I wish I had found her sooner. I just discovered Camille. She is so bold, so intelligent, and so confident. Her message is so pertinent for today. I love her wisdom.

Holy Jesus, Paglia is a mountain of original intellectual thought.

Every word this woman speaks, every page she has penned, every video recorded, should be backed-up and vaulted somewhere for posterity's sake - and shared repeatedly for millennia. She is absolutely brilliant.

I keep discovering Camille Paglia as an intellectual and I am amazed every time. This video is from 2010 and she is targeting so smartly the main topics we are facing today. She is a visionary.

I don't understand these questions. It's GOOD to expose kids to nuance, because that's life. One can teach religion as history, myth, or philosophy without saying "BELIEVE THIS."

She has a tremendous point about the need to develop an appreciation of great art as (at least) a parallel to religious experience, rather than the chronic ennui of the sneering hordes.

Jian Ghomeshi is a very competent interviewer. He allows Camille Paglia to expand on her very interesting ideas, and at the same time he moves the interview along. I want him back on the media!

I had been convinced by Hitchens' arguments about religion, but then hearing this explanation of the worthiness of religion, I'm further enlightened.

this is the slowest I've ever heard Camille speak... maybe she missed her 10th cup of coffee that day... it's nice to hear her speak when she is less manic...

Camilles's absolutely brilliant.

That's it!!!!! "Learning how to sneer" that is exactly what modern post secondary education has produced. Love Her!!

How wonderful she is. Common sense, clarity, nuanced, broad and substantial view.

I love the speed of her talk; keeps me focussed. Her ideas, here, are not "shocking" and rather to easy to accept.

I have been an admirer of Camille since 1991! She shaped and informed my understanding of feminism and freedom since I was a teenager.

As soon as she brought up comparative mythology I thought of Joseph Campbell - then of course she mentions his work. If you haven't heard of Joseph Campbell before, do yourself a favor and watch "The Power of Myth;" the Bill Moyers interview with him. Then read "The Hero with a Thousand Faces." You'll be glad you did.

That was great! Camille always offers a refreshing perspective. One thing that I particularly admire is how she always talks from experience, very grounded without any blanket theories. Please Jian, if at all possible, I would love to see her back on!

I'm an atheist and a freethinker like her and, despite I reject dogma, it's true what she said, you can see the Bible and the Koran as part of the culture of a country, part of it's art, but not like the word of God. It's amazing. We must support religion comparative in schools for win respect between us. But i don't think that secular humanism is weakness, i support it. I respect Christopher Hitchens' work, God is not Great (with its prons and cons). We need a New Enlightenment.

Such a phenomenal interview. I've watched it like 20 times, and am still impressed by her piercing, nuanced insights. She may be persona non grata in the hallowed halls of academia, but the Ivy League's loss is our gain. Great to have her back on the scene.

Camille's view of Hitchens reminds me of Karl Kraus's aphorism. "He who lives without inhibition is a pig. He who overcomes it is an artist." Her intellect and knowledge dwarfs Hitchens' paltry pottage.

What a brilliant woman. I would love an interview with Ms. Paglia and Ms. Fran Lebowitz.

It´s not that complicated to teach religion without belief, it´s like studying history, maybe a bit mixed with philosophy. There´s absolutely no implications in being aware of the council of Trent or the Sunnah. It would solve so many problems and misunderstandings just to have it as a subject in school, even a small one.

I admire such conviction; this is an enormously complex notion to grasp and I do believe that what it comes down to is knowing what/how to interpret the information. Most of all, I am so grateful that she doesn't flinch in the face of adversary

she is coming to Brazil! Will see her talk about art in a couple of days! Looking forward!

love the setting

thank you!

She's wrong to say that Hitchens believes in 'nothing'; he cites literature and science and critical thinking and reflection on the human condition - that's more than enough to inform a 'good' and 'moral' life that can be passed on to the 'young'.

