Francis Wheen
Encyclopedia
Francis James Baird Wheen (born 22 January 1957) is a British
journalist, writer and broadcaster.
near Crawley
, West Sussex
and Harrow School
in north west London.
and the New Statesman
and attended Royal Holloway College, University of London
after a period as a crammer. At Harrow, he was a contemporary of Mark Thatcher
who has been a recurring subject of his journalism.
Wheen was married to the writer Joan Smith between 1985 and 1993. He has been the partner of Julia Jones (formerly Julia Thorogood)
, the author of a biography of crime writer Margery Allingham
, since the mid-1990s. They have two sons.
which won the Deutscher Memorial Prize
in 2001. He followed the biography of Karl Marx with a biography of Das Kapital
, which follows the creation and publication of the first volume of Marx's major work as well as other incomplete volumes. Wheen had a column in The Guardian
for several years. He writes for Private Eye
and is currently the magazine's deputy editor. His collected journalism – Hoo-hahs and Passing Frenzies won him the Orwell Prize
in 2003. He has also been a regular columnist for the London Evening Standard
.
, and is a regular panelist on The News Quiz
, in which he often refers to the fact that he resembles the former Conservative Party
leader Iain Duncan Smith
. He is also a regular on Have I Got News For You
.
Wheen wrote a radio docudrama
, The Lavender List
for BBC Four
on the final period of Harold Wilson's
premiership, concentrating on his relationship with Marcia Williams, which first screened in March 2006. It starred Kenneth Cranham
as Wilson and Gina McKee
as Williams. In April 2007, the BBC paid £75,000 to Williams (then Baroness Falkender) in an out-of-court settlement over claims made in the programme.
and a close friend of Christopher Hitchens
. He is not an admirer of Noam Chomsky
, although they share an interest in the values of the Age of Enlightenment
. In late-2005, Wheen was co-author, with journalist David Aaronovitch
and blogger Oliver Kamm
, of a complaint to The Guardian
after it published a correction and apology in respect of an interview with Chomsky by Emma Brockes
. Chomsky had complained that the newspaper suggested that he had denied the Srebrenica massacre
of 1995. The writer Diana Johnstone
also complained about references to her in the interview.
The Guardians then readers' editor Ian Mayes
found that Chomsky's position had been misrepresented, and his judgement was upheld in May 2006 by an external ombudsman, John Willis. In his report for the Guardian, Willis detailed his reasons for rejecting Kamm's argument that the correction was itself wrong. However, Wills suggested that the newspaper had over-reacted to the controversy in withdrawing the interview from its website.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
journalist, writer and broadcaster.
Early life and education
Wheen was born into an army family and educated at two independent schools: Copthorne Preparatory SchoolCopthorne Prep School
Copthorne Preparatory School is situated near Crawley in West Sussex, for pupils aged between 2 and 13. It consists of a nursery for infants from 2½. A junior department is for children under the age of eight . Older pupils work in the two prep school buildings, the 'New Block' which is the main...
near Crawley
Crawley
Crawley is a town and local government district with Borough status in West Sussex, England. It is south of Charing Cross, north of Brighton and Hove, and northeast of the county town of Chichester, covers an area of and had a population of 99,744 at the time of the 2001 Census.The area has...
, West Sussex
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...
and Harrow School
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
in north west London.
Life and career
Running away from Harrow at 16 "to join the alternative society," Wheen had early periods as a "dogsbody" at The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
and the New Statesman
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
and attended Royal Holloway College, University of London
Royal Holloway, University of London
Royal Holloway, University of London is a constituent college of the University of London. The college has three faculties, 18 academic departments, and about 8,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students from over 130 different countries...
after a period as a crammer. At Harrow, he was a contemporary of Mark Thatcher
Mark Thatcher
Sir Mark Thatcher, 2nd Baronet is the son of Sir Denis Thatcher and Baroness Thatcher, the former British Prime Minister, and twin brother of Carol Thatcher...
who has been a recurring subject of his journalism.
Wheen was married to the writer Joan Smith between 1985 and 1993. He has been the partner of Julia Jones (formerly Julia Thorogood)
Julia Jones (writer)
-External links:** article on Arthur Ransome Wiki website...
