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→ Tony Blair struggles to define ‘woke’ on Newsnight
Almost as soon as Keir Starmer moved into Number 10, his predecessor-but-six Tony Blair was doling out advice. One of the suggestions was for the PM and the Labour government not to fall prey to wokery, though new Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy quickly rendered Blair’s advice redundant by declaring: “The era of culture wars is over.”
On Newsnight, however, Kirsty Wark pressed the former PM on what he meant by the term “woke”. After some ahs and ums, he said: “I think people know what you mean by it, what I mean by it.”
“What is your definition of wokeism?” @kirstywark talks to former Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair#Newsnight pic.twitter.com/ZKaGqGynRJ
— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) July 10, 2024
More erms and uhs: “It’s making sure that on issues that are culturally really sensitive you keep to what I think is a pretty sensible middle ground. I’ve had discussions on the trans issue that have given rise to headlines I never thought I’d see in terms of, you know, biological discussion.” That’s that cleared up, then…
→ The New Yorker takes on the New York Times
Shots have been fired in the war between legacy news outlets, with the New Yorker attacking the New York Times for supposedly policing its Left-wing reporters.
The Times’s willingness to publish content that angers its Left-leaning audience has apparently upset its competitor, which is now digging up the charitable giving receipts of the Times’s executive director, Joe Kahn, to suggest that his wealth and liberal leanings indicate a bias against progressives — an odd inclusion in an otherwise positive profile.
The @NewYorker goes after @nytimes‘ executive editor Joe Kahn for…. [checks notes]… giving money to liberal causes.
If this strikes you as weird, it’s because it is. Elite media rarely, if ever, go after each other. In this case, New Yorker has dinged NYT on something so… pic.twitter.com/nPrdyeBsHy
— Ashley Rindsberg (@AshleyRindsberg) July 11, 2024
The Times has famously struggled to balance journalistic balance with the demands of its more Left-wing readers and employees, resulting in high-profile public resignations and critical open letters from both sides of the aisle. But it’s also a sign of the increasing divisions within Left-leaning media. Just a few weeks ago, Washington Post reporters even initiated an investigation into their own editor. As election day draws closer, expect to see many more such cases…
→ JFK’s grandson is Vogue’s new political correspondent
Those Kennedys get everywhere. John F. Kennedy’s only grandson, Jack Schlossberg, has been announced as Vogue’s new political correspondent ahead of the upcoming election. According to Vogue, “The new role will see him combine his background in law and business with the self-described ‘silly goose’ tendencies he displays online.”
Jack Schlossberg is Vogue’s political correspondent. The new role will see him combine his background in law and business with the self-described “silly goose” tendencies he displays online. Here, see how John F. Kennedy’s only grandson, is taking over: https://t.co/svR6qFyfq4 pic.twitter.com/61WK0s3Zzx
— Vogue Magazine (@voguemagazine) July 10, 2024
In an interview with the magazine, silly goose Schlossberg, who has a “towering frame, dark hair, and strong jawline”, claims that “climate change is the most important issue that we need to deal with.” He also admits that “I went to law school super liberal, and I came out of the program with the same thinking — just realising that I was still right but that I had not known what I was talking about before.” The family modesty shining through…
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SubscribeYour summary misses all the most interesting stuff in the TB interview. Watch til the end; it’s only two minutes long.
Yes would two minutes be too much to ask?
I voted Reform and have given up with the BBC but I found Blair’s comments on woke here fairly convincing. We live in politically volatile times.
Still a slimy little weasel then. Nice to know that some things never change.
Who says the States doesn’t have aristocrats?
The States do. They’re lying, but they still claim they don’t.
Oh the US does have aristocrats, but thanks to globalism and US hegemony they’ve become globalized, with corporations, personal wealth, and interests spanning continents and crossing borders without regard for the inhabitants of any of those countries specifically. They don’t consider themselves American or European or anything else. Most of them think that that’s a good thing and some even believe it justifies the power they have to influence world events. Most of them had their origins here but they’re now everybody’s problem. The sooner the people of various nations, including the US, take back their sovereignty and self determination, the better off we’ll be.
Most liberal people were happy with Woke till it included the idea that ‘woman’ was merely a feeling that if felt by a man would make him a woman. So now we see some stumbling. Rightly so.