Conversations with History: Victor Davis Hanson

Classicist and columnist Victor Davis Hanson talks with UC Berkeley's Harry Kreisler about the classics, war, and what we stand for in the post-9/11 world.
[9/2004] [Show ID: 8867]
More from: Conversations with History
(www.uctv.tv/cwh)
Explore More Public Affairs & Politics on UCTV
(www.uctv.tv/public-affairs)
Public Affairs UCTV goes beyond the headlines to explore economics, public policy, race, immigration, health policy and more. Hear directly from the researchers so you can be informed to make important decisions.
UCTV is the broadcast and online media platform of the University of California, featuring programming from its ten campuses, three national labs and affiliated research institutions. UCTV explores a broad spectrum of subjects for a general audience, including science, health and medicine, public affairs, humanities, arts and music, business, education, and agriculture. Launched in January 2000, UCTV embraces the core missions of the University of California -- teaching, research, and public service - by providing quality, in-depth television far beyond the campus borders to inquisitive viewers around the world.
(www.uctv.tv)

[@susannahfaria3588]

I could just binge watch VDH all day long.

[@xrxs1020]

That's what I've done today. Our education proceeds until the day we die.

[@adam__mark]

Absolutely

[@richardhausig9493]

I split my time between VDH and Stephen Kotkin, but yes! Great mind, great communicator.

[@snapmalloy5556]

I could listen to this man endlessly

[@nonrepublicrat]

why??

[@jascharl]

@@nonrepublicrat Hos depth and breadth of knowledge.

[@tarhunta2111]

Fascinating.Victor is a rare man of true intellect which America desperately needs.

[@j.kevinhunt147]

If you deem shallow, simplistic, bumper sticker analysis to be the characteristic feature of intellectualism, then you're right.

[@wally1452]

Dr. V. D. Hanson, one and maybe the best historian around today. I would listen (and have) to this easy to understand professor for hours. Oh, that we had more like him.

[@Ratkill]

What a titan. I'm new to his work and it's exciting to find someone with this kind of all encompassing command of reality.

[@davidwhited9223]

7f😮😮.4T

[@chrisdavis7710]

What an incredible interview almost 20 years ago . Talk about full circle as 2021 comes to an end tonight at 12Midnight .Let's all be grateful 🙏 for everything we have and stop being so spiteful ,deceitful and Angry .We all have a right to be heard without jerks trying to twist the truth and the facts. Happy New Year 2022 will be here in a wink 😉 of an eye .God bless to all !

[@FloydMaxwell]

Extraordinary interview. VDH is the national treasure of national treasures.

[@jr2020yt]

Victor Davis Hanson's fine scholarship and wisdom shine through in this fascinating interview. He provides many deep and valuable insights into Western civilization and culture. This interview is recommended as an excellent introduction to his brilliant work.

[@itsnotatoober]

Who the fuck are you?

[@peterallen9536]

Great white breaching

[@GustavoDebiasi]

L l L L0p P

[@stephenpowstinger733]

Right

[@tommyodonovan3883]

A great man like VDH doesn't need an interviewer to ask him questions although this interview and interviewer are very good. One on his best.

[@6663000]

Wow I got chills when he pulled out his necklace to show the ring. I've probably listened to VDH speak for a couple hundred hours total at this point, I hadn't heard that story. I wonder if he still wears it around his neck.

[@jamesgibson11]

Mmm

[@LetsFindOut1]

His synthetic view of both ancient and modern history really makes me want to read the classics before making any conclusions about the present. An inspiring man.

[@buzzries2040]

Another great Victor Davis Hanson interview, very much enjoyed this, thank you

[@tommyodonovan3883]

Even his older interviews are gold, I started watching VDH about the time CV19 hit, I discovered the ancient Greeks.... a silver lining.

[@jluvs2ride]

Conflict is the nature of humanity. There is no peace, only brief lulls in the fighting.

[@BrianJohnson-bb2vi]

This man is well worth listening to.

[@nlrmoldw1712]

@ Brian Johnson You said a mouthful there. I love his balance and insight. Again, like you say, he’s well worth listening to. He possesses great clarity of perception and understanding. Great teacher... in my humble opinion!

[@jarvisidlette236]

This man is a genius

[@oldsalt8011]

Happy Birthday Victor 🎉

[@manaschakraborty9192]

He is an ocean of knowledge...

