Hitchens vs Brummett

June 5, 2011

TheRecord.com

Hitchens feted with standing ovation at U of W video link debate



Jeff Orchard at Skeptic North posts this report from the debate.
Hitchens vs. Brummett: the un-debate

"So, why am I calling it the “un-debate”? One of my hobbies is to listen to debates between religious folks and science folks. I really like it when the debaters passionately disagree, and are utterly convinced that the other is a kook. That didn’t happen tonight."

Read More: http://www.skepticnorth.com/2011/06/hitchens-vs-brummett-the-un-debate/

10 comments:

Karen Olsen said...

Thanks for the review, Jeff! I'm still pondering what in heck "religion as a literary value" is supposed to mean; hopefully our two debaters (or "undebaters"?) had it figured out. I still very much wish I'd been there, but I'm stuck here in Seattle. Will a video stream of the event be posted anywhere soon?

Thanks again,

Karen Olsen

nataliejc92 said...

Please link us a video!

Tom (DH) said...

I emailed UW and they informed me that they hope to make it available online. They're working on it.

Tom said...

A couple of debate links

http://cathyblog.jean-cathy.com/2011/06/05/the-hot-ticket-hitchens-brummett-debate/

http://rsa.dwrl.utexas.edu/node/5202#comment-5964

Tim said...

Hitch seemed to be in good spirits during this event. I thought he looked better than I'd expected with his new hair and beard. His speaking voice was slightly husky but strong. After what seemed like an initial awkwardness, Hitch found his stride and was sharp as ever, typically courteous, spontaneous, humourous and seemingly nonplussed by this odd debate which was more like a rambling conversion, at times. I enjoyed the event. Good to see Mr. Hitchen back in business.

Anonymous said...

I agree with what Tim said.
I was at the debate as well and I found that the awkwardness of the video-link was always present but Hitch and moderator Jian handled it as professional as they could.
Hitch was absolutely in top form, especially as the evening went on.
I particularly liked when Hitch asked for his 20 seconds back that he opted out of initially because what he said in that not-so-20-seconds worth of time could be something that will go down in history as one of his best quotes.
Cheers to the U of W and especially to Mr. Christopher Hitchens for storming through the obstacles to give us a monumental occasion.

The Dimery said...

Im really looking forward to watching this debate (assuming it will be posted online) I will be great to see Hitch back in the arena.

Anonymous said...

Is there a video for this anywhere?

Bootleg said...

I also emailed the university. They very politely said that they had some hoops to jump through with the provider of the video conference--and after they get those issues worked out, they'll be posting it online.

Anders S Sal said...

Here is a site where the video most likely will be posted soon:

http://www.english.uwaterloo.ca/DebateVideo.htm

 
 
 

Christopher reads from Hitch-22: A Memoir