The Vanguards of Free Thought and Reason
By: Shon Ellerton
Tags: Free Thinking, Debate, Idw, Philosophy, Free Speech

Shôn Ellerton, January 17, 2021

My thoughts and views of some of my favourite podcasters who have given so much to fill the void which mainstream media ignores.

Ever since I was a child, I had a fascination with books. I wanted my own library; one of those stale musty antiquated rooms with leather-bound furniture complete with a little spiral staircase to access tiers and tiers of books, most of which, I would never be able to read in a lifetime. But alas, I do not have such a room; however, I do have a sizeable collection of books, most of which, I confess, I have not read.

My collection of books mainly consists, what many would consider, to be on the heavy side of reading. Works by Dante Alighieri, Ayn Rand, Edgar Allan Poe, Friedrich Nietzsche, Franz Kafka, and many others adorn my shelves along with a scattering of science fiction from the likes of Isaac Asimov and H.P. Lovecraft and a few light-hearted books from Bill Bryson and Jeremy Clarkson. Whether fiction or non-fiction, I have learnt so much from reading, particularly that of ethics and how to think rationally and critically. At least, to the best of my abilities because there is always room for improvement!

We now live in a world of one-liner tweets and pointless meme posts on social media, and I fear that our modern generation is being deprived of self-agency to free thought and wisdom, both attributes which may be obtained through the written and spoken learnings through others in full context. We are practically bullied through the channels of social media to fit into what is commonly accepted by the majority, whether it is proved right or wrong. Thinking outside the accepted parameters or narrative or along the fringes of the Overton Window can often get us into trouble by those who claim that expressing views or opinions which are contrary to what the majority believe or from what is proclaimed from a higher authority is unacceptable or even dangerous. In certain circumstances, this is, unfortunately true, but for the most part, it is the path to enlightenment, the classic example being that of those radicals who set the notion that the Sun is the centre of the solar system rather than the Earth being the centre of the Universe.

Going back to my childhood again, I had frequent exposure to both news broadcasts in the United States and the U.K. because I regularly travelled backwards and forwards due to family circumstances. Before the age of ten, I noted significant differences how current affairs on television news channels was portrayed in the U.K. from that of the U.S. The BBC seemed more factual and ‘no-nonsense’ getting to the point rather than the wiffly waffly rapport which so often plagues that of ABC, CBS and NBC being the main American news network channels. I was getting far more information on what was happening in the United States by watching the BBC! But that was then. These days, the choice of news media has increased dramatically.

After moving to the U.K. during my late teens, I followed the BBC news, and especially, BBC 4, the news and talk radio station whilst commuting to work. It was a good source of information, but I knew in the back of my mind that there must be so much more out there in terms of news which would give vastly different perspectives of the same story. However, the Internet was not available and getting access to different sources was not all that easy. Take, for example, the vast continent of Africa, a world which most of us in the ‘first world’ have absolutely no idea know what is going on from day to day, it was nearly impossible to get any current news about it. Few cared about Africa, and to this day, few still care about Africa. The point is this. Without easy access to information, we live in isolated ‘rockpools’ in which jumping from one to another requires significant effort; for example, doing research by taking a trip to the library and spending hours rummaging through microfiches or, if the library, is significant enough, access to international newspapers.

But the Internet arrived! It was, and still is of course, possible to look up almost any news source from practically anywhere on the planet. The prospect of being able to open a webpage of a local news website for current affairs in Abuja, Nigeria is simply staggering, but now it is taken as granted and commonplace. Yet still, so many of us have turned lazy, becoming subscription slaves to the leviathans like The New York Times, the BBC, Fox or CNN. Our attitudes to being genuinely curious of world affairs have been replaced by taking comfort into reading from a source of familiarity knowing that what is read is something that appeals to our base of opinions. These incumbent news giants, of course, appreciate the custom of their loyal newsreader base, and have taken steps to ensure that they retain their fanbase by promoting material which fits their readers’ narrative. Rather than necessarily focussing on objective news reporting, it is far more important to retain their loyalty by ‘giving them what they want’ to quote the character Gail Wynand (kind of like Murdoch) in his fictional Banner news agency in Ayn Rand’s 1945 book, The Fountainhead. Factual news reporting can be, understandably, dull. After all, we all like a story from time to time.

