The tension is crackling off the page, as they say, in a few parts of the recent David Remnick interview in the New Republic. Particularly in this section where Isaac Chotiner asks about Jonah Lehrer, whos often portrayed, rightly or wrongly, as the literary offspring of New Yorker staff writer Malcolm Gladwell. Aside from the subject matter, Im fascinated by the way editor Remnick shapes Chotiners questions as he asks them. (Its worth reading the full interview.) DR: I am not going to argue with you about Jonah Lehrer. IC: OK, but do you think people like Lehrer, who have quick and sellable ideas, get somewhat of a pass and make it quickly without being closely examined? They are salesmen. DR: Ask me what you want to ask me. IC: Well, just what you think of the pop science that you publish. DR: To make the leap that somehow what Malcolm [Gladwell] does leads directly to the ultimately sad story with Jonah Lehrer is itself fake science. The fact that Malcolm is a terrific storyteller and is willing to do this thing that no one else was doing—you may not like it, but there is nothing in my mind fake about it. I find it at its best thrilling. And when he started doing this no one else was. I think Malcolm is an original. IC: Putting aside— DR: I am concerned with what I publish. The fact that he has imitators and some of them are lesser is not of my concern.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 17:44:52 +0000
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