Charlie Rose

SharkswithfrikingLazers  03/26/2013 03:50 AM Report

Brian Lamb: Christopher Hitchens smoked a lot, is that what got him esophageal cancer?

Francis Collins: Hard to say exactly, he was a heavy smoker, he would agree with that, he was a heavy drinker, he would agree with that. Both of those are risk factors for esophageal cancer but his father had esophageal cancer, so heredity as well. It’s the old statement about, you know, genes load the gun but environment pulls the trigger, he may have had both of those going at once.

(Frances Collins, a Christian and Director of NIH, really helped Christopher and perhaps gave him another year of life. Ironic.)

keninirvine  12/16/2011 03:17 PM Report

ray4war: people who are grammatically challenged have no business commenting on a thread about a deceased master of the English language.

machngunjoe  12/16/2011 12:19 PM Report

RIP Chris RIP. He leaves us behind but his words will live on forever as well as his pursuit for reason.

machngunjoe  12/06/2011 02:24 PM Report

@ ray. Its a Kurdish pin he wears.

RichardLewis  12/31/2010 10:28 AM Report

ray4war says he can not stop looking at Hitchen's Head ! Well, Chemo does that to people. Ray is like a child seeing a one-leg man walking, a blind person, or a Vet after his legs are blown off. Chemo does that, Ray. I looked just like this last year. And if you could see the scares from my Radiation Treatments - I'm sure you would stare at them as well. Children do these things - stare at people - showing their ignornace and biases. Ray - Go to hell.

estensma  12/30/2010 09:51 PM Report

He takes things very seriously. Not that I want him to joke, but he is not in the least ruled by his passions. He looks at things critically instead of with personal feeling. I cannot judge him because I am not made the same way as him.

Jamol  11/30/2010 09:43 PM Report

Christopher Hitchens, what a GREAT & adorable guy.

greenskeeper  10/15/2010 04:01 AM Report

at 2:50 or so, you called him "Chris." His name is "Christopher".

ray4war  09/19/2010 05:03 AM Report

Is it a quincidence this interview was done on friday the 13th? IDK you be the judge. What a great man, sorry for all the posts but I am very moved by the mere thought of losing

Christopher Hitchens from this world. He has infulenced me in ways i can't explain and although I have never met the man i feel like i know him. Thank you for all your work and well hang in there because we love you. Again sorry 4 all the posts.

ray4war  09/19/2010 04:55 AM Report

Hans_Keer 08/30/2010 10:27 AM - R U serious? A 3 minute video on cutting carbs? You as_hole

ray4war  09/19/2010 04:52 AM Report

For the record Christopher Hitchens, you must be one of the most un-boring people in the (not world) but universe!

ray4war  09/19/2010 04:27 AM Report

is he wearing an Iraqi flag pin?

ray4war  09/19/2010 04:15 AM Report

I never believed in god till I seen this interview. If you know what i mean.

ray4war  09/19/2010 04:12 AM Report

i apologize in advance for this, but on full screen (42' HD) I cannot stop looking up at his head. Is it just me?

ray4war  09/19/2010 04:04 AM Report

This being the first time i have seen MR.Hitchens in such a hideous state, i suppose know one here would like to entertain the idea that this is gods little joke for all that has been said about him. And the absolute arrogance MR. Hitchens displays when talking on the subject of religion. I should also go on to say i am a huge fan of his work, but i'm jus sayin!

theodorestreet  08/31/2010 11:02 PM Report

When you read and listen to Christopher Hitchens you realize the most important thing is to tell the truth. I find that I'm listening to the truth when I'm listening to him. When I'm listening to Him. That's right, Him.

I don't actually believe in God -- surprise -- but I can see the end is in sight for conflict between if only we focus on facts and try to see our way through the issues, by using our collective heads.

Hans_Keer  08/30/2010 10:27 AM Report

Dear Christopher Hitchens, I would like you to give you this alternative path in consideration: http://bit.ly/950WH3. I would hate it, if you would have to leave this party too early. VBR Hans

JohnGelles  08/24/2010 11:18 PM Report

I have never had the pleasure of debating God with Hitchens. If I did I would substitute "force for good" for God and "force of evil" for the Devil.

