Alright, #2 of the year. James O’Brien’ How to be Right…
I’m never quite sure how I feel about James’s stuff. His talk show on LBC seems to generate enough social media moments, usually involving him dismantling someone’s spurious right-wing argument. I don’t really have a problem with that; and frankly it’s quite useful to see approaches to do it; but sometimes it comes across as a little browbeating with the callers conceding their ground not because of the weight of reason but wanting to get off the call as quickly as possible. This book is more of that.
He goes through the usual topics; Islam Vs Islamism, Brexit, LGBT, Trump and so on; and attempts to talk through his position on each one using transcripts of calls from his radio show. Most work, and are a little obvious (Of course I as a Muslim am not responsible for the random acts of terrorism committed) and for the most part the transcripts show some consideration from the caller. There are still moments though, especially when he talks about Trump or Political Correctness when the callers just give up rather than changing their views.
What is a little more fleshed out here than on the social media sound bites is how he’s not always sure which way his own opinions are going to go, which is admirable to an extent I think. Why do we always have to have an opinion on everything and why can’t that opinion evolve as I learn more about the world and perspectives other than my own?
Going to read something which actual develops my empathy next time. What’s on my fiction reading list?
