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Richard Metzger (born July 28, 1965) is a television host and author. He was the host of the TV show ''
Disinformation Disinformation is misleading content deliberately spread to deceive people, or to secure economic or political gain and which may cause public harm. Disinformation is an orchestrated adversarial activity in which actors employ strategic dece ...
'' (United Kingdom
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
, 2000–01), The Disinformation Company 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 is a television programming, radio programming or podcast genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show', pp.3-4Erler, Robert (201 ...
, ''The Infinity Factory'', broadcast on Manhattan
public-access television Public-access television (sometimes called community-access television) is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is Narrowcasting, narrowcast through cable tele ...
cable TV Cable television is a system of delivering television broadcast programming, programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This ...
and distributed online through Pseudo.com. It was similar in tone and appeal to
Art Bell Arthur William Bell III (June 17, 1945 – April 13, 2018) was an American broadcaster and author. He was the founder and the original host of the paranormal-themed radio program '' Coast to Coast AM'', which is syndicated on hundreds ...
and
George Noory George Ralph Noory (born June 4, 1950) is an American talk radio, 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 radio syndication, syndicated to ...
's
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 198 ...
'' 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
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
series. Metzger was the host of the TV show ''
Disinformation Disinformation is misleading content deliberately spread to deceive people, or to secure economic or political gain and which may cause public harm. Disinformation is an orchestrated adversarial activity in which actors employ strategic dece ...
'', which aired for two seasons (2000 and 2001) on
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
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, 2010
Lipton, 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'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'', 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 (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...
'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 Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He is the lead singer and the only original member remaining of the Marilyn Manson (band), same-titled band he founded in 1989. Th ...
via pre-
Skype Skype () was a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for IP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also had instant messaging, file transfer, ...
video chat, underground filmmaker
Kenneth Anger Kenneth Anger (born Kenneth Wilbur Anglemyer, February 3, 1927 – May 11, 2023) was an American Underground film, underground experimental filmmaker, actor, and writer. Working exclusively in short films, he produced almost 40 works beginning i ...
, painter Joe Coleman, Douglas Rushkoff,
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 (M ...
,
Grant Morrison Grant Morrison (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer, screenwriter, and producer. Their work is known for its nonlinear narratives, Humanism, humanist philosophy and counterculture, countercultural leanings. Morrison has writt ...
,
Robert Anton Wilson Robert Anton Wilson (born Robert Edward Wilson; January 18, 1932 – January 11, 2007) was an American writer, 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 Hento ...
'', Retrieved December 8, 2010
Pelline, Jeff. (13 September 1996)
A digital guide to the underground
'' CNET Networks'', 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 AT&T Broadband LLC was an American digital cable television and telecommunications provider that served as the cable operations division of AT&T. It was founded in March 1999 when AT&T acquired the assets of TCI and renamed it to 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, from 1973 to 1996. As of 2016, Malone i ...
had demanded funds be cut off when news of Metzger's "anarchist bullshit" reached him. In 1997 he co-founded The Disinformation Company, which joined with Avenue A/Razorfish, 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 Douglas Rushkoff, Joe Coleman, Paul Laffoley,
Grant Morrison Grant Morrison (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer, screenwriter, and producer. Their work is known for its nonlinear narratives, Humanism, humanist philosophy and counterculture, countercultural leanings. Morrison has writt ...
, Kembra Pfahler,
Genesis P-Orridge Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (born Neil Andrew Megson; 22 February 1950 – 14 March 2020) was an English singer-songwriter, musician, poet, performance artist, visual artist, and occultist who rose to notoriety as the founder of the COUM Transmi ...
, and Howard Bloom. ''The Book of Lies: The Disinformation Guide to Magick and the Occult'' (2003) is an anthology of occult essays. According to a footnote in ''Disinformation: The Interviews'', Metzger is the uncredited male-voice interviewing Japanese pop singer Maki Nomiya of Pizzicato 5 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 twice wo ...
'', Retrieved December 8, 2010
(their animated "Power of Pussy"), John Sex and others.


References


External links


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