Ep#194 - How Christopher Hitchens Can Save The Left - Matt Johnson

This week on The Knight Tube, Stephen Knight (@Gspellchecker) welcomes author Matt Johnson. They will be discussing Matt’s new book ‘How Hitchens Can Save the Left: Rediscovering Fearless Liberalism in an Age of Counter-Enlightenment’. Video Version on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6a4Ccp9zhQ 0:00 Intro  0:29 Why focus on Christopher Hitchens to make the points in your book? 2:59 Why does ‘the left’ need saving? 5:55 Leaving the left for the right and Dave Rubin. 09:36 What is meant by ‘the counter-enlightenment’? 11:30 Trump and the right’s hypocrisy on free speech 14:10 Richard Seymour’s terrible book on Christopher Hitchens (‘Unhitched’) 18:36 How much did ‘The Rushdie Affair’ impact the life of Christopher Hitchens? 22:04 Has freedom of speech improved where Islam is concerned since the death of Christopher Hitchens? 25:20 Would it help for people to simply admit they are scared to criticise Islam for safety reasons? 28:57 Stephen Knight’s debate with Chris Hedges about Islam 30:28 What explains the Putin apologism from the American right? 33:34 Christopher Hitchens’s support for the invasion of Iraq 40:12 What did Christopher Hitchens think about identity politics?  45:18 What is ‘fearless liberalism’? How can it be applied? 49:16 The legacy of Jeremy Corbyn 56:34 Disappointment with Hitchens’s dislike of Sci-fi and preference for limericks over puns. 01:00:14 Sensationalist Youtube Thumbnails Stephen Knight’s Substack: www.sknight.substack.com Buy Matt Johnson’s Book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hitchens-Save-Left-Rediscovering-Counter-Enlightenment/dp/1634312341 Support the podcast at http://www.patreon.com/gspellchecker Also available on iTunes, Stitcher, YouTube & Spotify.