Teaching religion without validating theocracy is easy: teach it as fiction and teach MULTIPLE conflicting religions next to each other, without giving one more attention. Going out of high school, you should have a basic understanding of the different branches of christianity, judaism, islam, hinduism, buddhism and shintoism imo. At least. In addition to ancient/dead religions like the ones from Greece and Rome.

She looks like an older version of Natasha Leggero, but way hotter

I agree with Paglia that much of what passes for 'postmodern education' leaves people with very little to hang on to, but i have always been puzzled by her insistence on championing superficial pop culture figures like Madonna and Rhianna. It's difficult to claim that aesthetic culture has gone to the dogs, which she has said in other interviews, and then hold those kind of 'artists' up as representing something great.

never have a problem concentrating with her,she`s so lucid and bracing.read a few of her books and they`re so gobbleable.why cant we have more of her ? where is she ?

"The tiny space that human beings occupy in the universe." Wonderful

She's the best

i spent a lot of time in learning and academia and i agree with a lot of what shes says, v interesting, jung-like in its wide ranging thinking

Anyone knows if there is a debate somewhere between Hitchens and Paglia

Please translate to spanish, or add subtitles in spanish. Thank you, we need to know this in latin america.

Wow; she's fucking amazing!

She's right. My son has an action Bible and loves the stories

CAMILLE IS QUEEN!

Hitchens, in his world travels, experienced first hand the evils of religion to an extreme, which formed his stance on fighting organized religion. He witnessed the slaughter of human life in the name of god. Paglia, certainly felt oppressed, as she mentioned by the religion of the 1950's but her experience is very limited. She still felt some sort of spiritual "good" coming out of her religious experience. She had not witnessed various religious factions killing each other over dogma, did she ever see a child getting cut in half by a religious zealot as Hitch did? No, so she would naturally have a different opinion on the value of religion. Religion and the study of religious beliefs can be beneficial to a society, when its approached as spiritual discipline and NOT a political power, which is very difficult to separate the two at this point because of political infection. Having any religion "organized" opens the door to corrupting influences. I see nothing wrong with studying any religion for an individuals need for personal and spiritual insight, as a tool to aid in becoming a better human being but when any religion's self appointed leaders impose their personal agenda, as often the case, as doctrine, dogma and commands for the followers to commit themselves to under penalty of eternal damnation or death is wrong on many levels. A religions leaders should be brought into question publicly and possibly prosecuted under law. Why do we wait until a religion, under the rule of evil men, grow into a political (or military) machine and allowed to run rampant causing untold damage to society? Hitch wanted religion (and it's leaders) controlled and restricted in public affairs (political, legal and educational) and held accountable for wrong doings. Paglia wants religion to be studied for spiritual enlightenment of the individual. Both are right.

Well, you could argue that God is what we call truth or the universe. The think that makes everything exist as oppose to not. We, as human creatures don't know and may never know why things exist. The scientific core that spat everything out.

Christopher HItchens - for me - always seemed to be a serious thinker who didn't do much serious thinking.

She's an incredible thinking machine...sure do miss her Salon columns. Even DRUDGE dropped her from his list of favored columnists. May God bless and protect my favorite atheist.

Yes, it was the human followers who called for abolishing slavery, and not God HImself come down to earth. But these human beings were inspired by a faith in their religion and God. If your parents teach you to care for the less fortunate, and years later you volunteer at a homeless shelter, your parents didn't actually tell you to volunteer at a homeless shelter, but their message instilled in you a value that led you there.

I'm glad she talks fast. That way I don't day dream between words and lose her train of thought.

I have always been attracted to Paglia's intellect and humanity.

This a a good reason to watch Jordan Peterson’s Biblical Series.

She makes one or two good points, rest is a good example of what Spengler called "second religiosity". She's really promoting cultural decline as some sort of triumph in an extremely self-centered way.

I didn't say that changes in religion always lag behind society, I said that they often do. And they often do. The point, though, is that even when social progress is made in the name of religion, that progress comes from human beings, not from some "god". Good things in religion come from good people who happen to be religious.

Is there a link to her talk?

