Hedges was an early and vocal critic of the plan to invade and occupy Iraq. In May 2003 he gave a commencement speech in which he said, "We are embarking on an occupation that, if history is any guide, will be as damaging to our souls as it will be to our prestige and power and security." The Times reprimanded Hedges for "public remarks that could undermine public trust in the paper’s impartiality" and demanded that he stop speaking about the Iraq war. Refusing to accept these restrictions, Hedges left the paper to become a senior fellow at The Nation Institute, write books, and teach. He is the author of War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning (2002); What Every Person Should Know About War (2003); Losing Moses on the Freeway (2005); American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America (2007); I Don’t Believe in Atheists (2008); and Collateral Damage: America’s War Against Iraqi Civilians (2008, with Laila Al-Arian). Hedges has written for numerous publications including The Nation, Foreign Affairs, Harper’s Magazine, The New York Review of Books, Mother Jones, and Robert Scheer’s web magazine Truthdig where he publishes a weekly column.
UT professor Robert Jensen will interview Hedges onstage, putting to him questions highlighting key ideas from Hedges’ work on the critical political, cultural, and theological issues of our day. Jensen will ask Hedges to draw on his varied experiences — from his training in divinity school to his coverage of the modern war — to help us understand the threats we face and the ways we can come together to face those challenges.
Among other things, Hedges will hopefully be discussing themes from his new book, Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle.
Tickets are $11.50 ($10 plus a $1.50 processing fee). Proceeds go to the new Austin People’s Community Center. Tickets are available by calling or visiting: MonkeyWrench Books, 110 E North Loop Blvd, Austin, TX 78751, (512) 407-6925.
Location: St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, 14311 Wells Port Drive, west of I-35 off Wells Branch Parkway.
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I wish I could be there. Please follow up with a report on what he has to say.
you make me almost wish i still lived in tx. chris hedges AND robert jensen ? sounds awesome. will there be an audio recording? i’d love to be able to give it a listen and i bet i’m not the only one. thanks CO!
I will try to do that Jim. I’m looking into getting these things recorded–they need to go to wider audience.
The clarity of thought in his writing is without equal, but at the same time I don’t find any hope and it depresses me so badly I can’t read too much of his writing.
I think some last minute arrangements are in place to get the event filmed and edited. If that can be done, I’ll post a link up. It should be interesting.