Interview with Helen Lewis on culture wars and religion, that Jordan Peterson interview, and gurus generally

Sep 3, 2022

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Helen Lewis

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ANECDOTE

The Viral Jordan Peterson Interview

Helen recounts her viral long-form GQ interview with Jordan Peterson and the mixed reception she received online.
She notes critics debated whether she 'kippered' him or whether she appeared 'woke', illustrating polarized readings of the same footage.

INSIGHT

Charisma Replaces Institutional Quality Control

Gurus and commentators often privilege personal rapport and charisma over institutional checks and expertise.
Lewis argues leaving institutions removes quality-control and lets commentators indulge worst instincts.

INSIGHT

Twitter Made Complex Debates Shallow And Polarised

Social media compressed debates onto platforms where ideas lacked prior intellectual groundwork, making meanings fuzzier and polarisation easier.
Lewis says many people who never had these conversations feel unheard, fueling backlash and siloed radicalisation.

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Today Chris and Matt are visited by Helen Lewis, a journalist, editor, and writer with what could very fairly be described as a rather distinguished career in those fields.

Helen has previously worked at the New Statesman and is currently with The Atlantic. She has also served as a Women in the Humanities Honorary Writing Fellow at Oxford University and also on the steering committee for the Reuters Institute for Journalism at Oxford University. Her books include Difficult Women: A History of Feminism in 11 Fights. Helen's work covers a broad array of topics including politics, feminist issues, and contemporary/online culture. She is also known for a particular long-form interview which became a 'viral moment' when she sat down for a challenging discussion with one, Jordan B. Peterson.

Most recently Helen has produced "The Church of Social Justice" for BBC4, which asks whether political movements might be taking the place of traditional religions in Britain. A question which never generates any controversy whatsoever. She is also working on an upcoming project that looks at internet gurus and the ecosystems they spawn. So, we were glad to take the opportunity to catch up and talk about the intersections with our rather idiosyncratic collection of interests.

Join us as we try to decipher whether everything is a religion, if social justice requires a pope, and how exactly can we resolve ALL of those thorny culture war debates. We might not ultimately reach any satisfying answers but Helen does offer her one rule for life at the end of the interview!

Also featured on this episode: our most defensive response to a review to date, and a segment on the dangers of JAQing off!

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