Bloggingheads.tv#diavlogs

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{{Infobox dot-com company

| name = Bloggingheads.tv

| logo = Image:Talkinghead leftg.png Image:Talkinghead rightg.png

| company_type =

| launched = {{start date and age|2005|11|01}}

| founder = {{hlist | Robert Wright | Mickey Kaus}}

| key_people = {{hlist | Robert Wright | Mickey Kaus | John Horgan | George Johnson | David Corn | James Pinkerton | Glenn Loury | Will Wilkinson}}

| industry =

| owner = Robert Wright

| num_employees = Fewer than 10

| url = {{URL|http://bloggingheads.tv/}}

| screenshot = Bloggingheadsscreenshot.jpg

| collapsible = yes

| caption = Screenshot of Bloggingheads.tv

| products = {{hlist | Video sharing | video blog | podcast}}

| website_type = Video discussion (political{{·}}scientific{{·}}current events)

| registration = Optional (required to comment)

| dissolved = 2022

| current_status = Defunct

| footnotes =

}}

Bloggingheads.tv (sometimes abbreviated "bhtv") was a political, world events, philosophy, and science video blog discussion site in which the participants take part in an active back and forth conversation via webcam which is then broadcast online to viewers. The site was started by the journalist and author Robert Wright and the blogger and journalist Mickey Kaus on November 1, 2005.{{cite web|url=http://www.newamerica.net/pressroom/2006/businessweek_profiles_robert_wrights_bloggingheads |title=BusinessWeek Profiles Robert Wright's BloggingHeads.tv | The New America Foundation |publisher=Newamerica.net |date=July 3, 2006 |access-date=11 March 2009| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080604051759/http://www.newamerica.net/pressroom/2006/businessweek_profiles_robert_wrights_bloggingheads| archive-date = June 4, 2008}} Kaus has since dropped out of operational duties of the site as he didn't want his frequent linking to be seen as a conflict of interest.{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eat-the-press/2007/01/26/bloggingheads-gets-a-cash_e_39709.html |title=Eat The Press | Bloggingheads Gets A Cash Infusion From Angel Investor Rosencrans: "Obviously There Is The Possibility Of Financial Gain, But That's Not The Point" |work=The Huffington Post |date=January 26, 2007 |access-date=11 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090414015529/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eat-the-press/2007/01/26/bloggingheads-gets-a-cash_e_39709.html |archive-date=April 14, 2009 }} Most of the earlier discussions posted to the site involved one or both of those individuals, but since has grown to include a total of over one thousand individual contributors, mostly journalists, academics, scientists, authors, well known political bloggers, and other notable individuals.

Unregistered users are able to view all of the videos which are contained on the site, while free registration is required to comment on the individual discussions, or participate in the forums.

In April 2022, Wright announced that Bloggingheads will be ending, stating that "the era in which Bloggingheads makes sense is kinda over."{{Citation |title=A Biden-Trump Rematch? {{!}} Bill Scher, Matt K. Lewis & Robert Wright {{!}} The DMZ | date=April 27, 2022 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjcjA-urX6k |language=en |access-date=2022-04-28}}

Format

Bloggingheads discussions are conducted via webcam between two (or more) people, and can be viewed online in Flash format, or downloaded as WMV video files, MP4 video files, or MP3 sound files.[http://bloggingheads.tv/help.php Bloggingheads.tv] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012032727/http://bloggingheads.tv/help.php |date=October 12, 2007 }} New diavlogs are generally posted daily, and are all archived for future viewing. The diavlogs are generally broken up into a series of topics and subtopics a few minutes in length, links to which are placed below the video window to allow viewers to navigate to a given topic if they do not wish to view the whole discussion.

Most of the discussions posted to Bloggingheads.tv involve well known (or semi-well known) journalists, bloggers, science writers, scientists, philosophers, book authors, or other specialists in segments of current world events. Many of the discussions are of a political nature or are related to the current political environment. Those with differing points of view are often matched against one another.{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/04/arts/04kaus.html | work=The New York Times | title=Watching Rigorous Talk on a He Said, He Said Blog | first=Ginia | last=Bellafante | date=May 4, 2006 | access-date=26 April 2010}} Diavlogs involving guests appearing for the first time often take the form of an interview, more often than that of a discussion, with a longtime Bloggingheads contributor playing the role of interviewer.

