His facial expression when the presenter was introducing 'him' is absolute gold! When I first watched it, I actually thought it was a skit - it being BBC, the animated facial reactions, the presenter trying to navigate his (non)-answers.
One of the first viral videos in the early years of Youtube. This was at a time when the Internet was just small enough that a single video could organically circulate around the whole world and be universally appreciated for its ridiculous yet endearing nature, by adults and kids alike.
Are you just sharing "this is something else on a TV program that amused me", or am I being dense in my failing to spot anything that's similar between the two situations?
I wish I could have seen Guy Kewney's face when he saw this. Sadly now passed, he had a charmingly irreverent sense of humor around Ziff-Davis UK back in the day.
Well he didn't take it lightly and was very upset. They apparently did a pre-recorded version of his answers that the producers of that segment specifically told the night shift to air online, but the night shift didn't, which further exasperated him.
He passed from metastasised colon cancer, apparently.
That is the most common cancer and too often gets undiscovered before it has spread to other organs. I recommend everyone from age 45 to get a colonoscopy every ten years to nip any polyps before they develop.
Just goes onto show how fragile the trust network between humans is overall. Today, journalism is all about "trusted sources", "official sources", "my birdie told me".
Love the story and the article. The only nit I have with it:
> “His answers are… understandable, and maybe in some ways more digestible than we would get from an expert,” he said.
This does not reflect his actual responses? The interviewer keys off his most emphatic sounding words to keep the conversation flowing, but his answers are generally inscrutable.
He did a great job given the cards he was dealt though.
Thery claim this is a masterclass in how to keep your cool under pressure, but that really doesn't appear to be the case? Surely, if you realise you're not the person that's supposed to be interviewed, the correct thing to do would be to make the presenter aware of this rather than mislead the audience? not saying this is not a good response or that I would've done better, but to herald this is as the correct course of action seems a bit far.
> A correction was made on May 6, 2026: An earlier version of this article misstated the country where Guy Goma grew up. He is from the Republic of Congo, not the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Right guy, wrong Congo! You can't even make this stuff up.
He's had a book written on this now. That's great but I'd like a book about Guy Kewney instead. The guy was a genius. I remember reading his columns in the computer magazines, a real inspiration.
32 comments
[ 3.4 ms ] story [ 55.1 ms ] threadhttps://archive.is/xZgBI#selection-505.0-505.55
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6Y2uQn_wvc&t=24s
In that episode Moss, one of the IT denizens, goes to a TV studio where he is mistakenly put on a news program and interviewed about a war.
I wonder if they're related...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm2TITZkrcE
A book was released…
https://youtu.be/VO0kaSHAOSE
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VO0kaSHAOSE
> “His answers are… understandable, and maybe in some ways more digestible than we would get from an expert,” he said.
This does not reflect his actual responses? The interviewer keys off his most emphatic sounding words to keep the conversation flowing, but his answers are generally inscrutable.
He did a great job given the cards he was dealt though.
Right guy, wrong Congo! You can't even make this stuff up.
So now what, a phone is proof of humanity? How is that not defeated by botfarms in an hour, alongside tracking you, as well as a horrible UX?
I hate modern surveillance capitalism.