I enjoyed your conversation with Andrew over coffee this morning. And your podcast was the first time I had ever heard of/from him.
He’s a really interesting guy with a lot of knowledge and insight into the current state of affairs. I bought his book on free speech and a copy of Milton’s Areopagitica to read over the next week and I’m inspired to revisit Orwell’s essays again. Hitchens said we should look to his essays more than his popular fiction for insight and guidance in troubled times.
I even signed up for a Washington Post account to read his article. That comment section is wild considering how balanced the writing was.
When Ayatollah Khomeini issued his barbarous fatwa against Salman Rushdie -- AND against the editors and publishers of The Satanic Verses in 1989, my outraged atheist father told me hie considered it his public duty to buy and read this "blasphemous" book. (He considered the religious indoctrination of children to be a form of child abuse. And, as a former librarian, after teaching in a school of librarianship, he became editor of Revision 2 of Bliss Classification for special libraries. He lived for books...)
So I bought and read The Satanic Verses too. And found it an extraordinary and brilliant novel: the product of an amazing mind. So then I read Midnight's Children, to be gripped by fantasy again.
And recently listened to Rushdie reading his latest book "Knife", serialised on BBC Radio 4, on the ordeal of his being attacked on stage in upstate New York, "preparing to give a lecture on the importance of keeping writers safe from harm, when a man in black – black clothes, black mask – rushed down the aisle towards him, wielding a knife". Rushdie's first thought: "So it’s you. Here you are."
It was 33 years after the fatwa that a brain dead black clad Islamist tried to murder Rushdie. Because what happens to rational thought and tolerance of differing views, and human decency, when religious or other cult indoctrination turns people into barbarians?
"Only our beliefs are acceptable" brainwashing exploits the worst in people: demanding blind belief and blind allegiance, and promoting violent aggression in the name of "faith" and "duty" and "belonging" -- but exposing the dark underside of all those supposed virtues: directed against the supposed "traitor" and demonised, stigmatised outsider. It exposes the life-denying ugliness of authoritarian religions and cults.
And it's the stand-ins for God the Father who order murders to be carried out.
Thank you so much! My mind is exploding with all the brilliant authors. I read and enjoyed your book "The Psychology of Secrets", and Andrew Doyle's book, "The New Puritans." I've also read and loved Rushdie and Milton. What a treasure of an interview.
I enjoyed your conversation with Andrew over coffee this morning. And your podcast was the first time I had ever heard of/from him.
He’s a really interesting guy with a lot of knowledge and insight into the current state of affairs. I bought his book on free speech and a copy of Milton’s Areopagitica to read over the next week and I’m inspired to revisit Orwell’s essays again. Hitchens said we should look to his essays more than his popular fiction for insight and guidance in troubled times.
I even signed up for a Washington Post account to read his article. That comment section is wild considering how balanced the writing was.
Yes, Andrew Doyle is utterly compelling.
I'm a paid up subscriber of both of you and I certainly get my monies worth.
One of my very favourite books is Grimus (Salman Rushdie). The first time I read it, it transported me into the 4th dimension.... like I was gone!
There are thankfully some amazing people walking this planet, Masters is a good word.
When Ayatollah Khomeini issued his barbarous fatwa against Salman Rushdie -- AND against the editors and publishers of The Satanic Verses in 1989, my outraged atheist father told me hie considered it his public duty to buy and read this "blasphemous" book. (He considered the religious indoctrination of children to be a form of child abuse. And, as a former librarian, after teaching in a school of librarianship, he became editor of Revision 2 of Bliss Classification for special libraries. He lived for books...)
So I bought and read The Satanic Verses too. And found it an extraordinary and brilliant novel: the product of an amazing mind. So then I read Midnight's Children, to be gripped by fantasy again.
And recently listened to Rushdie reading his latest book "Knife", serialised on BBC Radio 4, on the ordeal of his being attacked on stage in upstate New York, "preparing to give a lecture on the importance of keeping writers safe from harm, when a man in black – black clothes, black mask – rushed down the aisle towards him, wielding a knife". Rushdie's first thought: "So it’s you. Here you are."
It was 33 years after the fatwa that a brain dead black clad Islamist tried to murder Rushdie. Because what happens to rational thought and tolerance of differing views, and human decency, when religious or other cult indoctrination turns people into barbarians?
"Only our beliefs are acceptable" brainwashing exploits the worst in people: demanding blind belief and blind allegiance, and promoting violent aggression in the name of "faith" and "duty" and "belonging" -- but exposing the dark underside of all those supposed virtues: directed against the supposed "traitor" and demonised, stigmatised outsider. It exposes the life-denying ugliness of authoritarian religions and cults.
And it's the stand-ins for God the Father who order murders to be carried out.
Thank you so much! My mind is exploding with all the brilliant authors. I read and enjoyed your book "The Psychology of Secrets", and Andrew Doyle's book, "The New Puritans." I've also read and loved Rushdie and Milton. What a treasure of an interview.
Thank you for your work!
Great listen Andrew G, a pity Andrew D was in a bad mood, nevertheless I always enjoy listening or reading to him, and love his substack also.