Jon Ronson, a contributor to This American Life, The Guardian and GQ, is the author of six books, including The Men Who Stare at Goats. His latest is Lost at Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries .

"The older you get, you realize that no uncomfortable fact makes your story worse. Contradictions are great. What's bad, what to me is the worst journalistic sin, is ridiculous polemicism. ... To me, the contradictions, the story not turning out the way you want—you have to be a twig in the tidal wave of the story."

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Show notes:


@jonronson
jonronson.com
Ronson on Longform
Ronson's This American Life archive
Ronson's Guardian archive
Ronson's GQ archive
[7:15] "Who Takes the Class Out of Class Reunion" (This American Life • Jun 2006)
[21:30] Them: Adventures with Extremists (2001)
[26:30] The Men Who Stare at Goats (2004)
[47:00] The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry (2011)