, the author of a biography of crime writer Margery Allingham
Margery Allingham
Margery Louise Allingham was an English crime writer, best remembered for her detective stories featuring gentleman sleuth Albert Campion.- Childhood and schooling :...
, since the mid-1990s. They have two sons.
Writing
Wheen is the author of several books, including a biography of Karl MarxKarl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
which won the Deutscher Memorial Prize
Deutscher Memorial Prize
The Isaac and Tamara Deutscher Memorial Prize is an annual prize given in honor of historian Isaac Deutscher and his wife Tamara Deutscher for new books published in English "which exemplifies the best and most innovative new writing in or about the Marxist tradition." It has been on-going since...
in 2001. He followed the biography of Karl Marx with a biography of Das Kapital
Das Kapital
Das Kapital, Kritik der politischen Ökonomie , by Karl Marx, is a critical analysis of capitalism as political economy, meant to reveal the economic laws of the capitalist mode of production, and how it was the precursor of the socialist mode of production.- Themes :In Capital: Critique of...
, which follows the creation and publication of the first volume of Marx's major work as well as other incomplete volumes. Wheen had a column in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
for several years. He writes for Private Eye
Private Eye
Private Eye is a fortnightly British satirical and current affairs magazine, edited by Ian Hislop.Since its first publication in 1961, Private Eye has been a prominent critic and lampooner of public figures and entities that it deemed guilty of any of the sins of incompetence, inefficiency,...
and is currently the magazine's deputy editor. His collected journalism – Hoo-hahs and Passing Frenzies won him the Orwell Prize
Orwell Prize
The Orwell Prize used to be regarded as the pre-eminent British prize for political writing.Three prizes are awarded each year: one for a book, one for journalism and another for blogging...
in 2003. He has also been a regular columnist for the London Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
.
Broadcasting work
Wheen broadcasts regularly, mainly on BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
, and is a regular panelist on The News Quiz
The News Quiz
The News Quiz is a topical panel game broadcast on British radio BBC Radio 4.-History:It was first broadcast in 1977 with Barry Norman as chairman. Subsequently it was chaired by Simon Hoggart, Barry Took , and then again by Simon Hoggart until March 2006. Hoggart was replaced by Sandi Toksvig in...
, in which he often refers to the fact that he resembles the former Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
leader Iain Duncan Smith
Iain Duncan Smith
George Iain Duncan Smith is a British Conservative politician. He is currently the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and was previously leader of the Conservative Party from September 2001 to October 2003...
. He is also a regular on Have I Got News For You
Have I Got News for You
Have I Got News for You is a British television panel show produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC. It is based loosely on the BBC Radio 4 show The News Quiz, and has been broadcast since 1990, currently the BBC's longest-ever running television panel show...
.
Wheen wrote a radio docudrama
Docudrama
In film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....
, The Lavender List
The Lavender List
The Lavender List is a docudrama broadcast on BBC Four in March 2006 about the events that led to the drafting of the "Lavender List", the satirical name for Harold Wilson's 1976 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours.-The List:...
for BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
on the final period of Harold Wilson's
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
premiership, concentrating on his relationship with Marcia Williams, which first screened in March 2006. It starred Kenneth Cranham
Kenneth Cranham
Kenneth Cranham is a film, television and stage actor. He starred in the title role in the popular 1980s comedy drama Shine on Harvey Moon. He also appeared in Layer Cake, Gangster No. 1, Rome, Oliver! and many other films. He is probably best known to horror genre fans as the deranged Dr...
as Wilson and Gina McKee
Gina McKee
Georgina "Gina" McKee is an English actor known for her television roles in Our Friends in the North , The Lost Prince and The Forsyte Saga ; and her portrayal of Bella in the film Notting Hill ....
as Williams. In April 2007, the BBC paid £75,000 to Williams (then Baroness Falkender) in an out-of-court settlement over claims made in the programme.
Political views
Wheen is a signatory to the Euston ManifestoEuston Manifesto
The Euston Manifesto is a 2006 declaration of principles by a group of academics, journalists, and activists based in the United Kingdom. The statement is a reaction to what are asserted to be widespread violations of leftist principles by others who are commonly associated with the political Left...
and a close friend of Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Eric Hitchens is an Anglo-American author and journalist whose books, essays, and journalistic career span more than four decades. He has been a columnist and literary critic at The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, Slate, World Affairs, The Nation, Free Inquiry, and became a media fellow at the...
