Wow. That makes Hedges sound like a real sociopath/clinical narcissist, like what Ketcham found was almost certainly the tip of the iceberg. Doesn't help that he ended his career with a Russian propaganda outlet.
This is a serious liability for academic scholarship, in general but especially around identity-laden issues like the ones the Coates family focuses on. This failure (to subject particular scholarship to academic rigor) I first noticed years ago with Chris Hedges. He was very credibly accused of plagiarism and even a type of moral blackmail if you read the whole story: https://newrepublic.com/article/118114/chris-hedges-pulitzer-winner-lefty-hero-plagiarist.
But because otherwise he was saying all the things lefties wanted to hear about how bad capitalism is (and so forth) his career never really took a hit. Of course Ibram Kendhi also infamously received (receives?) similar treatment. Even the interview where Ezra Klein challenges him on one point about antiracist policies, the rest of the whole interview he uses kid gloves.
Anyways I don't have anything else, enjoyed the conversation and just wanted to confirm that this is, indeed, a problem. Wish I knew what to do about it.
Great conversation! I can't stop laughing about the Washington Post and LitHub refusing to touch this.
I'm fascinated by your "we're taking it as a given that they didn't know" because on the one hand, good heavens, how could one not be aware of the presence of highly dubious content in those books on the table with the incense at Washington Square or wherever. But on the other hand, maybe people who end up on the board of the NBF are born with an instinct for what it's inadvisable to be too curious about. If so, then it makes sense that this came as a surprise.
Anyway, whether or not you're right that they didn't know, I'm not sure anything would have happened differently if they had known. MO is surely correct that few people read BCP books. The NBF honoring him is unlikely to change that. Compared to the benefit that comes from associating one's organization with the Coates family name, I don't think much reputational harm has been done -- media wagons made a circle, and this isn't Columbia University, no one is going to call the director of the NBF to testify in Congress. Yhe literary world is too far from the mainstream for the right to get worked up about.
I think it's always attacks from the left that an organization like the NBF feels exposed to. Bari Weiss is easy to ignore, it's the next 'American Dirt' letter that they don't want to be on the wrong side of.
I think you're right that there's some kind of mental maneuver where you steer your brain away from questions that you know on some level would put you in a bind if you got an answer. We all do it, of course, in different realms, but that doesn't really count as an excuse.
And yes, no doubt no one will suffer any direct reputational damage from this, although I do think it's reasonable to think that over time these incidents do tend to influence even the decision matrix for the NBF. It'll happen invisibly, but it will happen.
Yeah, the Hedges thing is mysterious. Numerous instances.
Wow. That makes Hedges sound like a real sociopath/clinical narcissist, like what Ketcham found was almost certainly the tip of the iceberg. Doesn't help that he ended his career with a Russian propaganda outlet.
This is a serious liability for academic scholarship, in general but especially around identity-laden issues like the ones the Coates family focuses on. This failure (to subject particular scholarship to academic rigor) I first noticed years ago with Chris Hedges. He was very credibly accused of plagiarism and even a type of moral blackmail if you read the whole story: https://newrepublic.com/article/118114/chris-hedges-pulitzer-winner-lefty-hero-plagiarist.
But because otherwise he was saying all the things lefties wanted to hear about how bad capitalism is (and so forth) his career never really took a hit. Of course Ibram Kendhi also infamously received (receives?) similar treatment. Even the interview where Ezra Klein challenges him on one point about antiracist policies, the rest of the whole interview he uses kid gloves.
Anyways I don't have anything else, enjoyed the conversation and just wanted to confirm that this is, indeed, a problem. Wish I knew what to do about it.
Actually writing about that Klein interview of Kendi right now. I think it was more interesting than you're crediting it for being.
But yeah in general I agree. Didn't know that about Hedges but will read the article.
Ok that might be fair as I haven't listened to it in a while. Looking forward to that new article!
Great conversation! I can't stop laughing about the Washington Post and LitHub refusing to touch this.
I'm fascinated by your "we're taking it as a given that they didn't know" because on the one hand, good heavens, how could one not be aware of the presence of highly dubious content in those books on the table with the incense at Washington Square or wherever. But on the other hand, maybe people who end up on the board of the NBF are born with an instinct for what it's inadvisable to be too curious about. If so, then it makes sense that this came as a surprise.
Anyway, whether or not you're right that they didn't know, I'm not sure anything would have happened differently if they had known. MO is surely correct that few people read BCP books. The NBF honoring him is unlikely to change that. Compared to the benefit that comes from associating one's organization with the Coates family name, I don't think much reputational harm has been done -- media wagons made a circle, and this isn't Columbia University, no one is going to call the director of the NBF to testify in Congress. Yhe literary world is too far from the mainstream for the right to get worked up about.
I think it's always attacks from the left that an organization like the NBF feels exposed to. Bari Weiss is easy to ignore, it's the next 'American Dirt' letter that they don't want to be on the wrong side of.
I think you're right that there's some kind of mental maneuver where you steer your brain away from questions that you know on some level would put you in a bind if you got an answer. We all do it, of course, in different realms, but that doesn't really count as an excuse.
And yes, no doubt no one will suffer any direct reputational damage from this, although I do think it's reasonable to think that over time these incidents do tend to influence even the decision matrix for the NBF. It'll happen invisibly, but it will happen.
I think that's all dead on, Thomas. Thanks for listening.