I might lose the debate over the word "FORCE". Hitchens might prove all "forces" of the kind whose existence I assert are metaphysical. There is no evidence of their physical existence.

Well I only said I would have like to test him. Winning is not everything. Only the Devil thinks that.

My argument that GOD is literally GOOD is an argument for children-- who are trained to be GOOD and not EVIL. After marriage and having a child, say around 30 years of age, we might whisper to our adult children, God is often absent-- but the Devil is always present.

LawrenceLouis  08/24/2010 05:26 PM Report

A world without Christopher Hitchens would be a world that would be definitely more intellectually impoverished. A world of social commentary without Hitchens would be just as lacking as a musical world without Mozart, or the cinematic world without Spielberg. His lucid exposition of unpopular views demands the attention and admiration of even his most vociferous detractors.

I especially appreciate his contributions in presenting the case for atheism, along with men like Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett and Victor Stenger. I think one of his most important contributions as a writer, speaker, and public intellectual was to bring his contrarian fervor in defense of atheists - an underrepresented minority - and demonstrate that criticism of religion needs to become mainstream because there is so much at stake in our world, which hinges on the absurd and unsubstantiated superstitions that billions believe.

As an atheist I personally feel vindicated by Hitchens whenever I read his masterful prose in the promotion of secularism, or hear his eloquent dissection of religious tyranny, idiocy, and lunacy, during his debates. He says things which I have been thinking for years, but have never had the temerity or oratory skill to express in public.

And just as an aside, if there is a God, and atheists like Hitchens and myself are wrong, then I think he should grant Hitchens a blissful eternity, if there is such a thing. What more can a creator ask for than for his creation to function at the height of their potential, and Hitchens, unlike most men, did exactly that by marshalling the full strength of his critical facilities to examine many controversies. For God to be worthy of his name and the lofty characteristics ascribed to him, it would make far more sense that he favor a man of intellectual honesty, as opposed to a person who believes in him due to credulity, intellectual laziness, social pressure, or just taking the “safe” wager. A God who does not favor a man like Hitchens, just because he came to not believe in him, is not worthy of the name God. He is a vicious tyrant not worthy of worship or respect.

I wish Hitchens all the best, and I hope, against the odds, that he does get better soon. I can think of very few other individuals whose contributions to this world would warrant an even more aggressive pursuit for the cure for cancer than Hitchens. His is a life is definitely worth saving.

Get better soon Mr. Hitchens. You are truly an inspiration to us all.

-Lawrence

moose1  08/22/2010 01:25 PM Report

Great interview, Charlie. However, I would only suggest that when you interview, please let them speak. You often interrupt your guests and it really is irritating.

duccio  08/21/2010 01:41 PM Report

Stay with us Hitch!

We need you.

Your writing more brilliant and heady, but with an unmistakable streak of Fallaci.

Also unmistakable intellectual independence from any doctrine, save conviction for the truth and ability to speak it.

JohnGelles  08/21/2010 03:17 AM Report

As I see it, C.H has been a world class competitor in the global policy debate. His equal will be hard to find when he leaves tat game at any age-- and people who are here appear to want to hear his words all their own lives because Hitch's are so choice. Did he nail the Force of God down to the facts of life? I do it differently--perhaps. I recognize an Objective Good in addition to all the subjective goods allowed by every witness. I call that OG "GOOD"-- spelled with a single "O".

Sting2299  08/20/2010 06:49 PM Report

Hitch, you are an amazing man.

Prognosis: He will not be with us this time next year. I know, my wife just died from squamous cell cancer.

Gustav  08/20/2010 05:25 PM Report

Well, well

It is now clear to me that most members of charlierose.com is much older than me.

It is difficult not to find the interview beautiful, timeless. I'm 21 and have now for several years been thinking about the mortality of man, that the time will come. Is it because I'm living in dark and dreary Sweden, or because i hang around you lot?

I dont know anything else about Hitchens than what has been said in this video, but I don't seem to agree with a lot of his thinking. But I respect his stubborness and seemingly uncorruptable nature. I think with more people like that around the world, even with disagreements, we would tolerate and love eachother with lesser effort.

There is something about men like Hitchens that let me think "happy not to be like that..." These types of men seem to think in absolutes, dogma, categorical... whatever my English isn't top.

