Christopher Hitchens in conversation: The Only Subject is Love
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- Опубліковано 18 чер 2024
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Writer Christopher Hitchens and Dr. Laurie Patton, Emory Professor of early Indian religions, discuss freedom of expression and Hitchen's friendship with Salman Rushdie. Themes of love and hate weave through stories of Rushdie's time under the fatwa, self-censorship, blasphemy, and writing by committee.
Christopher Hitchens participated in 'The Only Subject is Love' Symposium in honor of the opening of his friend Salman Rushdie's archive at Emory University on February 26, 2010.
www.emory.edu/rushdie
Transmitting the legacy of Christopher Hitchens is the reason why I will never fully hate UA-cam
It's pretty neutral (UA-cam) stop being a hater drama queen
@@josephno1347 Sure it is.....
Your abuse of language marks you a zealot
@@josephno1347 Sure it does.
As a deep respecter of Christofer your words would delight him and so very resonate with me. Thank you.
Such an amazing orator. Such an amazing intellect. Such an amazing listener. Such a wonderful human being. I miss him every day.
Now, more than ever!
I weep for Hitchens and for our grievous need for him today.
I mourn him.
What’s intelligence about him
Oh, my word. He recites the Wilfred Owen poem here. I never heard this clip before. It makes me realize how much of this vast archive of Hitch's videos and written work there is yet for me to traverse.
Never ending
And what an incredible recitation. Theatrical.
I’ve been watching Hitchens for years and only today I found this treasure.
@@AdrianR0713 he died like any other human but w never really lost him because he lives on in many recorded public appearances from bookstores to auditoriums and television.
I also became moist... :)
Hitch was 24 carat gold. The world has lost a treasure. I am from India and can't think of anyone more conversant with the English language than Christopher
We lost a great man 10 years ago today. You'll never be forgotten. RIP Hitch!
LOL he was just a clump of cells like the rest of us. Get over it
@@mugsofmirth8101 Ah yeah.. well some lumps of cells are more a waste of space and oxygen than others. mugs of cells... wasted cells.
I love his wonderful mind 🎼🤘🏻
I look at the world events unfolding, home and abroad, and am so very often reminded of his words in "free speech", 2006. Crystallized evermore in my nightmares of what lies ahead.
... something greater than the sum of it's parts
It's a shame this was only allowed to go on for 36 minutes. Hitchens was prepared to talk all night and I would have sat and listened to every single word. Christopher Hitchens was the voice of our time.
Having Christopher Hitchens speak for only 36 minutes is like playing 90 seconds of Beethoven's 9th
He has an 7 & 1/2 hour audio book... He was truelly an amazing soul 💞
@@russianaloha4576 "an amazing soul" 😅😅😅 more like just a clump of cells (dead cells now) 😂
Hitchens was just another voice of the time when he lived which is long gone - just like the Beatles (most over rated band of all time) Now those clumps of cells are gone and only the least talented of them like Ringo remain.
@@AFMMarcelDyou're wrong, Elvis ended up dead by drugging and eating himself to death, true story 😂
I believe I have never in my 6 1/2 decades encountered a more incisive, layered, savagely brilliant mind than Hitchens'. Listening to him speak in any forum is like enjoying the most beautiful symphony or reading the most brilliant work of literature.
couldn't agree more. A peerless master of the English language
Hitch was one of kind. The world lost a treasure with his passing.
Indeed
He is still here. Fortunatly we will be able to hear and watch him for a long long time.
He is not dead before we quit watching him.
@@bert.hbuysse5569 that's true, but I wanted to have his views on current affairs!😔
@@fervid5923 i agree my man.. dont forget the love bit !
@jazz keyboardist ... no Sir, you are wilfully ignoring the whole reasoning he had regarding the war in Iraq... it would serve you better to admit, that your religiosity has skewed your opinion of this man... the body of work he has left behind for posterity is commendable...
what is it that you are living to humanity? ...
This guy opened my eyes to so much. Ill never stop hanging on his words or feeling such sadness that he's gone.
Hitch was on top of his game here. His wit seems to come out even more than usual when he’s being interviewed by a friend. God, can you imagine what it must have been like to hang out with him?
I could only imagine...
God tried to stay as much away as possible. Hitch wrote a book, "god is not Great".
I've said this many times before - Hitch is one of the very few people that I never knew personally that I miss dearly now that he's gone.
Perhaps alongside Nelson Mandela.??
