Christopher Hitchens in Conversation with Salman Rushdie at the 92nd Street Y

[RagdollRalph]

Hahaha, the first thing you see is that hair!

[3rdWorldUnite]

This guy's hair is HILARIOUS, haha.

[WLDB]

Surprisingly calm. This was the day he was diagnosed.

[dublo7]

Terribly sad to hear Hitchens talk about his mother.

"Some wounds, I think, should stay fresh"

[rypaz87]

@MissAvatar2011 no, the comment is generally true. If you don't accept it, then you may as well have just left it at "rest in peace". As you point out, Hitch would have a problem with it but not to the condition in which he's resting, but on the proposition that he's resting at all. You were partially correct. Just curb your solipsism and you'll be quite there!

[TempleOfInanna2]

@MissAvatar2011 I know what you mean. But to be technical, even the wish of "rest in oblivion" doesn't fit. There is no rest to be. Your conciousness simply no longer exists, as in before you were born. If we did exist before we were born, there is no recollection of it thus making it irrelevant and non-existant for all practical purposes.

[hznfrst]

Ah Hitch, we miss you...

[patrick112590]

What Dorothea is he talking about? The martyr? O.o

[smurfieboo]

@patrick112590 From Middlemarch, the novel by George Elliot.

[patrick112590]

@smurfieboo And therefore not a historical figure. :P

[bfoaliali]

that morning he found out he had cancer. that day he vomitted twice because of it. that day was the day he bacame a finalist for death.

[BandWagon1987]

And now I'm thinking about death...

[bfoaliali]

@BandWagon1987 and how it robbed us of a great mind and man.

[iParadox1989]

This event actually occurred on the day Hitchens discovered he had the cancer.

[OyonTheAdept]

rest in peace, Christopher Hitchens. you will surely be missed... :(

[weefeatures]

Guy at the beginning is a retired oompah loompah

[folkhippy]

It is chilling to know that on the very day that this event took place, Hitchens learned he had terminal cancer. Somehow he went on to do this interview with Salman Rushdie, and later the Daily Show with John Stewart, all after learning of his illness from a doctor's appointment earlier that day. Incredible strength in the face of adversity to say the least.

[fluffynoses]

last time i saw these two together...that absolute braindead asshole Mos Def ruined the whole thing. glad to see that stupid ghetto dumbass isn't here to ruin a proper intellectual debate

[VenomShock]

@fluffynoses Hey man, Mos Def done be totally *incomprehensible "english"*

Two great intellectuals. I'm saddened by the death of Hitchens. The man was a genius.

[bananaear]

listening to these two talk is such a pleasure

[TonyCH0]

I'm with Anjali Elizabeth: WHO IS OR WAS Dorothea? Will someone please explain!

[thompben]

@TonyCH0

Dorothea Brooke, the heroine of George Eliot's Middlemarch.

[MikeEmery9]

The guys hair at the beginning! Hahahahahahaha

[anjalielizabeth]

Which Dorothea was he talking about?

[TheSRV007]

@anjalielizabeth Dorothea Brooke from George Eliot's imperishable novel Middlemarch.

[smurfieboo]

What is interesting in his choice of Dorothea, if she is indeed the character from Middlemarch, is how similar she is in her aspiration to the portrait of Hitch's mother in his memoir. When he says "I would've like to have rescued her" I think he's noting the double trap of these two beautiful women's lives after marrying the wrong man.

[smurfieboo]

@imbaluris Good call but I'm also unsure. Can anyone clarify?

[aspirezakura]

i couldnt stop smiling when i watched this. this is what makes hitchens far better than the other atheist commentators of today, he's fun and entertaining as well as intelligent.

[tipoomaster]

@alihammadshahX

Maybe see a plastic surgeon about that, why tell us?

[alihammadshahX]

@tipoomaster

Apparently you are the one sucking em off.

[PUMKINMANforever]

@alihammadshahX I respect your right to describe your own genitals and offer my sympathy for your condition, but I don't think this is the place to bring it up...