I would never allow myself to get stuck in views, I would like to be ever evolving. But I am wondering if you don't have to be like that to be so precise in language, debate, theories.

jimstandingbearatgmailcom  08/18/2010 07:36 PM Report

some men here on this earth,do show us a way, to live life.

i do care about the human race as does C H, i understand, that we dont need a fan fare, but just lissen, to what is being said, become the observer and tell the truth.

iam in the human races corner and do have a higher power.

i ask for the understanding of the day,at the end of the

day w/ acceptance and unconditional love.

thank you, Mr Hitchens

JohnGelles  08/18/2010 04:12 PM Report

If there were a God in Heaven He'd be a fan of Christopher H. He'd be a fan on account of CH's way with words. Even God needs to read the best-- and there's little enough of that.

CH's other fans want him with us-- even after they're gone. WHY? For the education of our great grandchildren.

CH, himself, votes for life. But he will accept death when it comes-- as will Charlie and me. Why not?

Our parts are getting old. One of these days our brains will be as useless as the teeth we lost as kids. Its all plain old biology-- where beauty is all around us-- but only for a while.

JMM  08/18/2010 02:09 PM Report

Thanks for this conversation. It was especially good to learn about what Chris's father did in WWII. Despite the elder Mr. Hitchens disregard for Communists, he was one of the men who helped stop Hitler's plan to kill 20 million Slavs and more Jews in Russia. The support that Chris has given to other targeted peoples is a form of continuity between the generations.

kaz1  08/18/2010 11:33 AM Report

i like Hitchens,but i do not care for the attacks on Clinton.Bill has done a lot for charities and to call him a sociopath is out of line.The term is totally inappropiate.I like to know what he would call bush.

Jimd3500  08/18/2010 04:13 AM Report

I, too, was very annoyed at the way Charlie so quickly steered Hitchens away from Clinton's behavior with women, but I suppose there may be legal considerations to take into account.

I was surprised to hear Hitchens say he wanted to be conscious for death - that he wanted to go through the process and experience it. I've heard him say, in one of his speeches, "You won't know it when you're dead. You won't know it. So there's nothing to be afraid of." So I'm wondering what his thinking is in this regard. What's to be gained by wanting to experience death when by the time it's over you won't even know it's occurred?

Now having said that, I've grown to like Hitchens a great deal over the last few years, and I hope against hope that he pulls through. I don't often agree when it's said of someone that the world will be a poorer place without him or her in it, but in Christopher Hitchens' case it is most certainly true. Here's wishing you all the best, Hitch.

So92625  08/18/2010 12:24 AM Report

I want to be Hitch when I grow up.

Oops.

Perhaps tea then.

To express my profound thanks for his work.

ewilgus  08/17/2010 10:08 PM Report

Is Hitch 22 an uplifting record of a man with future hope? Will the book be a comedy like the movie, Hitch or paradoxical like Catch 22? My copy is on order with elemental curiosity. After reading, I may pass to my son, who thinks dad wants him to be an engineer rather than develop his gift and passion for writing and journalism. More than anything I want my son to have hope and an eternal future.

NeilMacCallister  08/17/2010 04:17 AM Report

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS:

"The cost comes from having put off the confrontation.

"It can be a big disadvantage to think that important disagreements arise out of cultural misunderstandings.

"If you say you are changing history, you are probably not."

JohnGelles  08/17/2010 01:29 AM Report

Thought for the day (from Christopher Hitchens)-- (repeated by ThinkItUp 08/16/2010 07:13 PM):

..... ..... "The party will go on without me. What can be more horrible than that?"

.

Remember the first time you heard, "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." (Henry David Thoreau in Walden).

I guess it means the mass of men miss the party that some others want to (and will, if possible,) attend.

And one of us at the parties said death tells us the party's over-- but is just beginning for young'uns.

What can be more horrible-- if you were glad to be at the party-- and others were glad you were there?

There are parties. And there are parties. Some more upscale than others. I have to agree with Hitchen's remark-- even if I'm sure I was never at a party I imagine his were like. I went to a few with minor celebrities and people who had a bit of money.

But even the modest parties I greatly enjoyed allow me to share his honest thought of sleeping through all the next ones I'll be sure to miss.

