Now I’m in Australia—and finally over the jet-lag from Hell—here’s an update on plans for while I’m in Melbs.
First up is the Turk’s Head Club on Monday 14th October. The club has this to say:
The Turks Head Club of Melbourne—modelled on the original literary club of Joshua Reynolds and Samuel Johnson—is a Chatham House Rules discussion group that meets monthly to discuss issues of History, Philosophy, Politics, Literature, and Current Events. Our regular monthly meetings are usually on the 2nd Wednesday of each month, and recent topics have included: The Voice, AUKUS, Xi’s China, Did the Anzacs save Stalin (Greece 1941), View from the Canberra Press Gallery, and Strategic Threats to Eastern Europe (Putin).
On Monday October 14 we have an international guest, as Helen Dale (originally controversial in Australia as Helen Demidenko of The Hand that Signed the Paperfame), is touring Australia as a guest of the Free Speech Union and other free speech groups. She has generously offered to join us to discuss issues of free speech.
Helen has an eclectic background in literature (her novels have won several awards, including the Miles Franklin and the Australian Literature Society Gold Medal); journalism (Courier-Mail, Newscorp, Fairfax and Quadrant amongst others); law (Universities of Queensland, Oxford and Edinburgh); and politics (senior adviser to Senator David Leyonhjelm). She has been part of various libertarian projects such as Australian Skeptics and Free Speech Union, the group blog Catallaxy Files, and her own SkepticLawyer.
She always leads a fascinating, and usually challenging, discussion.
Kelvin Club, 14-30 Melbourne Place, Melbourne. $50 per head including refreshments.
If you would be interested in joining us, please respond by email to: turksheadmelb@gmail.com
Bonus: Lorenzo Warby of this parish is a member of Turk’s Head, so if you want to catch us both in the same place…
I’ll be discussing something I first outlined in brief form for CPAC Australia: that is, my suspicion that cancel culture is a technique or strategy that operates independently of political orientation. Lobby groups do it in order to avoid having to debate their rights-claims, which of course leads to monstrous levels of preference falsification.
People (often majorities) really do finish up telling pollsters (and others) what they want to hear, and then go do precisely the opposite in private. If your country is lucky, they only do this in the polling booth and not elsewhere.
Then, On the evening of October 15th, I have a ticketed public event in Melbourne for members of the Free Speech Union Australia, and will be sharing the stage with Professor Katy Barnett of Melbourne Law School.
We’ll be talking about perverse incentives in the academy and how that’s produced things like people with PhDs in breakdancing. It will be held at the Oxford Scholar, 410 Swanston Street.
Copies of my books will be available for sale, and I’ll of course sign them if desired.