The Intellectual Dark Web

Challenging the restrictive and relativistic intellectual and cultural orthodoxies on the left that engulfed universities, the media, and big tech in the 2010s, the Intellectual Dark Web—a loose collective of politically diverse intellectuals, commentators, and scholars critical of political correctness, identity politics, and cancel culture—relied on alternative platforms like podcasts, digital magazines, and YouTube to advocate for free speech, universal rights, and individual liberty.

While the term is most commonly identified with Jordan Peterson, Sam Harris, Ben Shapiro, Claire Lehmann, Douglas Murray, and Joe Rogan, the group's concerns extended more broadly to include a wide range of individuals, including Steven Pinker, Jonathan Haidt, and Elon Musk.

Although its coherence began to unravel in the early 2020s due to internal differences, such as over the response to COVID-19 and climate change, it played a determining role in changing the politico-cultural landscape, influencing both electorally successful right-wing platforms and playing a major role in the rise of an independent media ecosystem that is today in many ways more influential than mainstream media.

'A thorough, thoughtful and charitable overview of that ambiguous phenomenon known as the Intellectual Dark Web. Jamie Roberts accessibly presents the political, philosophical, epistemological and ethical concerns that underlie the IDW. In doing so, he clarifies the objections of this ideologically diverse group to Critical Social Justice (wokeness). The Intellectual Dark Web will be of value both for those too entrenched in their corner of the Culture Wars to see the patterns within this unlikely collective, and for the more sensible people who would like a detailed overview without wading in too far.'
Helen Pluckrose, author of The Counterweight Handbook

'What is the Intellectual Dark Web? Even though I am one of the early founding members I was not really sure what it was I belonged to—beyond my own characterisation of it as "a commitment to the search for truth and free speech as the royal road to it"—until I read Jamie Roberts' fair and thoughtful analysis that covers all the major players and ideas associated with the IDW. A masterful work of cultural history in this unique moment.'
Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic Magazine, author of Conspiracy: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational