On last week’s National Review cruise, Jay sat down with Kevin D. Williamson and asked him to talk – about conservatism, cities, Bush 41, Twitter, “elites,” social-media mobs, restaurants … Every word is interesting. And if one happens not to be – well, that is interesting in itself.

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  1. Joseph Stocks Member
    Joseph Stocks
    @JosephStocks

    Kevin Williamson and Jonah Goldberg are two of my favorite intellectuals. However, recently, I’m liking Kevin a bit more and I think the deciding factor is Twitter. Jonah is on it and Kevin is not. 

    Both Jonah and Kevin are critical of Trump but it seems to bother Kevin a lot less. For me, Jonah is must read and must hear (in podcast form) and he is without parallel when it comes to culture, politics, and conservative intellectual history however he becomes tragically human when he discusses Trump because (as Postman tells us in Amusing Ourselves to Death, the medium is the message) his discourse is largely shaped by the medium of Twitter. It makes Jonah sound mediocre when we all know he is not. 

    Kevin has gone the other way. Kevin inspired me to quit social media altogether and I believe it has been better for my soul. 

    Just an interesting observation to me; to see two incomparable minds see the fork in the road and take separate paths. I would like Jonah to follow Kevin off the social media grid. I think he and we all would be better off gettting the best Jonah has to offer. 

     

     

    • #1
  2. B. Hugh Mann Inactive
    B. Hugh Mann
    @BHughMann

    Joseph Stocks (View Comment):

    Kevin Williamson and Jonah Goldberg are two of my favorite intellectuals. However, recently, I’m liking Kevin a bit more and I think the deciding factor is Twitter. Jonah is on it and Kevin is not.

    Both Jonah and Kevin are critical of Trump but it seems to bother Kevin a lot less. For me, Jonah is must read and must hear (in podcast form) and he is without parallel when it comes to culture, politics, and conservative intellectual history however he becomes tragically human when he discusses Trump because (as Postman tells us in Amusing Ourselves to Death, the medium is the message) his discourse is largely shaped by the medium of Twitter. It makes Jonah sound mediocre when we all know he is not.

    Kevin has gone the other way. Kevin inspired me to quit social media altogether and I believe it has been better for my soul.

    Just an interesting observation to me; to see two incomparable minds see the fork in the road and take separate paths. I would like Jonah to follow Kevin off the social media grid. I think he and we all would be better off gettting the best Jonah has to offer.

     

     

    “The Medium is the Message” is from Marshall McLuhan not Postman. 

    • #2
  3. Penfold Member
    Penfold
    @Penfold

    Jay and Kevin.  The two form a fascinating spectrum of conservative intellectualism.  A great matchup. 

    • #3
  4. Joseph Stocks Member
    Joseph Stocks
    @JosephStocks

    B. Hugh Mann,

    That’s correct. Postman furthers McLuhan’s argument. 

    • #4
  5. The Cloaked Gaijin Member
    The Cloaked Gaijin
    @TheCloakedGaijin

    “Fort Worth is not a big city.” — Kevin Williamson, he emphasized.

    Fort Worth is the 15th largest city in the United States.

    Fort Worth is part of the 4th largest metropolitan statistical area in the the United States.

    The largest city in my congressional district has less than 40,000 people.  The second largest has less than 20,000 people.  Those seem like big cities to me unless I have traveled somewhere.

    If Fort Worth is not a big city, what exactly does he consider to be a big city?

    Only cities in Asia?

    Most Americans are not going to live in Asia…

    The largest city that I remember visiting?

    I may have passed through #10 San Jose and #14 Columbus once or twice back over a third of century ago.

    I may have spent the night in #16 Indianapolis.

    I’ve been to #19 Denver, #20 Washington, and #21 Boston maybe a bit more, but those are also smaller than #15 Fort Worth.

    I think a lot of Americans just visit places where their relatives have lived, and I have a small family.  I think Kevin travels more than many people.

    • #5
  6. rdowhower Member
    rdowhower
    @

    If Kevin thinks Fresno has great weather then I suspect he’s never actually visited the city and he was using it as representative of all that he obviously loathes about America.  Fresno has about the worst weather in California – hot and muggy in the summer and foggy in the winter, but having grown up not far from there, I love it.  It’s also interesting that it’s VDH’s ancestral home.  Coincidence that Williamson would mention that particular city?  New Zealand better governed than America?  Lame comparison for obvious reasons, and it sounds like if he ever visited France or Spain he stayed only in the nicest parts.  I liked Barcelona and the city center was nice, but drive a few miles outside of the city and the massive slums are obvious.  And you have to be snob to make the comment that there’s nothing more American than New York City.  Williamson is overrated, and angry and bitter.

    • #6
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