Jon Ronson

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Jon Ronson
Ronson speaking at TAM London, October 2009
Ronson speaking at TAM London, October 2009
Born (1967-05-10) 10 May 1967 (age 57)
Cardiff, Wales
OccupationAuthor, Screenwriter, Documentary filmmaker, Journalist
Alma materPolytechnic of Central London[1]
GenreConspiracy theory, Investigative journalism
SpouseElaine Patterson
Website
http://www.jonronson.com/

Jon Ronson (born 10 May 1967) is a Welsh journalist, documentary filmmaker, radio presenter and nonfiction author, whose works include The Men Who Stare at Goats. He has been described as a gonzo journalist,[2] with his work appearing in British publications such as The Guardian newspaper, City Life and Time Out magazine. He has made several documentary films for television and two documentary series for Channel 4.

Life and career

Personal life

Ronson was born in Cardiff, Wales. He attended Cardiff High School.[3] He studied for a degree in Media Studies at Westminster University.[3] Ronson, who is Jewish,[4] is a distinguished supporter of the British Humanist Association.[5] He is married to Elaine Patterson. He has a son, Joel Ronson.[6] Ronson is a supporter of Arsenal FC and has spoken of his "adoration" of the club.[7]

Writing

Jon Ronson's first book, Clubbed Class, was published in 1994. The book is a travelogue in which Ronson bluffs his way into a jet set lifestyle, in search of the world's finest holiday.[8]

His second book, Them: Adventures with Extremists, was published in 2001 and 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. The narrative tells of Ronson's attempts to infiltrate the "shadowy cabal" fabled, by these conspiracy theorists, to rule the world.[9] The book, a bestseller,[10] was described by Louis Theroux as "funny and compulsively readable picaresque adventure through a paranoid shadow world."[11] Variety magazine announced in September 2005 that Them has been purchased by Universal Pictures to be turned into a feature film. The screenplay is being written by Mike White (School of Rock, The Good Girl), produced by White and the comedian Jack Black, and directed by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead).[12]

Ronson contributed the memoir A Fantastic Life to the Picador anthology Truth or Dare, in 2004.[13]

Ronson's third book, The Men Who Stare at Goats, 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 tells how 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.[14]

Ronson's fourth book, Out of the Ordinary: True Tales of Everyday Craziness, was published by Picador and Guardian Books in November 2006. It is a collection of Ronson's Guardian articles, mostly those concerning his domestic life. A companion volume, What I Do: More True Tales of Everyday Craziness, was published in November 2007.[15][16]

The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry is Ronson's fifth book, published in 2011. 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.[17][18]

Lost at Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries is Ronson's sixth book, published in 2012.[19]

As of February 24, 2014, Ronson is working on a book about public shaming.[20]

Documentaries

Radio

Jon 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...[24] The program has been nominated for a Sony award four times.[25] 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.[26]

In the early 1990s, Ronson was offered the position of sidekick on Terry Christian's Show on Manchester radio station KFM.[27] Ronson also co-presented a KFM show with Craig Cash, who went on to write and perform in The Royle Family and Early Doors.[28]

Ronson contributes to Public Radio International in the United States, particularly the program This American Life. He has contributed segments to the following of its episodes: "Them", "Family Physics", "Naming Names", "It's Never Over", "Habeas Schmaebeas", "The Spokesman", "Pro Se", and "The Psychopath Test".[29]

Music

In the late 1980s, Ronson replaced Mark Radcliffe as the keyboard player for the Frank Sidebottom band for a number of performances.[30]

Ronson was the manager of the Manchester indie band Man From Delmonte.[31]

Television

Ronson presented the late nineties talk show "For The Love Of...",[32] in which each week he would interview a gathering of guests and experts on different phenomena and conspiracy theories.[33]

Movies

Ronson sold the film rights to The Men Who Stare at Goats and a movie 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.[34] In the process of visiting the set during the shoot, Ronson began a collaborative writing project with Straughan.[34] With Straughan he also co-wrote the screenplay for Frank, a feature film very loosely based on the Sidebottom story.[35]

Published works

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
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 978-1-4472713-760-1

References

  1. ^ Ronson, Jon. "About Jon Ronson". JonRonson.com. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
  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", website for Ffresh: Student Moving Image Festival of Wales, 13 January 2011. "Highlights include sessions with ... gonzo journalist Jon Ronson ...." Both retrieved 2011-02-17.
  3. ^ a b Nathan Bevan, is Jon Ronson, WalesOnline.co.uk, retrieved 13 June 2011.
  4. ^ "Getting religious with Nicky Gumbel". The Guardian. London. 20 October 2000.
  5. ^ "Distinguished Supporters". Humanism.org.uk. Retrieved 8 June 2010.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ Mangan, Andrew. "Arsene at 1000 + Arsecast 309 with Jon Ronson". Arseblog. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  8. ^ "GoodReads book listing". GoodReads. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  9. ^ Ronson, Jon (28 June 2011). Them:Adventures in Extemism p91. ISBN 9781439126738. Retrieved 4 November 2009.
  10. ^ Rakoff, Joanna. "Jon Ronson". Salon. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  11. ^ Theroux, Louis (7 April 2001). "Stranger than fiction". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
  12. ^ Fleming, Michael. "'Them' makes way to U". Variety. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  13. ^ "GoodReads book profile". GoodReads. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  14. ^ "The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)". The Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  15. ^ "news: jonronson.com". jonronson.com. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  16. ^ "GoodReads book profile". GoodReads. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  17. ^ Tartakovsky, Margarita. "Psychcentral book review". PsychCentral. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  18. ^ Blincoe, Nicholas (13 June 2011). "The Telegraph book review". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  19. ^ Book Review: "Lost At Sea:The Jon Ronson Mysteries"
  20. ^ WTF Podcast: Jon Ronson
  21. ^ "''Reverend Death'' on Channel 4". Channel4.com. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  22. ^ 'I make it look like they died in their sleep' by Jon Ronson, The Guardian, 12 May 2008
  23. ^ "Trailer | Escape and Control | Jon Ronson". YouTube. 23 August 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  24. ^ Maslin, Janet (16 May 2011). "Running Down a Sanity Checklist". TheNew York Times. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  25. ^ "Simon Jacobs profile". UBC Media. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  26. ^ "BBC Radio show profile". BBC News. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  27. ^ "Aural History: John Ronson". TourDates. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  28. ^ "About Jon Ronson". Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  29. ^ "Jon Ronson radio archive page". This American Life. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  30. ^ Ronson, Jon (31 May 2006). "Oh blimey!". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  31. ^ Mostyn, Nicola. "Mind blowing!". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  32. ^ For The Love Of..., IMDb
  33. ^ "For the Love of... page on JonRonson.com". Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  34. ^ a b The Men Who Stare at Goats, DVD commentary by Jon Ronson. OV 21370. Overture Films, US. 2009.
  35. ^ Donald Clarke, "First get Michael Fassbender for your film. Then give him a giant comedy head", The Irish Times, 9 February 2013

External links

Interviews

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