
Tangentially, I believe prolonged and copious blogging drove Andrew Sullivan insane; so that’s a danger as well.
LikeLike
Blogs like “Blowhards” were, for me, welcome portals to a world of common sense I thought had disappeared. If anyone here feels unappreciated, my hat is off to you.
LikeLiked by 1 person