About 'Alpha+Good'

Alpha+Good (a bad wordplay on Orwell's "double plus good" and old machismo - I'm the realest after all) is a side project that belongs to 'Onklare taal' ('Unclear' or 'Unripe language'), the umbrella of several literary projects in Dutch.

This section is almost exclusively in English and comprises my ongoing thoughts on progress, gender, politics and various other social themes. Why is this in English why everything else in Dutch? Because I want to gun for a much wider audience here. Also, my literary English isn't good enough, otherwise I would always write in English. In 2020, I released my debut novel 'Fragmentariërs' (it's written in Dutch, though who knows I may one day make an English translation).

Are you a little lost? This link will take you right back to my home page.

Sunday, October 02, 2016

20 people I admire (IX): Hadley Freeman

Who? American journalist with her home base in the United Kingdom.

Why? Though I get the impression she’s gotten a little out of the spotlight and has veered off into a number of side projects in the past two years (plus, she had a kid), there was always something about her dry, on-point delivery (if you can say that about written words?) and constant realisation of the futility of some of the topics she covered that made it a joy even reading reports about star-studded red carpet events.

What resonates with me?
Freeman and I are of the same generation and thus share many seminal pop culture experiences, although she is American and I am not. Beyond that, she gave me hope on days I was angry with the bullshit hurled around at every level, from the lowest common denominator in celebrity gossip land to the upper echelons of politics. No matter how depressing a topic was, Freeman would always broach it with the right mixture of seriousness and irony. It was a style I envied, in a positive way.

Best bit? I can’t remember. Bad. Sorry Hadley. Come back to The Guardian!

Next up:
David Mitchell, British novelist (not the comedian)