Webchat with Jon Ronson, Tuesday 24 March, 8-9pm (See post below re: time change)

[RachelMumsnet]

The peerless Jon Ronson is joining us for a webchat on Tuesday 24 March from 8-9pm. Jon is an award-winning writer and documentary-maker, as well as being a regular at Mumsnet events. He followed up at BlogFest 2013 with an equally brilliant appearance at our recent Mumstock event, where he spoke about his new book, So You've Been Publicly Shamed.

The book details his experiences of, and involvement in, the various Twitterstorms that have blown up over the past few years, which he connects to the historical tradition of public shaming. He interviews infamous shamers and shamees, exploring how public ridicule and vitriol can have devastating consequences for all involved. Did the individuals who made one offensive joke on Twitter deserve to have their lives ruined?

Join Jon for what will be a fascinating and entertaining hour on Tuesday evening between 8 and 9pm. Don't worry if you're unable to join us at that time - you can post your early bird question for Jon on this thread right now.

@improbablesaint

Now, Jon, a friend of mine wants to know if your mum ever did forgive you and your mates for wrecking her kitchen at that party. In the heady days of 1985.

I don't remember ever writing about that. WAS YOUR FRIEND THERE?

@Springtimemama

DH and I just googled limone - made us laugh a lot.

DH was particularly amused by Elaine's inscrutable expression!

I have a slightly mean question. I haven't read your latest book though it sounds great. I do remember if I am right that one of your neighbours was once a bit cross that you wrote about him in the Guardian. I appreciate you wouldn't have named him, but he clearly recognised himself.

As a journalist yourself, do you think you've ever played a part in this shaming thing?

Hey Springtimemama. I’ve always wanted to be a non-shaming journalist, empathizing with people instead of humiliating them. And most of the time I’ve got it right. Especially the older I get. And ESPECIALLY with this new book. But there are a few stories I regret. I wrote a piece about the rap group Insane Clown Posse that people loved - but they loved it at the expense of ICP. Also, I wrote a story about Amanda Palmer in which I really tried to portray her as a lovely human being, but she found it passive-aggressive. It totally wasn’t my intention but she felt hurt by it. I think the headline had something to do with it - Amanda Palmer: Genius or Egotist (or something) - but journalists never see the headline until everyone else does.

@Wotsup

Jon, loved the Psychopath Test and became a fan.

Do you think counsellors/psychotherapists are charlatans?

What would be the next thing you'd like to investigate?

Did you hate the film The Men Who Stared at Goats as I did? But I loved the book.

I loved the Goats film. I really did. NO - I don't think councellors/psychotherapists are charlatans. I think SOME are brilliant. I'm no RD Laing.

@GettingFiggyWithIt

Similar question here. As a journalist/writer how often do you manipulate people in order to get a story? How do you feel about this later? Please do not think I am having a pop at you, I am genuinely interested. In particular about your choices in framing Adria Richards as aggressor rather than victim, having purported to have been interested in telling 'her' story. I have bought and enjoyed much of your work over the years, am currently reading Frank, and what I love most is the humour and self awareness about your own neuroses. So I wondered whether you ever felt guilty about the effects of promoting of your novel or about how your interviewees feel upon publishing? (Justine not having wanted further exposure, Lindsey being published yet again with the photo she wants distance from, Adria feeling you misrepresented yourself as caring about sexism in the tech industry). Thank you.

Hey gettingfiggywithit. Justine and Lindsey are both delighted with my book. Very, very happy. Which makes me extremely happy too. Adria’s comments were about the way her story was briefly summarized in a New York Times extract. I think anyone who reads the full length version of her story in the book will consider it fair to everyone involved.

@GettingFiggyWithIt

Noone else is asking questions so although I am limited to my first post I am hoping to sneak a few more in...

I just read all of SYBPS in one sitting, like I did with the psychopath test. It made me think, which is always a good thing and on more than one occasion I laughed out loud - as a sleep deprived mum thank you for that less so the binge reading but that's my fault

Just how often do people ask you if they are sociopaths?!

I know the film Frank was your baby, have not yet seen it, but how was it cast and did you prefer the finished product to TMWSAG? And what was your favourite Frank Sidebottom cover?

Given your experience with Them, and your experience as an investigative journalist, what are your views on the consecutive cover-ups of abuse in carehomes, Elm house etc ever being truly exposed once and for all?

