Chris Hedges

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

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. A quotation from the book was used as the opening title quotation in the critically acclaimed and Academy Award-winning 2009 film, . The quotation reads: "The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction, for war is a drug."

Chris Hedges is currently a senior fellow at The Nation Institute in New York City. 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 ',, ', and The New York Times, 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 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,, Princeton University and. 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. Chris Hedges is married to the Canadian actress Eunice Wong. They have one child and Hedges has two children from a previous marriage.

Biography
Christopher Lynn Hedges was born in, the son of a minister, the Rev. Thomas Hedges. He grew up in rural New York, graduated from the  in Windsor, Connecticut in 1975 and attended  where he received a B.A. in English Literature. He later obtained a from, where he studied under. He was awarded an honorary doctorate in May 2009 from the seminary,, in Berkeley, California.

Hedges, an outspoken critic of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians, was also an early and vocal critic of the. 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 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."

His employer, 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." Shortly after the incident, Hedges left The New York Times to become a senior fellow at The Nation Institute, write books and teach.

In his December 29, 2008 column for Truthdig, Hedges identified himself as a "socialist" in contrast to what he sees as "ruthless totalitarian capitalism." On November 4 2011, Hedges was arrested with others in New York as part of the Occupy Wall Street demonstration.

Hedges has appeared on Democracy Now! and .

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 for Nonfiction.

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.

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 and his ten-part film series. Hedges wrote about lives, including his own, which had been consumed by one of the violations or issues raised by a commandment.

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.

I Don't Believe in Atheists (2008)
 (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 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.

Collateral Damage (2008)
Collateral Damage: America's War Against Iraqi Civilians (ISBN 1568583737), with Laila Al-Arian.

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.

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

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.

Video links

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 * 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
 * "No Work, No Shopping, Occupy Everywhere": May Day Special on OWS, Immigration, Labor Protests coverage of May Day, 2012 by Democracy Now! panel includes Chris Hedges

Audio links

 * 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
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 * War Is A Force... Reading by Chris. (suitable for dial-up users)
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 * Chris Hedges presents his newest book, Empire of Illusion http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/36777
 * "In Depth with Author and Journalist Chris Hedges" Interview by Brion Lamb on C-Span January 1, 2012
 * "In Depth with Author and Journalist Chris Hedges" Interview by Brion Lamb on C-Span January 1, 2012