Tyler Cowen, on Marginal Revolution, linked to this very interesting interview with Eric Nelson, executive editor of Broadside Books, an imprint of HarperCollins which publishes “conservative” books (perhaps more “right wingers’” book). The whole interview is well worth reading but this quote strikes me as a perfect assessment of the intellectual world we live in:
(2 COMMENTS)The overall culture has changed to be pro-censorship, with the belief that by limiting our ability to discuss some ideas, it will make those ideas disappear or lose value among the public—which is delusional, and that has been proven over and over.
Also, there are more truly awful people that have carved out a big audience for themselves than before. These people are famous enough now to have a platform, and so their books look worth doing, financially, but 10 years ago these people would have been taking out ads in the back of the Weekly World News to get people to order their pamphlets on various snake oils.