[Veovisce]

@imbaluris I'd bet Hitchens wouldn't have named a fictional character when asked to name a person from world history. My guess would be that he was referring to Dorothea of Alexandria, who was well-known to have died a virgin (supposedly). Executed, actually. But I'm really not sure because she's not the only figure from history to go by Dorothea.

[jdubbs530]

I did a spit take when Hitch said "a sail so raised that it ballooned by any wind of BS that came by."

classic

[5H4V3D89]

love it

[8496ricko]

Dorothea! LOL!!!!

Another hitch-slap to the Catholics. He just can't resist it. LEGEND

[veryskinnypuppy]

MOAR

[bfoaliali]

To know that before this he had just vomited because of his cancer is amazing. I hope he gets better.

[SeeProfileForDetails]

@bfoaliali puke ain'ts thy duke we is wearin a toque

[undisputedgreatest]

Salman Rushdie is very funny (no surprise.)

[LiberdadeHedonista]

@undisputedgreatest

The other day, Sir Salman said something like: "Of course I prefer the city. The country is for cows!" lol

I thought that was quintessentially Islamic, since Islam began as a reaction against living in small communities, and as a promotion of urban spaces.

Typical delightful supercilious urbanite Muslim sense of humour! :-)

[LiberdadeHedonista]

Dorothea... uuuuuuhuuhuuuhuuhhhhhhhhhhhhuh­uhuhuhuuuuu!

WICKED!!!

[undisputedgreatest]

@LiberdadeHedonista Is that a Butthead laugh? If so...well done.

[debobak]

where is the rest of this?!? this was fantastic!

[SeeProfileForDetails]

@debobak ain'ts thy why we hadded thy try

[HappyRogueStatus]

@debobak ForaTV used to have it for free. Now they're charging $10 for the full program. Fucking ridiculous. I should've downloaded it when I had the chance. I've actively searched for it and started many threads asking if anyone has it. No luck so far...

[ChollieD]

The introducer (Graydon Carter) has the most ridiculous bald guy hair I've ever seen.

[RevNTheogen]

@ChollieD like mozart rode to the y on a scooter with a cap on!

[SeeProfileForDetails]

@ChollieD we is hadded thy bald head ain'ts it a sign we ain'ts yet dead

[ChollieD]

@SeeProfileForDetails

In pentametric verse no less, thy iambs do whimsy impress

[tarnicles]

@ChollieD makes him look like a wizard

[theblob3500]

By 'Dorothea', I assume he slyly dodges the question asked to him by referring not to a 'real' person but to Dorothea Brooke, the heroine of the novel Middlemarch (1871-4, by George Eliot, aka Marian Evans). Hitchens has written and spoken of the novel admirably several times over the years.

[gcgwgc]

@theblob3500 I thought he meant Dorothea Lange, the photojournalist, although I could be wrong.

[zivaray]

In his latest Vanity Fair article, Hitchens writes candidly about being sick before this and another interview/talk as he was dealing with the onset of cancer. He writes, "...I did vomit two times, with an extraordinary combination of accuracy, neatness, violence, and profusion, just before each show. This is what citizens of the sick country do while they are still hopelessly clinging to their old domicile."

[meshgraphics]

This was a great talk. I want so bad to hear it again. Hell of a lot of name dropping. I want to make a reading list of the name tags. Interesting Hitch still holds Karl Marx in high regard even after his apparent turn to the right.

[codge52]

Yes how about the whole talk??? I walked across central park from West 93rd street to find it was sold out by the time I got there...so more posted on youtube would be great!!!

[speedyvespa]

Hitchens isn't for pulling up the ladder. I think he's saying he would hope that all immigrants to the US are economic ones - there are many political and theocractical refugees who need a US citizenship because sometimes their life, literally, depends on it. People in Ireland live under a semi-theocratic state, because the so-called democratic government pander to every whim of the Vatican. You may not agree, but I think it's a valid point. Some prefer the US to really be a rainbow nation.

[ReliableInsider]

I'm not impressed by his comment on Arizona's xenophobia. Hitchens has gotten into the boat, so he wants to pull up the ladder.

Christopher Hitchens, the immigrant, has been a left-winger all his life and now as he gets older, he's turning back into his Tory father and repudiating everything he's ever stood for.

[GaiusIuliusTaberna]

@ReliableInsider So I suppose you think the federal law its based on and moderates is xenophobic too?

[ReliableInsider]

@GaiusIuliusTaberna

When federal agents stop you at the border or arrest criminals or investigate illegal immigration that is connected with other kinds of violations, that's law enforcement.

When the local police check your citizen status when you're buying groceries in the morning and you're not even awake yet, that's harassment. That's Apartheid South Africa. That's a police state.

The American People don't work for the government. They work for us.

[GaiusIuliusTaberna]

@ReliableInsider That's an absurd hysterical piece of propaganda. Its been federal law for decades. We live in a democracy and if you don't like the laws you can elect legislators on a platform to have them changed, to call that fascism is just mindless whining.

I honestly despise the way people throw around police state with all the grace of a rotten tomato, its as if you want that phrase to have no meaning at all for when its actually required.

[jefflunar]

@GaiusIuliusTaberna If it were you being harassed by the police because of your ethnicity perhaps you would have a different opinion.

It is indeed disappointing to hear Hitchens speak of 'resentment' of immigrants that don't 'follow the rules.' People immigrate mainly due to economic reasons.

[GaiusIuliusTaberna]

@jefflunar Yes, and a lot of poor people want to get in but can't because they don't live in a country that borders the continental US. Advocating for a continuation of a broken system isn't a solution to the problem, really it just indicates a lack of will. I for one want to see legal immigration made available to far more people, why isn't that the policy being proposed as an alternative to a closed border policy? Ask that question before you ask why some people are defending the federal law.

[jefflunar]

@GaiusIuliusTaberna Advocating for immigration reform and being in favor of the Arizona law are two very different things. Our immigration system sucks. I know that. Do you truly think that Arizona's law is an honest attempt to solve this problem. I'm Hispanic and giving the cops an incentive to harass me isn't a solution.

Poor people around the world don't have the luxury of thinking about rules. They come here if they can, legally or not. I find it pathetic for someone to resent them for it.

[GaiusIuliusTaberna]

@jefflunar so you are Hispanic? My uncle was deported last year on an expired visa, he was Turkish. Tell me, which one of us has suffered more from the current immigration system, you or me?

The fact is that regardless of the intent behind it, the Arizona law represents a change of the status quo. If it takes a few thousand deportations to light a fire under immigration advocacy groups to demand reform then so be it.

[jefflunar]

@GaiusIuliusTaberna I'm not comparing myself to you so I don't know why your taking that tone. I'm sorry about your uncle. What has changed since the Arizona law? Groups have been demanding reform for a very very very very long time and nothing has happened. And going back to my initial point, I stated that Hitchen's comment about resentment sounded pathetic. I'm not against immigration reform. I'm just not in favor of racial discrimination. Two wrongs don't make a right.

[ReliableInsider]

@GaiusIuliusTaberna

The police should keep their focus on arresting violent criminals and infiltrating organized crime, regardless of citizenship status.

They should not put all of their time and energy into arresting the people who break their backs picking fruit.

[GaiusIuliusTaberna]

@ReliableInsider Then why have a system of citizenship at all? You are speaking nonsensically. By the way, picking fruit is not the sole province of illegal aliens, personally, I wouldn't mind a job doing that.

[29harveydinio]

please post the entire conversation. Christopher Hitchens and Salman Rushdie are magnificentlt illuminating.

[pugay69]

who's Dorothea?

[ComradeAgopian]

Add my voice to the wish to see the rest of the vid .

[Mromson]

Upload the rest of the video, please :)

[mlbockting]

Thanks, and like my predecessors i'd love to see the complete vid.

[sam4vimes]

Thanks for the clip, would love to see the rest.

[raidansoma]

I would love to see the complete conversation.

I waited too long to buy tickets and though I went to the 92nd street Y anyway, I couldn't wait on line more than an hour. A few who waited did get lucky and the staff was very helpful and friendly.

[zedro1000]

Would love to see more of this, please.

[DailyHitchens22]

Please post the rest.

[ichol]

Where is the rest?