The Internet in the last decade has spawned an amazing variety of platforms for independent news sources, video bloggers (or vloggers), and other voices to thrive amongst the mainstream media oligarchies. To this day, most consumers of news tend to rely on the big mainstream network news sources; however, there is a growing community who have become genuinely disenfranchised with the lack of veracity and honesty from mainstream media. Mainstream media has, for all I am aware, always been interconnected with politics. Referring again to the 1945 book, The Fountainhead, Gail Wynand, the newspaper tycoon, approaches a senator and congratulates him on passing a law which would prove favourable for his news empire. The senator responds that he has not passed the law yet, which, after that, Wynand says to the senator, pats him on the shoulder, ‘Ah! But you will do that tomorrow of course!’

I find it staggering that so many rely on one mainstream news source. I, personally, find much of what comes out of the New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsmax and Breitbart no more than sensational tabloid fodder, for example. Thankfully, we have countless outlets of news on the Internet, but, as mentioned above, most cannot be bothered to read them. It is, understandably, exhausting, and hard work and many of us do not have time to research properly.

Enter the world of those who are willing to put their life reputations on the line to give us discourse on current affairs, social issues and subjects which are sometimes considered too taboo to talk about on mainstream media. I call them the vanguards of free thought, truth, and reason. These individuals make themselves heard through video platforms like YouTube and a variety of podcast outlets by discussing today’s current affairs or other subjects, many of which, mainstream media dare not discuss, to deliver their version of the news. Their version, or more precisely, anyone’s version will probably be never entirely accurate, but most make a valiant attempt to do so, if only to maintain their reputation of being held as someone who can provide honest and objective news without, or as little as bias, as possible.

In the list below, I give a little summary about each who I regularly follow and those that I have tuned into from time to time. Some are members of the Intellectual Dark Web (the IDW), some are not. Some are politically oriented, some are not. Some are left-wing, some are right-wing, some are just plain neutral. Some are religious, some are not. Some are gay, some are straight. Some are men, some are women. Some are people of colour, some are white. However, they have one thing in common. They push for reason, truth, and free speech, with the caveat that each have a set of differing opinions on specific matters or interests, which is a very human trait. The most important aspect is that they are all willing to debate with those who have differing opinions rather than to hide anonymously or take only interviews with those who agree with them. The art of a rigorous debate is a key attribute that they all aim to follow. Some of the below have been involved with some cathartic event which either created a ‘break in an accepted narrative’ or something which tarnished their reputations in some unjust way. They all believe that one should take agency in one’s thought processes without being bullied into an accepted narrative, especially one that contradicts reason and logic.

As with other forms of news sources, to get a good overall perspective, one should subscribe to several speakers because, as humans, we all have our particular biases, opinions and views. For example, where two or more agree on a specific topic, they may vehemently disagree on something else; for example, subjects pertaining to religion or political persuasion. I present a list comprising a veritable potpourri of characters ranging from the heavyweight IDW clan to the casual comedian. I am always on the lookout for more, so please give me any feedback if possible.

Jordan B. Peterson

I was first introduced to Jordan Peterson by an elderly neighbour and friend, who was a scientist in the field of biology, but still edits journals for various universities to this day. Jordan Peterson is, perhaps, Canada’s most well-known intellectual and is a member of the IDW. He is a clinical psychologist who became at odds with some of the politically correct overzealousness that has been taking place in Canada during the last decade or so. Notably that of ‘pronoun trouble’ to cite Daffy Duck in a classic Looney Tune cartoon. Pronouns became a big issue in Canada and Jordan took exception to it. Jordan was so vilified by the politically correct that a teacher, Lindsay Shepherd, from a Canadian university was reprimanded by the dean after she presented a Jordan Peterson video to her students about the issue of gender-neutral pronouns, but, unbeknown to the dean, she was secretly recording the conversation. It caused widespread sensation in the press.

Jordan has touched on many topics, many of which are central to morality and ethics. His stance on religion remains a mystery to many, and I recall an Australian Q&A episode when Peterson was asked if he believed in God. His response was cryptic to say the least but in essence, his answer was that one’s faith in a Supreme Being is a very private relationship and chose not to answer the question. He performed across many crowds with other great speakers like Sam Harris and Stephen Fry slamming the madness of unchecked political correctness.

Jordan Peterson does have a weakness, as do all of us, but his weakness seems to be that of debating against women oddly enough. One of the most interesting debates I saw was with Jordan against a feminist by the name of Helen Lewis. Normally, I tend to find the logic and arguments presented by most feminists as implausible, but not with Helen Lewis. She held a very reasonable, logical and rational discussion with Jordan. Jordan became increasingly agitated during this extensive interview firing off answers which did not find any conviction for his arguments. Here is the link to this most interesting of interviews.

https://youtu.be/yZYQpge1W5s

During 2020, Jordan was largely ‘off the grid’ as he was not faring very well due to ill health, however, he has recently emerged with a new season of talks. Hopefully, we will see a little more of Jordan for the year of 2021.

Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying

Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying, both members of the IDW, were biology professors in Evergreen College in the state of Washington. The college became enthralled in racial issues starting with the advent of holding a day each year that people of colour would be absent for one day to express their solidarity against racial injustices. Not being enough, the movement extended to that of being a day that people not of colour should not be allowed to attend the college for one day of the year to show their respect for racial inequality. Bret and Heather objected to this and attended regardless. They were both vilified, even assaulted and eventually forced to quit their jobs. They moved to Portland, Oregon, in which they set up their Darkhorse podcast on YouTube.

It is noteworthy to mention that Bret’s brother, Eric, coined the term Intellectual Dark Web, a group dedicated to free thinking, logic, and reason in dedication to the trials and tribulations experienced by his brother, Bret, at Evergreen. Bret, and his wife, Heather, have successfully aired a podcast on YouTube by the name of Darkhorse to run through a variety of topics mainly centred around their field of expertise of biology and, of course, current affairs near or around their home in Portland, Oregon. If anything, Bret and Heather have a very calming nature in their podcasts giving the sense to the viewer that you are cordially invited into their home for a chat. They are both considered what is known as the ‘intellectual left’ and have often condemned the actions of both the Republicans and the Democrats during the course of events during 2020. Being based so near the riots in Portland which took place for well over a hundred days, they have given a very factual account of what has taken place there during this time. Far more than any mainstream media outlet would ever report on.

Their political bias is generally what they consider classical liberal seated more to the left than right. They both agree that Trump and Biden make for horrendous presidential candidates leaving the American to vote for a lesser of two evils. Having lost hopeful potentials like Tulsi Gabbard and Andrew Yang in the runnings, they frequently made reference in their podcasts that now might be the most appropriate time to vote for an independent party. They have been extremely critical on both sides of the political fence particularly with Trump’s handling of the virus and the ineptitude of state governors and city mayors to control chaos, especially that of Ted Wheeler and his handling of the protests and riots that went on for more than a hundred days. In general, their content consists of an interesting mixture of politics, social issues and evolutionary biology.

This duo is a very likeable one. They are rational, calming and very genuine. With their wandering cats and dogs and their peaceful manner, they remind me of an adult’s version of the long-gone British kid’s show, Blue Peter.

The link to their channel and the Darkhorse program is below

https://www.youtube.com/c/BretWeinsteinDarkHorse/videos

Sam Harris

Sam Harris, a philosopher and a neuroscientist, is an exceptionally well-versed and softly spoken member of the IDW. He has often debated against Jordan Peterson on quite complex discussions on philosophy, ethics and faith, sometimes with staggeringly different viewpoints, particularly regarding religion, but when it comes to social justice, equity, political correctness and wokeness, they are both in alignment. His leanings are most assuredly left; however, he has preached that the extremist views of the so-called progressive left like ‘defunding the police’, or that systemic racial injustice exists are crazy notions akin to a cult-like fanaticism. Likewise, he applies the same mantra of cultism to pro-Trump supporters who insist that the elections have been rigged to aid Biden to win the election.

Sam tends not to video himself but his slow, surefooted and pacifying voice in his Making Sense with Sam podcasts are both calming, inspirational and informative. He is certainly damning of Trump, perhaps overly so in my opinion, and of the antics held by the alt-right, but he is also likewise damning of the inactions by Biden, Kamala Harris and other members of the left. Wealth disparity is often a feature in his broadcasts and is quick to point an accusing finger to those corporations and individuals that have profited enormously during a time where so many have struggled during 2020. He has also been critical of mainstream media especially during the events of BLM and other race-based riots during the same year. The values of morality and ethics seems to come naturally with Sam when he frequently takes a non-partisan view that much healing needs to be taken to bring people together. However, he recently took a deviation in his more recent podcasts when the importance of free speech was brought down a notch or two denouncing those who objected to the banning of Trump off social media platforms taking justification that a private company can do pretty much what they want. I did not agree with this nor do I agree that everything Trump has done has been bad. But, as I had mentioned earlier, it is important to listen to several podcasters, not just one or two. I am not in total agreement with everyone, although Bret Weinstein may, perhaps, be the most closely fitting.

Unfortunately, Sam kept himself relatively quiet during the events of 2020, although he had a magnificent podcast after the death of George Floyd which I would put at, possibly, the best podcast of the year. Link below.

https://youtu.be/vmgxtcbc4iU

Sam Harris is an important member of the IDW in my opinion and serves as a balance, especially when I come across the next IDW guy on my list, the much-maligned Ben Shapiro.

Ben Shapiro

Yes. Ben Shapiro is a member of the IDW. His leanings are most definitely towards the right and, yes, he has been highly critical of the Democrats during the last couple of years. However, let’s get some more perspective here.

Ben Shapiro is a relatively young chap being born in the mid-80s. He is incredibly shrewd, intelligent and very well-spoken for his age, although, for many, he speaks at light-speed. For all other podcasters, I crank up the speed by fifty percent, but not with Shapiro! He is prolific with the material he turns out and, even with his reasonably-sized team to assist him, I am amazed how he manages to review his material daily and put up an hour’s coverage almost every day with lightning-quick confidence and agility.

Shapiro is grossly maligned, especially from those who have not taken the time to listen to his podcasts but instead be taken in by carefully selected video clips from those who wish nothing but silence from Ben. He has made it patently clear that he was anti-Trump during 2016, in case this piece of knowledge became, somehow, forgotten, and furthermore, he has been extremely critical of Trump’s behaviour during the recent months, especially in view of his absurd views that the left had somehow stole the election. His videos are all available on YouTube of course.

Shapiro, a Harvard law graduate, provides the greatest wealth of knowledge when it comes to facts of a legal nature. For example, his recent podcast of the rationality behind Trump’s pending impeachment is delivered succinctly and rationally without displaying much in the way of bias or passion. Shapiro’s strength is that, regardless of which party someone is a member in, if credit is due, he will give credit where its due. For example, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has often been on the receiving end of Shapiro’s criticisms; however, when she was presented with a several thousand-page document to pass a COVID-relief bill and she objected that this it is simply absurd to expect any member of Congress to review this properly in a short timeframe, Shapiro offered praise and support. Likewise, when Trump comes out with allegations of voting corruption, he delivers warranted criticism.

Shapiro does have strong personal opinions, many of which I personally disagree with, but he is crystal clear about them from the outset. For example, his religious views are quite strong, and he is vehemently opposed to abortion at most levels. He supports and promotes the use of firearms for self-defence. He supports capital punishment. Whereas I believe in a truly secular government, not particularly enamoured with guns and I certainly disagree with capital punishment. However, he does believe in the sanctity of free speech, the tenets of classical liberalism and the belief that the power of the nation should largely be controlled at state rather than federal level with the exception of the military and overseas affairs.

Shapiro’s format is mainly solo taking place in his studio; however, he has the occasional interview with someone else and, from time to time, finds himself debating in congressional hearings by invite.

Shapiro is one I believe may grow an empire to equal that of the generally left-leaning mainstream media like the NYT and the Washington Post, given time. His Daily Wire media company, which is growing very quickly, is now making headway into the movie industry, starting with its premier Run Hide Fight, to compete with, what he describes as a fully-woke Hollywood. Shapiro will be facing a strong uphill battle to make this dream a reality.

