Who broke Britain? Welcome to The i Paper’s opinion series in which experts and writers debate the issues that concern them about modern Britain.
• You won’t know James Bevan, but you should know what he did to this country• Boris Johnson wrecked Britain. But this man left even deeper scars• Martin Lewis: the money-saving expert… who accidentally cost Britons billions• The American woman who ripped the heart out of Cadbury• The shadowy maverick who pulled Labour’s strings… and sunk Starmer• Steven Bartlett: the glorified PR man quietly making Britain worse• The Tory who sold off Britain’s greatest assets – then told us to take back control• Dua Lipa: the ‘magical thinker’ unwittingly making Britain’s young women miserable
Chris Williamson is a hard man to précis – self-styled wellness guru? “Bro-science” influencer? Podcaster?
Or is it best to put it like this? He is likely the most influential man in Britain you’ve never heard of. Williamson, 38, rose to fame following his appearance on the first series of Love Island in 2015. He launched his podcast Modern Wisdom three years later. His website claims it has now had over a billion downloads.
In some ways, Williamson moves beneath the radar. But the more I tune in to his brand of blandly objectionable, socially conservative bilge, the clearer it becomes that Williamson’s unremarkableness is an inherent part of his proposition. Frankly, it’s what makes him a subject for this series.
