Jon Ronson

Jon Ronson (born 10 May 1967) is a British[1] journalist and documentary filmmaker whose works include The Men Who Stare at Goats (2004), Them: Adventures with Extremists (2001), and The Psychopath Test (2011). He has been described as a gonzo journalist,[2] becoming a faux-naïf character in his stories.[3]

Jon Ronson
Ronson speaking at Politicon, 2016
Born (1967-05-10) 10 May 1967
Cardiff, Wales
Occupation
  • Author
  • screenwriter
  • filmmaker
  • journalist
Genre
Notable works
SpouseElaine Patterson
Children1
Website
jonronson.com

He produces informal but sceptical investigations of controversial fringe politics and science. He has published nine books and his work has appeared in publications such as The Guardian, City Life and Time Out. He has made several BBC Television documentary films and two documentary series for Channel 4.

Biography

Personal life

Ronson was born in Cardiff in Wales and attended Cardiff High School. He worked for CBC Radio (since renamed Capital South Wales) in Cardiff before moving to London for a degree in Media Studies at the Polytechnic of Central London.[4] Ronson, who is culturally Jewish,[5] is a "distinguished supporter" of Humanists UK.[6][7] He is married to Elaine Patterson, with whom he has a son.[8] Ronson is a supporter of the football team Arsenal and has spoken of his "adoration" of the club.[9] Ronson resides in upstate New York and became an American citizen in 2020.

Writing career

Ronson's first book, Clubbed Class (1994), is a travelogue in which he bluffs his way into a jet set lifestyle, in search of the world's finest holiday.[10]

His second book, Them: Adventures with Extremists (2001) chronicles his experiences with people labelled as extremists. Subjects in the book include David Icke, Randy Weaver, Omar Bakri Muhammad, Ian Paisley, Alex Jones, and Thom Robb. Ronson also follows independent investigators of secretive groups such as the Bilderberg Group.[11] The narrative tells of Ronson's attempts to infiltrate the "shadowy cabal" fabled, by these conspiracy theorists, to rule the world.[12] The book was described by Louis Theroux as a "funny and compulsively readable picaresque adventure through a paranoid shadow world."[13] Variety magazine announced in September 2005 that Them was purchased by Universal Pictures for a feature film.[14]

Ronson contributed the memoir A Fantastic Life to the Picador anthology Truth or Dare, in 2004.[15]

Ronson's third book, The Men Who Stare at Goats (2004), deals with the secret New Age unit within the United States Army called the First Earth Battalion. Ronson investigates people such as Major General Albert Stubblebine III, former head of intelligence, who believe that people can walk through walls with the right mental preparation, and that goats can be killed simply by staring at them. Much was based on the ideas of Lt. Col. Jim Channon, ret., who wrote the First Earth Battalion Operations Manual in 1979, inspired by the emerging Human Potential Movement of California. The book suggests that these New Age military ideas mutated over the decades to influence interrogation techniques at Guantanamo Bay. An eponymous film of the book was released in 2009, in which Ronson's investigations were fictionalised and structured around a journey to Iraq. Ronson is played by the actor Ewan McGregor in the film.[16]

Ronson's fourth book, Out of the Ordinary: True Tales of Everyday Craziness (2006; Picador and Guardian Books) is a collection of his Guardian articles, mostly those concerning his domestic life. A companion volume was What I Do: More True Tales of Everyday Craziness (2007).[17][18]

The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry (2011) is Ronson's fifth book. In it, he explores the nature of psychopathic behaviour, learning how to apply the Hare Psychopathy Checklist, and investigating its reliability. He interviews people in facilities for the criminally insane as well as potential psychopaths in corporate boardrooms.[19][20] The book's findings have been rejected by The Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy and by Robert D. Hare, creator of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist.[21][22] Hare described the book as "frivolous, shallow, and professionally disconcerting".[22]

Lost at Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries (2012) is Ronson's sixth book.[23]

Ronson's book, So You've Been Publicly Shamed (2015), concerns the effects of public humiliation in the internet age.[24]

Radio
Ronson at Humber Mouth Festival, 2006

Ronson's main radio work is the production and presentation of a BBC Radio 4 programme, Jon Ronson on...[25] The program has been nominated for a Sony award four times.[26] In August 2008, Radio 4 aired "Robbie Williams and Jon Ronson Journey to the Other Side", a documentary by Jon Ronson about pop star Williams' fascination with UFOs and the paranormal.[27]

In the early 1990s, Ronson was offered the position of sidekick on Terry Christian's Show on Manchester radio station KFM.[28] Ronson also co-presented a KFM show with Craig Cash, who went on to write and perform in The Royle Family and Early Doors.[29]

Ronson contributes to Public Radio International in the United States, particularly the program This American Life. He has contributed segments to the episodes "Them", "Family Physics", "Naming Names", "It's Never Over", "Habeas Schmaebeas", "The Spokesman", "Pro Se", and "The Psychopath Test".[30]

Ronson hosted and wrote the podcast The Butterfly Effect, which was released in November 2017 by Audible.[31] The show focuses on internet pornography, and Fabian Thylmann and PornHub's effect on the industry. Ronson subsequently also hosted and wrote the podcast The Last Days of August, released in January 2019.[32] It focuses on the 2017 death of pornographic actress August Ames.