=Regular segments=

Image:JohnHorganAndGeorgeJohnson.png and George Johnson on a "Science Saturday" episode of Bloggingheads.tv]]

Image:AubreyDeGreyAndEliezerYudkowsky.png being interviewed by Eliezer Yudkowsky on Bloggingheads.tv]]

Although most episodes and matchups do not occur on any kind of a regular basis, there are a few notable exceptions to this. There is a frequent diavlog matchup between the two co-founders of Bloggingheads.tv, Robert Wright and Mickey Kaus, generally related to politics in some form, that usually occurs on either Wednesday or Thursday. While some of the other diavloggers are frequently matched against each other (e.g. David Corn & James Pinkerton) there is usually not a regularly scheduled time at which they take place.

"Science Saturday" was the name given to the weekly episode appearing on Saturday that was always science related. Its last episode was released on December 24, 2011.{{cite web | url=https://bloggingheads.tv/programs/science-saturday | title=Science Saturday |publisher=Bloggingheads.tv}} It usually (but not always) involved either one or both of the science writers John Horgan and George Johnson. Many well-known people in the science community were a part of Science Saturday, including Michael Shermer of Skeptic Magazine,{{cite web |url=http://bloggingheads.tv/video.php?id=390 |title=diavlogs |publisher=Bloggingheads.tv |date=January 1, 1970 |access-date=11 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071104070453/http://bloggingheads.tv/video.php?id=390 |archive-date=November 4, 2007 }} biologist PZ Myers,{{cite web |url=http://richarddawkins.net/article,1445,PZ-Myers-on-Blogging-Heads,BloggingHeadstv |title='PZ Myers on Blogging Heads' by BloggingHeads.tv - RichardDawkins.net |publisher=RichardDawkins.net |date=July 22, 2007 |access-date=11 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090214000045/http://richarddawkins.net/article%2C1445%2CPZ-Myers-on-Blogging-Heads%2CBloggingHeadstv |archive-date=February 14, 2009 }} Craig Venter of the Human Genome Project,{{cite web |url=http://scienceblogs.com/loom/2007/10/19/tomorrow_talking_to_craig_vent.php |title=The Loom : Tomorrow: Talking To Craig Venter |publisher=Scienceblogs.com |access-date=11 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090404174639/http://scienceblogs.com/loom/2007/10/19/tomorrow_talking_to_craig_vent.php |archive-date=April 4, 2009 }} aging researcher and biogerentologist Aubrey de Grey,{{cite web|url=http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/16508 |title=diavlogs |publisher=Bloggingheads.tv |access-date=11 March 2009}} and philosopher David Chalmers,{{cite web |url=http://bloggingheads.tv/video.php?id=287 |title=diavlogs |publisher=Bloggingheads.tv |date=January 1, 1970 |access-date=11 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016120307/http://bloggingheads.tv/video.php?id=287 |archive-date=October 16, 2007 }} among many others. However, in September 2009, four high-profile science bloggers who had previously participated in Bloggingheads.tv discussions publicly distanced themselves from the site and stated they would no longer agree to appear in Bloggingheads.tv segments. The scientists – Sean Carroll, Carl Zimmer, Phil Plait and PZ Myers – all criticized what they claimed was a policy by Bloggingheads.tv to provide a platform for the anti-scientific ideology, Creationism without an opposing point of view for balance. PZ Myers said: "[Bloggingheads.tv] was setting up crackpots with softball interviews that made them look reasonable, because their peculiar ideas were never confronted."{{cite web |url=http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/09/phil_plait_ditches_blogginghea.php |title=Phil Plait ditches bloggingheads, too! |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090910032422/http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/09/phil_plait_ditches_blogginghea.php |archive-date=September 10, 2009 }}

"The Week in Blog" was a weekly segment which normally appeared on the site on Fridays. Its last episode was released on March 7, 2012.{{cite web|url=https://bloggingheads.tv/programs/retired/week-in-blog |title=The Week in Blog | publisher=Bloggingheads.tv}} The format was to discuss what has showed up on the past week on both liberal and conservative blogs, from both a liberal and conservative viewpoint. The three regular hosts of "TWIB" were Bill Scher of Liberal Oasis, Kristin Soltis of the Winston Group, and Matt Lewis of The Daily Caller. Original host Conn Carroll of The Heritage Foundation stepped aside in early 2009. Guests who appeared on the show are Armando Llorens (of Daily Kos),{{cite web|url=http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/14899 |title=diavlogs |publisher=Bloggingheads.tv |access-date=11 March 2009}} Amanda Carpenter,{{cite web|url=http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/15214 |title=diavlogs |publisher=Bloggingheads.tv |access-date=11 March 2009}} and Nate Silver (of FiveThirtyEight){{cite web|url=http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/13822 |title=diavlogs |publisher=Bloggingheads.tv |access-date=11 March 2009}} among many others.