I feel like I’ve lost a dear friend by never meeting him or hearing him speak🥺
Me too 💔
@@vidkidz83 Me three.🤓
My favorite thing about him is that he won't be stopped or interrupted. The moment an interlocutor thinks Christopher is done talking and starts to move on, Hitch will come back with another thought or addendum to what he's already been saying without taking notice of the other person's words. He's got so much momentum. I love it.
He HAD momentum (mostly because of the wealthy financial/political interests backing him.
I'm fairly certain Christopher held all the views he took, can you give an example?
And without raising his voice, by mere presence
I wish I had knowlingly followed him during his hayday. I miss his contributions; often I have played and replayed many of these UA-cams to remind myself that one can rise above and carry the standard of truth and dignity.
No one else is going to smirk along with Hitch as he totally throws the ultimate game on this very lovely and professional hostess here while also captivating us all. What a legend
I so admire that the interviewer maintained her authority and didn't miss a beat when Hitchens was flirtatious.
What do you mean by authority
@@isaacfox4222 Good question! I was wondering that too. Maybe Sky Lark meant she maintained her composure rather than any authority she would've found impossible to impose on Hitch anyway.
@@judepower4425 that’s what I’m thinking too!
Perhaps a little less "mm..yes..mm hmm..yeah...mm.. uh huh...mmmm" while he's speaking. very distracting.
As a german & european i have to admit that there is no interlectual public figure left in europe who draws such a clear & clean line for the freedom of the individual.
none left in the Americas either, just Stone Age tribal nonsense everywhere
Yes
I will always miss him. It's so awful to know HOW he died, almost more so than the FACT that he died. For him to lose, of all things, his ability to SPEAK. I'm so glad he could still write, but I'm grateful to You Tube for the ability to hear him still.
I am moved by hearing that poem read aloud ... wonderful and moving - a very passionate humanity
How about some kudos for the interlocutor? Well-prepared to question her subject with properly-informed questions and more than capable of introducing ideas of her own without intruding on the subject's space to develop his chains of thought. Good job!
great job ... as Hitch himself acknowledged in severalways..
:-):-).,
Yes, absolutely… Dr. Patton was 100% tracking with him while directing a very interesting and insightful conversation. What a brilliant woman.
She did an amazing job. Her students are lucky to have her
Absolutely agree!
“Never mind Jesus of Nazareth. Stars had to die so you could sit here.”
…but, I have to wonder if they’re one in the same…🎶”love, love, love”🎶
today marks 10 years since his passing. it's an incredibly sad day
I don't think Hitchens would be allowed to speak in an American University today. Hard to believe the world could change so much in just one decade...
The greatest orator who ever lived
This is a gem of a discussion. Including a surprise poetry recitation by Hitchens himself! (She’s also a fabulous interviewer for Hitchens)
I mean, hello???? There is definitely some professional and good faith flirting going on!
Great to hear Hitchens recite the Wilfred Owen poem, and to hear him converse at length in a warm, friendly way - wonderful discussion.
I've just paused it around 2 minutes in because I have to post this: I could listen to Hitchens all fuckin' day. God I hope he beats cancer.
He "lost" his voice for only some 36 hours. He was the best speaker, writer and undefeated debater since Robert G Ingersoll.
His stand for free expression was courageous and exemplary. He put his life at risk to shelter Sir Salman Rushdie against Islamist death threats. And his famously pugilistic debating style co-existed with a personal graciousness that his enemies rarely acknowledge and never reciprocate.
Acknowledging that Hitchens is a master, I have viewed a debate between he an Michael Parenti where Parenti was the clear winner.
Hitchens was defending the indefensible, the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.
@nogodism That last sentence of yours is very well said.
@@douglasmilton2805 Agreed. Was about to comment the same sentiment. VERY well said.
@@sobriquet5016 Thank you. One of the many things I liked about Hitchens was the fact that even when arguing with people he clearly detested (Anne Widdecombe for example) he never descended to vulgar abuse and always maintained that basic politeness without which any real debate is impossible. There's not much of that around on UA-cam these days - which makes your reply all the more welcome!
"we too can be offended"
There should of been a big round of applause following that statement. You can see here how deep the tolerance of the intolerant has infected our collective psyche.
And look at us now…
*should have or should've
Hitch was utterly brilliant.
Hitchens' ability for literary quotation never ceases to astound me, especially in regard to his lifelong friendship with Mr Johnny Walker! Great reading of a great poem.
Why bring that up? Senseless
@@reason5591 Because any other person wouldnt be able to remember what they had for breakfast with a friendship like that.
