Photo Courtesy of the New York Times.
Tonight at Georgetown University, controversial playwrite Mike Daisey is speaking on labor issues and capitalism:
In an age dominated by corporatism at the birth of the new globalism, what does it mean for human beings to speak? Mike Daisey, author and monologist, creator of “The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs,” examines the threads of dominance and submission that bind together the story of labor across our globe, and ties that story to action. He examines the ways that our imagination has failed this age, and how the oldest human arts can come together with the latest social platforms to amplify our voices in ways unknown a generation ago. By provoking us to confront our assumptions, he tears open the shutters we unknowingly close, and sheds a different light on a story that was always sitting right in front of us.
All very interesting, but the more interesting thing about Daisey is that last week This American Life issued a retraction for a piece it did in January about Daisey’s show “The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs.” The problem is that in Daisey’s one-man-show he discusses work conditions at China’s infamous Foxconn factory (where many Apple products are made). Certain work conditions his play presents as actually happening did not actually happen (such as the factory having armed guards or that 13 year-olds worked there). This American Life got enmeshed in this because it presented the conditions discussed in Daisey’s play as being factual.
In his defense, Daisey states “What I do is not journalism. The tools of the theater are not the same as the tools of journalism.” This is somewhat of a controversial position! GM wondered if in the hullabaloo over the This American Life retraction, Daisey would drop out of the talk tonight, but it doesn’t look like he will. In fact on the web page of the Kalmanovitz Initiaitive, which is hosting Daisey, they write:
Mike Daisey’s recent show on This American Life has been the subject of controversy this week. This American Life has retracted the show and the radio news show Marketplace has reported inaccuracies in Daisey’s work on Foxconn. We expect Monday’s talk to engage with this controversy.
Indeed.
The talk begins at 7:30 at the Lohrfink Auditorium (that’s in the new business school building) and it’s free.
The Georgetown Metropolitan 
This guy is a self-promoting blowhard. He crossed the line between art and journalism when he looked into the eyes of news reporters and told them certain things happened that didn’t happen. He exploited American biases about Chinese workers for his own benefit. Daisey can’t disappear into the dustbin of history quickly enough.
Mike Daisy is a liar. Presenting fiction as fact makes one a liar.
I went to this event last night. Thanks to Georgetown for inviting the public. Daisey did a good job of explaining how his evolution of exaggerations got him in this mess, taking full responsibility. More here: Mike Daisey Comes Clean.