History

On November 1, 2005, the site launched, with Robert Wright and Mickey Kaus as the only two initial participants in the video discussions.{{cite web|url=http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/1 |title=First diavlog ever posted on |publisher=Bloggingheads.tv |date=January 1, 1970 |access-date=11 March 2009}} The site has since featured more than one thousand other diavloggers.

On October 18, 2006, a site redesign was launched, with a revised home page and improved functionality: ability to comment on diavlogs was added, and to participate in forum discussions.{{cite web |url=http://bloggingheads.tv/video.php?id=144 |title=diavlogs |publisher=Bloggingheads.tv |date=January 1, 1970 |access-date=11 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070902231417/http://bloggingheads.tv/video.php?id=144 |archive-date=September 2, 2007 }}

In January 2007, it was announced that cable TV pioneer and C-SPAN founding chairman Bob Rosencrans, with a loose network of others, would become an angel investor of Bloggingheads.tv. The infusion of cash kicked off a dramatic expansion of the site's content, and a corresponding growth in viewers.

On March 24, 2007, in a diavlog between Garance Franke-Ruta and Ann Althouse, Althouse became quite animated and angry (to the point of yelling) over a comment Franke-Ruta made (in reference to an earlier controversy involving Jessica Valenti and former US president Bill Clinton{{cite web|url=http://althouse.blogspot.com/2006/09/lets-take-closer-look-at-those-breasts.html |title=Althouse: Let's take a closer look at those breasts |publisher=Althouse.blogspot.com |date=September 15, 2006 |access-date=11 March 2009}}{{cite web|url=http://www.feministing.com/archives/005716.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070625204159/http://www.feministing.com/archives/005716.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2007-06-25 |title=post 005716|publisher=Feministing |date=September 16, 2006 |access-date=11 March 2009}}{{cite web|last=Beyerstein |first=Lindsay |url=http://majikthise.typepad.com/majikthise_/2006/09/lets_take_a_clo.html |title=Majikthise : Let's take a closer look at those nuts |publisher=Majikthise.typepad.com |date=September 16, 2006 |access-date=11 March 2009}}) referred to as an on-air "meltdown" by some.{{cite web |url=http://bloggingheads.tv/video.php?id=231&in=50:35 |title=diavlogs |publisher=Bloggingheads.tv |date=January 1, 1970 |access-date=11 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120125054433/http://bloggingheads.tv/video.php?id=231&in=50%3A35 |archive-date=January 25, 2012 }} This led to many blog posts and news stories in the following days on both the initial controversy and Althouse's on air behavior.{{cite web |author=7 Diggs |url=http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/03/26/ann-althouse-losses-it/ |title=Ann Althouse loses it… |publisher=Crooks and Liars |date=March 26, 2007 |access-date=11 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090408065131/http://crooksandliars.com/2007/03/26/ann-althouse-losses-it |archive-date=April 8, 2009 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.metafilter.com/59789/Althouse-gets-a-bit-angry |title=Althouse gets a bit angry... | MetaFilter |publisher=MetaFilter{{cite web|url=http://www.reason.com/blog/printer/117540.html |title=Reason Magazine – Grande "Conservative" Blogress Diva Ann Althouse Among the "True Believers" -What Really Happened? |work=Reason |date=December 29, 2006 |access-date=11 March 2009}}{{cite web|url=http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/03/a_medium_comes_into_its_own.php |title=Matthew Yglesias (March 27, 2007) – A Medium Comes into Its Own (Media) |work=The Atlantic |date=March 27, 2007 |access-date=11 March 2009}}

On October 24, 2007, Bloggingheads.tv entered into a relationship with The New York Times, whereby selected video segments from the Bloggingheads site would appear in the "Videos" section on the Times website, under the Opinion subsection.{{cite news|last=Fish |first=Stanley |url=https://www.nytimes.com/opinion/ |title=The New York Times > Editorials and Opinion |work=The New York Times |date=April 21, 2001 |access-date=11 March 2009}}{{cite news |url=http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=1196fe120f23159eb2965348c8f0cbcd0a7a32d0 |title=Bloggingheads: The God of Baseball | New York Times Video |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=11 March 2009 |archive-date=October 25, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071025162557/http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=1196fe120f23159eb2965348c8f0cbcd0a7a32d0 |url-status=dead }}

In 2008, several new segments and diavloggers were added or made more regular, including "Free Will", "This Week in Blog", and "UN Plaza". Other updates and tweaks to the site, such as the addition of the MP4 video format were also gradually phased in.