[@xrxs1020]

Interesting man, a rare breed of pragmatics, abstractions and the academic. . For every question he answered there were ten more I would have wanted to ask.

[@mrniceguy7168]

this interview, particularly towards the end, is horrifically relevant today, even if the people and issues have changed.

[@tommyodonovan3883]

I never really watched this particular interviewer, he is very good.

[@stephenpowstinger733]

Like a good historian that he his, he sifts through thousands of facts and developments to find meaning and a story that fits what is happening. Analysis of recent history is more difficult, less reliable and unforeseen happenings (like C-19) have thrown challenges to find the way forward and retain a reasonable optimism. Always a deep thinker.

[@greggfreeman225]

Ijjj9j ok

[@ortommy]

I love this interview great job on both.

[@michaelweber5702]

Thank God , I'm 74 , maybe I can learn something valuable before I die...

[@bobandbally88]

Profound. America could be an enlightened nation if your view were shared

[@kwnorton5834]

Connection with the land keeps us grounded. This connection informed our ancestors across the US. I too came from a family connected with the land across the generations. Smart government cannot arise from a people without this connection. We’ve moved so far away, especially as we accepted the Faustian bargain we’ve made with Big Tech. Greek literature informs our humanity and helps us cut through all the misinformation.

[@gigyoung7181]

After 50, VDH’s seated posture is perfectly acceptable.

[@robertmize327]

😂🎯👍

[@AnilKumar-wc5pm]

@@robertmize327 a Pam is not the named

[@benjaminpendleton7797]

Check out William F. Buckley's posture. 😁

[@jameshoude1654]

This Gentleman has a VERY GREAT MIND ☺️.... America Thanks you.

[@susanarsoniadou3588]

@@michaelkilcommons57 Are you on crack or cocaine?

[@JDAbelRN]

@UCgiPbAaHBac_ierA1rpqwUg where do you live? I bet usa. If so, move to another "failed socialist State " such as Venezuela, and live on the beach as a useful idiot, and text as your heart desires. Loser.

[@robertgabuna355]

Very enriching interview...

[@wally1452]

A Great broadcast. Thank you for posting. w

[@Bill-uo6cm]

Victor Davis Hanson is beyond brilliant.

[@44bosnagirl]

thanks VDH

[@liquidcyberpunk]

i dance to this song when i wake up in the morning.Time to go to work.^_^

[@augustemaquet1295]

Great content thanks!

[@Rextrent]

One of the good ones.

[@Purplexity-ww8nb]

VDH ... the best there is at what he does.

[@josephclark5414]

"As we saw the other day in Fallujah"! Just hearing that is crazy.

[@6663000]

Brilliant man.

[@tomtom21194]

What he said at 44 mins is prophetic for the craziness we are seeing now

[@alitlweird]

The date says “2004” but the opening theme song screams, “1983!”

[@chernobylcoleslaw6698]

Dude it's a straight banger! V E R Y A E S T H E T I C

[@buzzries2040]

Kinda devo or Depeche Mode UNPLUGGED.

[@jascharl]

College publication.

[@naj70]

Clear thinking in 2022. Timeless and pure.

[@Josh-pe5pl]

Fascinating!

[@rollotwomassey]

The Q & A at 48:00 nails it perfectly.

[@barb2576]

VDH is the truth.

[@rexboyles1529]

Listen to this man!

[@toebarsrealm3773]

The interview is 16 years old and the things he said still apply, maybe more than ever. The intro seemed like something from 1978 tho. :)

[@jdanderson915]

We need about 100 Victor Hansons. Send them to Washington D.C. and get it right. But dont get power hungry (which goes against human nature). I see moee as Victor as Marcus Aurelius (sorry I am sure there is Greek equal ) enlightened Philosopher King.

[@errolkim1334]

8 bit intro music for a 64 bit discussion

[@PaulHigginbothamSr]

Victor speaking of his namesake reminds me of a modern song which sings, "The Night They Pulled Old Dixie Down". It goes on to say, "They should never have taken the very best". So everywhere in town Victor goes, he is reminded he doesn't quite measure up to the "real" Victor Hansen.

[@budgibson185]

Thee night they drove Dixie is the correct title

[@errolkim1334]

Every now and then i come back here just to listen to the theme music.

