Jon Ronson | |
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_(cropped).jpg) Ronson in 2016 | |
| Born | (1967-05-10)10 May 1967 (age 57) Cardiff, Wales |
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| Alma mater | Polytechnic of Central London |
| Genre | |
| Spouse | Elaine Patterson |
| Children | 1 |
| Website | |
| jonronson | |
Jon Ronson (born 10 May 1967) is a British-American journalist, author, and filmmaker. He is known for works such asThem: Adventures with Extremists (2001),The Men Who Stare at Goats (2004), andThe Psychopath Test (2011).
He has been described as agonzo journalist,[1] becoming afaux-naïf character in his stories.[2] 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 asThe Guardian,City Life andTime Out. He has made severalBBC Television documentary films and two documentary series forChannel 4.
Ronson was born inCardiff on 10 May 1967. He attendedCardiff High School and later worked forCBC Radio in Cardiff, before moving toLondon to study for a media degree at thePolytechnic of Central London.[3]
Ronson gained fame writing a column forTime Out, consisting of a series of challenges he set himself. He later adapted this into a television series, The Ronson Mission, forBBC2 in 1993.[4]Ronson's first book,Clubbed Class (1994), is a travelogue in which he bluffs his way into ajet set lifestyle, in search of the world's finest holiday.[5]
His second book,Them: Adventures with Extremists (2001), chronicles his experiences with people labelled asextremists. Subjects featured in the book includeDavid Icke,Randy Weaver,Omar Bakri Muhammad,Ian Paisley,Alex Jones, andThomas Robb. Ronson also follows independent investigators of secretive groups such as theBilderberg Group.[6] The narrative tells of Ronson's attempts to infiltrate the "shadowy cabal" fabled, by theseconspiracy theorists, to rule the world.[7]Publishers Weekly noted: "It is how he reveals the all-too-real machinations of Western society's radical fringe and its various minions that makes this enjoyable work rather remarkable."[8] The book was described byLouis Theroux as a "funny and compulsively readablepicaresque adventure through a paranoid shadow world."[9]Variety magazine announced in September 2005 thatThem had been purchased byUniversal Pictures for a feature film.[10]
Ronson contributed the memoir "A Fantastic Life" to thePicador anthologyTruth or Dare, in 2004.[11]
Ronson's third book,The Men Who Stare at Goats (2004), deals with the secretNew Age unit within theUnited States Army called theFirst Earth Battalion. Ronson investigates people such as Major GeneralAlbert Stubblebine III, former head of intelligence, who believed 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 theFirst Earth Battalion Operations Manual in 1979, inspired by the emergingHuman Potential Movement of California. The book suggests that these New Age military ideas mutated over the decades to influence interrogation techniques atGuantanamo Bay. Aneponymous film of the book was released in 2009, in which Ronson's investigations were fictionalised and structured around a journey toIraq. Ronson is played by the actorEwan McGregor in the film.[12]
Ronson's fourth book,Out of the Ordinary: True Tales of Everyday Craziness (2006;Picador andGuardian Books), is a collection of hisGuardian articles, mostly those concerning his domestic life. A companion volume wasWhat I Do: More True Tales of Everyday Craziness (2007).[13][14]
The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry (2011) is Ronson's fifth book. In it, he explores the nature ofpsychopathic behaviour, learning how to apply theHare Psychopathy Checklist, and investigating its reliability. He interviews people in facilities for the criminally insane as well as potentialpsychopaths in corporate boardrooms.[15][16] The book's findings have been rejected by The Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy and byRobert D. Hare, creator of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist.[17][18] Hare described the book as "frivolous, shallow, and professionally disconcerting".[18]
Lost at Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries (2012), Ronson's sixth book, is a collection of previously published articles by him.[19]
Ronson's bookSo You've Been Publicly Shamed (2015) concerns the effects ofpublic humiliation in the internet age.[20]
Ronson's main radio work is the production and presentation of aBBC Radio 4 programme,Jon Ronson on...[21] The programme has been nominated for aSony award four times.[22] 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 withUFOs and theparanormal.[23]
In the early 1990s, Ronson was offered the position of sidekick onTerry Christian's Show onManchester radio stationKFM.[24] Ronson also co-presented a KFM show withCraig Cash, who went on to write and perform inThe Royle Family andEarly Doors.[25]
Ronson contributes toPublic Radio International in the United States, particularly the programThis American Life. As of 2021[update], he has contributed segments to 13 episodes including "Them" (#201), "Naming Names" (#211), "Family Physics" (#214), "Habeas Schmabeas" (#310), "It's Never Over" (#314), "The Spokesman" (#338), "Pro Se" (#385), "First Contact" (#411), "The Psychopath Test" (#436), "Secret Identity" (#506), "Tarred and Feathered" (#522), "To Be Real" (#620), "Beware the Jabberwock" (#670).[26]
Ronson hosted and wrote the podcastThe Butterfly Effect, which was released in November 2017 byAudible and was subsequently made available on other podcasting platforms.[27] The show concerns internet pornography, andFabian Thylmann andPornHub's effect on the industry. Ronson subsequently also hosted and wrote the podcastThe Last Days of August, released in January 2019.[28] Its subject is the 2017 death of pornographic actressAugust Ames.
