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Live On Stage
Monday June 3 2024, 7pm BST

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

Politics &
Economics

‘We’re living in post-truth times where all sorts of lies are allowed to flourish for all sorts of reasons, and many people are guilty of that from across the political spectrum. What the podcast is about in the end is that we have to hold on to truth like driftwood or else we’ll drown.’ – Jon Ronson

The final minutes of the first episode of Jon Ronson’s new podcast and Radio 4 series on the history of the culture wars will stop you in your tracks wherever you happen to be. Walking the dog. Opening the fridge. Running in the park. It’s a remarkable moment of storytelling and reporting – and the episodes that follow just keep getting better.

Things Fell Apart, Ronson’s new series, has been listened to more than five million times already. It is a remarkable, pivotal body of work. In it, the journalist, author and filmmaker takes his long standing interest in conspiracy theories and the culture wars to a new level. Topics he explores include antifa (the US anti-fascist movement), Black Lives Matter, anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists and gender politics. Never before have the culture wars – which can sometimes appear unreal and distant – felt more alarming and real-world.

On June 3 Ronson, back in the UK from his home in New York, brings Things Fell Apart to the Intelligence Squared stage for an exclusive London event.

He will use clips, images and outtakes and will share previously untold backstories about the making of the series.

Ronson is one of the world’s great live storytellers and he’s never had a more important story to tell.

He will be in conversation with a special guest, to be announced.


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.