Jon Ronson: ‘A society that stops caring about facts is a society where anything can happen’

The second series of Things Fell Apart, the writer and broadcaster’s podcast series exploring conspiracy theories and the culture wars, topped the charts earlier this year. He explains why journalistic values such as evidence and fairness are needed more than ever

Just turned 57, Jon Ronson has had a number of successes in his multi-platform career, with books such as 2011’s The Psychopath Test and documentaries such as Stanley Kubrick’s Boxes. But perhaps none of his works has resonated quite so powerfully with audiences as the podcast Things Fell Apart – in particular the second series released by the BBC in January. Later this month he is due to discuss the show as a star guest at Sheffield’s podcast festival.

Like the first series, it traces the origins of a number of conflagrations in the so-called culture wars, but it ingeniously sews together these disparate events and disagreements, tying them all to the early days of lockdown, so that listeners don’t so much hear about, as be transported into, a complex world of outrageous claims and counter-claims.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/MhYTqB3