Richard Metzger (born July 28, 1965) is a

television host A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for people who garne ...

and author. He was the host of the TV show ''

Disinformation Disinformation is false information deliberately spread to deceive people. It is sometimes confused with misinformation, which is false information but is not deliberate. The English word ''disinformation'' comes from the application of the L ...

'' (United Kingdom

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

, 2000–01),

The Disinformation Company The Disinformation Company (abbreviated as Disinfo) was a privately held, limited American publishing company until 2012 when it was sold to Red Wheel/Weiser/Conari. It also owned ''Disinformation Books'', which focused on current affairs titles ...

and its website, Disinfo.com. He is currently the host of the online talk show ''Dangerous Minds''.

Career

For several years Metzger hosted a

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Sh ...

, ''The Infinity Factory'', broadcast on Manhattan

public-access television Public-access television is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable television specialty channels. Public-access television was creat ...

cable TV and distributed online through Pseudo.com. It was similar in tone and appeal to Art Bell and

George Noory George Ralph Noory (born June 4, 1950) is an American radio talk show host. Since January 2003, Noory has been the weekday host of the late-night radio talk show ''Coast to Coast AM''. The program is syndicated to hundreds of radio stations in ...

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

Coast to Coast AM ''Coast to Coast AM'' is an American late-night radio talk show that deals with a variety of topics. Most frequently the topics relate to either the paranormal or conspiracy theories. It was hosted by creator Art Bell from its inception in 1 ...

'' radio show, on which Metzger had also been a guest. Many of the interview subjects on this show would go on to be features in the

series. Metzger was the host of the TV show ''Disinformation'', which aired for two seasons (2000 and 2001) on

in the UK as part of their late night "4Later" programming block.Gibb, Eddie
The lies are out there if you want to believe them
''

The Herald (Glasgow) ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

'', Retrieved December 8, 2010Lipton, Shana Ting
Willing to do odd jobs; Richard Metzger's British TV show on the bizarre branches into other media.
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'', Retrieved December 8, 2010 ("Metzger's stock line at the beginning of each episode: 'If you don't wonder if we made this stuff up, we're not doing our job right.'") According to interviews, Metzger was told just twelve days prior to the first specials' air-date that he would have to cut 50% of the material from the show in order to pass the

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

's corporate lawyers' scrutiny. Those four shows have subsequently been released on a DVD with a second bonus disc presenting highlights of The DisinfoCon, a 12-hour event featuring shock rocker Marilyn Manson via pre-

Skype Skype () is a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for VoIP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also has instant messaging, file transfer, deb ...

video chat, underground filmmaker

Kenneth Anger Kenneth Anger (born Kenneth Wilbur Anglemyer, February 3, 1927) is an American underground experimental filmmaker, actor, and author. Working exclusively in short films, he has produced almost 40 works since 1937, nine of which have been grouped ...

, painter Joe Coleman,

Douglas Rushkoff Douglas Mark Rushkoff (born February 18, 1961) is an American media theorist, writer, columnist, lecturer, graphic novelist, and documentarian. He is best known for his association with the early cyberpunk culture and his advocacy of open sourc ...

Mark Pesce Mark D. Pesce ( ; born 1962) is an American-Australian author, researcher, engineer, futurist and teacher. Early life Pesce was born in Everett, Massachusetts in 1962. In September 1980, Pesce attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MI ...

Grant Morrison Grant Morrison, MBE (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer, screenwriter, and producer. Their work is known for its nonlinear narratives, humanist philosophy and countercultural leanings. Morrison has written extensively for th ...

Robert Anton Wilson Robert Anton Wilson (born Robert Edward Wilson; January 18, 1932 – January 11, 2007) was an American author, futurist, psychologist, and self-described agnostic mystic. Recognized within Discordianism as an Episkopos, pope and saint, Wilson ...

, and others. Metzger created the "Disinformation" website in 1996,Strausbaugh, John (30 July 2002)
Richard Metzger's Disinformation
''

New York Press ''New York Press'' was a free alternative weekly in New York City, which was published from 1988 to 2011. The ''Press'' strove to create a rivalry with the ''Village Voice''. ''Press'' editors claimed to have tried to hire away writer Nat Hent ...

'', Retrieved December 8, 2010Pelline, Jeff. (13 September 1996)
A digital guide to the underground
''

CNET Networks ''CNET'' (short for "Computer Network") is an American media website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos on technology and consumer electronics globally. ''CNET'' originally produced content for radio and televi ...

'', Retrieved December 8, 2010 and was able to regain control of the intellectual property rights and a $1.2 million investment by the site's original backer, cable giant TCI (now AT&T Broadband) after TCI CEO

John Malone John Carl Malone (born March 7, 1941) is an American billionaire businessman, landowner and philanthropist. He was chief executive officer (CEO) of Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI), a cable and media giant, for twenty-four years from 1973 to 1996. ...

had demanded funds be cut off when news of Metzger's "anarchist bullshit" reached him. In 1997 he co-founded

, which joined with

Avenue A/Razorfish Razorfish, a part of Publicis Groupe, is an interactive agency. Razorfish provides services including web development, media planning and buying, technology and innovation, emerging media, analytics, mobile, advertising, creative, social influ ...

, and became part of the RSUB Network until 2001.

Books

Metzger has edited two books. ''Disinformation: The Interviews'' (2002) features unedited interviews with several of the characters and thinkers who were guests on the series such as

, Joe Coleman, Paul Laffoley,

, Duncan Laurie, Peter Russell,

Kembra Pfahler Kembra Pfahler (born August 4, 1961 in Hermosa Beach, California, United States) is an American filmmaker, performance artist, visual artist, adjunct professor, rock musician, and film actress. Her film work is associated with the movement known ...

, Genesis P-Orridge, and

Howard Bloom Howard Bloom (born June 25, 1943) is an American author. He was a music publicist in the 1970s and 1980s for singers and bands such as Prince, Billy Joel, and Styx.Maki Nomiya is a Japanese singer and musician. She released her first solo album in 1981, and worked through the 1980s as the lead vocalist of the new wave band . In 1991, she became the lead singer of the band Pizzicato Five. When the group disbanded in 20 ...

Pizzicato 5 Pizzicato Five (formerly typeset as Pizzicato V and sometimes abbreviated to P5)Yang Jeff, Dina Can, Terry Hong, (1997) ''Eastern Standard Time'' pg 277 New York: Mariner Books was a Japanese pop band formed in Tokyo in 1979 by multi-instrume ...

on their song "This Year's Girl #2" (Matador Records EP CD: "5 x 5"). Metzger has also directed and produced several music videos in the 1980s for such New York "underground" luminaries as Bongwater(6 October 2008)
Guestblogger: Richard Metzger
''

Boing Boing ''Boing Boing'' is a website, first established as a zine in 1988, later becoming a group blog. Common topics and themes include technology, futurism, science fiction, gadgets, intellectual property, Disney, and left-wing politics. It twic ...

'', Retrieved December 8, 2010 (their animated "Power of Pussy"),

John Sex John McLoughlin (April 8, 1956 – October 24, 1990), better known by the stage name John Sex, was an American cabaret singer and performance artist in New York City from the late 1970s until his death in late 1990. Early life Sex was born on ...

and others.

References

External links

Dangerous Minds
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Metzger, Richard Living people 1965 births Writers from Wheeling, West Virginia