Sorry, I’m moderately tired of Peterson apologists, and leapt to an apparently unwarranted assumption.
Regarding videos, it’s a running joke that if you disagree with a Peterson fan, their response will be along the lines of “Just watch these 12 hours of YouTube videos and you’ll understand him.” Not compelling to those of us who read for information and content.
Regarding Peterson, I don’t think he’s alt-right, I think he’s dog whistling to them with many of his statements.
On climate change: https://medium.com/the-future-is-electric/jordan-peterson-climate-change-denier-and-faux-science-lover-b9db7d58f05f
On the manosphere’s incel challenge: https://www.macleans.ca/opinion/the-context-of-jordan-petersons-thoughts-on-enforced-monogamy/
His former mentor’s thoughts on his delight in demagogic communication: https://www.thestar.com/opinion/2018/05/25/i-was-jordan-petersons-strongest-supporter-now-i-think-hes-dangerous.html
On ‘freedom of expression’ he heavily misstates the actual statutes he objected to, and they happened to be related transgendered pronouns: https://torontoist.com/2016/12/are-jordan-petersons-claims-about-bill-c-16-correct/
and
https://www.canadalandshow.com/no-wont-jailed-using-wrong-pronoun/
On ‘freedom of expression’, here’s his lawsuit against a university for insulting him: https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/pa8dyy/free-speech-hero-jordan-peterson-launches-another-defamation-lawsuit
He’s found an ugly niche among mostly white, young, male conservatives — you might notice the very large overlap with the alt-right there — and he panders to it. The Peterson method is to throw some red meat to his ugliest fans on Twitter or in an interview that gets broadcast widely, then publish a blog post or a video that most people don’t see which ‘qualifies’ his position with enough bafflegab that his apologists continue to have grounds for apologizing for him, while his alt-right fans continue to be able to hear their positions. It’s not dissimilar to Trump’s word salads, but more academically framed.
And to be clear, I have respect for Peterson the academic clinical psychologist. His h-index score makes it clear that he was a serious academic prior to stumbling into fame. I also respect his having video taped his psychology lectures and having made them available gratis.
It’s just after that that he has become something uglier.