Indeed, the breakfast of champions! Accept no substitute.
Richard Burton could do the same thing -- beautiful, theatrically sensitive recitations completely under the influence. It's one kind of brain and the mind it produces.
And its Jim Walker.......when you know him as well as I do
His voice and words are the brush and my ears and mind are the canvas. Listening to him paint brings tears to my minds eye. What a beautiful mastery of the understanding and use of the spoken word.
WOW, that was beautiful...
Hearing him is like listening to really good music.
Hitch liked that interview, he says.. I love you too 😎
Not only is Hitchens articulate, intelligent, thought-provoking and inspiring he is also so wonderfully charming as well :)
The ladies all love the Hitch! :P
Absofreakinlutely!!!
Naomi Wolfe was all over him with her eyes in the feminism roundtable with Charlie Rose
Not just ladies, anyone who sees his handsome exterior and feels his inner beauty.
Yup. Charismatic man he was! Absolutely enthralling.
@@shawnellemartineaux6212 Yeah...cheerleading for America's genocide in Iraq and lying around the clock are very endearing traits.
Here’s hoping for a full recovery for Salman Rushdie currently in intensive care after knife attack ❤️
I have watched this a number of times and learn something with each viewing. It is one of the most informed interviews of Christopher Hitchens I have ever watched. How fortunate for the faculty & students that Dr. Laurie Patten is now the President of Middlebury College.
Well said Gerald, Dr Laurie knew how to stimulate the mind of the great Hitch even further, she was brilliant too.
As a long life Hitch’s admirer since his 1980’s C-Span, this is the very best interview of Christopher I know of, she definitely brought out his best.
@@AFMMarcelD Thank You Alain. All the Best to you!
I wish Hitch was still with us. He would have a lot to say about the state of the world. He was one if a kind.
I am glad to have lived during this brilliant mans lifetime!
Me too.
Me three!
This wonderful intellectual changed my life. for the better. Thank you Hitch
I came for the recitation of "Dulce et Decorum Est," stayed for the magnificent rest! Hitchens said he often becomes "moist" (!) when reciting Owen's searing indictment of glib patriotism. I also often do when I read it. Or hear it read, like here. Like now.
this was the most erudite interviews of Hitchens I have watched. Wonderful!
Haha I love the casual flirting; coupled with intelligent discussion, what more can you ask for?
That's my definition of sexy
What more could one ask for?
Another hour of the same?
Hahahaha ❤️👍
Sapiosexual ♡
He was a socialite
This is an extraordinary interview. Wonderful, eloquent testimony to the incomparable power that literature, irony and examination have to enrich one's life. Everything from the poetic quotation in the beginning to the final physics speculation at the end speaks of the expansive, rich and open mind that reposes in Christopher Hitchens. Religious dogma can't even hold a candle to this kind of spiritual and mental richness.
Can we talk about the courage this gentleman had.
Hitchens brings out his omnipresent plastic cup, no doubt filled to the brim with Johnny Walker Black. Gotta love Hitch.
29:45 haha
She blushed. The rubbing of the hands says it all really...
Because he is at the absolute pinnacle of his game. . .
fantastic interview.
what i also like is that the responses on a hitchens video (generally) are much more eloquent and articulate than a lot of the ass gravy on youtube, a toast to you all for reveling in this gargantuan intellect's life, rip hitch!
Cheers!
Hitchens first love is the written word, this alone could be the reason for his love of such poetry and lets not forget that he has recited religious poems too with such admiration as well as admiring the way in which the King James Bible was written too. You can still appreciate a good piece of writing even if you don't agree with the subject matter.
Absolutely
“What?! I hardly got my pants off” 😂
That's the kind of woman that doesn't try to be attractive, but ends up being any way.
Exhilarating! The genius of Christopher Hitchens is spellbinding.
this woman is in awe and it shows
You could see early on that she was taken. His foreplay comment...her blush....only confirmed.. Lovely
We all are in awe!!!
"I Hardly got my pants off...Tell them they don't understand foreplay." Hilarious.
A common quip of his. I've heard him say this in several different videos
@@RandomVidz690 Scintillating and amusing then. He'd be cancelled for saying that today, only a decade or so later. As he predicted, perhaps unwittingly, in his remarks beginning at about 21 minutes, the clocks have since struck thirteen.
I like this woman's demeanor and intellect even John Thomas was listening.
What Christopher Hitchens says about 28 minutes is Awesome and his Humor creates smiles.
