I used to be a Brand hater. He was far enough outside my scope that I only caught what trickled in from mass media. His marriage to KP. "Oh, they're having trouble...", and then their divorce. My recollection was mass media portrayed her as the wronged party. But it came down to that she did not want to end her career and start a family. That was from him and he remarried then started one.
The reversal from pop culture trappings seems to have started with the birth of his first child in 2016. He began questioning everything after that. In his Netflix special in 2018 (Rebirth) witness to his daughter's birth is the underlying point of the show. And he's been consistently on that point since. He is a classic liberal now IMO and seems very much solo in his arc of discovery rather than being steered by outside forces. He's not in the spotlight at all except for the rare guest spot, his podcast is his main avenue out to the world. He isn't the first person I think of when it comes to champions of individual freedom but he's certainly moved only in that direction for a long while.
I had discarded him as a talentless, go for the easy laugh, "personality" who's time had passed. Then saw him on Big Fat Quiz (~2009ish), he was one of the panelists. End of show I could not get past that he was really funny, offbeat funny, and definitely smart. When I saw him again years later on Netflix he was 180 off from what my impressions were in the KP era. So I keep an open mind about him. What bugs the crap out me is when people begin tearing anyone apart based on their conception of who that person was, not is.
I used to be a Brand hater. He was far enough outside my scope that I only caught what trickled in from mass media. His marriage to KP. "Oh, they're having trouble...", and then their divorce. My recollection was mass media portrayed her as the wronged party. But it came down to that she did not want to end her career and start a family. That was from him and he remarried then started one.
The reversal from pop culture trappings seems to have started with the birth of his first child in 2016. He began questioning everything after that. In his Netflix special in 2018 (Rebirth) witness to his daughter's birth is the underlying point of the show. And he's been consistently on that point since. He is a classic liberal now IMO and seems very much solo in his arc of discovery rather than being steered by outside forces. He's not in the spotlight at all except for the rare guest spot, his podcast is his main avenue out to the world. He isn't the first person I think of when it comes to champions of individual freedom but he's certainly moved only in that direction for a long while.
Well said, and you argue his case well.
I remain... simply not knowing.
Let us pray that you are correct... that's the better outcome, obviously.
I had discarded him as a talentless, go for the easy laugh, "personality" who's time had passed. Then saw him on Big Fat Quiz (~2009ish), he was one of the panelists. End of show I could not get past that he was really funny, offbeat funny, and definitely smart. When I saw him again years later on Netflix he was 180 off from what my impressions were in the KP era. So I keep an open mind about him. What bugs the crap out me is when people begin tearing anyone apart based on their conception of who that person was, not is.