I love both movies - Men Who Stare At Goats and Frank. Peter Straughan and I watched Goats again about a year ago because I programmed it at a film festival I was curating and we loved it just as much as when it first came out. (Peter wrote the screenplay.) I think the care-home abuse story might be one of the biggest stories in modern British history. I am stunned by it. Now you mention Them - it shouldn’t escape people’s attention that DAVID ICKE was telling people about this stuff 15 years ago and everybody thought he was crazy. We should apologize to him.

@hackmum

I thought your latest book was fascinating. There's a lot I'd like to ask about it, but I'll confine myself to one for now: you spoke to two people, iirc, who took part in the Zimbardo experiments at Stanford University. Did you try to speak to any more, or do you plan to? Given that the Zimbardo experiment was hugely influential and brought Zimbardo himself worldwide fame, I'm surprised that that bit of your book where you pretty much debunk the whole thing hasn't had more attention.

Hey Hackmum. Thank you! I am really glad you liked the new book. I’ll be really interested to see if anything happens as a result of my Stanford Prison Experiment passage. Zimbardo has always maintained that the guards turned ‘evil’ in that basement. But the guards I spoke to were, ‘No, no. We just wanted to please Zimbardo. We thought we were doing something good.’ So interesting. And so relevant to the way people behave on social media. When we tear apart Justine Sacco it’s not because we’ve turned evil. it’s because we’re trying to do good.

Hi Jon, I was wondering why you think you were so upset about the spambot algorithm you that was on Twitter? Hardly anybody followed it and by you highlighting it, the (not v nice) guys that ran it got more attention than they deserved.

@quietbatperson

I haven't read the latest book (it's in the pile next to my bed to read though :) ) but loved The Psychopath Test and the men who stare at goats - I would like to know whether there have been other stories that have petered out and you have left on a shelf waiting for some new information before you pick it up again. Are there any potential gems that you are waiting for a break in, that we might see in the next few years?

Hey Quietbatperson. Not really, tbh. When I first started writing Shamed I did a massive amount of research about court experts. I might pick that up again. If I can find a way to do it that - basically - doesn’t come over as not as good as Serial.

@Poppytalk

Hi Jon, I was wondering why you think you were so upset about the spambot algorithm you that was on Twitter? Hardly anybody followed it and by you highlighting it, the (not v nice) guys that ran it got more attention than they deserved.

Yeah - I was surprised too at how upset I was. I guess I've spent 47 years trying to work out what my identity it, and didn't like having it stolen.

@HomeHelpMeGawd

Do you miss KFM, Jon?

YES. KFM was a local radio station (South Manchester and North Cheshire) where I did a late night show for a couple of years in the early 1990s. Along with Craig Cash and Caroline Aherne and Terry Christian. We were the late night presenters. I sometimes think I was so happy there I’d probably still be there if I hadn’t been sacked.

When are we going to get more Josie as famous artwork pictures?

On a more serious note, do you find that doing the kind of journalism you do makes new acquaintances a bit wary of you, wondering if you're going to do in depth research and consequent exposes on them?

I've just read the Max Mosley chapter - he seems to feel the opposite of shamed. His approach is quite refreshing. Maybe people need to feel less ashamed of their own actions?

@cloudspotter

One question...... better not blow this....

What I really want to know is how do you carry on living "normally" after some of the exposes that you've done?

After Bildenburg, after the psychiatric classification thing....do you find it hard to put the blinkers on and carry on with normal life - or do you become irretrievably cynical?

Hey Cloudspotter. I’ve always been good at compartmentalizing my stories and my everyday life. So one day I’m being chased by The Bilderberg Group and the next day I’m at Legoland with the family. But that hasn’t happened with this new book. The anxiety really snaked its way into me. I think it’s because The Bilderberg Group is really unlikely to adversely affect my life. Whereas those of us on social media - the shaming masses - we are TERRIFYING.

MY OH recently went on an organised ghost hunt in an old Victorian keep and was really taken in by it after initially going on it for a laugh.

I didn't go and still don't believe.

Have you investigated such an experience and what would you advise my husband?

@EnolaAlone

I've just read the Max Mosley chapter - he seems to feel the opposite of shamed. His approach is quite refreshing. Maybe people need to feel less ashamed of their own actions?