Music

In the late 1980s, Ronson replaced Mark Radcliffe as the keyboard player for the Frank Sidebottom band for a number of performances.[33]

Ronson was the manager of the Manchester indie band Man From Delmonte.[34]

Television

Ronson presented the late nineties talk show For The Love of...,[35] in which each week he would interview a gathering of guests and experts on different phenomena and conspiracy theories.[36] Ronson has also appeared as a guest on various shows, including Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled.

Films

Ronson sold the film rights to The Men Who Stare at Goats, and subsequently a film of the same name was released in 2009 as a comedy war film directed by Grant Heslov and written by Peter Straughan. According to Ronson's DVD-commentary, the journalist-character Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) did experience some elements of Ronson's self-recounted story from the book. However, unlike Ronson, Wilton was an American from Ann Arbor. Also, unlike Ronson, Wilton went to Iraq.[37]

In the process of visiting the set during the shoot, Ronson began a collaborative writing project with Straughan.[37] This was the screenplay for Frank, a fictitious feature film inspired by Ronson's time in Frank Sidebottom's band.[38]

Ronson co-wrote with Bong Joon-ho the screenplay for the 2017 Netflix film Okja.[39]

Works

Books
Date first publishedTitlePublisher information
27 October 1994Clubbed ClassPavilion Books Ltd, hardcover, ISBN 1-85793-320-6
2001Them: Adventures with ExtremistsPicador, hardcover, 2001, ISBN 0-330-37545-8
Simon & Schuster, hardcover, 2002, ISBN 0-7432-2707-7
Simon & Schuster, paperback, 1 January 2003, ISBN 0-7432-3321-2
19 November 2004The Men Who Stare at GoatsPicador, hardcover, ISBN 0-330-37547-4
3 November 2006Out of the Ordinary: True Tales of Everyday CrazinessPicador/Guardian Books, paperback, ISBN 0-330-44832-3
2 November 2007What I Do: More True Tales Of Everyday CrazinessPicador/Guardian Books, paperback, ISBN 0-330-45373-4
12 May 2011The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness IndustryRiverhead Books, hardcover, ISBN 978-1-59448-801-6
22 November 2011The Amazing Adventures of Phoenix JonesRiverhead Books, e-book
30 October 2012Lost at Sea: The Jon Ronson MysteriesPenguin Group, hardcover, ISBN 978-1-59463-137-5
27 March 2014Frank: The True Story that Inspired the MoviePicador, paperback, ISBN 978-1-4472-7137-6
12 March 2015So You've Been Publicly ShamedPicador, paperback, ISBN 978-0-33049-228-7
October 2016The Elephant in the Room: A Journey into the Trump Campaign and the 'Alt-Right'E-book, Kindle single

Filmography
  • The Ronson Mission (1994) BBC 2
  • New York to California: A Great British Odyssey (1996) Channel 4
  • Hotel Auschwitz (1996) BBC Radio 4
  • Tottenham Ayatollah (1997) Channel 4
  • Critical Condition (1997) Channel 4
  • Dr Paisley, I Presume (1998) Channel 4
  • New Klan (1999) Channel 4
  • Secret Rulers of the World (2001) Channel 4
  • The Double Life of Jonathan King (2002) Channel 4
  • Kidneys for Jesus (2003)[40] Channel 4
  • I Am, Unfortunately, Randy Newman (2004)[41] Channel 4
  • Crazy Rulers of the World (2004) Channel 4
    • Part 1: "The Men Who Stare at Goats"[42]
    • Part 2: "Funny Torture"[43]
    • Part 3: "The Psychic Footsoldiers"[44]
  • Death in Santaland (2007) More 4, about a foiled school shooting plot in the Christmas-themed town of North Pole, Alaska.
  • Reverend Death (2008) Channel 4, about George Exoo, an advocate of euthanasia.[45][46]
  • Stanley Kubrick's Boxes (2008)
  • Revelations (2009)
  • Escape and Control (2011)[47]
  • Frank (2014)
  • Okja (2017)[48]
  • Comrade Detective (2017) as Himself

