Documentary maker and podcaster Louis Theroux was interviewed by journalist Katie Derham this week at MAD//Fast London 2026, where he spoke on topics including his attraction to the weirder aspect of human behaviour, his recent exploration of the ‘manosphere’ and the future of internet culture.
Theroux believes his “curiosity about weirdness” goes all the way back to his childhood: “I always felt I was performing normality in a way that felt somewhat inauthentic,” he said. “I’ve realised that the weirdest thing about weird people is how normal they are.”
Describing documentary-making as “a slightly vampiric form of expression,” he told how his latest Netflix series, Inside The Manosphere, was a culmination of his work to date.
“The manosphere felt like the final boss of my career because it combines everything I’d been documenting for decades: conspiracy theories, influencer culture, adult content, race, masculinity and the command of the digital airwaves.
“What surprised me wasn’t the extremism so much as the cynicism. The outrage is often just the shop window. The real business is selling something. Influencers build a parasocial relationship by being entertaining, and then they convert that trust into a sales funnel.”
New landscape
As a seasoned broadcaster who has lived through the rise of digital media, Theroux refuses to see the new media landscape as “entirely negative”. He said: “I’ve had to adapt myself. I was at the BBC for over twenty years; now I have a podcast, a production company and I make films for Netflix. It’s a mixed diet of platforms.”
However, Theroux believes clarity on how productions are funded is key: “The more transparent we can be about where advertising money goes and how sponsored content works, the healthier the ecosystem will be. I’ve turned down lucrative sponsorships because, in the end, you’re trying to build something with values you can defend over the long term.”
One area of social media he’d like to see investigated in more detail is what he described as “the technological layer”: the people making the algorithmic decisions that determine what gets promoted, demonetised or de-platformed.
“We need institutions that still do the old-school work of fact-checking and long-form investigation, so we’re not completely consumed by the infinite scroll,” said Theroux. “I’m as guilty as anyone. Half an hour disappears on Instagram before I realise I’ve just watched a stream of algorithmically selected nonsense.”
The kids are alright?
Asked about the prospect of a social media ban for under-16s in the UK, Theroux had his doubts on the wisdom of such as move.
“Most of what I know about internet culture comes from my kids,” he said. “They keep introducing me to people I’ve never heard of who, two months later, seem to dominate the culture.
“My instinct isn’t to censor my children. It’s to stay curious, to watch what they’re watching, listen to what they’re listening to and understand where the culture is going.
“The internet is slippery. Content rarely has one fixed meaning. That doesn’t mean it’s harmless, but it does mean we shouldn’t assume everyone consumes it in exactly the same way.”
Storytelling remains at the heart of all successful media, says Theroux, simply because storytelling is about human connection.
“It’s recognising that beneath the surface we’re remarkably similar: we’re all trying to be good parents, good children, good friends, while struggling with the parts of ourselves that make that difficult. I’ve always believed in looking on the bright side. I also believe in looking on the dark side, because what often brings us together is recognising how we’re struggling.
“Human beings are imperfect. We should own both impulses: the desire to do better and the recognition that we’re hampered by our very human frailty.”