Ben Shapiro’s YT channel is below:

https://www.youtube.com/c/BenShapiro/videos

Joe Rogan

Next on our list is Joe Rogan, another member of the IDW and also a well-known stand-up comedian. I have followed Joe Rogan for the last two years but there is no way that I could possibly spend time to listen to more than a small fraction of his vast repertoire. The format is simple. He interviews anyone interesting to talk to regardless of their political or social persuasions. His interviews are an average of nearly three hours long, a staggeringly long time, yet he keeps the interview interesting and on the go. Moreover, he turns out three or four interviews each week. He does this in his ‘bunker’ sometimes complete with a bottle of whisky at hand and a couple of cigars lit should the guest request one along with a nip of whisky. Last year, he offered to host an interview with the presidential candidates; however, they both declined, which was a pity in my view.

Rogan is not afraid to interview subjects who are deeply unpopular with the mainstream narrative. For example, not too long ago, he interviewed Alex Jones, a renowned blogger who got kicked off YouTube for inciting hate speech and Abigail Shrier, the author of Irreversible Damage about the dangers of gender changing through surgery, especially for young adults who may be taking lifelong decisions which could go terribly wrong. Rogan recently got a contract with Spotify and there was a ruckus with many of the staff at Spotify that if the interview with Abigail Shrier was not removed, they would walk out. Spotify initially withheld the video but re-instated it while Rogan basically stuck two fingers out against the intolerant mob. Rogan has stepped on the edge of being removed from YouTube; however, his following has grown to such a number that, in doing so, could harm YouTube’s already overstretched credibility regarding its recent activity in deleting channels which do not meet their community guidelines.

Rogan, a formidable but friendly-looking character who practices martial arts usually takes the humble approach with his guests by not claiming to be an expert in the discussion, except that of martial arts or related activities, but rather the ability to engage and listen attentively with any interviewee with decorum and respect regardless of the topic discussed. Rogan has done very well financially for his work and, to his credit, has become, in my view, possibly one of the greatest interviewers of all time.

In recent light of his Spotify contract, Rogan has, unfortunately, curtailed his videos from YT to Spotify but his YT channel is shown below:

https://www.youtube.com/c/joerogan/videos

Dave Rubin

Continuing with the IDW characters on this list, we arrive at Dave Rubin, a former comedian and jazz musician who turned from being a ‘lefty’ to a right-leaning classical liberalist. Dave worked alongside Jordan Peterson on many of his live audience tours and claims that Peterson could not have been better as a mentor. Unlike Jordan, Dave tends to concentrate on the micro social issues which emerge on a day-to-day basis accumulating social media clips or pointing out snippets of information that mainstream media refuse to cover. He regularly delivers his Direct Message podcast through YouTube which, not unlike, Shapiro, covers the most recent news of the day. Where Shapiro will delve into facts and observations with absolute precision and conviction taking the listener through a thick forest of legal jargon, arguments, and counterarguments at rapid speed, Rubin appeals to those who want a little gossip of the day.

Rubin has expressed the most disdain recently with the double-standards and hypocrisy of some of the state governors, notably that of California’s Governor Newsom and New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo with respect to enforcing lockdowns. He is a stalwart support of unhindered free speech (within the framework of the law), as well as the others on this list possibly with the recent exception of Sam Harris. He consistently defends the values of the Constitution and denounces any unnecessary increase in power by the government to control individual freedoms. Moreover, using his experience as a former comedian, he can deliver these messages while captivating a large audience with light-heartedness.

His YT channel is below:

https://www.youtube.com/c/RubinReport/videos

Coleman Hughes

Next up on the IDW list is Coleman Hughes, a young African American writer of Puerto Rican descent. He often writes for Quillette, the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, and the 1776 Project.

As with many people of colour like Larry Elder, Candace Owens and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who fight against critical race theory, white privilege, wokeness and the notion that systemic racism is rife, he is often deemed a ‘sellout’ by the largely misguided primarily-white woke mob. His podcasts and writing are done with the most exquisite elegance and sophistication. In many ways, his style is above par to that of Sam Harris or even Douglas Murray as he has the natural ability to discuss exceptionally sensitive issues with rationality, logic, impunity and conviction without showing much in the way of emotion or opinion. Last year, he challenged Ibrahim X Kendi, the author of the highly contentious How to be an Anti-Racist, to an interview, but as expected, Kendi did not respond. Unfortunately, a recurring theme with most on this list is that the radical left is almost always unwilling to offer any discourse with those who are on the opposing side of the table.