In April 27, 2022, during an appearance on "the DMZ," Wright announced that Bloggingheads will be ending, with the remaining segments moving to their own independent platforms.{{Cite web |title=Bloggingheads.tv |url=https://bloggingheads.tv/videos/64061 |access-date=2022-04-28 |language=en}}

=Media recognition=

Traditional media outlets, such at The New York Times and others,{{cite web |url=http://www.nysun.com/article/43354?page_no=1 |title=Two Bloggers Set Up a Web Site To Go Head to Head |date=November 13, 2006 |work=The New York Sun |access-date=11 March 2009 |archive-date=August 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220811023250/https://www.nysun.com/article/43354?page_no=1 |url-status=dead }} have written mostly favorable reviews of Bloggingheads.tv. Stories are also often written about individuals who take part in the video discussions,{{cite web |url=http://media.www.browndailyherald.com/media/storage/paper472/news/2007/10/09/CampusNews/Econ-Prof.Loury.Takes.On.The.Blogosphere-3020677.shtml |title=Econ prof Loury takes on the blogosphere – Campus News |work=Brown Daily Herald |access-date=11 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090404113516/http://media.www.browndailyherald.com/media/storage/paper472/news/2007/10/09/CampusNews/Econ-Prof.Loury.Takes.On.The.Blogosphere-3020677.shtml |archive-date=April 4, 2009 }} as they are often well known individuals in the scientific, academic, journalism, or blogosphere community.

Some events and personality appearances on Bloggingheads.tv have led to larger than usual amounts of media coverage, such as the March 24, 2007 Ann Althouse controversy described above, and the appearance of Andrew Sullivan on December 26, 2006 and January 1, 2007, when he discussed in the most clear terms up to that point his reversal of viewpoint on the Iraq War, and his plea of apology for supporting it in the first place.{{cite web |url=http://bloggingheads.tv/video.php?id=173 |title=diavlogs |publisher=Bloggingheads.tv |date=January 1, 1970 |access-date=11 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070902231119/http://bloggingheads.tv/video.php?id=173 |archive-date=September 2, 2007 }}{{cite web|url=http://bloggingheads.tv/video.php?id=177 |title=diavlogs |publisher=Bloggingheads.tv |date=January 1, 1970 |access-date=11 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120125054743/http://bloggingheads.tv/video.php?id=177 |archive-date=January 25, 2012 }}

Contributors to Bloggingheads.tv

Apart from the regular contributors, a host of well known occasional guests have appeared, usually in the form of being interviewed. Among others, the political scientist Francis Fukuyama talked about his book America at the Crossroads; the Israeli journalist Gershom Gorenberg discussed his book The Accidental Empire (about the history of the settlements);{{cite web |url=http://bloggingheads.tv/video.php?id=158 |title=diavlogs |publisher=Bloggingheads.tv |date=January 1, 1970 |access-date=11 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070223212243/http://bloggingheads.tv/video.php?id=158 |archive-date=February 23, 2007 }} The Washington Post columnist Joel Achenbach on an article of his about global warming deniers{{cite web|url=http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/42114?in=30:08&out=33:37 |title=diavlogs |publisher=Bloggingheads.tv |date=January 1, 1970 |access-date=11 March 2009}} (among other topics{{cite web|url=http://bloggingheads.tv/search/?participant1=Achenbach,+Joel|title=Bloggingheads.tv|website=bloggingheads.tv|access-date=April 15, 2018}}); Andrew Sullivan on his book The Conservative Soul;{{cite web|url=http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/144 |title=diavlogs |publisher=Bloggingheads.tv |date=January 1, 1970 |access-date=11 March 2009}}{{cite web|url=http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/148 |title=diavlogs |publisher=Bloggingheads.tv |date=January 1, 1970 |access-date=11 March 2009}} biogerentologist Aubrey de Grey on how to defeat the "disease" of aging; philosopher David Chalmers; Nate Silver (of FiveThirtyEight.com); and Craig Venter, director of the Human Genome Project, who spoke of future scientific innovations he is currently pursuing.{{cite web |url=http://bloggingheads.tv/video.php?id=431 |title=diavlogs |publisher=Bloggingheads.tv |date=January 1, 1970 |access-date=11 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071126104758/http://bloggingheads.tv/video.php?id=431 |archive-date=November 26, 2007 }}

References

External links

{{Official website|http://bloggingheads.tv}}
[https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/04/arts/04kaus.html New York Times Article on the operation of Bloggingheads.tv]
[http://www.nysun.com/article/43354?page_no=1 Associated Press article in the NY Sun on the BloggingHeads.tv setup] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220811023250/https://www.nysun.com/article/43354?page_no=1 |date=August 11, 2022 }}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20071109230245/http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_27/b3991024.htm Business Week article on Bloggingheads.tv]

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