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Jon Ronson and David Baddiel on Conspiracies, Culture Wars and How Things Fell Apart

The origin stories of the culture wars and how these battles came to dominate our public discourse.

If you’ve ever yelled at someone on social media about cancel culture or mask-wearing, then you are a soldier in the culture wars – those everyday battles for dominance between conflicting values. The acclaimed writer and podcaster Jon Ronson has seen friends swallowed up in these online battles to the extent that it has ruined their lives. He was curious to learn how this phenomenon had come about and has spent the last year creating the hit radio and podcast series ‘Things Fell Apart’ for BBC Radio 4, exploring the history of the culture wars. 

In March 2022 he came to Intelligence Squared where he was joined in conversation by comedian and writer David Baddiel. They discussed the origin stories of the culture wars – from the influence of evangelical filmmaker Francis Schaeffer’s terrifying film about abortion in 1977 to the spread of a moral panic about Satan’s control over America in the 1980s – and how these battles came to dominate our public discourse.

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Jon Ronson and David Baddiel on Conspiracies, Culture Wars and How Things Fell Apart

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Speakers for the motion

  • Jon Ronson

    Journalist, author, and filmmaker

Chair

  • David Baddiel

    Comedian and author of the new memoir My Family

Speakers are subject to change.

Speakers

Speaker

Jon Ronson

Journalist, author, and filmmaker

Journalist, author, and filmmaker.  He is the author of books including Them: Adventures with Extremists, The Men Who Stare at Goats, and The Psychopath Test. He has produced documentaries for both the BBC and Channel 4, covering such topics as euthanasia, Kidneys for Jesus, the Cliff Richard fan club and David Icke. He co-wrote the script for the Netflix film Okja with director Bong Joon-ho. He is the writer and presenter of the new hit series 'Things Fell Apart' for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.
Chair

David Baddiel

Comedian and author of the new memoir My Family

Author, comedian and screenwriter. He has written and performed in a series of highly successful TV comedy shows, including The Mary Whitehouse Experience and Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned. He is the author of four novels as well as six books for children which have sold over 1 million copies. His latest book is My Family.