Ronson returned to the BBC in 2021 withThings Fell Apart: a podcast on theculture wars forBBC Sounds in a similar format to his previous works for Amazon.[29]
In the late 1980s, Ronson replacedMark Radcliffe as thekeyboard player for theFrank Sidebottom band for a number of performances.[30]
Ronson was the manager of theManchester indie bandThe Man from Delmonte (band).[31]
Ronson presented the late nineties talk showFor the Love of...,[32] in which each week he would interview a gathering of guests and experts on different phenomena and conspiracy theories.[33] Ronson has also appeared as a guest on various shows, includingAlan Davies: As Yet Untitled.[34]
Ronson sold thefilm rights toThe Men Who Stare at Goats, and subsequently afilm of the same name was released in 2009 as a comedywar film directed byGrant Heslov and written byPeter 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 fromAnn Arbor. Also, unlike Ronson, Wilton went to Iraq.[35]
In the process of visiting the set during the shoot, Ronson began a collaborative writing project with Straughan.[35] This was the screenplay forFrank, a 2014black comedy inspired in part by Ronson's time inFrank Sidebottom's band.[36]
WithBong Joon-ho, Ronson wrote the screenplay for the 2017 Netflix filmOkja.[37]
Ronson and his wife Elaine have one son.[38]
Ronson isJewish[39] and is a "distinguished supporter" ofHumanists UK.[40][41] He is a fan of the football teamArsenal FC and has spoken of his "adoration" of the club.[42]
In an interview forLouis Theroux'sGrounded podcast, Ronson states that he became a naturalised American citizen in early 2020.[43]
| Date first published | Title | Publisher information |
|---|---|---|
| 27 October 1994 | Clubbed Class | Pavilion Books Ltd, hardcover,ISBN 1-85793-320-6 |
| 2001 | Them: Adventures with Extremists | Picador, 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 2004 | The Men Who Stare at Goats | Picador, hardcover,ISBN 0-330-37547-4 |
| 3 November 2006 | Out of the Ordinary: True Tales of Everyday Craziness | Picador/Guardian Books, paperback,ISBN 0-330-44832-3 |
| 2 November 2007 | What I Do: More True Tales Of Everyday Craziness | Picador/Guardian Books, paperback,ISBN 0-330-45373-4 |
| 12 May 2011 | The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry | Riverhead Books, hardcover,ISBN 978-1-59448-801-6 |
| 22 November 2011 | The Amazing Adventures of Phoenix Jones | Riverhead Books, e-book |
| 30 October 2012 | Lost at Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries | Penguin Group, hardcover,ISBN 978-1-59463-137-5 |
| 27 March 2014 | Frank: The True Story that Inspired the Movie | Picador, paperback,ISBN 978-1-4472-7137-6 |
| 12 March 2015 | So You've Been Publicly Shamed | Picador, paperback,ISBN 978-0-33049-228-7 |
| October 2016 | The Elephant in the Room: A Journey into the Trump Campaign and the 'Alt-Right' | E-book,Kindle single |
| October 2017 | The Butterfly Effect | podcast series |
| 3 January 2019 | The Last Days of August | Audible Originals, Audio book |
| 13 April 2023 | The Debutante: From High Society to White Supremacy | Audible Originals, Audio book |
{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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