His YT link is below

https://www.youtube.com/c/ColemanHughesOfficial/videos

Michael Shermer

Yet another member of the IDW is Michael Shermer, the founder of the Skeptics Society and an author of many books concerning conspiracy theories, science, and the markets. I have not had much exposure to Shermer until late 2020, but what I can make out from the content and the way that he presents his material, I will be coming in for a lot more.

Noteworthy is his video message after the Capitol Hill riots incited by Trump. He makes incredibly convincing arguments, using the firing squad analogy, that Trump is unquestionably responsible for the riots, much like Sam Harris’s similar one at approximately the same time. However, unlike Sam, who got a little more emotionally driven than I expected dropping a few F-bombs and claiming that the silencing of Trump through censorship was a necessary action, Shermer makes a very good case that censorship, regardless of Trump or not, often makes the situation far more dangerous by possibly promoting martyrdom and invoking the complex doctrine of clear and present danger, adopted by the Supreme Court to determine under what circumstances limits can be placed on the First Amendment pertaining to free speech.

Shermer is also very knowledgeable on business dynamics and how the markets work claiming that the popular push for breaking up big tech has potentially enormous complications along with very lengthy timeframes, giving historical examples, for example, Kodak and the browser wars.

Here’s a good example of Shermer discussing Trump and the Capitol Hill riots

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyYnT-FopmU&t=363s

Douglas Murray

Douglas Murray is best known for his two works, The Strange Death of Europe and The Madness of Crowds. He has featured extensively throughout many interviews, many of which are included in this article. A highly intelligent and well-spoken gay man, he has consistently fought back against the unthinking woke mob who like nothing better than to silence the majority into submission. His video interviews are sometimes too often centred on his book, The Madness of Crowds, however, there is the occasional interview in which Murray discusses a new or obscure topic.

I include Douglas Murray on this list primarily for his tour-de-force, The Madness of Crowds, a book packed with facts, anecdotes, and other gems of absurd events in the politically correct sphere.

Douglas Murray is one of the prime writers in Unherd, a blog containing well-written articles of current affairs and social issues.

Although his book is very good, it is a pity that Murray does not do much in the way of solo messages as many do in this list.

Stefan Molyneux

Stefan, a Canadian with Irish descent who claims to be an anarchist (in the true sense of the word), was a software engineer who started up an IT business which he later sold during 2000. He started out by doing video podcasts from his car on his way to work and since then, created more than three thousand videos discussing a wide range of subjects from politics to Darwinism, and from religion to the world of science. At the height of his YouTube career, he amassed just under one million viewers, but events took the worse for him when he delved into the shady world of anti-Chinese rhetoric during the Hong Kong riots prompting the gods who run YouTube’s community guidelines to explore more into his channel. He created a professional documentary about the situation of Hong Kong and strangely enough, his name was removed from autodetect on YouTube and, ultimately, his videos were also removed.

Coupled with his strong views on family units, his material on IQ and race and his explanation and justification of women not being at equal par on pay caused an outrage resulting in Stefan becoming de-platformed and Wikipedia re-writing his biography claiming him to be, bizarrely enough, a white supremacist. For me, this further added a nail of doubt as to the veracity of Wikipedia after being so familiar with his material. Having listened to him for many years, including some of his very amusing video podcasts; for example, when he interviewed someone who firmly believes in the flat earth theory, and of those highly informative videos discussing K and R-type animal behaviour, it became as a surprise when he became tragically removed from YouTube.

However, despite the banning of Stefan, his material became predictable and I had lost interest with his material well before this occurred. His obsession with China, or rather, his hatred of China, and of his increasing material centred around video games and being an ‘agony aunt’ got eventually tiresome. However, it is a pity that some of his earlier material is lost including those of his interviews with economists and other philosophers. Also fascinating was his video content about the rise and fall of the Roman empire.

