Jon Ronson

Jon Ronson (born 10 May 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.... Jon Ronson The text below is generated by a template, which has been proposed for deletion. ... Jon Ronson The text below is generated by a template, which has been proposed for deletion. ... May 10 is the 130th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (131st in leap years). ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... Cardiff (English:  Welsh: ) is the capital, largest and core city of Wales. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination... Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to document reality. ... The Guardian is a British newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. ... Time-out can mean: sport time-out, a break in play that may be called by a side to formulate strategy or respond to an players injury. ... It has been suggested that Channel Four Television Corporation be merged into this article or section. ...

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. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Gonzo journalism. ... Nick Broomfield with his famous sound boom and half-on headphones. ... Louis Theroux Louis Sebastian Theroux (born 20 May 1970) is an English broadcaster holding both British and US citizenship, best known for his television series Louis Therouxs Weird Weekends and // Theroux was born in Singapore,[1] the younger son of the American travel writer and novelist Paul Theroux and... This Australian media personality is not to be confused with the American author Jonathan Safran Foer. ...

Works

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". David Icke David Vaughan Icke (pronounced //) (born April 29, 1952) is a British writer. ... Omar Bakri Muhammad (Arabic: عمر بکری محمد; born Omar Bakri Fostock in 1958 in Syria) led Al-Muhajiroun, an Islamist organisation based in the United Kingdom, until its disbandment in 2004, and is allegedly a spiritual leader for Al Qaeda. ... Ian Richard Kyle Paisley (born: 6 April 1926) styled The Revd and Rt Hon. ... Thom Robb is the current leader of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. ... The front cover of the privately circulated report of the 1980 Bilderberg conferene in Bad Aachen, Germany. ... Louis Theroux Louis Sebastian Theroux (born 20 May 1970) is an English broadcaster holding both British and US citizenship, best known for his television series Louis Therouxs Weird Weekends and // Theroux was born in Singapore,[1] the younger son of the American travel writer and novelist Paul Theroux and...

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. Variety is a daily magazine for the entertainment industry. ... Universal Pictures is the main motion picture production/distribution arm of Universal Studios, a subsidiary of NBC Universal. ... Mike White (born June 28, 1970) is a writer, actor, and producer for TV and film. ... School Of Rock is a 2003 comedy film starring Jack Black. ... The Good Girl is a film from Chuck & Buck director Miguel Arteta and Chuck & Buck writer and star Mike White, produced by Matthew Greenfield and released by 20th Century Foxs Fox Searchlight Pictures division. ... Jack Black (born Thomas J. Black, Jr. ... Edgar Wright (born 18 April 1974 he was born in Poole, Dorset, England, UK) is an English film and television director. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

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. New Age describes a broad movement characterized by alternative approaches to traditional Western culture. ... The First Earth Battalion was the name proposed by Jim Channon, an American soldier who had seen service in Vietnam, for his idea of a new US military to be organised along New Age lines. ... Major General Albert Stubblebine III was the commanding general of the US Army Intelligence and Security Command from 1981 to 1984. ... Jim Channon was a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army. ... New Age describes a broad movement characterized by alternative approaches to traditional Western culture. ... Detainees upon arrival at Camp X-Ray, January 2002 Guantánamo Bay detainment camp serves as a joint military prison and interrogation center under the leadership of Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO), has occupied a portion of the United States Navys base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba since 2002. ...

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. Picador is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers, a publisher owned by Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. ...

A second volume - What I Do: More True Tales of Everyday Craziness will be published in November 2007.

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. Picador is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers, a publisher owned by Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. ... The Guardian is a British newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. ...

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
• "Death In Santaland" (2007) More 4. This is a documentary about a foiled school shooting plot in the Christmas theme town of North Pole, Alaska.

Secret Rulers of the World was a five part series of documentary films written, directed by and featuring British journalist Jon Ronson. ... A school massacre is an incident of attempted mass murder, involving at least one actual death, that occurs at a school. ... North Pole is a city located in Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska. ...

Radio

Ronson also contributes to Public Radio International in the United States, particularly their programme This American Life. He has contributed to the following of its programmes: PRI logo Public Radio International, or PRI, is a not-for-profit corporation based in the United States founded in 1983 to develop non-commercial audio programming for public radio and other audio venues. ... This American Life (TAL) is a weekly hour-long radio program produced by Chicago Public Radio. ...

• 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. The Sony Radio Academy Awards (the Sonys), started in 1983, are some of the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. ...

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. Terry Christian (born 8 May 1963) is a British radio and TV presenter. ... This article is becoming very long. ... KFM can refer to: Kearny Fallout Meter – An expedient radiation meter, that can be made from household items. ... Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music often used to refer to bands that are on small independent record labels or that arent on labels at all. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The Breeders are an American rock band, formed in 1977 as a folk rock duo featuring twin sisters Kim and Kelley Deal of Dayton, Ohio which played country covers at truck stops and bars and dissipated in the early 80s, only to be revived as a side project in...

Other

During his student years, Ronson replaced Mark Radcliffe as the keyboard player for the Frank Sidebottom band for a number of performances.
Ronson was the manager of Manchester indie band The Man From Delmonte. Mark Radcliffe (born 29 June 1958) is an English broadcaster who has worked in various roles for the BBC since the 1980s. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article is becoming very long. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Man from del monte. ...

Bibliography

• "Out of the Ordinary: True Tales Of Everyday Craziness" (Paperback - Picador/Guardian Books - November 3rd 2006) ISBN 0-330-44832-3
• The Men Who Stare At Goats (Hardcover - Picador - November 19, 2004) ISBN 0-330-37547-4
• Them: Adventures with Extremists (Hardcover - Picador, 2001) ISBN 0-330-37545-8, (Hardcover - Simon & Schuster, 2002), ISBN 0-7432-2707-7 (Paperback - Simon & Schuster - January 1, 2003) ISBN 0-7432-3321-2
• Clubbed Class (Hardcover - Pavilion Books Ltd - October 27, 1994) ISBN 1-85793-320-6

External links

• Official website
• Jon Ronson's Amazon Blog
• The Bilderberg chapter from Ronson's book, Them: Adventures with Extremists
• Jon Ronson interview
• Interview with Salon.com
• Another interview
• Biographical Interview
• Open Directory Project Jon Ronson directory category including book reviews
• Guardian Unlimited Books The Road to Abu Ghraib extract from The Men Who Stare At Goats
• Guardian Unlimited Books Beset by Lizards extract from Them: Adventures with Extremists
• Jon Ronson Multimedia mixed media, interviews, readings and reviews.
• This American Life: "Them", featuring an excerpt from the book of the same name.