In all my books the least likely people turn out to be the heroic ones, and that's true in this one. Max Mosley is a kind of hero.

Hi Jon,

Sorry, another question if you have time. In the For the Love Of series you did, what was your impression of the spookier sides of those debates like the alien abduction/big brother/moon landing conspiracy types?

Did you find them sincere or attention seeking? Or heaven forbid, boring

Thanks for replying, Jon! I've long suspected that in a lot of psychological studies the subjects are trying to "help" the researcher by behaving the way they think they're expected to and Zimbardo might be a great example of that. And, really, they did help him, didn't they? He'd never have got famous otherwise. (Don't feel you have to answer that, btw, as I've probably used up my quota already.)

Hi Jon, have read the new book and think it's ace, but what I really want to know is...do you regret telling a David Shayler to fuck off? Also, are there any plans to make more Jon Ronson On, either for radio or podcast?

@voscar

Shame, to use its workng name - is the first book I've read of yours.

My question is "How did you reconcile to yourself that your objectives in creating a successful book (with all of the publicity accompanying it) were at complete odds with the objectives of the shamed parties?" I.e. they all wanted their shaming to go away, and in some cases you attempted to aid that (Lindsey Stone), but you knew even in offering her obscurity that you needed her to be on the front pages again to achieve your own success?

You hint at this as a wider journalistic tension when discussing Michaels internal fight with his empathy for Jonah over his own need to publish - but never really answer the question yourself.

Hey Voscar. Lindsey is very happy with the book. She has gone from being cast out by the masses to being brought back in. She’s happy to be part of the conversation and pleased that people now realize she was wronged. She said that talking to me was cathartic. Nobody was on her side, but I was. And in fact after the book came out she even agreed to do a new interview with me - filmed by the BBC - for Newsnight. So it’s a really happy ending.

@bigfatfeet

Hi Jon, have read the new book and think it's ace, but what I really want to know is...do you regret telling a David Shayler to fuck off? Also, are there any plans to make more Jon Ronson On, either for radio or podcast?

I sort of do regret telling David Shayler to fuck off. I wouldn't do that now, now I've written Shamed. Once you've been on the journey I've been on it's really hard to write any nonfiction that isn't empathetic.

Hi Jon - really enjoyed your Mumstock speech the other day, thanks for that!
You mentioned then that Justine's description of her reaction to the scandal is similar to symptoms of PTSD - can you elaborate on that? Thanks!

@hackmum

Thanks for replying, Jon! I've long suspected that in a lot of psychological studies the subjects are trying to "help" the researcher by behaving the way they think they're expected to and Zimbardo might be a great example of that. And, really, they did help him, didn't they? He'd never have got famous otherwise. (Don't feel you have to answer that, btw, as I've probably used up my quota already.)

Yes! Exactly!

@Dr0pThePirate

Hi Jon,

DP and I have just finished reading So You've Been Publicly Shamed. We both really enjoyed it.

In chapter 11 you talk to Clive Stafford Smith who asks about the worst criminal act committed against you and the worst thing you've ever done to somebody. Your answer to the latter is intriguing "It was a terrible thing. It was devastating for them. It wasn't against the law."

I hope you don't think it's impertinent (or even down right creepy) to ask what it was you did?! I spent the rest of the book waiting for the big reveal!

I swear this is purely in the interests of closure/satisfaction, but I need to know...

Thank you!

Hey Dr0pThePirate. When Clive poses that question to people he says, “It’s okay. You don’t have to answer it out loud.” So I am going to invoke that right.

@sarahsusannah

Hello Jon - I really enjoyed So You've Been Publicly Shamed, though some of the situations you describe are a bit like watching someone being pelted with debris in the village stocks (or worse). You take a pretty compassionate line on people who have fallen foul of social media but do you see your book as a wake-up call or there anything that the law can do to protect them? (I thought of your book when I read that the producer who got into the 'fracas' with Jeremy Clarkson had been getting abusive tweets...)

Hello Sarahsusannah. The law can only regulate against trolls, right? That extreme outrageous minority who use violent language. But trolls didn’t destroy Justine or Linsdey or the others. WE did. Good-hearted people did. You can’t regulate against us. We have to do that ourselves. We have to stop being hanging judges - or the people in the lithographs being ribald at whippings.

P.S. I really don't think you should regret telling David Shayler to fuck off - he was being a total dick.