Scott James - Who Gets 18 Months for Killing 100 People?

Grey Matter Title Image

Initial focus in this episode was on the devastating and tragic 2003 Rhode Island Station nightclub fire seen by hundreds of millions of people, how it happened, its takeaways, and the quest for justice as well as related issues on fire safety which continue to persist today. Scott James also spoke about "people without clout" and a frightful incident involving "the killing" of his mother by a driver driving on the wrong side of a one way street. He and Michael Krasny spoke of heroism, victims and survivors and the desire and need to assign blame for tragedies, humanization of villains and how tough it is in the present to be a journalist. Scott James related how his book on The Station nightclub fire became a major story on the television show 48 Hours and the stigma, anger and blowback that was directed at him as well as reported stories that never occurred and media demonizations. He also discussed the role of AI in newspapers now and up ahead, differences between fiction and non-fiction and what writing novels taught him. Michael went on to ask James about the pioneering digitalization of his novels and the early uses of video and YouTube to promote them. James also spoke of the major influence on his novel writing of Kurt Vonnegut, his experiences with homophobia as a young gay writer, why he came out of the closet, differences he sees between journalism and fiction and his work for The New York Times. He spoke nostalgically of New York being "a playground for journalists" and Krasny asked him what his thoughts were as a Columbia graduate on the $400 million held back from Columbia by the federal government. A highly intelligent and wide ranging deep dive interview!