Author and well-earned contrarian Christopher Hitchens answers your top questions in a 30 min interview. Watch on youtube, or embedded below. After the embedded video are all the questions, where you can also go directly to the response for each question.
10. PSteak
Dear Mr. Hitchens,
what historical figures, events, movements, or books do you feel have been ignored, or under emphasized, in the public education of young people?
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A Struggle For Power by Theodore Draper (The book he recommends)
9. Scariot
From what I've read it seems you initially supported US led military action in Iraq and Afghanistan; do you believe that US foreign policy in Iraq and Afghanistan has had a positive or negative impact on the growth and exposure of Islamic extremism? Also, given that the countries are still plagued with problems many years after the initial invasions what direction d o you think US foreign policy should take now?
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8. BoredGreg
Where do you get your news?
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7. OmegaMoose
Do you believe in some kind of free will or do you subscribe to determinism/ incompatibilism?
Sorry. Question was accidentally skipped. My fault - not Christopher's.
6. droberts1982
You've stated that the litmus test for the Obama administration is Iran. How is the president doing in this area?
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5. Callidor
You and your fellow horsemen (Dawkins Dennett and Harris) are sometimes referred to collectively as "New Atheists." What does this term mean to you? Do you embrace it, or do you hold that there is nothing particularly "new" about your breed of atheism? Also, in god is not Great you briefly mention your disapproval of Dawkins and Dennett's "Brights" movement. Are there other significant points on which you disagree with the rest of the "New Atheists?"
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4. 1984WasNotAManual
If you were the Prime Minister of the UK, what would you do to combat religious extremism? Also, can and should the UK government try to encourage atheism, and if so, how?
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3. dingledog
I'm a nationally-ranked policy debater in college, and despite years of debating, practice, and research, I am occasionally stumped by a question asked by my opponent. Has there ever been a question asked for which you had no good answer? And if so, what is your typical strategy in dealing with these situations?
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2. adlayormoffer
You've called yourself a Marxist, but say you no longer consider yourself a socialist. This issue was addressed in a reason article a while ago, but could you elaborate more? For instance, is the power of the unaccountable corporation no longer a major concern for you? You've also been eerily silent on the health care debate (as far as I know), why?
*palsh7 has identified the essence of the question: "what consensus exist[s] between Socialism and Libertarianism?"
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1. neilk
Your speaking style is very unlike the norm today -- elevated yet accessible, aggressive but still entertaining. What goes into achieving this effect? Are there any other speakers or schools of rhetoric you draw from especially?
What do you think of the state of rhetoric and public debate in America?
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Huge thanks to Christopher Hitchens for sharing so much of his time with reddit! If you haven't checked it out already, make sure you read his recent Slate article on the TSA and airline travel.
