Recent Forum Panelists Christopher Hitchens, Anthony Bourdain and Samantha Bee Release New Books

If you're keeping up with the book club of past Forum panelists, you have a lot of reading to do this summer. Recent Forum panelists Christopher Hitchens, Samantha Bee and Anthony Bourdain have all released books in the past month.

Hitchens' memoir Hitch 22 tells of his young life, his time in British boarding school, his literary friendships with Martin Amis, Ian McEwan and others and, um, getting spanked by Margaret Thatcher at a party (I can't make this stuff up). As his friend McEwan said, "If Hitchens didn't exist, we wouldn't be able to invent him." Hitchens lived up to his reputation and was a polemical panelist at our 2009 Forum, God: Big Questions... Bigger Questions with Rabbi Harold Kushner and Reverend Peter Gomes.



You can also view the entire Forum conversation at TheForumChannel.

Samantha Bee's collection of funny personal essays is titled I Know I Am, But What Are You? She cracked us up when she appeared with Seinfeld's Jason Alexander and Daily Show Executive Producer David Javerbaum at the It's Satire! Forum last Season.



Anthony Bourdain's Medium Raw is the follow up to his best seller Kitchen Confidential, which was released ten years ago. Like Confidential, it gives an inside look at the restaurant industry. But unlike Confidential, Bourdain has a lot of famous acquaintances in the food industry, and he doesn't hold back - even on Alice Waters, the mother of the slow food movement. He got his jabs in on her at the Food for Thought Forum in 2009, when Alice Waters told the audience that she would have shark fin soup as her last meal. Bourdain quipped, "That's not local!" to audience laughter and applause.

More Forum Videos!

Here are a few more videos from last week's Forum God: Big Questions...Bigger Questions.


This moment in the Forum has induced some visceral reactions from people on both sides of the debate. While it may be uncomfortable for some, I think it worth revisiting because of the sincerity with which all parties make their points. Rabbi Kushner, Rev. Gomes and Mr. Hitchens answer the question, "Why do good things happen to bad people?




The question here,"Is the issue between believers and non-believers or between the religions?"

Forum Highlights!

We are still buzzing, the phones are still ringing, emails are still coming in!

Last weeks Forum, "God: Big Questions...Bigger Questions," was awesome. Some people loved what panelists Rabbi Harold Kushner, Christopher Hitchens and the Rev. Peter Gomes had to say, and some HATED it. Regardless, they are talking about it and THAT makes the Forum a great success.

We have a clip posted on youtube now. Watch for more clips!

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlhkUiN583w




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Behind the Scenes: GOD

Why God?

Last night our diverse panel of experts lead us on a provocative and enlightening journey exploring the role of God in people’s lives and the common language we have used across all cultures and time to make sense of the mysteries of life.

Let's take a look behind the scenes!

The evening began with the panelist meeting. Here, Rabbi Harold Kushner, Rev. Peter Gomes, and Christopher Hitchens along with Moderator Connie Schultz had the opportunity to meet and greet each other before the Forum got underway.

Next it's off to the YOUTH Forum press conference. Here, YOUTH Forum Members, who are high school students from around the state, have an intimate opportunity to ask the panel anything that is on their minds.

Once the Forum was underway, the stage was electrified with a spirited, enlightening, and eye-opening conversation about God and religion. Stay tuned to our YouTube Page for clips of the Forum!

Ever wonder what's happening back stage at intermission?

A group of Forum Subscribers, Friends of the Forum, and Sponsors gather backstage to sort through your great questions, in preparation for the second half.

The panelists grab a quick snack in the green room.

After the program ended, we had the opportunity to ask Christopher Hitchens just one more question backstage...

(Click Here to see a video of Christopher's water board experience)

Want more insight on what happened back stage? Check out Forum Valet Peterson Toscano's Blog!

It's your turn! Share your reactions to God, leave us a comment!

Get to Know the God Panleists!

The God Forum is less than a week away, which means it's time to do your homework and get to know the panelists!


Rabbi Harold Kushner is a spiritual leader and the best-selling author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People. Check out beliefnet.com for a great archive of Kushner videos and resources.









Christopher Hitchens is a journalist and the best-selling author of God Is Not Great. Click here to listen to his interview on WNPR this morning!












Rev. Peter Gomes is a distinguished Baptist Preacher and Harvard Chaplain. You can listen to his archived sermons here.









The program will be moderated by award winning journalist and author Connie Schultz. Check out Connie's blog!

For more information on our panelists, visit our resource page

Questions for God

Here at The Forum, we believe that the more we seek to understand different perspectives, the better we will be.

That's why before every Forum we convene task groups composed of diverse members of our community to help us develop a thoughtful discussion outline for the Forum moderator. Since Forums are live and unscripted with no speeches or prepared remarks, we do not share these discussion outlines with panelists - just the moderator. Even so, Forums are always unpredictable due to dynamics between panelists, the skill of the moderator, and questions posed by the audience.

At our first task group meeting for our upcoming Forum, God: Big Questions...Bigger Questions, featuring Rabbi Harold Kushner, Rev. Peter Gomes, and Christopher Hitchens, we talked a lot about the questions many people have about religion, faith, and God, such as:

• What does it mean to be "spiritual" versus being "religious"? What's the difference?
• Who/what is God? How do you define God?
• How do we use God to make meaning? What difference does it make whether or not God exists, and how, if at all, does it affect how we live our everyday lives?

Now we'd like to hear from you!

What questions would you like to hear in a discussion about God? What topics or concepts do you think would make for a fascinating Forum with our panelists? Let us know! We welcome your thoughts.

It's...a Forum Blog!

Hello and welcome to the The Connecticut Forum blog - your place for the latest Forum news, videos, and discussion about issues affecting our communities and our world.

For the past 16 years, the Connecticut Forum has brought world-renowned experts and celebrities to the stage of the Bushnell Theater in Hartford, Connecticut for the purpose of talk...the free and active exchange of ideas that challenge your beliefs and inspire you to think. Our live, unscripted, provocative Forums get the conversation started, and we make it our mission to keep it going - to engage and connect people across geographic, economic, social and racial divides for the purpose of building community.

There's simply nothing like the Forum experience, and through this blog we hope to share it with you. We invite you to join the conversation, to check out our Forum video clips, and of course, if possible, to come find out for yourself what makes us unique!

This Season, we are thrilled to bring Elizabeth Edwards, one of the most inspirational women and knowledgeable political insiders to Hartford to reflect on the office of the presidency, democracy, and the future. She will be joined by Matthew Dowd, chief strategist for the 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign and Joseph Ellis, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Founding Brothers.

Later this Season, Christopher Hitchens, the best-selling author of God is Not Great will participate in our discussion about God: Big Questions...Bigger Questions. Hitchens recently allowed himself to be waterboarded for an article he wrote in Vanity Fair entitled, Believe Me, It's Torture. The video of Hitchen's experience is perhaps as torturous to watch as it was for him to endure. You be the judge.