Polls have shown that Atheists know more about religions than those who claim to believe. Religion is a social/mental phenomena that has been essential and important in the development of societies. Even though 32% of Americans are Atheists, or report that they do not follow any religion, we should all have courses that review the comparative religions of the world so we can understand the motivation for many forms of art, music, early unsophisticated psychology and ethics, and many other facets of study. I'm an Atheist and came to this position because of my studies of Christianity and the sciences.

9:55 such a strong point here.

@tom dinny Good point.

A debate between her and Hitch would have been EPIC, and not her or him would win, human culture would have win a lot.

14:23 this is the exact point here, "you must substitute it with something else."

No one has yet to match Ghomeshi’s interview skills on Q, whatever his personal shortcomings. Good art form bad men.

this guy doesn't understand that you can scrub the toilet and appreciate the clean bowl without worshiping the brush. one can see the need and utility of religion without believing in god oneself. for a believer in religion belief is something deeply needed, and those who don't believe can learn the discipline of logic and refutation. i love it that she speaks in complete sentences and uses so many complex clauses and subordinate clauses. she is superb!

Listening to her thoughts on Hitchen's views 9:30 ish, makes me wonder if religion was a necessary step in human social evolution. We needed it to civilize ourselves out of caves but now we've outgrown it. or the need for it.

Hitchens was a better speaker and debater than writer; his writing had a sense of the slapdash and hurried and he seemed to lack the patience for true scholarship, which is why (I think) he gravitated to journalism. I completely disagree with you on the atheist "identity politics" that Hitchens supposedly created. He was a highly effective voice on behalf of the values of secular humanism--values largely drowned out by the constant evangelical badgering in our culture. He was a saint of reason.

all i get is the commercial WTF

Jian would like Camille Paglia wouldn't he...

Damn. Never thought I'd agree with Paglia on anything.

Nonsense. Hitchens had an evident love of literature. Take a look at some of his essays in 'Arguably' (2011).

Well, at this point I write that it comes from God (or whatever the source of their spirituality), so if you don't believe in God then that point is irrelevant for you, Nevertheless, as believers they believe that these core tenets come from God, and inspire them through their lives.

"But these human beings were inspired by a faith in their religion and God." And the values they learned from that religion come from where?

There's a disagreement - and a place for one - in America. As interesting as the religious perspective on the whole universe is, it isn't human purpose as more radical, and accepting. Economics - humans, actually - shouldn't even rely on that; that's not just the reach of addressable compassion. Jesus got people, but there's still understanding, and joy.

"Q with Tom Power" ... with Jian Gomeshi ... !

@imblessedso I don't understand your comment.

Her criticisms of Hitchens and other "cynics" are just plain wrong. Just because he thinks it's silly to take anything in the bible seriously doesn't mean he cannot be appreciative of literature and art as a way to teach and inspire a person throughout their lives. She says you can't destroy without replacing it with something. That doesn't mean the bible shouldn't be replaced with something more beneficial as a tool to teach.

I wish there had been an actual debate between Paglia and Hitchens. That would have been legendary. I do think he would take her to task on her comment about new atheists only teaching kids to sneer. As much as I think some of the attempts to create a secular sacred have been laughable and embarassing (see the video Daniel C Dennet on What Should Replace Religions), these folks are often brilliant expositors of the majesty of the natural world.

But I wish Ghomeshi would let her follow her train of thought, rather than redirect her.

wonder how she feels about jian

why does she always have to mention susan sontag?

She is dead on about the restraints on primitive barbarism by religion. I really like Hitchens but he was blind to this. If he was fair he would carry this forward as well. PS: She is very confused about everything. Secular humanism has failed, but I still want graven images and sexual freedom (does she mean to encourage sexual freedom?). Perhaps it's the consequence of being human, this organized chaos.

I can't agree. There are plenty of times that religion has taken positions contrary to society, whether it be early Christians against gladiator games, or Quakers against slavery, etc....

I'm sure he didn't try slapping Camille around.

