{"id":122102,"date":"2018-05-23T08:59:56","date_gmt":"2018-05-23T16:59:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=122102"},"modified":"2018-05-23T08:59:56","modified_gmt":"2018-05-23T16:59:56","slug":"interview-with-heather-mac-donald","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=122102","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Heather Mac Donald"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Derbyshire wrote in 2006 for National Review’s The Corner<\/a>:<\/p>\n

This<\/a> is 3 years old but I hadn\u2019t seen it before. It\u2019s an interview that blogger Luke Ford had with one of my favorite conservatives, and one of the most interesting people around, Heather Mac Donald. Samples:<\/p>\n

[On being a California girl]<\/p>\n

Luke: \u201cDid you like Los Angeles growing up?\u201d<\/p>\n

Heather: \u201cI loved it. I spent a lot of time in the Santa Monica Mountains. The smell of the dry chaparral in the summer time and the eucalyptus and the wild mustard plants and the light\u2026 There are so many smells that I associate with the land around here, from both the natural Southern California environment and the urban forest that has been brought in over the century.\u201d<\/p>\n

[On being an automobile-phobe]<\/p>\n

Heather: \u201cHere the car culture is a big challenge for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luke: \u201cDid you ever find your right-hand view mirror?\u201d<\/p>\n

Heather: \u201cYes, the Captain of the Ramparts Division adjusted it for me. I realized that part of the reason I haven\u2019t been able to use it was that I had completely maladjusted it. I would look in it and see the side of my car\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

[On Hollywood]<\/p>\n

Luke: \u201cHow has the dream factory, Hollywood, affected you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Heather: \u201cNot at all. A lot of Hollywood kids went to my grammar school growing up. I\u2019m completely unmoved by it. I don\u2019t have a fondness for movies, which leaves me stranded when it comes to cocktail party chat, but I prefer language and books. Growing up in LA inoculated me against any sense that it is glamorous or special.\u201d<\/p>\n

[On being a Gentile in the world of American letters]<\/p>\n

Luke: \u201cHas anyone called you a shicksa and has it offended you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Heather: \u201cIt hasn\u2019t offended me. I assume it was said affectionately.\u201d<\/p>\n

[On being irreligious]<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t understand how people of intelligence can reconcile what I see as constant proof of divine indifference to human outcomes with a reverence for God. To me it\u2019s a mystery.\u201d<\/p>\n

[On liberalism]<\/p>\n

\u201cUnless you think hard about political questions in our culture, you are liberal by default. You have to think your way out of liberalism.\u201d<\/p>\n

COMMENTS
\n[On her explorations in the underclass]<\/p>\n

\u201cI was in Watts the other night at an outreach by various ministers, lay people and police who were trying to create a political backlash against gang violence. \u2026 We went to recent homicide sites. The people I were with were chanting and preaching and trying to get people to join them. I walked around the housing project talking to people. They were very hostile. Obviously some white girl coming up to talk to them, I don\u2019t expect them to greet me with open arms, or even welcoming. They seemed untouched by civilization. It was disturbing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John Derbyshire wrote in 2006 for National Review’s The Corner: This is 3 years old but I hadn\u2019t seen it before. It\u2019s an interview that blogger Luke Ford had with one of my favorite conservatives, and one of the most … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-heather-macdonald"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t