@12:42
This was recorded a year before Hitch died. He most likely had already been diagnosed. Listening to him choke up when he said "cancer" while reciting that poem was so heart breaking.
He was diagnosed a few months later after falling seriously ill in NYC while promoting Hitch 22, which makes his reference to cancer in his remarks both heart breaking and chilling.
"Tell them they don't understand foreplay... look at that colour, isn't it beautiful?"
And that's how you flirt ladies and gentlemen.
Nowadays the #metoo "movement" would condemn Hitchens flirtation as "sexual harrassment".
@@terrypussypower no more than your distasteful choice of your user name
@@reason5591 What's "distasteful" about my username? The fact you would say that betrays your own dirty mind, because you instantly go to that dirty place in YOUR psyche. So, your reply is simply showing the inside of YOUR own distasteful mind!
Not that it's any of your business, but my user name is my DJ name that I have been known by for 30 years!
The name was thought up by my brother's ex girlfriend. So take it up with her.
Her name is Frances McKee and she's in a band called The Vaselines. Nirvana covered a few of her tunes, so she's not hard to find online!
@Greg Brown That's not always the case. When the fundamentals are fundamentally twisted and barbaric, like say....Islam, for instance, then extremists are simply following the fundamentals of that particular ideology.
In fact, extremists are very useful in filleting out the white noise of apologists of any ideology, and getting to the roots of the problems their particular belief system present to the rest of society.
That's why they're called "fundamentalists" in the first place!
If the fundamentals of a belief system are truly benign, then extremists present no problem to anyone.
In fact, the more extreme they are, the less of a problem they are to the rest of us!
Terrypussypower...seems like somebody has hit a nerve with you 😂. Crap DJ name as well I think.
At 29:20, when she interrupts to say they have to wrap it up and he starts with "I've hardly got my pants off." 😂 Perfect flirtation for the next few seconds. ❤
It’s a relief to have a good interviewer
To find new Hitchens videos I have to go further back in time
Every time listen and watch you Christopher, miss you more to talk about all those lovely subjects to us, literature & art in all forms.
We’re all human, equally deserving of love, respect, dignity and understanding.
I share his reverence for the natural world
He loved America more than many other Americans.
i can`t put into words how much i enjoyed this, it was to short.
short but Hitch was here at the height of his powers.
Yes!
@Rick York - You must be a Christian, that's the only ppl who call names.
Good job👍😎
Too
@@reason5591 - If you're looking for.. exact, it's "too".
You know darn-good & well that uppercase "T" is wrong 😎
having time and space to find every recording of Christopher Hitchens that I can. This is a man. Unafraid to be vulnerable, convicted. Unafraid to show his scholarship, his deep learning. He had such a gift, which cannot have come only from genes, education, study. So, from whence?
He had an instinct and urge for thinking and doubting and writing, and then spent decades crafting and refining his points of view and style. That’s from whence.
- A truly lovely conversation. I'm so glad this is available to watch, thank you.
Christopher Hitchens. I will never forget. Taught reality against those who taught against it. Never forgotten. Thank you for teaching what you did for the little time you spent on earth. RiP
My interest in hearing the late, great man forces me to continue. Dr. Patton is speaking in such intimate tones, it is clear that she's completely obsessed. They did had "lunch" together. :)
Bravo Emory, I've Googled you and now I have something positive to say about Georgia.
11:00 for an absolutely amazing recitation. Completely arresting.
Chapeau Dr Laurie Patton and Hitch 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
so amazing when he is asked a multidimensional question he always answers it in reverse.
Hitch's eloquence on' you tube' is needed,and appreciated, more than ever during the weeks, possibly months of virus lockdown'.
By now years
At position 18:20 Hitchens says: "if you can speak, you can write." Of course HE is one of a very few who can speak with such flawless eloquence that a transcription would require no editing at all before appearing in a scholarly journal. This is certainly an art aspire to.
And I do
If you can speak, you can write. Hitch clearly doesn't know much about being dyslexic.
I left a district pleasure listening to and learning from this thoughtful conversation. Wow.
Hitch would be very disappointed at the state of journalism today.
Hitchens would have vomited his guts up then hand it to the journalist on a plate
Rewatch the interview. He would have been energized, highly amused, absolutely horrified, and he would have entered the fray, laughing. Hitch is the guy fighting and pushing back against the kind of characters fighting JoJo Rabbit.
* fighting in the masterpiece, JoJo Rabbit. I am sad Hitchens died of cancer. It's far worse to die of boredom in a world dying from the same and a stifling lack of imagination. The greatest men and women won't let it happen. They'll introduce a little chaos and get us thinking again about what is tolerable reality and who we want to be as individuals and as a collective mankind
He would have been absolutely horrified at the current President of the US.
@@QuinnieMae *He would've been repulsed by the January 6th fascist attacks on US democracy.*
I have searched and watched almost every video and page by Christopher and I’ve never seen this. What a jewel.
Wow! He recited the whole Owen poem from memory. I've read it several times over the years, but I doubt i could recite it easily. I wish I had that memory.
one of the best discussions on internet...period. what a speaker!!! genius!!!
I think you're right, it is a contradiction. If you haven't already it's worth reading his memoir, Hitch -22, which takes its central theme from struggles and rewards of living with contradictions and being a 'divided self'. The most disturbing thought to me on reading that poem, is that I cannot even fully absorb the misery of one victim and one witness who were barely atoms in a global struggle. Yet if I wish to live as an internationalist I cannot evade making judgements on war and peace.
two Brilliant minds - a real treat!
"Irony is the song of the bird who has grown to love the cage".
Mental Captivity is the ultimate form of slavery. A world held hostage by religion.
Religion is inevitable.
Wow, amazing quote
@jazz keyboardist If your goal is to persuade admirers of Hitchens to your way of thinking, you're not going to get very far by referring to him as "Chrissy", which tells me you're not actually interested in discussion, so much as you're interested in imposing your view on others because you believe yourself to be more morally benevolent. Only a person with an ego larger than his brain begins dialogue in this manner.
And the cage made of iron; irony complete!
Wonderful humanist. Honest and decent man. Let's hope his legacy helps to change the world in moving on from the nonsense of religion.He was British but loved the American experiment. I'm glad he's not around to see the way it's been betrayed recently.
the first time i read delce et decorum est i burst into tears.
Christopher Hitchens is the man that talks complete sense in all religious doctrines and totally destroys any stupid belief! I wish he was alive to argue these topics today
I wonder if anyone would be kind enough to clean up the audio and repost this video.
It would be very nice to hear Hitchens speaking - clearly - in this relaxed way, especially since he's now gone.
After all this was placed here by the host university itself. You would have thought it would have been checked out prior to posting. Cmon Emery wth
Dammit. I became an Emory student a year too late. Now, I'll never be able to see/meet Hitchens.
Thanks for uploading a really beautiful interview bringing out the best in hitch
The way he expressed himself in all his orations was a living example for others, that, acquiring knowledge by being curious, investigsting relevant sources and understanding the acquired learning is never beyond ANY individual. His eloquent narratives spoke of his committment to learning all he could in whatever time he had on this Earth. His enduring passion gave life to whatever he presented, in much the same way a turbo charger gives life to a naturally aspirated engine. He is a role model for all those who have an audacious courage to question things that present themselves as, 'beyond question'. I can't begin to comprehend the courage it would have taken Christopher Hitchens to take his newly acquired collection of thoughts into the world and publicly challenge those elements that believe themselves to be above question. My hat is off to a brilliant man and may many more take up his sword making the path he created even wider and easier to travel on.
I had the same reaction to "Dulce et Decorum est." Certain poems and literature can really change your life.
Incredible. I posted the whole text of the poem. I'd never heard it before. KIA a week before the Armistice. Wow.
Thank you for posting this.
The depth and breadth of this discourse while remaining accessible is remarkable, exhilarating, and inspiring.
I've not read as much as I should; but worse, I've not thought about what I have read.
E-
Hopefully these records will. Live On. ❤️
If only this had been two or three hours longer.
So he loved Dulce et Decorum Est...Now I love very him even more...a masterpiece!
So miss CH!
I can barely hear this and I have my system and player volume at the highest setting. If the furnace comes on, I can't hear it at all. I've been experiencing this more and more lately and I'm guessing that video producers are catering to the phone viewers wearing earplugs, not considering anyone else. But one can always turn down the volume, but not the other way around. Also, I anticipate someone questioning my hearing. It's fine.
@graemealee Thank you for describing Hitchens so eloquently. He is a brilliant man and I am so pleased to see that he has influenced your life in such a great way and that you admire him as much as we all should.
If Hitchens had ever said to me "...I've barely gotten my pants off.."or "...they have no idea what foreplay is..." My heart would have exploded out of my chest and I would have turned beet red too. Phew!
RIGHT? I haven't been flirted with that expertly in a long time. But then again, I'm an old lady, so there's that.
Fascinating conversation
I salute you Christopher 👏