Matt Johnson – The Lessons of Christopher Hitchens

0:00 How Matt first encountered Christopher Hitchens 6:07 Matt’s new book, How Hitchens Can Save the Left: Rediscovering Fearless Liberalism in an Age of Counter-Enlightenment 8:00 Why Matt thinks Cornel West’s Vietnam-Afghanistan analogy is flawed 14:21 What’s worth preserving in the left-liberal tradition? 21:38 Matt: Identity politics is a “toxin” 27:20 Was affirmative action ever necessary? 35:29 Matt: I wish the left would rediscover Hitchens’s universalism 45:04 Hitchens’s “fearless liberalism” Recorded July 6, 2023 Links and Readings Matt’s new book, How Hitchens Can Save the Left: Rediscovering Fearless Liberalism in an Age of Counter-Enlightenment Hitchens’s NYRB review of Douglas Murray’s Bosie: A Biography of Lord Alfred Douglas Hitchens’s book, Why Orwell Matters George Orwell’s book, Keep The Aspidistra Flying Glenn’s recent conversation with Cornel West Matt’s Quilette essay on John Mearsheimer Matt’s Quillette essay on Bayard Rustin Jonathan Eig’s King: A Life Nathan Glazer’s book, Affirmative Discrimination: Ethnic Inequality and Public Policy Roland Fryer’s NYT oped, “How to Fix College Admissions Now” Glenn’s debate with Hitchens Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Atlantic essay, “The Case for Reparations” Bayard Rustin’s 1965 Commentary essay, “From Protest to Politics: The Future of the Civil Rights Movement” Norman Finkelstein’s book, I’ll Burn That Bridge When I Come to It!: Heretical Thoughts on Identity Politics, Cancel Culture, and Academic Freedom Glenn’s conversation with Norman Finkelstein

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