Tea’d Off

By Christopher Hitchens

"Forfeiting a both-houses Republican victory, rational conservatives ignored or excused the most hateful kind of populist claptrap (e.g., the fetid weirdness of Glenn Beck’s 9/12 Project). The poison they’ve helped disseminate will still be in the American bloodstream when the country needs it least."

Read More (Vanity Fair)

The Oxford Comment Podcast: Episode 4. Religion.

Highlights and exclusive interviews with Hitchens, Tariq Ramadan, New York Times National Religion Correspondent Laurie Goodstein, Nick Mafi, and David Sehat, author of The Myth of American Religious Freedom.

Listen to the podcast here. (OUP blog)

Turn Yourself In, Julian Assange

The WikiLeaks founder is an unscrupulous megalomaniac with a political agenda.
By Christopher Hitchens

"In my most recent book, I reprint some words from a British Embassy cable, sent from Baghdad to the Foreign Office in 1976. The subject is Iraq's new leader. His quiet coup d'etat is reassuringly described as "the first smooth transfer of power since 1958."
Read More (Slate)

Merry Xmas with Christopher Hitchens

It's that time of the year, again. Christopher Hitchens gives his views on Christmas. Clips from MSNBC and Reason Magazine HQ, from a few years back. + Bonus Track.

Results of the Munk Debate on Religion

BE IT RESOLVED, religion is a force for good in the world.

This question was put directly to the audience of the Munk Debates on Religion both before and after they listened to a debate on the issue between former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, arguing in favour of the resolution AND bestselling author, journalist and literary critic Christopher Hitchens, arguing against the resolution.

Prior to the debate, 25% of the 2,600 audience members agreed with the resolution, while 55% disagreed and 20% were undecided. Immediately following the debate, agreement with the resolution had risen to 32% while disagreement with the resolution had risen to 68%.

About This Study

This poll was conducted for the Munk Debates (www.munkdebates.com) by Innovative Research Group, Inc. (www.innovativeresearch.ca), a national public opinion research firm on Friday, November 26th, 2010.
Prior to the start of the debate, members of the audience at the Munk Debates on Religion were asked to fill out a ballot where they indicated whether they agreed or disagreed with the resolution or were undecided. Ballots were collected and the results recorded using Scantron readers.
After the debate concluded, the audience was again asked to fill out a ballot where they indicated whether they still agreed or disagreed with the resolution. In the post debate ballot, the undecided option was not provided. Again, the ballots were collected and results recorded using Scantron readers. See detailed findings below for the ballot question wording and results.
The results of this poll are based on ballots collected among spectators at the Munk Debates on Religion.

DETAILED FINDINGS

Pre-Debate Ballot

QUESTION #1
Be it resolved, religion is a force for good in the world.
AGREE - 25%
DISAGREE - 55%
UNDECIDED – 20%

QUESTION #2
Depending on what you hear during the debate are you open to changing your vote?
YES - 76%
NO - 24%

Post-Debate Ballot

QUESTION #1
Be it resolved, religion is a force for good in the world.
AGREE - 32%
DISAGREE - 68%

AT LARGE: A Conversation With Christopher Hitchens

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty writer James Kirchick recently interviewed Hitchens at his home in Washington about his left-wing revolutionary past, his views on America, Iran's nuclear program, Turkey's Islamist turn, Putin's Russia, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and sampled his views on a variety of international figures.


Play All 4 Videos.

Christopher Hitchens: My Hero of 2010

A gentleman and a truly formidable debater, Christopher Hitchens is a giant of the mind and a model of courage
By Richard Dawkins

"I'm not much given to straight, irony-free hero-worship. The last time I did a "heroes and villains" piece I chose Pope John Paul II as hero, on the grounds that he was doing everything possible to discredit the appalling institution of which he was head." Read More (guardian.co.uk)

The FP Top 100 Global Thinkers

Foreign Policy presents a unique portrait of 2010's global marketplace of ideas and the thinkers who make them.

#55. Christopher Hitchens
For refusing to surrender in the darkest of times.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/11/29/the_fp_top_100_global_thinkers?page=full

Debating Tony Blair on faith

By Christopher Hitchens

"I am sometimes asked whether I ever get tired of debating the faithful. There are two reasons why I never do. The first is that this argument is at the root of all other arguments: constituting the essential underlay of differences about philosophy, cosmology, history, textual criticism and even medicine. The second is that I never know what my antagonist is going to say, or affirm, or claim to believe."
Read More (Washington Post)

Blair's thoughts about the event.

BBC Newsnight Special: Christopher Hitchens

CH interviewed in his home in Washington D.C by Jeremy Paxman. Broadcasted on Nov 29, 2010.





Play Full Interview.

Don't Be an Ass About Airport Security

The enemy is inventive and imaginative. Our response is neither.
By Christopher Hitchens

"I did not pay any attention to last week's feeble-minded attempt at a civilian-sponsored go-slow at airport security checkpoints. When the best that the children of a revolution can do for the defense of their inalienable protection against unwarranted search and seizure is to issue the pathetic moan, "Don't touch my junk," a low point of humiliation has been reached."
Read More (Slate)

In Search of the Washington Novel

A colorful genre awaits its masterpiece.

By Christopher Hitchens

Fiction about the nation’s capital is a growth that flourishes only on the lower slopes of Parnassus. Think of the flower of our novelists—Updike, Mailer, Roth, Cheever, Bellow—and see if you can call to mind a single scene that is set on the banks of the Potomac.
Read More (City Journal)

Munk Debates: Tony Blair vs Christopher Hitchens

Friday, November 26, 2010. Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto, Canada. The official resolution, "Be it resolved, religion is a force of good for the world".

Christopher Hitchens vs. Tony Blair: The Full Transcript

New Statesman: "You may need to set aside the rest of your Saturday to get through this, but here in full is the transcript of the long-anticipated Munk debate between Christopher Hitchens and former prime minister Tony Blair. The motion: "Be it resolved, religion is a force for good in the world". No prizes for guessing who was arguing for and against.
Read it here. (newstatesman.com)