If this article was published in September this year why are so many comments from a year ago? In any case it’s good to see so many defenders of Brand on here. Like others I see him not only as bad boy turned good but also as someone with unexpected depth and humanity. For whatever reason he’s doing it, his podcast raises many important issues and is speaking to a lot of people in this time of turmoil and tyranny.
Frank McCusker
7 months ago
Brand is an irritating head-case. He used to be popular with luvvies when he was in his right-on phase. Now he’s popular with right-wingers when he’s in his tin-hat phase. Either way, he’ll cleave to extremes to court your knee-jerk approval. Doesn’t strike me as a rapist though; whiff of gold-diggery about the latest allegations imho
Alan F
7 months ago
I read this piece way back when and thought it interesting indeed – it seemed to explain the void in the soul of the man. At the time, I wondered why the BBC and Channel 4 enabled him to do his vile stuff – the phone call to Andrew Sachs made me want to weep. But what disgusts me the most are the Unherd btl who support the scumbag. You are beneath contempt.
Anna Bramwell
7 months ago
Gold in her really good article doesnt explore the conundrum: when Brand was his loathsome shagger boastful self, he was admired and feted. Now he has become a mini Trump,say, all his wrongs come out . Odd that.
Last edited 7 months ago by Anna Bramwell
Andre Rego
7 months ago
Just could not finish the article
William Miller
7 months ago
The opening paragraph is unreadable. And the rest is a nasty take down of the man. A terribly unfair hit piece that is so mean-spirited, I felt as though I needed a shower after reading it. I do not follow Brand (his socialism is embarrassing), but is he that terrible of a man?
Benjamin Greco
7 months ago
We spend too much time analyzing the pied pipers and not enough time analyzing their followers, as if the elites just want to dismiss and ignore that the alienation out there is real. The pied pipers like Trump and Brand, who is much less dangerous and therefore insignificant are speaking to people who have little hope in the neo-liberal world order. The center can’t hold unless everyone, not just the top 20%, has an opportunity for a meaningful life.
Brand is right about voting, and Gold is a fool to think otherwise. Brand’s and Trump’s followers know that they are not ruled by their government but by the corporations that buy the government. It doesn’t matter that Brand or Trump won’t help them what matter is that the elites won’t either.
Robert Eagle
7 months ago
It is very sad to see how many Unherd readers writing here not only fail to despise this self-evident charlatan but even find qualities in him they approve and envy.
Sensible Citizen
3 months ago
I listen to Brand on Rumble. I separate the schtick from the underlying message, which is not that easy to do, because like most gifted entertainers, he is very good at melding them together. He speaks like a man in recovery, which I don’t mind, and his worldview is of the moment. We are truly being gaslit from all directions. We are in fact living in the bizarro world of Orwell. Truth is treason in an empire of lies.
If this article was published in September this year why are so many comments from a year ago? In any case it’s good to see so many defenders of Brand on here. Like others I see him not only as bad boy turned good but also as someone with unexpected depth and humanity. For whatever reason he’s doing it, his podcast raises many important issues and is speaking to a lot of people in this time of turmoil and tyranny.
Brand is an irritating head-case. He used to be popular with luvvies when he was in his right-on phase. Now he’s popular with right-wingers when he’s in his tin-hat phase. Either way, he’ll cleave to extremes to court your knee-jerk approval. Doesn’t strike me as a rapist though; whiff of gold-diggery about the latest allegations imho
I read this piece way back when and thought it interesting indeed – it seemed to explain the void in the soul of the man. At the time, I wondered why the BBC and Channel 4 enabled him to do his vile stuff – the phone call to Andrew Sachs made me want to weep. But what disgusts me the most are the Unherd btl who support the scumbag. You are beneath contempt.
Gold in her really good article doesnt explore the conundrum: when Brand was his loathsome shagger boastful self, he was admired and feted. Now he has become a mini Trump,say, all his wrongs come out . Odd that.
Just could not finish the article
The opening paragraph is unreadable. And the rest is a nasty take down of the man. A terribly unfair hit piece that is so mean-spirited, I felt as though I needed a shower after reading it. I do not follow Brand (his socialism is embarrassing), but is he that terrible of a man?
We spend too much time analyzing the pied pipers and not enough time analyzing their followers, as if the elites just want to dismiss and ignore that the alienation out there is real. The pied pipers like Trump and Brand, who is much less dangerous and therefore insignificant are speaking to people who have little hope in the neo-liberal world order. The center can’t hold unless everyone, not just the top 20%, has an opportunity for a meaningful life.
Brand is right about voting, and Gold is a fool to think otherwise. Brand’s and Trump’s followers know that they are not ruled by their government but by the corporations that buy the government. It doesn’t matter that Brand or Trump won’t help them what matter is that the elites won’t either.
It is very sad to see how many Unherd readers writing here not only fail to despise this self-evident charlatan but even find qualities in him they approve and envy.
I listen to Brand on Rumble. I separate the schtick from the underlying message, which is not that easy to do, because like most gifted entertainers, he is very good at melding them together. He speaks like a man in recovery, which I don’t mind, and his worldview is of the moment. We are truly being gaslit from all directions. We are in fact living in the bizarro world of Orwell. Truth is treason in an empire of lies.