James Lindsay

Author, commentator, academic saboteur.

In the last half-decade, James Lindsay has worked tirelessly to expose the poor science and intellectual rot at the heart of academia.

In 2018, he joined forces with Trig favourite Peter Boghossian and Helen Pluckrose for what became known as the ‘grievance studies affair’. The three submitted a series of bogus articles to academic journals, exploring such pressing issues as ‘dog park rape culture’ to ‘challenging transphobia through receptive penetrative sex toy use’. In a predictably baffling turn of events, several were published, exposing the lunacy of America’s most respected institutions.

In 2020, with Pluckrose, he authored the best-selling book Cynical Theories, a visceral takedown of university wokeism, welcoming rave reviews from Steven Pinker and Douglas Murray.

Today, he continues to make public speaking appearances and, earlier this year, he published his latest book The Queering Of The American Child: How A New School Religious Cult Poisons the Minds and Bodies of Normal Kids.

Why did we invite him on?

James is a fervent anti-communist and in recent years has drawn startling parallels between Maoist China and the woke mind virus sweeping the West. We wanted to pick his brains about that. Are things getting better, or much worse?

So what did we talk about?

To James, wokeism isn’t merely reflected by our institutions – they are the only force still upholding it. America is captive to a set of principles its people don’t share; “it’s something we’re all trying to move away from, but our institutions aren’t letting us … the stage has lost the room.”

But the dam can only hold back the tide for so long. Alternative media is on the rise, a rival to Hollywood is emerging in Nashville, the tech overlords in Silicon Valley have undergone a radical ideological shift and, undoubtedly of most significance, the American people voted for Donald Trump.

Konstantin isn’t so hopeful. While agreeing that peak-woke seems to be in the rea- view mirror, two sectors seem to be dragging their heels: media and academia. Perhaps unsurprising - they were the worst offenders – but will they ever turn back?