Chris Hedges
Born	(1956-09-18) 18 September 1956 (age 55) St. Johnsbury, Vermont, USA
Education	Colgate University, B.A. Harvard Divinity School, M. Div
Occupation	Journalist, writer
Spouse	Eunice Wong

Christopher Lynn Hedges (born September 18, 1956) is an American journalist, author, and war correspondent specializing in American and Middle Eastern politics and societies.^[1] His most recent book is The World As It Is (2011).^[2]

Hedges is also known as the best-selling author of War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning (2002), which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction. A quotation from the book was used as the opening title quotation in the film The Hurt Locker (2009). The quotation reads: "The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction, for war is a drug."^[3][4][5]

Chris Hedges is currently a senior fellow at The Nation Institute in New York City.^[6] He spent nearly two decades as a foreign correspondent in Central America, the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. He has reported from more than fifty countries, and has worked for The Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio, The Dallas Morning News, and The New York Times,^[1] where he was a foreign correspondent for fifteen years (1990–2005).

In 2002, Hedges was part of the team of reporters at The New York Times awarded the Pulitzer Prize for the paper's coverage of global terrorism. He also received in 2002 the Amnesty International Global Award for Human Rights Journalism. He has taught at Columbia University, New York University, Princeton University^[1] and The University of Toronto. He writes a weekly column on Mondays for Truthdig and authored what The New York Times described as "a call to arms" for the first issue of The Occupied Wall Street Journal, the newspaper giving voice to The Occupy Wall Street protests in Zuccotti Park, New York City.

Biography[link]

Christopher Lynn Hedges was born in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, the son of a Presbyterian minister, the Rev. Thomas Hedges. He grew up in rural Schoharie County, New York, graduated from the Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, Connecticut, in 1975 and attended Colgate University where he received a B.A. in English Literature. He later gained a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School, where he studied under James Luther Adams. He was awarded an honorary doctorate in May 2009 from the Unitarian Universalist seminary, Starr King School for the Ministry, in Berkeley, California.^[2]

Hedges is a critic of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians, and was also an early and vocal critic of the Iraq War. He questioned the rationale for war by the Bush administration and was critical of the early press coverage, calling it "shameful cheerleading". In May 2003, Hedges delivered a commencement address at Rockford College in Rockford, Illinois, saying: "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."^[7]

His newspaper, The New York Times, criticized his statements and issued him a formal reprimand for "public remarks that could undermine public trust in the paper's impartiality."^[8] Shortly after the incident, Hedges left The New York Times to become a senior fellow at The Nation Institute, in addition to writing books and teaching.^[8][9]

In his December 29, 2008, column for Truthdig, Hedges identified himself as a "socialist" in contrast to what he sees as "ruthless totalitarian capitalism".^[10] On November 4 2011, Hedges was arrested with others in New York as part of the Occupy Wall Street demonstration.^[11][12] Hedges has appeared on the syndicated Democracy Now! television program.^[13][14] and George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight.^[15]

Chris Hedges is married to the Canadian actress Eunice Wong. They have two children and Hedges has two children from a previous marriage.^[2]

Books[link]

[edit] War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning (2002)

Hedges' bestselling War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning (ISBN 1586480499) draws on his experiences in various conflicts to describe the patterns and behavior of nations and individuals in wartime. The book was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction.

[edit] What Every Person Should Know About War (2003)

Hedges is also the author of What Every Person Should Know About War (ISBN 1417721049), a book he worked on with several combat veterans.

[edit] Losing Moses on the Freeway (2005)

Losing Moses on the Freeway: The 10 Commandments in America (ISBN 0743255135) was published in June 2005. The book was inspired by the Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski and his ten-part film series The Decalogue. Hedges wrote about lives, including his own, which had been consumed by one of the violations or issues raised by a commandment.

[edit] American Fascists (2007)

American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America (ISBN 0743284437) was published in January 2007. In this book, Hedges argues that the Christian fundamentalist movement emerging today in the United States resembles the early fascist movements in Italy and Germany at the beginning of the last century, and therefore constitutes a gathering threat to American democracy.

[edit] I Don't Believe in Atheists (2008)

I Don't Believe in Atheists (ISBN 141656795X), published in March 2008, is a critique of what Hedges perceives as a radical mindset that rages against religion and faith. Hedges states the book was motivated by debates he had with atheist authors Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens who, Hedges feels, excessively demonize religion, particularly Islam, in ways that, Hedges believes, were eerily similar to the thinking of Christian fundamentalists. The 2009 paperback edition (1416570780) was retitled When Atheism Becomes Religion: America's New Fundamentalists.

