i started reading the nation, i started reading christopher hitchens and i was just blown away by him. the degree to which he was so solid on the left but seem to take so much pleasure and acceleration in insulting his fellows on the left was this enormously exciting and liberating thing for me. and then when he started to move to the right, kind of start to inch their way in the only after 9/11 and iran were really move in the direction. i don't know if he ever went over to the right buddy move full speed away from the left. that was difficult for me. that somebody come upon how the people in this room have stories of meeting or drinking with christopher hitchens, but i actually never met him in person. but as sort of an intellectual hero and model, his movement away from the left was pretty painful for me. so those are the six people in the book that i just want to read, to get a sense i think my perspective and how i think about, i want to read something for the very end of the book which present most of you have not been kind to get. -- most have not gotten to yet. sort of talking

hitchens debated friends and foes on the topic of religion on this program. christopheried in 2011. now one of his closest friends joins us to discuss his new book that is beautifully written. i guess, just tell us, give us a pitch for the book. i think it's a short book. it's an airplane ride, a couple of rides. you'll get something out of it. what do you get about a guy's dying year who is an atheist? >> thank you. i hope one of the things people will get from this is we live in callture that is increasingly factualized. here was christopher hitchens and myself who managed not only to debate one another but to enjoy each other's company and a friendship. >> well, what was he searching for. everybody gets something from someone else and you learn from other people and your friend, especially. was he using you as a final sort of due diligence about whether he was right or wrong about god? >> that's a good way of putting it. christopher, after his diagnosis with esophageal cancer that he knew to be a death sentence, he took two lengthy road trips with me. here he was, it'

just he profiles the grace of political figures such as whittaker chambers, ronald reagan and christopher hitchens among many others and probes into the force that let these men from the left to the right. hailing oppenheimer as a political essay for the ages. excelling in of a trail of personal torment and caused the subject and to transitional struggle. and insightful narrative that should inspire some soul-searching among political believers of every stripe. daniel oppenheimer. [applause] >> so thank you for being here today. it's really exciting and want to thank politic politics and pros. i think it's a rite of passage for political rights in particular to do everything you. so it's exciting for me. before i get started i wanted to say what are two more things. one is to my wife who is here today, who sort of a part of the book in more ways that i can articulate. i try to get act of love into a college once but thank you for being here with me and for being here with me through all of us. i also want to sack of my kids. not i was going to be on tv but i want to say