Stefan Molyneux is very well spoken and very well versed in philosophy, although his detractors will claim otherwise. He has been interviewed by many of the IDW clan and a variety of quite high-profile shows. His Freedomain.com philosophy website still remains intact for the time being.

Freddie Sayers

Freddie Sayers is a writer, along with other greats like Douglas Murray, in the excellent unherd.com news website; however, Freddie, a young man who is half English and half Swedish, is far more renowned for being an excellent well-spoken interviewer because of his ability to be virtually absent of opinion, bias and disrespect for any side of an interview or debate. Because of these attributes, Freddie is one of a handful of interviewers who can capture guests who are in complete opposition with each other. Gentlemen like Sayers puts many of our well-known mainstream media hosts and moderators, who constantly interrupt and opine, to total shame.

Sayers, in his Lockdown TV series, interviewed quite a few high-profile figures involved with the pandemic. For example, he interviewed both Johan Giesecke, a Swedish epidemiologist, who disagrees with the lockdowns and Neil Ferguson, who promotes them. He does this with near neutrality. No rude interruptions. No misleading questions. All in the most professional manner.

His Lockdown TV YouTube channel is below.

https://www.youtube.com/c/UnHerd/videos

Henrik Jönsson

A Swedish friend of mine directed my attention to a vlogger by the name of Henrik Jönsson, an entrepreneur and businessman who studied media and communication. His videos are in Swedish; however, they are all subtitled in English. Henrik gives a fresh perspective of the world’s events though the eyes of someone living in Sweden. Worth a look.

His YT channel is below.

https://www.youtube.com/c/HenrikJ%C3%B6nssonSverige/videos

Gad Saad

Gad Saad is a Lebanese Canadian whose field is in evolutionary psychology. He has been a proponent for free speech and basic freedoms which we tend to take for granted in the first world. He released a book in 2020 called The Parasitic Mind which emphasizes the importance of common sense, rational debate and freedom of thought. He has not been nearly as prolific in pumping out longform video broadcasts as some on this list, but he is definitely worth a listen. One of my favourite Gad Saad sayings is,

“There is an eighth deadly sin. The sin of cowardice”

When he refers to the silent majority who are too afraid to say anything against the infectious wokeness.

His YT channel is

https://www.youtube.com/c/GadSaad/videos

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is a half Aboriginal, half Celtic woman from Alice Springs, whose mother is Bess Price, a former liberal NT Government Minister. She, herself, is a member of the local government in Alice Springs as a liberal and also the Director of the Indigenous Research program at the Centre for Independent Studies, in which she is concerned with the high rates of domestic violence and sexual assault in Aboriginal communities. Jacinta has battled extensively to promote the living standards and eradication of violent crime in the Aboriginal communities in Australia. She; however, is a strong opponent to the leftist woke views, most recently promulgated by the Black Lives Matter movement in the continual portrayal of the victimisation of indigenous communities.

Her battle has been a tenuous one. She has been denied a voice in some councils in the country due to protests by, not only the woke left, but also the Aboriginal elders, a predominantly male group of Aboriginal leaders who make all the local decisions within their communities and act as the intermediaries between the non and Aboriginal communities. Her aim is to reveal the real issues the Aboriginals face in their often remote communities, often places which are off limits to non-Aboriginals.

Her common sense, rationale, and compassion to her communities as well as her vision in bringing an integrated Australia together is most compelling and inspirational. Having slammed the Black Lives Matters movements and bucking the narrative of the woke left, she has been virtually silenced in social media. She is vilified by many on the so-called Indigenous rights woke movement, most of which have probably never met an Aboriginal before. Unfortunately, her message does not grab the audience it should have due to the incessant efforts by the mainstream media and big tech to keep her ‘under control’. If I could name one prime minister who could bring Australia together as a nation, I believe Jacinta could do an admirable job.

