. >> let's watch christopher hitchens for a moment. answer. >> people are getting fed up being pushed around by ordinary they are o think better than us because they have on their side. enough of this, it's very insulting, threatening, and stupid and it's becoming, now we ave the chance that the apocalyptic weaponry will fall into the hands of messianic of organizations, armageddon-type forces. present danger. >> did you ever believe in god? >> no. >> did your parents? yes. they must have done at some point. but i think my father must have done it. i don't know this. i always have this doubt about affirm they believe in god. do they believe in all the time, day,ey believe in it every do they have crisis of faith. organic ey have an church to prove they believe. >> god is mentioned in your book more than anything else? >> yeah. >> what would you say? >> i talked to christopher 0 times on the air and many times as a guest in his home. i love the guy. him a great deal. his brother, peter hitch ince is faith and he in his brother would deb

. >> that shtick, the difference between sam and christopher hitchens is one of intellect. hitchens' for middle, deep learning across a wide array of abilities and fields, and he was fearless. he would go to beirut and get into fist fights with the syrian nazis and almost get kidnapped. he would earn the right to be cavalier about everything, and to be as abrupt and abrasive as he wanted to, because he was orwell. the true man of freedom. sam harris is a promoter of sam harris. so to be provocative that way with that which is most important people without the book learning and without the thinking and without the world experience, i think, is cavalier and trite. >> what if people said that about you? >> they can and have and will. "the happiest life" i try to put on display how to live my life, how i have done. i had this conversation yesterday with three young reporters from the "washington free beacon." the town is now lousy with 20-year-olds with opinions. i was not published until i was 28, and not really publish until i was 35. by that time i had had a few jobs in the g

. >> our friend, the late christopher hitchens, wrote eloquently about his illness. he also wrote about dickens, i think the last thing he wrote. >> he just had this incredible attentive memory to summon up dickens but i think one of the things about dickens is the way in which he stays with you. if it's your profession there's this extraordinary shelf of books which as we were saying you can look and find endless contemporary references and as time is past the strength of that body of work has made him really the english novelist. remember that even shakespeared that period when people thought he wasn't that good and his plays were given happy endings where romeo and juliet are not dead in the end. even shakespeare has a slump, you know, before he's established as the national poet and playwright. dickens, too. it's now at a point where if you're a writing in the english language you must know about dickens. >> dickens and shakespeare on the same page? >> yes. i think when you talk about it, one way to know why is to think of a character like scrooge. how does one c

christopher hitchens wrote about dickens. >> one of the things about dickens is the way in which he staysith you as a writer. if it is your profession, there is an extraordinary shelf of books. you can find endless contemporary references. as time has passed, the strength of that body of work has made him the english novelist. even shakespeare had a period where people thought he was not that good. his plays were given happy endings. that was a bit of a downer. even shakespeare has a slump before he is established as the national poet and playwright. dickens, too. if you are a writer in the english language, you must know about dickens. >> i think shakespeare comes up a lot when you talk about dickens. think of a character like scrooge. how does one come up with a scrooge? how does one come up with a hamlet? there is something about a character creation that becomes iconic the first time you read it. you only find that in shakespeare and dickens. i think you can almost make that statement. >> one of the things they have in common is a brilliance portraying lowlife. think about shakespeare

but also along with christopher hitchens, you really made the word atheist acceptable and i think before that, people were ashamed to say that they were an atheist or they were embarrassed and as you pointed out before, you can't run for office in this country if you are an atheist or say that you are not a believer. but i know that you -- this is part one of two parts of your autobiography, "an appetite for wonder: the making of a scientist." you hardly mention religion and not. why is that? >> well, i've written about 10 books and all of them are about science and the science that they are about implies atheism in a way. so this book is about my early life, childhood schooldays, do your best in life. so i suppose i just wanted to tell the story of my life in case anyone was interested and it doesn't dominate. >> i know where ever you go, there are crowds and people always want to ask you questions about religion in the universe and why are we here and the meaning of life. are you tired of that? >> no, because those questions are very important. something that you said just now about ma