Stephen Fry & Friends Pay Tribute to Christopher Hitchens

On Novem­ber 9th, Stephen Fry and friends came togeth­er in Lon­don to cel­e­brate Christo­pher Hitchens’ life, loves and hates — all while Hitch watched from his hos­pi­tal bed. Staged in Lon­don by Intel­li­gence², the event brought togeth­er Richard Dawkins, Christo­pher Buck­ley, Salman Rushdie, Lewis Lapham, Mar­tin Amis, poet James Fen­ton and actor Sean Penn, with some pay­ing trib­ute in per­son, oth­ers via satel­lite.

Orig­i­nal­ly, the sell-out audi­ence of 2,500 expect­ed to see Hitchens and Fry talk­ing togeth­er about pol­i­tics, lit­er­a­ture, and ‘the things that make life worth defend­ing — foes like faith and false con­so­la­tion.’ But at the last moment, Hitchens, already suf­fer­ing from esophageal can­cer, fell ill with pneu­mo­nia and plans changed. Now, instead of being an inter­locu­tor, Fry became mas­ter of cer­e­monies, coor­di­nat­ing what odd­ly felt like a eulo­gy before the fact.

The pro­gram runs 45 min­utes, and you can watch it for free. Also don’t miss a pre­vi­ous Intel­li­gence Squared Debate where Fry and Hitchens take posi­tions on the Catholic church and whether it’s a force for good.

Relat­ed Con­tent:

Christo­pher Hitchens: No Deathbed Con­ver­sion for Me, Thanks, But It Was Good of You to Ask