Blog: Public Intellectualisation

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I have recently begun a MULTI-PRONGED attempt to become a PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL! Spoilers: so far it is going all right!

I use the term "public intellectual" because the mighty Dr S Cross used it last week when I had a MEETING with him. I thought he had plucked it out of his mighty BRANE, but it turns out it's an Actual Thing, meaning someone who tries to engage The Public with Academic-Type Stuff in an ENGAGING way.

I met up with Steve last week for a chat and my vague and nebulous big idea is to find ways to talk to people about MY research in an interesting - and if at all possible AMUSING - way, so "public intellectual" seems to fit. I was specifically talking to him about it because he is a TRAINER for people who do this sort of thing - INDEED he was originally going to be a MENTOR for my rejected Arts Council application but he had rather wonderfully agreed to talk to me FOR FREE anyway, which was very nice INDEED of him. THUS we met in my Suprisingly Nice Local for a conversation in which he divulged MUCH wisdom.

It was GRATE - he explained all sorts about the world of Science Comedy and other similar areas, but perhaps most REVALATORILY he pointed out that I already have a NETWORK for this general topic. It turns out that quite a few of the people I have GIGGED with over the years have gone on to DO Public Intellectualism (clearly I do a very classy type of gig), but I hadn't even THORT of asking them for ADVICE as well.

It was really nice of him to tell me all of this stuff, and I almost immediately LEAPT into action (it's not a good idea to IMMEDIATELY leap into action after a couple of hours in a Surprisingly Nice Local) and started PLANNING. I got it all nicely worked out over the following Saturday and on Sunday was ready to start working through it all... and then the situation changed somewhat with The Robert Downey Jr news!

As previously discussed I FLEW into action (which is one step up from LEAPING into it) and began contacting various people in THE MEDIA to say "Hello, I am a - if not THE - Doctor Doom expert and can comment WISELY upon this subject". I am DELIGHTED to say that this has already achieved results because - and I cannot believe this has actually happened - I got asked to write an article in the Radio Times!!!

The Radio flipping Times!! It was AMAZED, not least because it all happened so quickly - the editor of the Sci-Fi section replied with a lovely email suggesting a) a title and b) that I not be afeared of being "Too niche". I took that advice very much to heart, wrote a SOMEWHAT NICHE article and sent it off later in the day. She replied with a couple of changes (i.e. some better jokes!) and that was it. DONE!

I am fairly sure that the rest of this Journey To Public Intellectualism won't be QUITE this quick and easy, but I am very happy to have had SUCH a good start! Now I've just got to send out a few more emails and then it's time to - YIKES - see if I can get some GIGS about it! As ever, if anyone is aware of any places where I could bang on about Doctor Doom AND HAVE PEOPLE LIKE IT, of indeed RUNS such a place, please do get in touch!

posted 31/7/2024 by MJ Hibbett

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Comments:

To first aspire to be a Public Intellectual, you must first aspire to be an actual intellectual. Could be tough. What you really should be doing is aspiring for a cameo in this movie, a la Marshall McLuhan in Annie Hall, saying something like "As the world's foremost scholar on Doctor Doom, I can tell you that that is not what Doom would do..." before being promptly killed by a Doombot. "I refute you thusly", says Doom.
posted 1/8/2024 by trivia over trivium

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