Here is her Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/JacintaNPrice/

Candace Owens

Candace Owens is a young American conservative black writer, recently having released her book, Blackout. Not unlike Jacinta Price above, she is vilified by the left as being a ‘sellout’ to the black community by the woke left, especially being a Trump supporter, at least up to the point until Trump went off the rails. She has performed across many live audiences and has started to host very interesting one-to-one interviews. She hosted quite a few interviews with other black Americans, most of which, have done well through hard work and graft. One memorable interview she did was with a Nigerian immigrant who compared the attitudes of Grade A students in the United States and in Africa. Where smart kids who get good grades are often perceived as ‘uncool’, ‘nerdy’ or ‘geeky’, in Africa, they are the ‘cool’ ones. Also of note is her view that, in Africa, there are no ‘blacks’. She is a strong proponent of the views of Martin Luther King Jr, many of which are shunned by the woke who espouse the tenets of critical race theory. Not unlike Jacinta Price in Australia, she often discusses realistic strategies on how to better integrate white and black communities together.

And Finally, the comedians

Comedians can get away with a lot of controversy, many of which do exceptionally well. However, where the strength comes out is when the comedian dishes out political and social views yet manage to avoid being de-platformed through either satire or through sheer popularity and entertainment attracting relatively large audiences. To be honest, I have not come across a funny comedian who supports the woke left, probably because most of them are either too miserable or have the innate inability to make fun of anything.

JP Sears

JP Sears, with his AwakenWithJP YT channel, satirises current events in an entertaining funny way. His hippie-like looks, clever satire and comical acting keeps his videos light-hearted, but he usually has a serious message to convey. He is staunchly anti-communist, pro-free-speech, anti-lockdown and anti-censorship. Yet he seems at home with advocating alternative therapies based on little or no medical backing. Fans of JP Sears who have slowly been consumed by the Stockholm Syndrome of those nation-states who are mandating continual lockdowns and draconian measures on people’s individual rights during the pandemic have largely abandoned his channel.

The funniest one in my opinion is the one that he is too scared to leave the home because of the virus, The Blue Pill People.

https://youtu.be/dC_lZLzCrOI

Isaac Butterfield

Isaac Butterfield is a quite funny young Australian comedian who often performs with large live audiences. He also has a very successful YT channel usually pumping out relatively short videos of material he finds patently absurd. For example, women who feed their plants menstrual blood, teenagers who record bodily sounds like slurping or licking and then post it to large audiences, all the way to serious subjects and interviews, some with heavyweights like Gad Saad on social and political issues.

His manner is funny but vulgar and coarse. As with many comedians, he often makes fun of his own self but takes no prisoners when it comes to making fun at others, especially from those who take a dig at him and his views without any reasonable context.

His strongest weapon is that he can appeal to the younger generation that critical thinking, reason, and logic are traits that are invaluable and, without having any of those, we would just turn into, in his own words, f*&kwits.

His YT channel is

https://www.youtube.com/c/IsaacButterfield/videos

Terrence K Williams

Terrence K Williams is a black comedian who is totally pro-Trump, which, naturally might come as a bit of a problem for those who are anti-Trump. Setting Trump aside, he does have some valid arguments on the absurdity of how the woke left are treating the black community, especially with the continual beating of the drums that systemic racial injustice is endemic and needs to be eradicated. Police killings against blacks has been one of his major gripes, or rather the flawed statistics of police killings against blacks. He has released a frequent number of short videos, most of which are quite emotional and passionate.

https://www.youtube.com/c/TerrenceKWilliams/videos

Ricky Gervais

Ricky Gervais has kept himself fairly quiet during the year of 2020 with regards to social and political issues, which is a pity, because he may have become a powerhouse within the vanguards of reason and free thinking. Alas, Ricky, has been quite content during his usual Facebook casual video, many of which he is mildly intoxicated by his favourite beer.

However, there is no doubt that Ricky performed the most brilliant act I have ever seen as a direct attack against the Hollywood woke elite; the infamous openings of the Golden Globe Awards where he attacks the virtuous signalling, the woke and the hypocritical of them ending with the phrase,

“So if you win, come up, accept your little award, thank your agent, and your God and fuck off, OK?”

Here’s a good clip of the awards.

https://youtu.be/iJOb9xHggS4

And the late comedians…

There are a couple of comedians who I wish were still living to this day. The Irish comedian, Dave Allen and American comedian, George Carlin. What would they make of today’s nonsensical world?

The late Dave Allen