People should be free to adhere to any ideology they want, including religion. Most western people are not replacing Christianity with anarchy, as most religious people like to think. The West is replacing dogmas with science and philosophy the West itself produced. If you gotta believe in something, and it's gonna form the base of your civilization, why not something empirically logical?

"the bible - Hebrew poetry" Paglia

that is not decaf in Camille's mug

Ahhhh the irony. Gohmeshi now in the crosshairs of a victimhood loving young woman. Where did she find this eternal victim hood? What ideology constantly reinforces this "females are victims" narrative at all times? Hmmmm. Feminism has come back to bite him in his personal life and it's affected his professional life.

I don't think the Bible forbids graven images in the sense of art at all. The 10 commandments mean graven images for the purpose of worshiping those graven images, which people did do and still do.

True if by "morality" you mean "sense of morality", but not true if you mean specific codes of morality.

Some of the questions were weird... she's great though, bit wrong about hitchens, but a bit right too.

@musicality43 right. Proven fact that fast talkers are manipulative. I am a slow talker that thoroughly thinks the argument through so it's bulletproof when presented. Otherwise I don't present it. Fast talkers stress me out.

Why is it that no religion has ever been able to tell us that homophobia is wrong? Or slavery. Or genocide. Or misogyny...

@imblessedso Of course they are linked, as human endeavours trying to understand the world. Science doesn't necessarily lead to moral conclusions, but it can do. Those who think they have something moral to say often use science to back it up. Inextricably linked, I'd say. I've read lots of books on philosophy ;-)

People don't get a code of conduct from religion. Religion gets its code of conduct from people. Religion is the beneficiary of human morality, not the source of it.

She states that the western bourgeois who believe in nothing needs to study Eastern religion and realize that belief in nothing is something. And all of the wonderful spiritual implications of that which would effectively challenge this new conservative orthodoxy.

Finally, an atheist I can respect intellectually!!

Ghomeishi! Such style and panache. He was SO GOOD! CBC acted far too hastily ... Like everyone else in these witch hunts who guilt a person before the verdict is out. Cowardly.

She looks at Jesus as a wonderful performance artist. That's miraculously funny!

@chrismanxxx alright, maybe you're right about the Apollo/Dionysian thing but in Sexual Personae this theory is certainty substantiated (by more than cheap hollow sarcasm). Sure religion has a blemished history, but I disagree with Hitchens' tactic of nit-picking hypocrisies and presenting them as if they represent religion as a whole. Easy on the sarcasm man, there's only so much YT can take.

american hero

Wow! I came across this video for what I thought was the first time but notice that I commented on it a few months ago and my comment(s) have been deleted. I can't remember what I said but it must have been something good. It probably was something along the lines of this person not being sufficient to interview a mind of Camille's depth, range or magnitude.

@321bytor Yeah, and her belief seems especially silly seeing as how important Hitch regards the King James Bible to be.

That Laptop though ...

I disagree. Religion gets even specific codes of morality from people. After all, all religions and all gods are human creations and the moral codes associated with those gods and religions change as society changes. Changes in religion often lag behind social changes, of course, but they do follow along eventually.

She is my love, but the one I have never met. Imagine waking up and going on with conversation and spending the day talking to Camille. I get drunk. . To talk to Paglia would be like singing with Frank.

they use to call them philosophers now they are provocateurs, funny that been said I absolutely donèt agree with her , there are other books that give you light, the bible is a resume of other books stitched together.

Paglia is always entertaining. I disagree strongly with her contention that the morality of religion has benefited and civilized humanity. Government and the rule of law function perfectly well without any religious underpinnings. She does not acknowledge or explain the resulting wars and ongoing tensions that result from the clash of these differing world religions. The fanaticism and self-righteousness spawned by these competing faiths is a perfect formula for endless armed conflict.

CBC forgot to edit out the truth @ 14:45: "All of us in the West need to be concerned about the passion in jihadism….We are a ripe target for disaster….because of the vulnerability of our advanced technology to a determined attack by small bands of people who can simply paralyze the power grid and throw the entire culture into anarchy." Jian laughs: "I don't have that much more time with you here."