My Book on the Intellectual Dark Web Was “Cancelled”
I wrote a book about the Intellectual Dark Web (IDW) that was originally published in early 2024 by an academic publisher. Two weeks after being released, however, it was suspended from sales following a complaint (or complaints). Despite asking the publisher, I never learned who complained nor the nature of the complaint(s). The publisher investigated the book and determined that the book could not return to sales in its current form. The issue, it turns out, was not the content itself—what the complaint was about—but that the book was not sufficiently scholarly; amongst other things, it needed to engage more with “theory.”
When I first decided to write a book about the IDW, I knew I didn’t want to write a “scholarly” work. In the spirit of the IDW, I wanted the book to be accessible to a wide audience. But I also knew that engaging with “scholarship” would likely weaken the book. Don’t get me wrong, I admire the punctilious efforts of genuine historians, archaeologists, political scientists, and so on. However, for some time, the arts and social sciences have been a political monoculture. And much of what’s published isn’t genuine scholarship, but pseudo-intellectual guff, whose purpose is to signal group membership and allow mediocre people to build careers without doing anything genuine.
This point is made by the IDW itself. If I included this pseudo-scholarship, it would be like including astrology in a book about psychology (well, almost). Okay, I would then spend my words debunking the dodgy scholarship, but then I’d be writing a different book—I wouldn’t be providing an account of the Intellectual Dark Web. However, even if I did dedicate the book to debunking dodgy scholarship, I doubt this would have been satisfactory. When people in the academic world say they want you to “engage with theory,” they expect a degree of homage—enough so that whatever you write becomes meaningless for anyone outside the academic world. It’s all part of the grooming process that allows the academia-publishing complex to continue. As Peter Thiel argues, if the academic world and the heterodox world (which my book is a part of) “came into contact,” then “they wouldn’t both be able to exist.” This is exactly how it is.
I had, from the outset, made my intentions clear to my editor, who was a decent guy. But people move on. And the organization sniffs you out in the end.
Portentously, a week before the book was published, a friend of mine said (I have the WhatsApp voice note): “I do hope you get in trouble. Like not too much trouble, but just enough trouble for it to be fun. That would be really interesting, and I guess that would kind of put you as a character inside your own book … You’d be able to experience firsthand what you are writing about.” So here I am, a character in my own book. Am I having fun? Sure, why not. At least it became a lot more fun when Pitchstone agreed to republish the book.
The original manuscript was completed in mid-2023. Although I haven’t changed the original version, there have been considerable developments in recent months worthy of comment. When writing the book, my sense was that even though people didn’t much refer to the Intellectual Dark Web anymore, the figures from the IDW were continuing on similar trajectories, and IDW ideas had become part of the cultural landscape—at least in the realm of independent media. But as the 2024 U.S. election approached, several IDW figures surged into political prominence.
The story goes something like this. Given that many within the IDW were from the left, there was some hope in the mid- to late teens that IDW ideas might spark a reinvigoration of the left—a Rebel Wisdom podcast featuring Helen Pluckrose and Peter Boghossian was titled “Fighting Postmodernism from the Left.” Such ideas include the belief that open, good-faith discussions are the path to truth; that people ought to be judged on their character, not the color of their skin or their sex; and that a society that turns its back on merit and ultimately on the creative spirit will decline.
However, in recent years, not only did it become clear that the left was doubling down on its censorious and even cruel identity politics, but also that it was the right that was starting to take up the values that were once at the core of moderate progressive politics. Vivek Ramaswamy, 2024 Republican presidential candidate, appeared on Jordan Peterson’s podcast on March 21, 2023, and spoke about the emergence of the “new left” and wokism. A friend shared the podcast with me and I replied “Sounds just like the IDW book!! All the same stuff. And the same ultimate message: it’s all about the spirit. And everyone is crushing the spirit.”
Then, as Donald Trump’s run into the 2024 election gathered pace, several IDW figures—all erstwhile Democrats—gathered around him. Elon Musk endorsed Trump following the assassination attempt on Trump on July 13, 2024, and Tulsi Gabbard became involved with Trump’s campaign in August. Robert F Kennedy Jr., who had been running for president as an independent, also joined the team in August; and even though I hadn’t mentioned him in this book, he has an IDW flavor—he appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast in June 2023. In the week prior to the November 5 election, Rogan hosted Trump, JD Vance—Trump’s running mate—and Musk on his podcast. These conversations, each of which lasted for around three hours, accrued more than 50 million views on YouTube alone prior to the election. On the day before the election Rogan endorsed Trump. This was, for Rogan, a change of heart.
It makes sense that some IDW figures have aligned with Trump. Both the IDW and Trump are populist. Populism can be understood as the virtuous people standing against the corrupt elites. “Populism” is often a derogatory term—it construes the people not as virtuous, but as a naïve rabble that is manipulated by a demagogue. But when the elites are corrupt, and when the people are not as naïve as some might think, populism starts to look more reasonable.
The IDW can be understood as a broad-based (spanning the left and right) populist movement. It primarily critiqued academia and mainstream media, but also the corporate world, government ,and Hollywood. As Democrats increasingly became aligned with woke corporations, and as Republicans increasingly supported values that were once associated with the left, like free speech, it became possible for erstwhile Democrats Musk, Gabbard, RFK Jr., and Rogan to get behind Trump. Yes, they could have sat this one out—lifelong Democrat and central IDW figure Eric Weinstein refused to endorse a candidate—but sometimes, especially in a binary system, people take a side.
When Trump won, I exclaimed: “My God. The Intellectual Dark Web just won the election!” Musk, Ramaswamy, Gabbard, and RFK Jr. will likely all figure prominently in Trump’s new administration. The IDW is not so dark anymore.
This essay is excerpted from The Intellectual Dark Web: A History (and Possible Future), which is available for purchase at these paid links: Amazon, Bookshop, and Pitchstone.
Jamie Q Roberts is a lecturer in the Department of Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney.