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j-amesmarriott.bsky.social
Columnist at The Times
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Interesting read - 'Conspiracists are about to get a dose of reality' www.thetimes.com/article/b3bb...

Extremely good fun to argue with Henry Oliver on his Common Reader podcast about who the twenty best English poets are. Presented with the necessary caveat that all the views I express here are arbitrary, partial and the result of enthusiasm not expertise! open.spotify.com/episode/6XZw...

The latest edition of my newsletter Cultural Capital, is about whether the advent of smartphones and short form video means we are returning to an oral culture. Featuring one of the best books I've read in ages, Walter Ong's Orality and Literacy jmarriott.substack.com/p/are-we-ret...

February 20, 2025

I wrote this about the foolish naivety of conspiracy theorists, anti-vaxxers and political zealots who hate precisely the tolerant, rational society that protects them www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

Just caught up with this superb piece by @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social which has been sent to me by several people. I hesitate to say it’s going viral, given the subject, but it captures a lot about anti-vaxxers and what their popularity tells us

"Antivaxers, cranks and fantasists thrive in safe, stable societies but conspiracists are about to get a dose of reality" | ✍️ @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social

In which @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social‬ delivers one of the most elegant expressions I've read of the 'F*ck around and find out' thesis.

Doubly terrific column by @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social, partly for the usual reasons, partly for the 'actually engaging with what Fukuyama actually wrote':

"You can rattle the bars of the cage as fiercely as you like but you will never actually escape the comfort of the zoo." Excellent piece by @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social on conspiracists getting a dose of reality: www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

Really liked this, a recommendation from @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social ’s newsletter - which is also great. www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

🗣️ SAVE THE DATE! MY #MARTINAMIS LIVE 🗓️ SUN 23 MARCH 2025 📍21 SOHO, W1D 4NR ⌚️11AM arrival for 12PM start Hear from opinion columnist for The Times @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social and a host of other exciting guests. BOOK NOW 🔗 tickettext.co.uk/lqdg9B4Guk

Best substack around is from @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/jmarriot...

Speaking as someone with the bovine sensibilities of an unthinking liberal, this is another depressing but enlightening piece by @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social - and I lazily thought NPC was probably a car park company. www.thetimes.com/article/14f1...

Very much enjoyed speaking to the Englesberg Ideas podcast about the rise of short form video and the dawn of the post-literate society www.youtube.com/watch?v=af43...

Is the era of mass literacy over? And what might a post-literate society look like? 🗣️ @alastairbenn.bsky.social is joined by James Marriott and @paullay.bsky.social to discuss literacy and its uses. 🎙️The dawn of the post-literate society | EI Podcasts podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/e...

With regret, I must announce that I have read Bill Gates' insufferable new book www.newstatesman.com/culture/book...

Very much enjoyed speaking to the Englesberg Ideas podcast about the rise of short form video and the dawn of the post-literate society www.youtube.com/watch?v=af43...

I wrote this about Bob Dylan and the intensity of youthful genius www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

I wrote this about Bob Dylan and the intensity of youthful genius www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

I wrote this, in praise of solitude www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

I wrote this, in praise of solitude www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

"Donald Trump is a slob, a cheat, a lawbreaker, a bully, a careless liar, a cheap jingoist and a very dangerous politician indeed. He appeals to the dark side, the chaos in human nature. His presidency may prove a disaster." Matthew Parris is not wrong. www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

James Marriott is always worth reading, despite looking like Nigel Molesworth.

"... a successful society requires a shared moral and cultural reality." Yes, yes and a thousand times yes.

I wrote this in defence of the liberal elite. I increasingly think liberal values like tolerance and free speech don't make intuitive sense to most people and that to have a liberal society you may need an elite to impose those values from above. www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

There's been a discussion here about Sylvia Townsend Warner's excellent Lolly Willowes (which I did not know and am loving!) Thanks @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social. I think @lomelindi12.bsky.social might like it (probably already does😏).

"Everyone born before the end of the 20th century is the product of a cultural and political order that is fading. We may one day seem like those Victorians who were recognisable in the mid 20th century by their out-of-time oddness" By @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social. I suspect he is right

This week's substack is about what I think is the most important cultural shift of our lives - the end of the age of mass literacy jmarriott.substack.com/p/the-dawn-o...

A thing that I got very badly wrong is that I dismissed a lot of anxieties about the decline of reading - after all, look how well-educated today’s kids are - as nostalgic nonsense, but Kemi Badenoch’s “trying to make a case without doing the reading first” approach is, I think, troublingly typical.