The Psychopath Test

Jon spent his career seeking out remarkable stories from hanging out with the Ku Klux Klan to shadowing David Icke.

His best-selling books include Them: Adventures with Extremists, The Men Who Stare at Goats, later a film starring George Clooney, The Psychopath Test, and So You've Been Publicly Shamed.

I've read all of them.

Like me, he's also conquered the medium of podcasting.

Everyone gets a go.

I don't like to suggest because I, in another book club I've since left, I once suggested Jon Ronson's The Psychopath Test.

Mm.

And everyone hated it.

I'm delighted to be here.

He's famous for a number of podcasts and books like So You've Been Publicly Shamed, or The Psychopath Test, or The Men Who Stare at Goats, but his latest book is called The Castle.

And how he came to write this particular book, well, it all began a morning a couple of years ago.

He woke up, and he reached over and checked his phone, and on the phone was a screen full of texts from his son, and the last one said...

First then, British journalist, documentary maker, podcaster and bestselling author John Ronson has made a career out of going where most of us might hesitate to look, from extremists and conspiracy theorists to psychopaths and the darker corners of the Internet.

His books include Them, The Psychopath Test and So You've Been Publicly Shamed, all marked by his trademark blend of curiosity, humour and humanity.

His works also taken him into the world of movies.

The Men Who Stare at Goats, starring George Clooney, was based on John's investigation into the US military's experiments with the paranormal.

I am a nonfiction author.

I wrote The Psychopath Test and So You've Been Publicly Shamed and a bunch of other books.

And my new book is called The Castle: Adventures in a World of Unraveling Men.

And I'm gonna tell you some of the insights that I gathered while reporting this very strange story that crashed unannounced into my life.

I mean, to be honest, that's a copy and paste, isn't it? I mean, if we're being harsh.

Um, some of his most notable works include The Psychopath Test, international bestseller; uh, The Men Who Stare at Goats, which was made into a 2009 feature film starring George Clooney and Ewan McGregor; and, uh, the podcast, which I have listened to a bit, Things Fell Apart, which explores the, uh, modern culture wars and the history behind them.

And of course, you, you will re- relate to his comedy drama, Frank, uh, inspired by the bit where he played in a band with Frank Sidebottom-

Oh

And a lot of dictators' wives carry them.

Oh, uh, well, I wrote this book- Right ... called The Psychopath Test, and there's a whole lot about this stuff about what, about predatory animal decor being very prevalent in the homes of powerful psychopaths.

You should see Saddam Hussein's house.

Oh, it-- I went to see, um, that new film last night, Digger, um, and it's all of the interiors are decorated with dead beasts.

Today bringing you a bonus episode featuring my chat with the author, journalist and broadcaster, John Ronson.

You'll no doubt be aware of John's various works, including The Psychopath Test, So You've Been Publicly Ashamed, The Men Who Stare at Goats.

The list goes on.

He's got a new book out called The Castle Adventures in a World of Unraveling Men.

Yes.

And, yeah, well, I was, ah, God, I had one more question to ask you.

I guess we'll just do this, and the audio will be shit for this bit, but I was just going to say about, because obviously the thing we never spoke about really was the psychopath test.

Mm-hmm.