. He is not an admirer of Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
, although they share an interest in the values of the Age of Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
. In late-2005, Wheen was co-author, with journalist David Aaronovitch
David Aaronovitch
David Aaronovitch is a British author, broadcaster, and journalist. He is a regular columnist for The Times, and author of Paddling to Jerusalem: An Aquatic Tour of Our Small Country and Voodoo Histories: the role of Conspiracy Theory in Modern History...
and blogger Oliver Kamm
Oliver Kamm
Oliver Kamm is a British writer and journalist. He wrote Anti-Totalitarianism: The Left-wing Case for a Neoconservative Foreign Policy , an advocacy of interventionism in foreign policy....
, of a complaint to The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
after it published a correction and apology in respect of an interview with Chomsky by Emma Brockes
Emma Brockes
Emma Brockes is a British author and journalist for The Guardian newspaper. She lives in New York.Brockes graduated in 1997 with a first from St Edmund Hall, Oxford University where she was editor of the student newspaper Cherwell and won the Philip Geddes prize for journalism...
. Chomsky had complained that the newspaper suggested that he had denied the Srebrenica massacre
Srebrenica massacre
The Srebrenica massacre, also known as the Srebrenica genocide, refers to the July 1995 killing, during the Bosnian War, of more than 8,000 Bosniaks , mainly men and boys, in and around the town of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by units of the Army of Republika Srpska under the command of...
of 1995. The writer Diana Johnstone
Diana Johnstone
Diana Johnstone is a American leftist political writer based in Paris, France. She focusesg primarily on European politics and Western foreign policy. Johnstone received a Ph.D...
also complained about references to her in the interview.
The Guardians then readers' editor Ian Mayes
Ian Mayes
Ian Mayes is a British journalist and editor. He was the readers' editor for The Guardian newspaper , and was president of the international Organization of News Ombudsmen , serving as a board member since May 2002 after joining in April 2001.His first ten years at The Guardian included launching...
found that Chomsky's position had been misrepresented, and his judgement was upheld in May 2006 by an external ombudsman, John Willis. In his report for the Guardian, Willis detailed his reasons for rejecting Kamm's argument that the correction was itself wrong. However, Wills suggested that the newspaper had over-reacted to the controversy in withdrawing the interview from its website.
Partial bibliography
- The Sixties (1982) ISBN 0-7126-0018-3
- Television: A History (1984) ISBN 0-7126-0929-6
- Battle for London (1985) ISBN 0-7453-0054-5
- Tom Driberg: His Life and Indiscretions (1990) ISBN 0-7011-3143-8
- The Chatto Book of Cats (Chatto Anthologies) Francis Wheen, editor, John O'Connor, illustrator (1993) ISBN 0-7011-4005-4
- Lord Gnome's Literary Companion (1994) ISBN 1-85984-945-8
- Karl Marx (1999) ISBN 1-85702-637-3
- Who Was Dr. Charlotte Bach? (2002) ISBN 1-904095-39-9
- Hoo-hahs and Passing Frenzies: Collected Journalism, 1991-2001 (2002) ISBN 1-903809-42-8 (mainly consisting of columns written for The Guardian)
- The Irresistible Con: The Bizarre Life of a Fraudulent Genius (2004) ISBN 1-904095-74-7
- Shooting Out the Lights (2004) ISBN 0-00-714943-3
- How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered the World (2004) ISBN 0-00-714096-7; in the USA and Canada: Idiot Proof: A Short History of Modern Delusions (2004) ISBN 1-58648-247-5
- Marx's Das KapitalDas KapitalDas Kapital, Kritik der politischen Ökonomie , by Karl Marx, is a critical analysis of capitalism as political economy, meant to reveal the economic laws of the capitalist mode of production, and how it was the precursor of the socialist mode of production.- Themes :In Capital: Critique of...
: A Biography (2006) ISBN 978-1843544005 - Strange Days Indeed: The Golden Age of Paranoia (2009) ISBN 978-0007244270