References
  1. "BBC Radio 4 - Grounded with Louis Theroux". BBC. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  2. Relative to the Gonzo characterization: 1) Ronson, Jon, 'I've gotta get my elephant tusks back', The Guardian, 22 February 2005. The article subtitle read in part: "... Hunter S. Thompson created a new style of writing – gonzo – and a generation of followers. Jon Ronson explains why he became one of them"; the article was written the day after Thompson's death by suicide; Ronson himself in the article does not lay claim to the term to describe himself; and 2) ____, James, Ffresh 2011 Programme Goes Live" Archived 22 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine, website for Ffresh: Student Moving Image Festival of Wales, 13 January 2011. "Highlights include sessions with … gonzo journalist Jon Ronson ...." Both retrieved 17 February 2011.
  3. Rosenbaum, Ron (2002), "Beyond the Fringe", The New York Times (13 January issue).
  4. Nathan Bevan, Who is Jon Ronson?, WalesOnline.co.uk, retrieved 13 June 2011.
  5. Ronson, Jon (21 October 2000). "Getting religious with Nicky Gumbel". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
  6. "Distinguished Supporters". Humanism.org.uk. Retrieved 8 June 2010.
  7. "Patrons of the BHA". British Humanist Association. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  8. Jon Ronson (28 July 2007). "Jon Ronson on telling his son the worst swearword in the world | Life and style". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  9. Mangan, Andrew. "Arsene at 1000 + Arsecast 309 with Jon Ronson". Arseblog. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  10. "GoodReads book listing". GoodReads. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  11. Rakoff, Joanna. "Jon Ronson". Salon. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  12. Ronson, Jon (28 June 2011). Them:Adventures in Extemism p91. ISBN 9781439126738. Retrieved 4 November 2009.
  13. Theroux, Louis (7 April 2001). "Stranger than fiction". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
  14. Fleming, Michael. "'Them' makes way to U". Variety. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  15. "GoodReads book profile". GoodReads. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  16. "The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)". The Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  17. "news: jonronson.com". jonronson.com. Archived from the original on 28 December 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  18. "GoodReads book profile". GoodReads. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  19. Tartakovsky, Margarita. "Psychcentral book review". PsychCentral. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  20. Blincoe, Nicholas (13 June 2011). "The Telegraph book review". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  21. "General Ronson Commentary". Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  22. "A Commentary on Ronson's The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry". Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  23. Winston, Miles. "Book Review: "Lost At Sea:The Jon Ronson Mysteries"". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  24. Sicha, Choire (17 April 2015). "Jon Ronson's 'So You've Been Publicly Shamed'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  25. Maslin, Janet (16 May 2011). "Running Down a Sanity Checklist". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  26. "Simon Jacobs profile". UBC Media. Archived from the original on 25 April 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  27. "BBC Radio show profile". BBC News. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  28. "Aural History: John Ronson". TourDates. Archived from the original on 25 July 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  29. "About Jon Ronson". Archived from the original on 5 January 2010. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  30. "Jon Ronson radio archive page". This American Life. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  31. Gilbert, Sophie (9 August 2017). "Jon Ronson and Tom Perrotta Explore the Aftershocks of Porn". The Atlantic. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  32. "The Last Days of August review – unsettling tale of a porn star's demise | Television & radio". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  33. Ronson, Jon (31 May 2006). "Oh blimey!". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  34. Mostyn, Nicola. "Mind blowing!". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  35. "For the Love of..." imdb.com.
  36. "For the Love of... page on JonRonson.com". Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  37. The Men Who Stare at Goats, DVD commentary by Jon Ronson. OV 21370. Overture Films, US. 2009.
  38. Donald Clarke, "First get Michael Fassbender for your film. Then give him a giant comedy head", The Irish Times, 9 February 2013
  39. "Cannes: Netflix's 'Okja' Trailer Reveals Bong Joon Ho's Newest Creature". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  40. Brian Birmingham (28 August 2014), Kidneys for Jesus, retrieved 30 April 2018
  41. MrRandomGuySr (15 February 2013), I Am, Unfortunately, Randy Newman, retrieved 30 April 2018
  42. Universal_Eye (21 December 2013), Crazy Rulers of the World - part 1 - The Men Who Stare At Goats, retrieved 30 April 2018
  43. Universal_Eye (14 July 2013), Crazy Rulers of the World - Part 2 - Funny Torture, retrieved 30 April 2018
  44. TheDocumentaryChannel103 (6 May 2014), Channel 4 - Jon Ronson - Crazy Rulers of the World - Episode 3 - The Psychic Footsoldiers (2004), retrieved 30 April 2018
  45. "Reverend Death". Channel4.com. Archived from the original on 21 August 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  46. 'I make it look like they died in their sleep' by Jon Ronson, The Guardian, 12 May 2008
  47. "Trailer | Escape and Control | Jon Ronson". YouTube. 23 August 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  48. "Okja". Retrieved 17 June 2017.
Interviews
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