[edit] Collateral Damage (2008)

Collateral Damage: America's War Against Iraqi Civilians (ISBN 1568583737), with Laila Al-Arian.

[edit] Empire of Illusion (2009)

Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle (ISBN 9781568584379) was published in July 2009. It is an exploration and critique of how literacy and meaningful relationships have been eclipsed and replaced by illusion and spectacle in American culture and society.

[edit] Death of the Liberal Class (2010)

Death of the Liberal Class (ISBN 9781568586441) was published in October 2010 by Nation books.

[edit] The World As It Is (2011)

The World As It Is: Dispatches on the Myth of Human Progress (ISBN 9781568586403), a collection of original Truthdig columns, was published in April 2011 by Nation Books.

References[link]

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (March 2012)

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Chris Hedges

• Chris Hedges' hub on Truthdig
• Chris Hedges' articles in "The Nation"
• Chris Hedges on Charlie Rose and interview
• [1] on web.ebscohost.com
• Hedges, Chris (February 2011). ""Hope,From Now On"". Vital Speeches of the Day. http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?hid=17&sid=7274f798-8110-478b-ba0e-93a0cb240cc4%40sessionmgr11&vid=1&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=57850102. 

• Hedges, Chris (2007-07-07). "A Declaration of Independence From Israel". Truthdig. http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20070702_a_declaration_of_independence_from_israel/. Retrieved 2009-12-13. 
• Hedges, Chris (2007-11-18). "U.S. IN THE TIME OF EMPIRE?". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on 2007-12-21. http://web.archive.org/web/20071221001844/http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20071118_U_S__IN_THE_TIME_OF_EMPIRE_.html. Retrieved 2007-11-18. 
• Hedges, Chris (May 2005). "Feeling the hate with the National Religious Broadcasters". Harper's. http://www.harpers.org/archive/2005/05/0080541. Retrieved 2007-04-11. 
• Hedges, Chris (2004-12-16). "On War". New York Review of Books Volume 51, Number 20. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/article-preview?article_id=17630. Retrieved 2007-11-18. 
• Hedges, Chris (2004-11-15). "The Christian Right and the Rise of American Fascism". TheocracyWatch. http://www.theocracywatch.org/chris_hedges_nov24_04.htm. Retrieved 2007-01-31. 
• Hedges, Chris (2003-05-20). "Text of the Rockford College graduation speech". Rockford Register Star. http://www.rrstar.com/localnews/your_community/rockford/0521hedgesspeech.shtml. 
• Hedges, Chris (2003-03-07). "Bill Moyers talks with Chris Hedges on the eve of the Iraq War". NOW. http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript_hedges.html. 
• Bush's Nuclear Apocalypse - An article written by Chris Hedges and published on the 8th of October 2006 on www.truthdig.com and on www.pravda.ru in Italian (L'Apocalisse Nucleare di Bush)
• I Don't Believe in Atheists - An interview with Chris Hedges by Charly Wilder at www.salon.com, 13 March 2008, on why New Atheists are as dangerous as Christian fundamentalists.
• Our Father - An essay by novelist Christian Bauman that provides a behind-the-scenes view of the writing of What Every Person Should Know About War, at IdentityTheory.com, February 2009.
• Nation Books description of Death of the Liberal Class, October 2010

Video links[link]

