Jon Ronson

Early life

Ronson was born in Cardiff on 10 May 1967. He attended Cardiff High School and later worked for CBC Radio in Cardiff, before moving to London to study for a media degree at the Polytechnic of Central London.

Career

Writing

Ronson gained fame writing a column for Time Out, consisting of a series of challenges he set himself. He later adapted this into a television series, * The Ronson Mission*, for BBC2 in 1993. 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.

His second book, Them: Adventures with Extremists (2001), chronicles his experiences with people labelled as extremists. Subjects featured in the book include David Icke, Randy Weaver, Omar Bakri Muhammad, Ian Paisley, Alex Jones, and Thomas 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. 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."{{cite web|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780743227070|title=

THEM: Adventures with Extremists|website=Publishers Weekly|date=12 November 2001|access-date=13 January 2024}} The book was described by Louis Theroux as a "funny and compulsively readable picaresque adventure through a paranoid shadow world." Variety magazine announced in September 2005 that Them had been purchased by Universal Pictures for a feature film.

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

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 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 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.

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).

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. 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. Hare described the book as "frivolous, shallow, and professionally disconcerting".

Lost at Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries (2012), Ronson's sixth book, is a collection of previously published articles by him.

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

Radio

Ronson's main radio work is the production and presentation of a BBC Radio 4 programme, Jon Ronson on... The programme has been nominated for a Sony award four times. 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.

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

Ronson contributes to the American radio program This American Life. , 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).

Ronson hosted and wrote the podcast The Butterfly Effect, which was released in November 2017 by Audible and was subsequently made available on other podcasting platforms. The show concerns 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. Its subject is the 2017 death of pornographic actress August Ames.

Ronson returned to the BBC in 2021 with Things Fell Apart: a podcast on the culture wars for BBC Sounds in a similar format to his previous works for Amazon.

Music

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

Ronson was the manager of the Manchester indie band The Man from Delmonte (band).

Television

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

In the process of visiting the set during the shoot, Ronson began a collaborative writing project with Straughan. This was the screenplay for Frank, a 2014 black comedy inspired in part by Ronson's time in Frank Sidebottom's band.

With Bong Joon-ho, Ronson wrote the screenplay for the 2017 Netflix film Okja.

Personal life

Ronson and his wife Elaine have one son.

Ronson is Jewish and is a "distinguished supporter" of Humanists UK. He is a fan of the football team Arsenal FC and has spoken of his "adoration" of the club.

In an interview for Louis Theroux's Grounded podcast, Ronson states that he became a naturalised American citizen in early 2020.

Works

Books

Filmography

• The Ronson Mission (1993), 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
• The Secret Rulers of the World (2001), Channel 4
• The Double Life of Jonathan King (2002), Channel 4
• Kidneys for Jesus (2003) Channel 4
• I Am, Unfortunately, Randy Newman (2004) Channel 4
• Crazy Rulers of the World (2004), Channel 4
  • Part 1: "The Men Who Stare at Goats"
  • Part 2: "Funny Torture"
  • Part 3: "The Psychic Footsoldiers"
• 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.
• Stanley Kubrick's Boxes (2008)
• Revelations (2009)
• Escape and Control (2011)
• Frank (2014)
• Okja (2017)
• Comrade Detective (2017) as Himself

Theatre

• Life and Trust (2024)