..... ..... It will be horrible because it is at parties that we can come alive, and, even for an instant, feel good all over. Alcohol? Sure. Performance? Rarely. Accepted? Yes.

I believe Christopher Hitchens might have said the opposite-- "The party will go on-- and I will be asleep. I missed some parties before my first one. It never bothered me when it might have. I'll miss some when I'm dead--when the missing CAN NOT bother me.

But, hear this: it can bother me NOW that, I WILL miss them THEN.

..... .... And, by God, it does. I'm going to pray this instant-- that the parties I've already been to make up for any I miss.

Don't tell me I can't pray and expect it to be answered. I just did. What was the answer? Try it yourself and you'll find out. I've partied enough, prayed enough, slept enough. And written enough too.

xenophrenia  08/16/2010 11:53 PM Report

I'm not sure how many others caught it, and perhaps it's because I'm female but I was rather annoyed at Charlie's jump from Christopher talking about Clinton forcing himself on women to Christopher's relationships with them. I actually think Christopher was rather taken aback by it also. There was something wholly 'wrong' about the timing with that. It really rubbed me the wrong way.

Christopher is someone who will be an inspiration to many for a very long time to come. I sincerely hope he is granted his lucid death with as little pain possible ... much love Christopher, you've earned it.

robdverity  08/16/2010 11:29 PM Report

Nearly forgot, this is about Hitchens. He says he wants to be 'aware' at the time of death. My own mortality has been nudging me lately and I too had similar musings, tempered with the proviso of minimal pain. But maybe like birth, pain has to be part of it. The degree of intensity is the kicker. I'm a total coward.

Some outrageous irony re his mother's death - in concert with an ex-cleric of the Church of England, in Athens presumably en route to Israel, but that wasn't clear. Had to reinforce any and all atheistic tendencies.

robdverity  08/16/2010 11:07 PM Report

John - You and REM are both inveterate name-droppers, author-droppers. On REM's half I can't recall him ever resorting to ad hominems re other commenter's. Guests yes.

You've both impressed me, but doubt that's what either of you had in mind.

But, alas, you both have a tendency to wear me out. REM is too convoluted and he substitutes the tempor of his citations and the thoughts contained therein for the making of his point. Well not being up to his citations, his points are totally lost on me. Perhaps both of you should dumb-down to a more humble audience. Or maybe I insult others too easily here - perhaps it's me alone down here.

REM, e.g., has a thing for Whigs. Even tho I've Googled them I still can't grasp the 'meaningfulness' he seems to want to impart when he cites them as an example, or whatever. Here's an REM masterpiece that needs translation: "In response, I guess, to the continuing crisis of the aristocracy, these refugees from the days of the Raj, more celebrity than intellectual, must see kindred spirits among America's noble savages." Raj? America's noble savages?

When I can understand him, I usually agree.

You and he are discernible by style and content. He is usually one paragraph, you a 100 one sentence ones. Neither of which I fully grasp.

Boodles  08/16/2010 10:18 PM Report

I would love to know Hitchens thoughts on the value, if any, of people on the healthy side of the border exploring and trying to familiarize themselves with the side he now finds himself inhabiting. Since death (and taxes) are all we really know with any certainty, shouldn't we try to study it, prepare ourselves for it - or is it better to just leave it, since it is inevitable, and impossible to know until we're there? Was is something he had given much thought or now wishes he had?

Anyway - he seems to be reacting with an equanimity I've never really seen in friends who have been stricken with serious illness. I admire him for this.

JohnGelles  08/16/2010 08:32 PM Report

Sorry for the several errors I did not correct-- wish CR would tell his guys to add post-send edit to this site. Sorry too I addressed Benezraa-- he writes to the Zakaria interview-- not this one.

JohnGelles  08/16/2010 08:16 PM Report

When I was young there was a popularization of the idea that culture had three levels-- low brow, middle brow and high brow.

REMant may believe he lives at the fourth unmentioned level hyper-highbrow.

I sometimes think I have hyper-highbrow insights into political economy.

I know I have middle brow status when it comes to reading: my favorites are Barbara Tuchman, Isaac Singer, CP Snow, Nikos Kazantzakis, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, John Cassidy, Sinclair Lewis, Oscar Wilde, Anthony Trollope and some other popular writers.

