The Bluestocking, Vol VII: Corbynmania, Colbert's philosophy and cool comics
Morning,
Let's not think of this newsletter as being late - let's think of it being really early for next week. I was delayed by seeing the Cumberhamlet on Thursday night (which has been significantly altered since the early, poorly reviewed performances). and by a Jeremy Corbyn's rally on Friday.
So what's this Corbynmania all about? Last week, I wrote a comment piece for the Telegraph, which got spiked (bigfooted by Matthew Hancock, for shame... as if his poor decision-making over Kids Company were not insult enough), about the problem that centrists in Labour have dealing with Corbynmania. Essentially, what's developed is a parent/child dynamic. The Blairites have adopted the tone of a parent - I know what I'm talking about, you've had your fun but come on, let's be serious - and many Corbyn fans have responded by falling into the role of an angry teenager. They feel patronised and belittled by the suggestion that they are naive or childish to think the centre of political gravity can be moved left.
Personally, I'm torn. Jeremy Corbyn seems a very nice and principled man, but I was struck by the commentator who recently claimed that "he's barely been in the Labour party for 30 years". Now, plenty of people would say - well, that's because the Labour party has become pro-austerity, neoliberal etc etc. But as wasn't he already rebelling in the 1980s, before the supposed Blairite putsch shifted the party from the one true way? So I feel like maybe he just likes rebelling? (Have a read of his voting record here: I was surprised to see him voting against higher taxes several times.)
It's also noticeable how quiet the Tories have been this summer. Surely they have an absolute trove of opposition research which will get wheeled out eventually (maybe not straight away, as Eurosceptic Tories might relish seeing a Eurosceptic Labour leader in place). Alex Massie points out here that inviting the IRA to parliament two weeks after they tried to blow up Mrs Thatcher will be tricky to defend.
The first PMQs is also going to be fascinating: Labour MPs need to look as though they are giving him a fair chance, otherwise they look disrespectful to party members and supporters. Meanwhile, David Cameron also faces a tricky path: going studs in on a principled, unspun 66-year-old in a vest might not be the best look for him.
My hope now is that Corbyn's team draft in some hot, forward-looking thinktank types to come up with policy proposals that seem radical in 2015. What I heard on Friday night was quite retro (NHS good, austerity bad) and not that different from Ed Miliband, honestly. (Jeremy Cliffe's take in the Economist after an earlier rally is on point.)
Sorry for the long politics digression! If you're interested, I've also written for the Sunday Times this week on why the Ashley Madison hack won't changed our habits online - and why it's time for regulators and legislators to save us from ourselves (£).
Helen
Stephen Colbert is Himself
The next thing he said I wrote on a slip of paper in his office and have carried it around with me since. It's our choice, whether to hate something in our lives or to love every moment of them, even the parts that bring us pain. “At every moment, we are volunteers.”
This Stephen Colbert profile is everything - philosophy and expertise and honesty. I love the sections on "loving the process" of making TV comedy; it's clear that he is a technician with the face of a frontman, and I guess that's why The Colbert Report worked as well as it did. All the truly great creative people I've worked with have been obsessed with the details, with the underlying mechanic as well as the surface response. (I explored this in my profile of QI's John Lloyd a while ago.)
Who are Black Lives Matter?
When an article says Black Lives Matter interrupted a campaign event, who is a part of Black Lives Matter, anyway?
The answer to that question might be a small group of people who self-identify as a “radical organization.” The answer to that question might also be anyone.
And the answer to that question might define the future of the American left, which has split over race, party politics, and the limits and powers of protesting since two activists took over a podium in Seattle seven days ago.
The Daily Beast takes a look at the problem of "ownership" of a movement that's leaderless and non-hierarchical. It provokes a question that every online activist should ask themselves: how do you take the great, amorphous poetic energy of a social media campaign, and turn that into the prose of real-world change? It's always tough. Some have managed it (think Laura Bates and Everyday Sexism), while others have found the road far more bumpy (read Adrian Chen's excellent piece on Anonymous).
The Village Without Men
Memusi is the official greeter. She walks towards me, the beads adorning her head and neck making soft clicking noises in the gentle breeze. She ran away from her husband after just one day of marriage, in 1998. “I was traded for cows by my father when I was 11 years old,” she tells me with the help of an interpreter. “My husband was 57.”
This is a heartbreaking story about rape and FGM survivors trying to create a space in a hostile, patriarchal society where they are free of its pressures - and can share their knowledge and strength with other women.
QUICK LINKS: Why journalists shouldn't settle down. The political consequences of the Like button. The Mail on Sunday has a cheese dream about a Corbyn government. Is it bad I find this David Foster Wallace costume hilarious? (Think how long they spent sourcing the perfect bandana). Another anti-social network uncovered. This reference guide to minerals shows that a LOT of people have named minerals after themselves. Also there's lulzacite.
READ: if you've never read a comic before, because the chronology is mental and you don't really understand how they work (ie, you are me), then the two collected editions of The Wicked and The Divine are the perfect place to start.
WATCH: Gore Vidal and Norman Mailer have a ding-dong on television. When your protest about someone writing nasty things about you leads with "we all know I stabbed my wife", you should recognise that you're in trouble. (Background to the clash here.)
PS.
I did not know that Mumford and Sons had covered Not in Nottingham, officially the saddest song of my childhood.
If you have comments, or have spotted the bit that I've forgotten to strip the formatting from when importing it in this week, I'm on helenlewisbook@gmail.com.