Webchat with Russell Brand - Weds 12 Nov - 1 o'clock

[JustineMumsnet]

We're very pleased to say that Russell Brand is joining us on Wednesday 12 November between 1 and 2pm.

For those who don't know, Russell Brand is a comedian, actor and author.

His latest book, Revolution, sets out his views for political change - because, he says, "democracy has been taken away from us".

You might have caught his recent interview on Newsnight, which was widely discussed on the boards.

This is his third book, following My Booky Wook and Booky Wook 2: This Time It's Personal and has just published the first in a new series of children's books Russell Brand's Trickster Tales: The Pied Piper of Hamelin, written by Russell and illustrated by Chris Riddell.

Please do join us on Wednesday - or if you can't, feel free to post questions in advance, here.

(Reminder that we only allow one question and one follow-up per user, so make sure to use yours wisely )

zerotolerance if you go back to the first 15 pages of the thread, some detailed examples are given.

Nancy66

Hi Russell I'm 34 years old and I've never voted, I wrote to David Cameron saying so before he was elected. I think it's really stupid feminists saying you should exercise your right to vote because as a woman I think I have as much right to not use my vote as any man! How long do you think it's going to take before we have someone we can vote for though ? Is it all too idealistic to ever be realised ? Look at shoreditch it's full of poshos now

Ha hahahahah brilliant. Please do us all a favor and continue not voting charbaba.

Hi MNHQ, do you know when we are likely to find out if we've won tickets or not? Just that it's only 2 days away and will involve a bit of re-jigging at work if I am one of the lucky ones! Thanks very much.

I'm with nancy.

@KatherinaMinola

Really Justine? OK. But he did rather dodge the misogyny/sexism/rape joke questions, didn't he?

Since you're still monitoring this chat, I'm still horrified (given your campaigns and avowed stance on rape etc) that you would give him airtime.

He addressed the misogyny/sexism one - obviously not how everyone would have liked - didn't want to talk about Julian Assange though. I don't believe he intended to avoid the whole subject though... Nothing like some of the politicians we've had on...

JustineMumsnet - Have you met RBrand before today? Are you and your husband running his revolution campaign? Is he going to be the Mumsnet/Newsnight preferred candidate in the next Mumsnet election?

Maybe he's going to be the MN pet.

I had vaguely hoped that the beneath the veneer was something a little more tangible and challenging, but all i saw was Speakers Corner. Am not sure whether to be encouraged to see this complete lack of depth, or insulted that he was not torn to shreds.

If only we could have a misogynist wank splat emoticon to use on threads like this (hopeful)

Ha - no never.
Can't speak for Newsnight, of course, or indeed my OH's political views because he's an individual with his own, but as you may know Mumsnet doesn't endorse any political party/candidates - we are for all mums of all political persuasions (well, almost all ).

FuckOffGerbil

unhinged. quoting the bible is usually a pretty good indicator

are you one of those people who cries out for open-mindedness but in reality is just a prejudiced hypocrite?

Considering one of the "selling" points of this Webchat was the paragraph on his latest book "Revolution", regarding his views for political change, Mr Brand did appear to spend more time replying to sycophantic posts rather than the intelligent, politically-based questions, and those relating to his views on women. Also, the intro led us to believe he is a comedian. Well, I personally didn't find him at all funny.

His parting shot regarding Penguins are/are not biscuits being a very important point to be cleared up Was that him trying to be amusing, or was he covertly reverting to his misogynistic dark side, implying that this was the most important thing in all our silly little female minds?? Genuine query, bearing in mind all the very sensible and articulate questions that were provided and ignored.
This is the very first time I've even looked at a WebChat, let alone pose a question. If this is an example, then it's something I'll be avoiding in the future.

Utterly bizarre!

"unhinged. quoting the bible is usually a pretty good indicator

are you one of those people who cries out for open-mindedness but in reality is just a prejudiced hypocrite?"

I suspect she meant quoting the bible randomly and out of context........

@muminthecity

Hi MNHQ, do you know when we are likely to find out if we've won tickets or not? Just that it's only 2 days away and will involve a bit of re-jigging at work if I am one of the lucky ones! Thanks very much.

We'll be in touch by 5pm today if you've won.

He didn't really need to dodge the misogyny questions because he has so little awareness of what is wrong with the way he talks about women.
The Mary Magdalene analogy was horribly revealing. I thought we'd moved on from prostitutes being sinners but it doesn't sound like Russell has

LineRunner was bang on re 'In a way, we all only have our own instincts, impulses and influences. I will support other people, but as Krishna Murti said, 'truth is a pathless land' being revealing as a response to a q about feminism in a fair revolution - 'a man's instincts trump women's rights'.

It's funny, he comes across as so likeable and sane in many ways, but a complete arsehole in others.

(Hope that doesn't cross the line, Justine - remember, Russell himself says it doesn't matter what people say about him because there is only the truth!)

Great, thanks Justine

All of you now rushing for tickets deserve them, and I mean that in the nicest possible way.

I'm chuffed RB answered my question. Thanks Mumsnet and RB but seriously?..Spray tans???

Hope you're all being nice to the new Mumsnetters today. The Russell Brand Fanclub are out in force!

u are so honest i can't believe :D u sir have my biggest Respect - Bau69er1 - 2 posts today.

"Thanks massively for answering my question, and apologies for spelling "Morrissey" incorrectly...." - skipahappy 3 posts today.

"thanks for the reply, Im "poor" because i am so dissilusioned with the system that i dont want to work anymore and pay tax to these cretins in power..." - caspi1888 - 3 posts today.

"Hi, You said you're thinking a lot about books (Morrissey quote) - What are reading?" - CoffeeFirst - 4 posts today.

"Thanks for your reply Russell smile Lets hope similar change happens in rUK and voting is made relevant for everyone on these islands. Keep doing what you're doing!" - hanbanthankyouhan - 3 posts today.

"Hi Russell I'm 34 years old and I've never voted, I wrote to David Cameron saying so before he was elected. I think it's really stupid feminists saying..." - Charbaba - 1 post today.

" ...How can you expect an undereducated public to meaningfully take part in or support someone to generate real betterment and guide the direction of a country ?
Thank you Russell for what you're doing... It's important to get your feedback." - timef0rchange - 4 posts today.

EvansOvalPies, don't be put off MN webchats - they're very very varied but usually revealing in some way!

Countess (Thank you - this has most certainly been revealing)

TiggyD, hopefully they'll stick around. We can talk to them about pushchairs and breastfeeding

And why being told you have to find half an hour to meditate twice a day is funny