Mandeville was unknown to me. I never read "Fable of the Bees".

Thanks to a Wikipedia widow available as I write, I can repeat,

..... ..... "Mandeville's philosophy gave great offence at the time, and has always been stigmatized as false, cynical and degrading. His main thesis is that the actions of men cannot be divided into lower and higher.

..... The higher life of man is a mere fiction introduced by philosophers and rulers to simplify government and the relations of society.

..... In fact, virtue (which he defined as 'every performance by which man, contrary to the impulse of nature, should endeavour the benefit of others, or the conquest of his own passions, out of a rational ambition of being good') is actually detrimental to the state in its commercial and intellectual progress.

..... This is because it is the vices (i.e., the self- regarding actions of men) which alone, by means of inventions and the circulation of capital (economics) in connection with luxurious living, stimulate society into action and progress."

.

The John Gelles of a year ago would have said "BS" a year ago to REMant and M. for such justification of greed and avarice.

But the new John Gelles has found a connection between acceptance of 'radical inequality' and radical protection of everyone of us-- via a safety net built halfway to the moon-- on account of a model very close to Mandeville's.

I play tennis nearly every day-- to win. I lose more than I win. I am a "good loser". But I'm honest. I wanted to win them all.

But other people were a little better than I am (even better than the colloquial me)-- and many play the game radically better than my best-ever performance.

So I am not ignorant of radical inequality.

On the other hand, laissez-faire promoted radical inequality may have no 'good' purpose and an even worse effect.

So my attachment to Mandeville's dictum may be sui-generis. I want government to invest trillions of dollars to allow revolutions in technology (say-- info-tek, bio-tek, nano-tek, and ad-infinitum tek,) to improve the joy and opulence of people who now are poor.

I say gov't in a democracy can only do this with the support of the elites. As Mandeville points out the elites include elite producers-- not only sons of bitches.

I reason that we must make a deal with the Mandeville's among our neighbors (distant neighbors, that is).

The deal would be-- no limit to their profits and power to pass them on to whom they will.

But government would be empowered to enrich the poor and ignorant-- via the output of thinking machines.

Meanwhile, REMant is either too dumb to appreciate the sentences of Christopher Hitchens or too smart to try.

I vote for his being too dumb.

However, in determinations of this character, majority vote don't count. RAMant is the wiser of the two or not.

If evidence is being collected on the point, Hitchens has written excellent books. There is a "there" there.

..... ..... REMant has mouthed off. And so have I.

If Benezraa (Aaron Benezra, 56, of Syracuse NY ???,) gets on my case for errors up above-- I'm sorry. I want you all to read this-- but I'm just too tired to proof it twice before sending.)

ThinkItUp  08/16/2010 07:13 PM Report

Near the end of your very interesting August 13 interview with Mr. Hitchens he said about his possible dying that, "The party will go on without me. What can be more horrible than that?" The billions of people who have died in the past are not suffering now for their own death, yet the "party" went on. Imagine it as leaving no trace of your visit here on earth. Each one of us may be mythologized or forgotten. And those of us who will be forgotten because we have gained no fame to mythologize will leave no trace of our having existed. That doesn't mean that it wasn't worth the experience of living. Mr. Hitchens will be mythologized. I prefer to leave no trace of my visit! And, thanks for the insights!

REMant  08/16/2010 02:20 PM Report

I know nothing much of Hitchens to be honest, having given up reading popular magazines and books long ago, but, that's no matter, because as far as I can see he doesn't know a lot about what he writes about either. In response, I guess, to the continuing crisis of the aristocracy, these refugees from the days of the Raj, more celebrity than intellectual, must see kindred spirits among America's noble savages. The irony is that the British with no constitution are clearly a freer ppl than we are with everything written down, or at least they used to be. In their careers this group has been all over the map intellectually, which might seem to argue for a sensible suspension of judgment, were it not for the vociferousness with which they proclaim it. Like children, everything is valued in reference to themselves and all else pronounced dogmatic. They confound reason with the sentimentality that criticized it, and blame it for all malady. But as advocates for evolution, they nonetheless refuse to believe we have animal ancestors and must face that original sin or never grow up, thus paradoxically embracing the views of the likes of Rousseau's Emile, Horace Bushnell and John Dewey, without the least acknowledgment that the latter leads to the use of the force they profess to abhor. If this comes across as unsympathetic, to a man dying of cancer, all I can say is that I'm sure he doesn't expect any.

