330 - Jon Ronson: Go Inside the Mind of A Psychopath

The James Altucher Show

Jon Ronson writes about psychopaths. He created a test called "The Psychopath Test." And wrote about it. I had him on to learn what it means to be mad. He told me how to spot the signs (and how it starts to haunt you). He also told me stories. Lots of them. About kids trapped in mental hospitals. Secret cults planning to take over the world. His writing style is sort of humorist meets gonzo-esque journalism. He puts himself directly in the center of a conspiracy. That's where this episode will take you... into the mind of a psychopath.

Show notes:

Listen to Jon’s podcast “The Butterfly Effect” (season 1 was about the consequences of the tech takeover of the porn industry)

"The Men Who Stare At Goats" by Jon Ronson

The Men Who Stare at Goats (Movie)

"So You've Been Publicly Shamed" (one of James’ favorite books)

"The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry" by Jon Ronson

"Them: Adventures with Extremists" by Jon Ronson

Psychopathic Test (live show)

"Lost at Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries" by Jon Ronson

Justine Sacco (you can read about here in this New York Times article “How One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco’s Life” https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/magazine/how-one-stupid-tweet-ruined-justine-saccos-life.html

"Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions" by Johann Hari

R.D. Laing (the anti-psychiatrist who wrote “The Divided Self: An Existential Study in Sanity and Madness” NOT Artie Lange the comedian)

The Bilderberg Group (the group that extremists Jon met said “run the world”)

Alex Jones, a “conspiracy broadcaster” (who you might know if you’ve seen InfoWars)

Bill Hicks (American stand-up comedian)

Jim Tucker (the journalist who helped Jon Ronson uncover more details about the Bilderberg Group), he wrote a diary about it called, “Jim Tucker's Bilderberg Diary: Reporter's 25year Battle to Shine the Light on the world Shadow Government”

Henry Kissinger

AJ Jacobs, a good friend and bestselling author who wrote “The Year of Living Biblically”

Broadmoor Ssylum for The Criminally Insane

Albert Dunlap (one the CEO’s Jon and I discuss as an example used in The Psychopath Test)

Okja (the popular Netflix movie written by Joon-ho Bong and Jon Ronson (here’s the trailer on YouTube)

"Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" (a TV show Jon recommends watching)

Bari Weiss (the New York Times columnist who’s an example of someone who’s pushing back against online shaming)

Emma Gonzalez, one of the high school student from Parkland who’s making waves in the movement to reform gun laws and one of the leaders of the March For Our Lives event

"I Am, Unfortunately, Randy Newman" (a documentary Jon Ronson worked on)

I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltucher.com/podcast.

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