Hitchens interview

[Castiel]

Christopher Hitchens, writer, polemicist and and all round contrarian will be giving an interview with Jeremy Paxman in a Newsnight special on Monday at 19.30


This is definitely worth a watch in my opinion as Hitchens is one of the great debaters and always worth listening too, even if you don't agree with him.

 

[cm1179]

i used to follow his brother (peter) blog quite a lot but haven't for a while. read an article in the telegraph today which stated christopher has quite a serious form of cancer (not that i'm saying all cancer isn't serious but apparantley it's a difficult one to operate on) it also stated he is english-american, could you emphasise on this?

 

[Castiel]

i used to follow his brother (peter) blog quite a lot but haven't for a while. read an article in the telegraph today which stated christopher has quite a serious form of cancer (not that i'm saying all cancer isn't serious but apparantley it's a difficult one to operate on) it also stated he is english-american, could you emphasise on this?

He has oesophageal cancer and as far as I know it is pretty terminal unfortunately.

I don't think he is British-American like I am with one parent from each country, I think he has become a US citizen through emigrating there but still retains his British citizenship. I could be wrong however.

I have always found it amusing that Christopher is an Anti-theist as he terms his form of atheism and yet his brother Peter is a Christian who converted from the same militant atheism that his older brother is so renowned for.

I like Peter Hitchens beginning to his book "The Rage Against God" where he describes his journey from Atheism to Christianity. it begins..."The generation who were too clever to believe..." There is a lot of truth in that.

 

[Naffa]

There's also a live webcast of his debate with Tony Blair in a few hours!

He has oesophageal cancer and as far as I know it is pretty terminal unfortunately.

It has spread to his lymph nodes.

I don't think he is British-American like I am with one parent from each country, I think he has become a US citizen through emigrating there but still retains his British citizenship. I could be wrong however.

Correct.

 

[Cosimo]

The program link which also contains a few links about Hitchens.

 

[Castiel]

There's also a live webcast of his debate with Tony Blair in a few hours!

Get a link going.....

It has spread to his lymph nodes.

It is a shame, I don't always agree with his militant stance on religion but I always found him to be more knowledgeable and forthcoming than that other doyen of the New Atheist Richard Dawkins.

 

[Naffa]

Link?

It's not free unfortunately, but here:

http://www.munkdebates.com/payment/Live-Stream-Membership

I am a huge fan of both Tony and Christopher, and happily paid for it.

I'm thinking of trying to setup a uStream of it, if anybody would be interested.

It is a shame, I don't always agree with his militant stance on religion but I always found him to be more knowledgeable and forthcoming than that other doyen of the New Atheist Richard Dawkins.

I concur. Regardless of what he's talking about, he's a genuine pleasure to listen to. I love watching him debate the religious (even when he has lost the debate), because he always surprises them with his canonical knowledge.

 

[Castiel]

It'll be on youtube by the morning...

 

[Naffa]

Yeah, no doubt. It's being broadcast on the BBC News channel as well, in the coming months.

Here we go:

"Former UK prime minister Tony Blair is to take on Christopher Hitchens in a televised public debate for and against religion. Friday Nov 26.

BBC World Service radio will air the Blair-Hitchens debate on December 4, followed by Radio 4 on December 11.

It can be viewed on BBC World News and the News Channel on January 1, 2011"

ZOMG:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/vide...he-seed-of-doubt/article1814310/?from=1814261

 

[Naffa]

It was a terrific debate, by the way. Worth every penny, and then some. I would definitely recommend checking it out on January 1st.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9234000/9234386.stm

 

[Castiel]

It was a terrific debate, by the way. Worth every penny, and then some. I would definitely recommend checking it out on January 1st.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9234000/9234386.stm

Cool, I can't help but feel that Tony Blair is not really qualified to discuss religion with Hitchens however.

I would like to have seen a debate on religion between Christopher and Peter Hitchens. Now that would be worth watching.

 

[Naffa]

 

[Castiel]

Thanks Naffa. I will peruse that anon.

 

[2bit]

Thanks for the heads-up Castiel - I'll be sure to watch.

 

[Grandmaster Fap!]

 

[Naffa]

Here it is guys.

EDIT: This really was a fantastic debate.

 

[shroomz]

Thanks for that guys, much prefer listening to someone other than Dawkins' rabies

 

[semi-pro waster]

I've just started watching some of the Munk debates but I've got quite a few more to go, thanks for the links. Tony Blair is a smart man but from what I've watched so far I feel he's taken on an opponent from a different intellectual weight class.

 

[Grandmaster Fap!]

I've just started watching some of the Munk debates but I've got quite a few more to go, thanks for the links. Tony Blair is a smart man but from what I've watched so far I feel he's taken on an opponent from a different intellectual weight class.

Tbh Blair is coming across much as he did in government, his opening speech is good but rehearsed and afterwards falls flat on his face. I'd go as far to say Hitchens is toying with him most of the time and it's wonderful to watch.

 

[Naffa]

Yeah, I would probably agree with you. I do think that Tony made some excellent points, but they were few and far between against a constant and consistent attack from Christopher.

Although Christopher did 'win' the debate, both managed to convince roughly the same amount of people that abstained from voting in the first place.