[@tomaszliberadzki7548]

i like the street fighter music at the start

[@danielryan9076]

Brilliant

[@dukedematteo1995]

I wonder what VDH thinks of Col David Glantz and his work on the Eastern Front....esp how impressed he was with Soviet military leadership, Stalin himself and the Soviet's crucial (probably the most crucial) role in defeating Hitler's Germany.

[@JDAbelRN]

At 36:35, VDH describes an interesting story about an Uncle KILLED in Okinowa in WW2. He got in touch with a warfare of Uncle who eventually sent a ring of his Uncles that he now wears around his neck. Now I know what to with my Dad's HS class ring of 1942. My dad was in Japan ww2, but can't give to daughters nor neices who would likely sell it and not appreciate this treasure. This summer, going to jeweler and place on a chain till I die, because he was so skinny after Great Depression, it does even fit my little finger.

[@maxmajoros8917]

still so relevant

[@javiercastillo7516]

michael parenti devated with hanson, but i wonder why i cant find it

[@xavierpaquin]

I love the theme song

[@errolkim1334]

Hi I'm Harry Kreisler.

[@unpopularopinionedpariah6102]

This was good

[@stevenorman7731]

Mortimer Adler would be proud.

[@MorphingReality]

hahaha the theme is so catchy

[@jondavid9601]

You haven’t been around for 50 years-that’s the theme of information.,education, and public TV from the late 70s well into the early 90s

[@TheWinterShadow]

And this was 14 years ago. He knew what was happening.

[@sandrakoker3277]

14 years ago? ???????😳✅

[@hymnofashes]

@batslayer34 As if we went to war to liberate women. No country has ever gone to war for that reason, ever.

[@stephenpowstinger733]

You don't need a war to liberate women.

[@alanstrawn732]

Barney Fife interviews Albert Einstein..................lol

[@lindareboh-king1064]

I bet he doesn’t contribute to the New York Times. This was published 10 years ago.

[@schechter01]

Certainly not today, not with the way the NYT has drifted steadily leftward in the last several years.

[@buzzries2040]

Ha, yeah. VDH is truth. Ny Times is all lies.

[@mikegalvin9801]

16 years ago the NYT, although left of center both editorially and in terms of reportage, was still a serious publication which would have published a serious writer like Mr Hansen. Long gone now.

[@errolkim1334]

Pop acid. Listen to the intro music. Let Victor Hanson transcend your being.

[@bubiruski8067]

Why is his name Kreisler ?!

[@helenmonteferrante8796]

Would have loved to have seen him with a position in the Trump cabinet. Education?.

[@JDAbelRN]

Secretary of State ? This interview is seventeen years old. Though, I don't really know, his interlocutor, I surmise is left leaning professor, give this is originates in Berkley, is fair and is good interviewer. Found it when searching for Peter Robinson's Stanford University interviews.

[@RyanCFoster]

VDH, 20 years ago at 50:13, said "we're in a war of the 'hearts and minds' for Americans..." and this remains true. But 20 years on, I would say forget the hearts, let the Left pull at the strings of those... I am more concerned about the American minds... and finding what remains of the American spine.

[@lornespry]

30,000 P39 Aircobras sent to Russia?? No The entire production was less than 10,000, which was still a lot for any aircraft of the time.

[@ES-hd6ov]

This man is beautiful, But you must look at war from a biblical prospective to truly understand the main and most underlying reason for all wars. Santan

[@buzzries2040]

Satan? Religion? Power? Land?

[@tenaciousdfan9]

Santa?

[@MichaelMcCausland-pg6qs]

Your culture is everything that’s why it’s called Agre culture

[@oghazal]

Didn’t other ancient civilizations discuss democracy like the Greek did? Did u study ancient China as much as Greece for example? Please make that comparison to become even more credible. Thanks so much.

[@dt6822]

Apparently 2004 WAS ancient history judging by the graphics and the music of the intro. Harry Kreisler is 90% brain and the rest underdeveloped human appendages.

[@buzzries2040]

I don’t know if that was meant to be funny but I laughed out loud.

[@PearsAreOkay]

Haha that's very appropriate; it seems like the entire set and room are an extension of that being and VDH is just entertaining this interview (his posture didn't seem very comfortable in the beginning 😂)

[@Zach-mj8ir]

If I'm forced to find a criticism of victor. He's a bit hawkish .

