Three Weeks in London

A reflection on my time in the UK

Reid Nicewonder (President of Street Epistemology International) and I just returned from three weeks in London. I had the time of my life.

Here are some things I learned:

• From author Helen Joyce, I learned that the figure of trans kids I’d read from different sources, .06, may be overestimated by a factor of infinity. That is, self-reports of feeling trans may entirely be a culture-bound syndrome and have no biological basis. When I told this to a friend of mine who’s a professor of medicine and anthropology, he asked me rhetorically, “If gender is constructed, then how could trans not be a culture-bound syndrome?”

Helen Joyce & Peter Boghossian

• In conversation with Spiked’s Brendan O’Neill and author Andrew Doyle, I learned details about the UK’s censoriousness and one of the consequences of not having a First Amendment. There really are no speech protections as we in the US understand them. Scary.

  

  Brenden O’Neill, Andrew Doyle, & Peter Boghossian

• I observed that the contrast between the way people in the UK and people in the US treat the commons is stark. For example, I didn’t see a single person jump the turnstile in three weeks of frequent, daily riding on the tube. I had just come from a week in NYC where you could watch individuals jump the turnstile literally every 20 seconds—even when the police were standing mere feet away. Also, the feeling on the London tube was quite different from NYC’s. It just felt more civilized.

Here are some things I did and shows I went on:

• Mike Nayna and I did an Unherd Live event. It sold out in an hour! It was an overdose of fun, and watching Alan Sokal, John Cleese, Stephen Blackwood, Andrew Doyle, Winston Marshall, and others laugh at Mike’s film was particularly rewarding. The people at UnHerd were fantastic and made the entire event a joy. You can find a video of the event here (paywall), a trailer here, a deleted scene here, and Episode 1 here. 

• Andrew Doyle (May 28)

  • I just love Andrew. He’s brilliant and principled.

• Lotus Eaters (May 31)

  • I find Carl Benjamin (aka Sargon of Akkad) to be honest, smart, sincere, and inquisitive. Carl and I also did a show with Andy Ngo about Portland and Antifa.  

    

    Carl Benjamin & Peter Boghossian

• Emma Webb (June 4)

  • Emma is a journalist, interviewer and delightful person.

• Laurence Fox Show (June 5)

  • Laurence and I became very friendly. It’s a remarkable experience to walk around with Laurence as people frequently approach him and thank him for his work. I wasn’t sure if they were thanking Laurence for his acting or for his political work.

  

  Laurence Fox & Peter Boghossian

• John Cleese (June 7)

  • We filmed his show at a castle north of London and the set was incredible. John and Andrew Doyle are doing a program about free speech and the culture war, among other things. Our episode included Helen Pluckrose, Greg Lukianoff, and Stephen Fry.

    

    Peter Boghossian & John Cleese

• Rob Moore’s Disrupters (June 12)

  • Rob and I discussed things I never discuss, like economics, finance, the importance of mentors, and how to live a meaningful life.

• BBC HARDtalk (June 13)

  • The senior producer told me only five percent of people invited accept. Once you watch the show you’ll understand why. It’s an intense 24-minute grilling. Personally, I love things like this and wish it were much longer. I had fun. (I expect our episode to be released in July.)

  

  Outside BBC Studios in London before BBC HARDtalk

• Alex O’Connor (June 14)

  • I enjoyed this conversation because we discussed things nobody talks to me about, specifically, Wittgenstein’s Private Language argument.  

    

    Alex O'Connor & Peter Boghossian

• Richard Dawkins (June 16)

  • I just love Richard and respect him so much. He’s been a major influence in my intellectual life and it is always a pleasure to converse with him. Our conversation focused on the substitution hypothesis, that is, belief is the default and people just swap one fairytale for another.

Richard Dawkins & Peter Boghossian

• Jiu Jitsu! I had the honor of training at Roger Gracie’s studio. Great people, great instruction. 

Here are some people with whom I had long-form conversations:

Andrew Doyle, Alan Sokal, Helen Joyce, Nina Powers, and Winston Marshall. We are editing these conversations and will be releasing them over the next few months, so stay tuned! 

Finally, we’re on Nostr!

Here’s the public key: npub189klw7krm298ypdgq8fmd6hef5wn3sfzmj8acqxspagu6w2amvjsde7ssv

My sincere thanks to everyone for their continued support.

Peter