Alastair's skewering is certainly giving X a good laugh at the moment.

https://x.com/BenedictSpence/status/2046564535138418808

and also The Rest Is Classified (despite McClosky's awful vocal fry, those two really do know what they are talking about)

I don’t have any particular objection to their interviewing McBride ( I haven’t listened to it) but it’s depressing that they can’t see the value of platforming the alternative viewpoint. There are so many other articulate passionate women who are knowledgeable about this as well as JKR.

Bwahahaha!

It's just occurred to me that Alastair Campbell is still the arch spin doctor even where his family is involved . He gets brownie points for saying he listens to his daughter about the trans issues. (He must know it's bollocks). Then when the wheels come off the trans bandwagon he can reverse ferret blaming his daughter and still look like a woman positive man. Meanwhile his daughter has been thrown under the bus by her own father

It’s obvious that the reason they don’t ask Helen Joyce or Kathleen Stock is that both of those women are vastly more intelligent and well-informed than either of them. The same is also true of JKR of course but they know that JKR would massively boost their audience numbers.

Alastair Campbell has doubled down with a tweet urging people to listen to their interview with the “compassionate” McBride.

But they tend to have fewer women interviewees than male interviewees.

They have quite a masculinist understanding & concept of leadership. I mean, would they have interviewed Sarah McBride, if McBride weren't a man?

Yes Helen Joyce would be good. As would Victoria Smith ( glosswitch) . I just thought of Kathleen Stock because of the assisted dying thing which they have discussed, RS being against and AC in favour. They really should consider it: it’s not like they never have women interviewees. Just a complete blind spot it seems.

Aye. Frit.

Especially as serious as these two men. I mean Rory speaks 11 languages and travelled through Afghanistan and Alastair ushered in New Labour and Tony’s landslide. So much more serious than a children’s author for god’s sake.

Agree.

Helen would make mincemeat of them.

There's also the issue that JKR is world famous (and thus great for traffic when she gives one of her rare interviews) but I think they also assume (wrongly) that, because she's a woman known for writing children's books, therefore she's a lightweight who will be easily shown up by the Serious Men.

I imagine if they had Stephen King or George RR Martin on rambling about Trump, they would be treated with utmost respect, and they wouldn't even be rude enough to ask George when we can expect to see The Winds of Winter.

Those two are never going to interview Helen, Kathleen, Maya, any of the FWS women or anybody. Their attitude to women relied on a pompous "it's all so complicated and these women are so unkind". None of what they say holds up under the slightest scrutiny so they'll continue to mutter, moan and sneer rather than ever get into rational debate and discussion.

My choice would be Helen Joyce because she is the most articulate and logical of the GC crew (and that's a high bar).

But they wouldn't dare.

No disrespect to Dr Stock at all. I find most directly relatable at a personal level. Sometimes I can feel her exasperation as tangibly as my own 😆.

I think this is a little unfair. There are several people on X saying they should interview JKR. AC merely replies to say they asked her but she refused. As is her absolute right. Interviewing FWS as a group on Leading would be out of the normal run for that platform as they interview individuals not groups. Clearly though they do need to interview someone who can challenge their simplistic understanding of GC views. I wonder whether Kathleen Stock would consider it? She also obviously has strong views on assisted dying and would make a great guest.

💯

Yes JKR would be a great coup for them, the same as for Jolyon Maugham. The creepy misogynists want to boost their ratings with the most glamorous shiny star prize, not talk to (and get owned by) the ordinary sheroes who work so hard for the cause.

My conclusion from all this is that liberal feminism is not helping women, Grace being a prime example. She should be the best of what our progressive liberal elite can produce but she finds herself making ad hominem attacks on actual feminists, fawning on males, and worst of all, feeling unable to report her own rape 😞 What is progressive about any of this?

They only want JKR as a guest to have the utter male thrill of putting this internationally celebrated female author and philanthropist in her place. If they were really interested in the substance of the topic, then yes, they’d invite FWS members.

Re feeling sympathy for Grace. Whilst I can feel generically sorry that GC has not had parents helping her to become a mature and reflective adult and sorry that, as a woman, she’s experienced terrible male violence.

But I have very little sympathy for her with respect to trading on her famous family name to denigrate other older women campaigning on all our behalf. Using the most banal of insults to do so. And with such little thought or intelligence to the matter. I find all of that quite appalling.

When someone has a boot on your head, does it really matter why they have it on your head? What matters is the pain it’s causing you.

I feel sorry for her while also thinking her behaviour has been very poor. The fact that she has brought the reaction on herself won't make it any easier to be publicly criticised. The commonest reaction to this sort of criticism is unfortunately to be angry and to blame everyone who has called out the bad behaviour, so I would be surprised if she reflects deeply and admits her part in it. But she is probably fuming at the nasty people who have criticised her.

Agree. She will just move on to the next trend. As long as she is part of the in group and able to attack the out group that's all that matters.

To be fair, I can understand how she thinks it's OK for a man to identify as a woman. She identifies as a comedian, which is arguably more of a stretch.

You have good taste in men and sandwiches.

Robbie Travers

Replying to jk_rowling and campbellclaret
Isn’t it amazing that campbellclaret & RoryStewartUK
have an entire podcast called “LEADING” in which the discuss how to lead & what the qualities of leadership are, yet they won’t interview ForWomenScot
but will interview the deeply sectarian Islamist Prime Minister of Syria.

'Campbell’s privilege and entitlement is always on display and so is her self-loathing.'

Sadly, this.

Feminism is for you, too, Grace.

Yes. And I think the pity part of it comes in because she doesn't realise. She's relying on the exact sort of man who would throw her under the bus in a heartbeat if it suited him.

She doesn't realise the mind blowing significance of feminism.