References

References

1. Relative to the Gonzo characterization: 1) Ronson, Jon, [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/feb/22/huntersthompson '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, [http://ffresh.com/en/2011/01/13/ffresh-2011-programme-goes-live/ Ffresh 2011 Programme Goes Live"] {{webarchive. link. (22 January 2011 , 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.)
2. Rosenbaum, Ron (2002), [https://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/13/books/beyond-the-fringe.html "Beyond the Fringe"], ''[[The New York Times]]'' (13 January issue).
3. Nathan Bevan, [http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/cardiff-news/2009/10/27/who-is-jon-ronson-91466-25020325 Who is Jon Ronson?], WalesOnline.co.uk, retrieved 13 June 2011.
4. [https://web.archive.org/web/20141020170417/http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/78e34590d3484adb8bfa19f38a2eeb83 Def II: The Ronson Mission]. BBC. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
5. "Clubbed Class by Jon Ronson". [[GoodReads]].com.
6. Rakoff, Joanna. (15 March 2002). "Jon Ronson". Salon.
7. (28 June 2011). "Them:Adventures in Extremism p91". Simon and Schuster.
8. Theroux, Louis. (7 April 2001). "Stranger than fiction". The Guardian.
9. Fleming, Michael. (19 September 2005). "'Them' makes way to U". Variety.
10. "Truth Or Dare: A Book Of Secrets Shared by Justine Picardie". GoodReads.com.
11. "The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)". IMDb.
12. "news". jonronson.com.
13. "What I Do: More True Tales of Everyday Craziness by Jon Ronson". GoodReads.com.
14. Tartakovsky, Margarita. "The Psychopath Test: A Journey through the Madness Industry By Jon Ronson book review". Psych Central.
15. Blincoe, Nicholas. (13 June 2011). "The Psychopath Test: A Journey through the Madness Industry By Jon Ronson: review". The Daily Telegraph.
16. "General Ronson Commentary". Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy.
17. Hare, Robert D.. "A Commentary on Ronson's The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry".
18. Winston, Miles. "Book Review: 'Lost At Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries'".
19. Sicha, Choire. (17 April 2015). "Jon Ronson's 'So You've Been Publicly Shamed'". The New York Times.
20. Maslin, Janet. (16 May 2011). "Running Down a Sanity Checklist". The New York Times.
21. "Simon Jacobs profile". UBC Media.
22. "BBC Radio show profile". BBC News.
23. "Aural History: John Ronson". TourDates.
24. "About Jon Ronson".
25. "Jon Ronson's segment on This American Life". This American Life.
26. Gilbert, Sophie. (9 August 2017). "Jon Ronson and Tom Perrotta Explore the Aftershocks of Porn".
27. (11 January 2019). "The Last Days of August review – unsettling tale of a porn star's demise | Television & radio". The Guardian.
28. (9 November 2021). "Things Fell Apart". [[BBC Sounds]].
29. Ronson, Jon. (31 May 2006). "Oh blimey!". The Guardian.
30. Mostyn, Nicola. "Mind blowing!". Manchester Evening News.
31. "For the Love of...".
32. "For the Love of... page on JonRonson.com".
33. "Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled".
34. ''The Men Who Stare at Goats'', DVD commentary by Jon Ronson. OV 21370. [[Overture Films]], US. 2009.
35. Donald Clarke, [http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2013/0209/1224329817381.html "First get Michael Fassbender for your film. Then give him a giant comedy head"], ''The Irish Times'', 9 February 2013
36. "Cannes: Netflix's 'Okja' Trailer Reveals Bong Joon Ho's Newest Creature". The Hollywood Reporter.
37. Ronson, Jon. (28 July 2007). "Jon Ronson on telling his son the worst swearword in the world | Life and style". The Guardian.
38. Ronson, Jon. (21 October 2000). "Getting religious with Nicky Gumbel". The Guardian.
39. "Distinguished Supporters". British Humanist Association.
40. "Patrons of the BHA". British Humanist Association.
41. Mangan, Andrew. (21 March 2014). "Arsene at 1000 + Arsecast 309 with Jon Ronson". Arseblog.
42. Grounded with Louis Theroux, podcast, episode 1 https://pca.st/episode/426a1757-76f1-4dde-8c0b-c548fd461312
43. Brian Birmingham. (28 August 2014). "Kidneys for Jesus".
44. MrRandomGuySr. (15 February 2013). "I Am, Unfortunately, Randy Newman".
45. Universal_Eye. (21 December 2013). "Crazy Rulers of the World – part 1 – The Men Who Stare At Goats".
46. Universal_Eye. (14 July 2013). "Crazy Rulers of the World – Part 2 – Funny Torture".
47. TheDocumentaryChannel103. (6 May 2014). "Channel 4 – Jon Ronson – Crazy Rulers of the World – Episode 3 – The Psychic Footsoldiers (2004)".
48. "Reverend Death". Channel4.com.
49. Ronson, Jon. (12 May 2008). "'I make it look like they died in their sleep'". The Guardian.
50. (23 August 2011). "Trailer | Escape and Control | Jon Ronson".
51. "Okja".