What are critics for? With A.A. Gill and John Mitchinson, Idler Academy

In one of his many witticisms, writer, poet and critic Oscar Wilde wisely warned that, “If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they’ll kill you.”
Critics have been entertaining and frustrating, belittling and bemusing for centuries. But what role do they really play? Are they focused on illuminating the truth for their audience, or on making them laugh at the expense of the object in question?
Discussing this age-old question at the Idler Academy are sardonic Sunday Times critic A.A. Gill and QI’s John Mitchinson. Since 1993, A.A. Gill has been reviewing restaurants in his amusing manner, striking fear into the hearts of kitchen staff up and down the country. He has published several collections of his - at times controversial - journalism, which has offended not only animal rights activists, but also the Welsh, Gordon Ramsay, Clare Balding and, oddly enough, the English.
It’s clearly time for a critique of the critic himself, and we think John Mitchinson who's responsible for finding the wealth of fascinating facts for QI will more than enough wisdom and wit to take on the cutting critic.