Jon Ronson

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Jon Ronson
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Jon Ronson

Jon Ronson (born in 1967) is a Cardiff born Jewish journalist, author, documentary filmmaker and radio presenter. His journalism and columns have appeared in British publications including The Guardian newspaper and Time Out magazine. He has made several documentary films for television and two documentary series for Channel 4. Ronson has also hosted the late-night television debating show For The Love Of....

Ronson has a distinctive self-deprecating reporting style, which incorporates aspects of Gonzo journalism. His articles and stories often detail his process of information gathering and he is usually quite visible in his articles as a character. Ronson's documentary filmmaking style continues this theme and follows that of British documentary filmmaking pioneer Nick Broomfield. The journalists Louis Theroux and John Safran have cited Ronson as an influence.

Contents

[edit] Works

[edit] Writing

Jon Ronson's first book, Them: Adventures With Extremists, is an investigative account of his experiences with people labelled extreme by others. These include David Icke, Omar Bakri Muhammad, Ian Paisley 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. The book, a bestseller, was described by Louis Theroux as "a funny, picaresque adventure through a paranoid shadowy world". 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). Ronson is reportedly being played by a woman.

Ronson's second book The Men Who Stare At Goats deals with the secret New Age unit within the US 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.

Ronson's third 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 that share a common theme: how people get themselves into wholly irrational bubbles, within which all manner of lunacy makes perfect sense.

Ronson also contributed the memoir "A Fantastic Life" to the Picador anthology Truth or Dare, in 2004. It told the story of Ronson’s ill-fated endeavour to provide for his child an enchanting Christmas, and was the basis for his subsequent Out of the Ordinary column in The Guardian.

[edit] Documentaries

Ronson's documentaries include:

  • "The Ronson Mission" (1994) 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
  • 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

A new, as yet unnamed Channel 4 documentary, will be aired in January 2007.

[edit] Radio

Ronson also contributes to Public Radio International in the United States, particularly their programme This American Life.

He has contributed to the following This American Life programmes:

  • Them
  • Family Physics
  • Naming Names
  • It's Never Over
  • Habeas Schmaebeas

He also presents a BBC Radio 4 programme, Jon Ronson on... which was shortlisted for a 2006 Sony award.

In the early 1990s Jon co-hosted a show with Terry Christian on Manchester radio station KFM. When Terry Christian went on to present the cult late-night, youth TV show The Word, Jon took over the show which specialised in playing indie music and often featured tracks from his favourite artists including Randy Newman and The Breeders.

[edit] Other

During his student years, Ronson replaced Mark Radcliffe as the keyboard player for the Frank Sidebottom band at a few gigs.

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] External links

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