Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael
Society & Culture
Modern Mythology Presents:
The Alex Jonestown Massacre
Conspiratorial radio host Alex Jones has recently been in the news over his harassment of Bernie Sanders at LAX and his exploitation of Anthony Bourdain's passing. I reached out to retired journalist Albert Lanier who wrote the piece "Info Whore: The Alex Jones Deception - Unfair and Unbalanced" to discuss these topics and dissect the narcissistic mind of this alleged "journalist".
Our discussion begins with Albert Lanier introducing himself and talking about his career as a journalist and movie critic. We then get into how Lanier became aware of Alex Jones and begin digging into his article "Info Whore". This leads to the side-subject of a primary Jones influence Gary Allen, author of None Dare Call It Conspiracy and a member of the far-right John Birch Society. This opens us up for a discussion of the right's clever tactic of claiming to be "beyond the Left/Right paradigm" and how they often whitewash their own history.
Lanier goes on to offer tha Alex Jones is not actually ideological at all, but rather a narcissitic carny huckster with a pro wrestling persona. This brings us to the many contradiction of Alex Jones such as his take on mainstream media, his "transformation" on Vladimir Putin, his feud with fellow conspiracy theorist Bill Cooper, his attacks on other conservatives, and his odd encounter with Bohemian Grove member and neocon political commentator David Gergen.
We then get into Alex Jones' exploitation of celebrity deaths like gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, Dark Alliance journalist Gary Webb, and, most recently, Anthony Bourdain. From there we get into Jones's harassment of Bernie Sanders and Lanier's belief that Jones' isn't interested in the left or liberals but rather attacks them simply to keep himself relevant.
We wrap up the show by discussing journalists that are worth listening to, Lanier's upcoming piece on "The Lobster Man" Jordan Peterson, and his other writings at Medium.Com.
Albert Lanier, Real Journalist
Alex Jones, Clown Posing as a Journalist
Music for this episode provided by Alex Jonestown Massacre and DJ Parallax Views (Prod. by HUB)
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