Christopher Hitchens on the Iran Hostage Crisis and October Surprise (1991)

Topics include October Surprise, Debategate, the Iran-Contra affair.

The Fund for New Priorities in America sponsored a forum entitled, "An Election Held Hostage and the October Surprise: What Really Happened," to discuss recent allegations that advisers from the 1980 Reagan presidential campaign cut a deal with Iran to delay the release of the American hostages until after the election in exchange for arms. Panel members included Gary Sick, a former member of the National Security Council who has raised awareness of the issue through editorials and media appearances. A letter signed by eight of the former hostages in Iran requesting a congressional investigation into the involvement of the Reagan campaign was circulated through the House of Representatives and the Senate. Sen. Wellstone expressed his support for a full investigation into the matter by a congressional committee.

Christopher Hitchens on the Special Relationship Between the United Kingdom and the U.S. (1990)

Topics on the viewer call-in show include Winston Churchill, the Cold War, Margaret Thatcher, Rudyard Kipling, the British Empire, Question Time, Thatcherism, British Parliament, the CIA, British English, Thomas Paine, official government secrecy, unemployment, and television.

Christopher Hitchens: The Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie, and Free Speech (1989)

Hitchens' support for the right of Salman Rushdie to write and publish The Satanic Verses: A Novel nearly cost him his life. After participating in a public reading of the book following the controversy, a pipe bomb was found in the venue that had failed to detonate. Rushdie himself spent years in hiding, while others connected with the book were attacked, and in some cases, even killed. Here Hitchens defends freedom of speech as part of a call-in show on the eve of George Washington's birthday in 1989:

Christopher Hitchens on the African National Congress, South African Apartheid, History, Desmond Tutu (1985)

Christopher Hitchens on Ronald Reagan, the Invasion of Grenada, and Freedom of the Press in the U.S. (1983)

An early Hitchens appearance on American television, here he criticizes the U.S. invasion of Grenada and faces a largely hostile viewing audience while he attempts to defend the freedom of the press. Other topics include Lebanon, Iran, Israel, anti-communism and U.S. foreign policy. The full second hour of this program remains unfortunately unavailable, though clips can be found online.

Christopher Hitchens on Iran, Al Gore, Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger (1988)

Topics include the media, presidential campaigns, Bob Dole, the Iran-Contra affair, Richard Nixon, Al Gore, Ronald Reagan, Michael Dukakis, Mario Cuomo, Jesse Jackson, Irangate, Elections, Money, Iran, socialism, Tipper Gore, and Henry Kissinger.

Bill Maher on the War on Terrorism, Oil, the Environment, and Religion (2002)