The smart people at Smart People Podcast have published a 37-minute audio interview of Dalrymple. I was not previously aware of the site, but they do a good job of drawing out some of the larger themes of his writing, focusing on his encounters with and ideas about evil. The interview may be streamed or downloaded.
Bernard Chapin: In terms of tone, your work is downright optimistic in regards to the effects of mass European Muslim migration. This makes it a contrarian view among conservatives. Mark Steyn’s best-seller, America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It, paints a far grimmer picture. Is it possible that all the concerns over a coming Islamic EU are overblown?Read the full interview here
Dr. Dalrymple: I am not downright optimistic, but more nuanced. I think the problem lies at least as much with us as with them. By our cowardice, often inadvertently, we support and encourage Islamism. There are many stories of Christmas decorations being taken down, no reference to Christmas being made in case they should offend, etc., when no demand from the Muslim population that these things should be done has actually been made. It is, if you like, an anticipatory cringe that encourages the extremists to push a little harder at what they think is a half-open door. A fine American example of the genre is Yale University Press’s recent book on the cartoon affair.
Ed Driscoll of Pajamas Media interviewed Theodore Dalrymple last Saturday on his PJM Political radio show on the Patriot channel of Sirius satellite radio. The 20-minute interview touched on the highlights of Dalrymple’s new book The New Vichy Syndrome. Dalrymple argues in the interview that Western liberal intellectuals have seized on the inevitable dark periods of history to undermine confidence in Western society; that the great artistic, moral and technical accomplishments of Western civilization have been rejected or ignored; and that while extreme Islam does represent a challenge to the West, it is mostly a function of simultaneous doubt among Muslims about the future of Islam and the spinelessness of the Western elite.
Listen here
On February 23 in London, MEP Daniel Hannan interviewed Theodore Dalrymple in a public event sponsored by Monday Books, the publisher of Dalrymple’s two latest works, Not With a Bang But a Whimper and Second Opinion. Topics included the nature of British poverty, the National Health Service, myths of opiate addiction and the growing nomenklatura that rules Britain.
Theodore Dalrymple will be interviewed by Maurice Boland on Talk Radio Europe on Thursday, March 4, 2010 at 12:15pm Central European Time (that’s GMT +1). They will apparently discuss the potential parole of mass murderer Peter Sutcliffe aka the Yorkshire Ripper. Information on the show and a “Listen Now” link is located here.
Earlier this week, Monday Books announced that Theodore Dalrymple will be interviewed by Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan in London on February 23 in an event that will be open to the public. Tickets are for sale on the Monday Books website here (scroll down to the bottom of the page) and include a free copy of Dalrymple’s Not With a Bang But a Whimper: The Politics and Culture of Decline. Dalrymple will also take questions from the audience.
Hannan received much attention last year for a face-to-face dressing down of Prime Minister Gordon Brown in the European Parliament. The resulting YouTube video has reached over 2.5 million hits. That’s 6,500 hits for each ton of British gold that Brown (as Chancellor of the Exchequer) sold in 1999 when gold was near its record low.
Tickets are limited, so you are encouraged to buy them soon.
All profits from the event will go to the Haiti Disaster Appeal.
Theodore Dalrymple will be on the Phil Williams show on BBC Radio 5 on Tuesday sometime around 2:30pm GMT to discuss his new book Second Opinion. You can listen live here. It looks like they archive the last few shows here, in case you miss it. I don’t know anything about Phil Williams, but it is the BBC, so it should be interesting to see how Dalrymple is treated.
Hat tip to Dan Collins at Monday Books for the notice.
On October 22, Dalrymple was interviewed at the Dorset Literary Festival by journalist Rene Wyndham. This was a long and wide-ranging discussion occasioned by the release of Not With a Bang But a Whimper.
Monday Books, who recorded the above interview and mailed it (overseas, mind you) to yours truly? With the assistance of two glasses of wine, that’s how. Absentmindedness, thy name is Chianti.
Dan Collins of Monday Books, publisher of Theodore Dalrymple’s most recent books Not With a Bang But a Whimper and Second Opinion, has a post on the Monday Books blog regarding Dalrymple’s appearance Tuesday on BBC Radio 4 to discuss British approaches to treating mentally ill criminals. He links to a podcast of the segment. Dalrymple is outspoken as always.
Read it here
Oh yes… Dan has also sent us a recording of Dalrymple’s recent interview at the Dorset Literary Festival, which we hope to have online at some point, i.e. as soon as I can edit it and put it on the Speeches & Interviews page.
Theodore Dalrymple will be on the Little Atoms radio show on Resonance 104.4FM in London today at 7pm GMT, which is 2pm Eastern time in the U.S. You can listen online here. I recommend the “low quality stream”, because I’ve had some problems with the normal stream. This appears to be a 30-minute interview
Update: Neil Denny has made the interview available here. BTW, I highly recommend Neil’s show.