First the leftist grifters, and then the rightist grifters, the boy grifters, the girl grifters, the centrist dad grifters, the centrist mum grifters (who aren’t even mums or dads many of them), boomer grifters, zoomer grifters, grifters, grifters, grifters. Grifters, all.
Are you sure? It may depend on who is funding it. Consider if you will that miserable communist rag The Morning Star – still publishing after all these years and probably of interest only to a handful of depressing old Marxists.
I’m talking about a skewed marketplace and the illusion of established popularity.
Consider if you like a more outrageous example: the BBC – not willingly funded by a grateful public but coercively funded by a legally enforceable license fee. And it certainly looks like a lazy job creation programme.
David McKee
3 months ago
I’m sure Beth Rigby et al appreciated this article. Well, it’s all free publicity.
Flibberti Gibbet
3 months ago
Edit: Hang-on one of the presenters is Jess Phillips. I think she is the MP who feigned laughter and kackled during a select committee hearing when an interviewee before the committee suggested that the high rate of male suicide in the UK should be of interest.
Having been near Jess in a theatre for a recording of Matt Forde’s ‘The Political Party’ I can confirm she was rude and obnoxious to those around her (making people move so that she could “go vote” quickly in the middle of the recording) and then talked throughout and left as soon as her ‘part’ was over.
J Bryant
3 months ago
What’s a podcast? (Oh, the joy of being old and utterly out of touch!).
It’s basically an online radio show. It’s kind of like hearing voices, except you can turn it off and stop listening to it.
J Bryant
3 months ago
Perhaps not a good idea to be too hard on “chummy centrist podcasts.” Arguably, Unherd’s own “These Times” podcast falls into that category (and a fine podcast it is).
Andrew Dalton
3 months ago
If they all go and away and congregate, or perhaps congeal, in a single place, maybe it will make it easier to ignore them.
Well they certainly give the impression of being quite gelatinous – oozing thick viscous corrosive fluid all over the place just as they prepare to rip your face off. Congealing in a single place is a good idea, but you’d want to be wary of approaching any lightly-humming pod(cast)s on the planet they end up on.
Citizen Diversity
3 months ago
At last, living proof that you can be anything as long as you’re a centrist!
And, contrary to what a DWEM wrote, the centrist can indeed hold. The best lack all differentiation, while the worst are full of passionate mediocrity.
The Three Fates, one sister spins the thread of public understanding, the second sister measures out a moderate length, and the third cuts it off before it reaches an extreme. Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.
Surely some revelation is at hand! Some second coming! The Tory carrion crows take to the lowering skies, shrieking alarm, as somewhere on the blasted heath of public opinion, the Blairite beast slouches towards the ballot box to be born again.
Dougie Undersub
3 months ago
Scottish “Conservative” Ruth Davidson.
There, fixed it for you.
Charlie
3 months ago
The problem with all these ‘disagreeing agreeably’ podcasts is that they don’t actually disagree. Bring back Diane Abbott and Portillo on This Week.
My immediate thought was this reminds me of the three GORGONS: Stheno, Euryale, and MEDUSA.
Sadly only the last was mortal.
Jonathon
3 months ago
Personally I like these kind of podcasts. They are a reminder to me that not everyone is up in arms and constantly angry about anything and everything, and the world isn’t as shouty as social media makes out. Then again, I’m quite centrist by nature so I’m their market.
First the leftist grifters, and then the rightist grifters, the boy grifters, the girl grifters, the centrist dad grifters, the centrist mum grifters (who aren’t even mums or dads many of them), boomer grifters, zoomer grifters, grifters, grifters, grifters. Grifters, all.
I’m haunted by grifters, like that psychedelic army of pink elephants on parade from Dumbo:
https://youtu.be/jcZUPDMXzJ8?si=bDtGrMPDcvd88jgQ
Somebody, save me from the grifters, pl-eeze.
Will nobody rid me of these turbulent centrists?
Extremism in defense of centrism is no vice.
The nice thing is the marketplace will decide if the podcast is worth the effort.
Are you sure? It may depend on who is funding it. Consider if you will that miserable communist rag The Morning Star – still publishing after all these years and probably of interest only to a handful of depressing old Marxists.
If depressing old Marxists want to squander their money funding a paper nobody reads, I say let ’em.
I don’t have an issue with that. It’s a wasted effort if you have no reach – other than a lazy job creation pgm.
I’m talking about a skewed marketplace and the illusion of established popularity.
Consider if you like a more outrageous example: the BBC – not willingly funded by a grateful public but coercively funded by a legally enforceable license fee. And it certainly looks like a lazy job creation programme.
I’m sure Beth Rigby et al appreciated this article. Well, it’s all free publicity.
Edit: Hang-on one of the presenters is Jess Phillips. I think she is the MP who feigned laughter and kackled during a select committee hearing when an interviewee before the committee suggested that the high rate of male suicide in the UK should be of interest.
I’m surprised that Ruth Davidson, who is sometimes quite insightful, is teaming up with these intellectual featherweights.
Having been near Jess in a theatre for a recording of Matt Forde’s ‘The Political Party’ I can confirm she was rude and obnoxious to those around her (making people move so that she could “go vote” quickly in the middle of the recording) and then talked throughout and left as soon as her ‘part’ was over.
What’s a podcast? (Oh, the joy of being old and utterly out of touch!).
You’re really out of touch JB. Even I’m on board – and I’m two feet from the grave.
I should have added a smiley face to show I was joking when I said I didn’t know what a podcast is.
It’s basically an online radio show. It’s kind of like hearing voices, except you can turn it off and stop listening to it.
Perhaps not a good idea to be too hard on “chummy centrist podcasts.” Arguably, Unherd’s own “These Times” podcast falls into that category (and a fine podcast it is).
If they all go and away and congregate, or perhaps congeal, in a single place, maybe it will make it easier to ignore them.
Well they certainly give the impression of being quite gelatinous – oozing thick viscous corrosive fluid all over the place just as they prepare to rip your face off. Congealing in a single place is a good idea, but you’d want to be wary of approaching any lightly-humming pod(cast)s on the planet they end up on.
At last, living proof that you can be anything as long as you’re a centrist!
And, contrary to what a DWEM wrote, the centrist can indeed hold. The best lack all differentiation, while the worst are full of passionate mediocrity.
The Three Fates, one sister spins the thread of public understanding, the second sister measures out a moderate length, and the third cuts it off before it reaches an extreme. Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.
Surely some revelation is at hand! Some second coming! The Tory carrion crows take to the lowering skies, shrieking alarm, as somewhere on the blasted heath of public opinion, the Blairite beast slouches towards the ballot box to be born again.
Scottish “Conservative” Ruth Davidson.
There, fixed it for you.
The problem with all these ‘disagreeing agreeably’ podcasts is that they don’t actually disagree. Bring back Diane Abbott and Portillo on This Week.
Diane went… a bit off the chart though.
My immediate thought was this reminds me of the three GORGONS: Stheno, Euryale, and MEDUSA.
Sadly only the last was mortal.
Personally I like these kind of podcasts. They are a reminder to me that not everyone is up in arms and constantly angry about anything and everything, and the world isn’t as shouty as social media makes out. Then again, I’m quite centrist by nature so I’m their market.