John Anderson: Conversations

Human rights activist and author Yeonmi Park grew up in North Korea, a brutal, communist society devoted to the worship of Kim Jong-Il. At the age of 13, she and her family made a daring escape to China in search of a life free of tyranny. In her viral talks, viewed online nearly 350 million times, Park urges audiences to recognise—and resist—the oppression that exists in North Korea, and around the world. In this interview she recounts her story of escape from North Korea, only to be sold into slavery in China, before eventually finding freedom in South Korea and the US. Her personal story is a cautionary one for us in the West as she articulates her concern that there is a creeping authoritarianism spreading through our society and its institutions. She warns us that our freedoms are precious and precarious and that we need to fight to keep hold of them. Her powerful memoir is called, In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom.

In this direct interview, John is joined by American actor and philanthropist Matthew McConaughey. They discuss Matthew’s new memoir, Greenlights, and delve into his storied life so far – his acting career, upbringing, and the profound lessons he has learnt first-hand about victimhood, courage and self-responsibility. They investigate broader topics; the importance of learning from, rather than erasing history, how to heal a divided America, civility and freedoms, and Matthew’s (potential) political future.

John talks to distinguished American journalist and author Matt Taibbi about the current, perilous state of the media. Taibbi details the politicisation and polarisation of mainstream news media over the past 20 years. He unpacks what he believes to be the contributing factors to this descent, yet shines hope on the future of journalism, arguing that trust can and must be restored between the media and the public. Only after this will journalism be able to recover its important role as a pillar of healthy democracies.

John reads his op-ed published in The Australian, reflecting on his recent interview with Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay. John speaks to critical theory and the dangers it poses to our society and younger generations.