• Chris Hedges lectures at The University of Toronto on Death of the Liberal Class. November 4, 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNrDej7aXMs.  55mn
• George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight. CBC. November 3, 2010. http://www.cbc.ca/strombo/videos.html?ID=1633345372.  13mn
• The Agenda with Steve Paikin: debate with Chris Hedges on The Liberal Class. TVOntario. October 29, 2010. http://www.tvo.org/TVO/WebObjects/TVO.woa?videoid?648567296001.  37mn
• The Agenda with Steve Paikin: interview of Chris Hedges on The Liberal Class. TVOntario. October 29, 2010. http://www.tvo.org/TVO/WebObjects/TVO.woa?videoid?648511066001.  14mn
• Chris Hedges - The Death of the Liberal Class: Talk by Chris Hedges at Media Sanctuary. October 17, 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYCvSntOI5s.  46mn
• Chris Hedges - The Death of the Liberal Class: Q & A by Chris Hedges at Media Sanctuary. October 17, 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfPDp0jCT_U.  40mn
• Chris Hedges - Empire of Illusion: Interview by Allan Gregg. March 19, 2010. http://www.tvo.org/TVOsites/WebObjects/TVO.woa?b?9078811269050400000.  30mn
• Chris Hedges - Empire of Illusion. December 12, 2009. http://fora.tv/2009/12/08/Chris_Hedges_Empire_of_Illusion#fullprogram.  1h22mn
• Chris Hedges - Collateral Damage: America's War Against Iraqi Civilians (Google video). June 27, 2008. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=221047753114925234&hl=en.  1h05mn
• An evening at Maryknoll with Chris Hedges (Google video). February 21, 2007. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3031605291712829016.  1h10mn
• Chris Hedges on “American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War On America”. Democracy Now!. February 19, 2007. http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/19/1545218.  46mn
• Who Are the American Fascists?. Cambridge Forum/WGBH. February 14, 2007. http://forum.wgbh.org/wgbh/forum.php?lecture_id=3345.  1h14
• The Hour. CBC. February 6, 2007. http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/video.php?id=1357.  10mn^{[dead link]}
• BookTV talk. CSPAN. Jan 18, 2007. http://www.booktv.org/ram/feature/0207/btv020407_4b.ram.  54mn
• Teach-In at G.W. University (Google video). December 4, 2006. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4447302406546777538.  33mn
• The Connection: Iraq and the Meaning of War with Chris Hedges (Google video). Houston PBS. November 28, 2006. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2766855390159220776.  27mn
• War is a Force that Gives us Meaning with Chris Hedges. UCTV. November 1, 2004. http://www.uctv.tv/search-details.asp?showID=9109. 1h
• Commencement address at Rockford College (YouTube video). May 17, 2003. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAWMgYyAtHU.  21mn
• War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning. WGBH Forum Network. Jan 22, 2003. http://forum.wgbh.org/wgbh/forum.php?lecture_id=1123.  1h18mn
• Hedges: President Obama is a "Poster Child for the Death of the Liberal Class" - video interview by Democracy Now!
• The Image of Faith in America conversation at World Affairs Council of Northern California, April 2008
• The Ten Commandments in America book discussion at Chautauqua Institution, August 2008
• The Empire of Illusion book discussion at The New School, December 2009
• C-SPAN Q&A interview with Hedges, July 27, 2008
• In Depth interview with Hedges, January 1, 2012

Audio links[link]

• Chris Hedges interviewed on Death of the Liberal Class December 1, 2010, KBOO Community Radio
• Chis Hedges lecture on corporate power and media January 9, 2010 web audio lists and program times
• Chris Hedges interviewed on Humankind Public Radio November 15, 2009
• Chris Hedges and Adam Sternbergh on CBC debate the effect of sensational pop culture September 16, 2009
• Chris Hedges talks on consumer culture, the cult of the self, corporations and media manipulation. July 22, 2009
• Scott Horton Interviews Chris Hedges. Antiwar Radio. October 19, 2007. http://www.antiwar.com/blog/2007/10/19/chris-hedges-3.  26mn
• Christo-Fascism?. The Dennis Prager Show. February 21, 2007. http://www.townhall.com/TalkRadio/Show.aspx?RadioShowID=3&ContentGuid=59039e61-9970-4791-a7ef-37979a4e6877.  35mn
• American Fascists. Pacifica Radio. February 16, 2007. http://uprisingradio.org/home/?p=1153.  21mn
• The Religious Right. CBC Radio. February 8, 2007. http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2007/200702/20070208.html.  28mn
• Author Argues Christian Right Hurts Democracy. NPR. Jan 25, 2007. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7020219.  30mn
• On David and Goliath. Open Source. July 26, 2006. http://www.radioopensource.org/on-david-and-goliath.  1h
• Does God love war?. March 11, 2006. http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=18141. 
• Reflections on War. AFSC. November 6, 2004. http://www.afsc.org/resources/audio/ChrisHedges.htm.  35mn
• War Is A Force that Gives Us Meaning. Altruists.org. October 11, 2003. http://www.altruists.org/f222.  49mn
• War Is A Force... Reading by Chris. (suitable for dial-up users)
• Has Religion Been a Boon or Bane to Humanity?. Kuow.org. March 27, 2008. http://www.kuow.org/program.php?id=14588.  54mn
• Chris Hedges presents his newest book, Empire of Illusion http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/36777