One percent of the population is a psychopath, 25 percent of the prison population and apparently four percent of CEOs are psychopaths. That means there were perhaps nine or ten psychopaths in the audience “or many more if psychopaths like going to talks about psychopaths” said Ronson.
Ronson interviewed a number of candidates for his book. We heard about Tony who claimed to have blagged his way into Broadmoor claiming madness. It was on the advice of a cell mate in order to get out of a five year prison sentence. When Ronson went to meet him, he had been there for twelve years.
Ronson talks about the 20 point test created by Robert Hare that defines psychopathy. Madness is it seems everywhere “television is now about troubled people being booed”. A television booker told Ronson that she would ask potential guests what medication they were on. If it was Lithium she wouldn’t book them but Prozac would increase their chances of appearing on TV. Debilitating over anxiety, Ronson’s claimed mental malady, is the neurological opposite of psychopathy, which I guess qualifies him to put his interviewees to the test.
[...] It was a controversial swap; the Torygraph replacing the Grauniad. The January post on this blog asking “Will the Telegraph change the Hay Festival” was tweeted more and attracted more comments than any other post this blog has published. Now the curtain has closed on the 2011 festival we can take a view ‘ex post’. My view is; it did a bit. The session with Stuart Rose and Digby Jones would have been quite different with a Guardian journalist in the chair. Yet there was much in the classic Hay mould – Jon Ronson, liberal to the core for one. [...]