Seymour Hersh on his career, Syria, Osama bin Laden and more, with Adam Shatz

Seymour Hersh talks to Adam Shatz about his career and recent articles on Syria and Osama bin Laden.
More London Review Bookshop events: lrb.me/events
Read Seymour Hersh in the LRB: lrb.me/q50
ABOUT THE LONDON REVIEW BOOKSHOP
Located in the heart of Bloomsbury, just a Rosetta Stone’s throw from the British Museum, the London Review Bookshop has established itself as an essential part of the capital’s cultural life. Opened in 2003 by the London Review of Books, it’s a place for people who love books to meet, talk, drink excellent tea and coffee, consume delicious cake, and of course, browse.
Our selection of more than 20,000 titles ranges from the classics of world literature to the cutting edge of contemporary fiction and poetry, not forgetting a copious display of history, politics, philosophy, cookery, essays and children’s books. And our lovely shop, designed by Amanda Culpin of utility provides the perfect setting in which to explore them all.
THE CAKE SHOP
Surrounded by books and fragrant with tea, the London Review Cake Shop is the modern answer to London’s long-lost literary coffee-houses. Accessed through the Bookshop via a corridor in the history section, the Cake Shop offers a small but vibrant menu, a wide selection of fine teas and a superior espresso. Above all, it provides a haven for reading and reflection.
The London Review Bookshop and Cake Shop are open Monday- Saturday, 10 a.m. - 6.30 p.m. The Bookshop is also open on Sunday, 12 p.m. - 6 p.m.
14 Bury Place, London WC1A 2JL. Tel. [phone].

[@Killoea]

It's amazing the contrast between Seymour Hersch style of journalism and Fox News/MSNBC/CNN/ABC/NBC/CBS journalism

[@hazelwray4184]

Seymour started out as a 'Beat' reporter - my initial thought was Ginsberg and Kerouac.

[@patrickaucoin2344]

great reporters are great story tellers

[@seltonk5136]

Not this fella

[@thehistoryofeverything5707]

Seymour sure gives a lot of clues to who his sources are.

[@averyjones5149]

I was surprised by the insult Hersh gave WikiLeaks. He always seemed to praise him.

[@HomeBummingit]

Fucking time limits. If you find someone with the time, fucking take it!

[@JCResDoc94]

40:00 On Rumsfeld - "OUT!"

[@TheAngularMomentum]

@1:00:21 "go read..?.. on democracy." I cant make out the name anyone help me out?

[@johnorona99]

Bileful KaHn tocqueville

[@TheAngularMomentum]

John Orona thanks, I eventually got there. Lol.

[@ripvanwinkle1819]

Yeah his "work". Lol. He's the lone journalist, just like oswald was a lone gunman

[@johnayers2483]

Your dad had to work? God forbid!

[@hazelwray4184]

"My father died young and I had to work"

[@terry4137]

@@hazelwray4184 if you could do something that made you a lot of money you’d take it. Work smarter not harder.

[@adamwallace7638]

“Career” just full of lies to make money

The usual Jewish success story.

[@TheSpiritOfTheTimes]

Damn, Hesh is muddle-headed. And he's done important work and all that, but there's no question that his sources tell him what they want reported. Maybe it's true, maybe it's not, but it's what they want reported.

[@basstrip73]

Of course they do. If they seek him out and have a story they want to pass on to him obviously they want that story shared with the public. If they did not want it reported they wouldn't tell a journalist about it. As for truth..Hersh has a reliable track record that speaks for itself. That does not mean every word his contacts have shared with him is 100% true and happened exactly as they say. He has to use his skills and experience as a journalist to make a judgment call based on a number of factors and do followup research when required. As a journalist he trades on his reputation and the accuracy of his reporting. That is a matter of public record. The person below who typed in all caps that Hersh predicted Bush would go to war with Iran and OMG HE WAS WRONG is missing the point. A prediction is an educated guess about something that hasn't happened yet. Ponder that for a moment. No Bush did not go to war with Iran but can anyone deny there is not a part of the American establishment that would dearly like to go to war with Iran? Plans to attack Iran (and Syria and Libya and Lebanon and Iraq) have been in the works for quite some time and Iraq, Libya and Syria have been attacked ,or are being attacked, and the drums of war are again beating loudly with the necon guy Kiristol (can't recall his first name atm) openly advocating "regime change" in Iran on Twitter just recently and the Trump administration rattling sabers at Iran (and Russia and N.Korea and China). If you are going to call Hersh's reliability into question both of you need to come up with something more solid than vague speculation and crowing a prediction that was not 100% accurate. Weak, very weak.

[@hazardousjazzgasm129]

I don't know if you finished the vid or just didn't pay attention but he addresses this a couple of times in this video. Besides, going straight for the whole "reliability of sources" angle is what every single CNN or Channel 4 interviewer does to try and smear him without understanding how the sources work. Hersh has several fact checkers that speak to his sources, which is also how many major newspaper outlets work too. Also keep in mind that in several interviews Hersh has mentioned not writing or reporting on certain things given to him by anon sources despite the fact that they were juicy stories: not enough corroboration to be verified, the source refused to speak with fact checkers, the evidence was too circumstantial or speculative, etc. So this idea that Hersh overly relies and publishes everything given to him from sources and just takes them at their word without ever making carefully calculated judgments is just unfounded.