I wanted to add to what I wrote re Amis lst week, that the sexual revolution IMHO is not about sex, but prostitution, the sale of titillation, making the business of reform into a business like any other, hypocritical in a way Mandeville would have appreciated.

TobyNSaunders  08/16/2010 12:24 PM Report

Rather telling around minute 36: Chris suggested his backing of Iraq Invasion was product of sheer friend-loyalty while his backing of Rushdie was more than friend-loyalty; it was to support morality. Rather telling indeed.

TobyNSaunders  08/16/2010 10:13 AM Report

How pathetic: smoking tobacco is worth the creative influence? Nicotine patches deliver a higher amount of nicotine than smoking does, but, without the cancer risk... they even cost less money.

I'll add, Hitchens' suicidal attitude goes perfectly with his unethical view that fundamentalist Muslims should all be murdered. Islam is bad, but not worth such virtual genocide.

Pynchon  08/16/2010 09:10 AM Report

This is Charlie's best interview because he let Hitch speak. Usually, guests have to put up with Charlie's constant enthusiasm to finish the sentences of greater speakers and writers.

And Hitch is a great inspiration. His books will live for ever. Hitch has been a massive love of mine. His erudite prose and passionate speaking are great tonics.

westfield  08/15/2010 08:57 PM Report

Charlie referred to Hitch in the past tense to his face a couple of times, like he was talking about a dead man or a myth...weird to be famously dying, to be dying famously; a transition, a recovery might provide clarity. What we're looking for is right in our own backyard.

texas  08/15/2010 07:12 PM Report

I have had the pleasure of watching this show since '98 and thought this was an excellent interview. It sort of reminded me of WFB's last interview with Mr. Rose in late '07 (I think).

_Letters to a Young Contrarian_ is a marvelous read and I thank Mr. Hitchens for so many great articles in The Atlantic over the years. Thanks to Mr. Rose as well for conducting this interview with such grace.

How nice it is to see the there is still some class on TV.

robdverity  08/15/2010 04:46 PM Report

Downloaded his "Memoirs" to my Kindle.

Wonder, if his mother were (say) Methodist, would that get honorable mention? And why is an atheist concerned one way or the other? Is it the Jewishness itself? If so what aspect of Jewishness? Historical? Reactionary? Racial? Religion (despite atheism)?

His atheistic credentials might take a hit here, unless some other sociological raison d'tre?

The VF (cited below) has great Hitchens querys re 10 Commandments. There's three sets? Learned something. He and Amis would make great tandem guests once a week.

charlizecourriers  08/15/2010 04:44 PM Report

"...and all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death....." I see no mindfullness, only duhka caused by tanha, suffering caused by thirst. It will only be through meditation that Mr. 'Itchens can achieve insight into his self-imposed pain. Is it too late?

offgrid  08/15/2010 09:12 AM Report

Chris, did you ever read any Spinoza ?

JohnGelles  08/15/2010 07:36 AM Report

The Bar Mitzvah of Christopher Hitchens. Not a bad title. Not a bad idea. But, from here, it seems unlikely.

Still, I can imagine it. I believe Christopher Hitchens is a joy to listen to on controversial matters. Perhaps the Bar Mitzvah would be non-controversial-- but it could be an intellectual adventure: discuss the ancient ritual and the modern celebration in words that only he could assemble.

Thirteen is really to young to say much that we might take for serious understanding of the embrace of family and ancestry. But, at 60 Christopher would be up to the task.

The eating, dancing and wine would go well. The concern for living longer would color the event for most people. To overcome the concern would require a sort of miracle Bar Mitzvahs are supposed to be.

We can try to imagine the event and even the speech he would have to make. It is easy to imagine its rhythms and brilliance in general, as long as we do not have to imagine all the actual words. If we read Hitch 22 we will find them in long form not short. That's a plus not minus.

Thanks for the idea, furtive. You have proved your imagination is deserved.