[@Zach-mj8ir]

If you're worth your weight in gold you can be a raptor sometimes.

[@dickstahura7769]

You repl

[@billstiles1635]

Hi I

[@patricksherwin7604]

I just want to know if he was good at math. I'm simple.

[@mcsoja]

MATH🧢

[@tudorlucian9013]

Com 66 men 669k sub scribe er ss of 114,204 vie ss con taind perimeter hobyy farm of 60 acres still more philosophical than a hard labor worker on a hobby farm ,.,!.,.1k likes but 63 dislikes missing the hour 9 ,.,.

[@darlenesmith2668]

His.bc

[@johncarriere1893]

I don't like this kriesler guy

[@alboss1665]

Why?

fucking Libtard belongs in Ancient Aliens

[@michaelkilcommons57]

At 49:10 Victor Hanson says that we are in Iraq to institute a liberal regime and not to take their oil. If he is telling lies about such fundamental issues, can he be believed in anything he says?

[@shadythereok]

Who says we take the oil?

[@buzzries2040]

No. I think he said that the DOCTOR wasn’t there to take their oil.

[@buzzries2040]

@S. Labouisse you need to get your head out of your arse more.

[@buzzries2040]

@@michaelkilcommons57 I disagree with you. I follow VDH closely and find nothing he says to be false. His facts are credible and his opinions are sound.

[@6663000]

First of all, VDH is right about everything. Secondly, the US has not "taken" a drop of Iraqi oil. Thirdly and fourthly, when the US invaded Iraq only about 6% of their oil imports came from Iraq and the number of barrels imported from that country remained relatively stable after the invasion, and the US has essentially been energy independent for the last few years under Trump. Maybe you've been watching too much CNN.

[@typxxilps]

Well, the host of the series is the most underestimated cause he has to listen and ask the right question, let Hanson reply. Unfortunatelly the whole outlook went wrong: Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan big defeats of the US All under the call for safety fighting terrorism. Really? I doubt cause when had the US been fighting the RAF, the red army fraction, which was a terrorist group from 70 to 90s who had killed dozens before they disappeared. Over all nothing had been won except new generations of enemies had been formed by the occupation forces in iraq and Afghanistan that had not be prepared how to behave or we have to accept that the US army is a mirror of the american society treating prisoners like slaves, sexual abuse and water boarding as the new normal of kindness. But that has been part of the US forces since the day they landed in europe when american war crimes happened against axis powers and their civiilians but also against civilians of those territories they claimed to have freed - just to rape the women in france and all the other countries. How many american soldiers had been court martialed for raping in europe or war crimes ? Why didn't the american society asked for answers and what the military had done that his could happen again, I mean the war crimes against the defenders of those beaches they tried to take and the others tried to defend ? Many books mention these war crimes, victims and also the criminals that ruined the american reputation. In fact from the 4 ocupation forces we had faced the american soldiers were the second worst - after the russians regarding rape. Cause what happened afterwards ? Every x th rape lead to a woman giving birth to a children that had no friend when she got pregnant cause their friends were german soldiers who were dead or in prison camp. So they gave birth and the churches took those babies and gave them to families to adopt them. Pretty easy to detect the amount of children who were the result of a rape and the occupation zones were strictly separated. And from the amount of children born you can do the reverse equation to the amount of raped women by that occupation force. From bloody omaha beach over vietnam and napalm burned children to Afghanistan we have a bloody line that the societies of the allies are not willing to carry anymore as seen in iraq where france and germany said: "We are not convinced that Hussein has poison weapons" that was the official US reason to declare war and invade. And the US will loose a lot more societies of the allies except those in need for protection aka as eastern european states close to russian borders. Will there be any society willing to send troups and defend what outside their territory? For sure not under any US lead force cause that will end up in another Kabul where the US decided to leave without letting the others know to prepare in time. Will the USA pay for the refugees that will not make it to the US but to europe caused by american destruction of the afghanistan society ? Those refugees would not exist if there had not been a 20 year long occupation ... The allies will not go for another war. Ukraine and Taiwan will be the next big hot spots for sure where the Ukraine one was caused by the US promise to defend the Ukraine if the Ukraine returns all nuclear weapons to russia - a promise from 1991 or so. We would not have to talk about crimea if the Ukraine still would have the nuclear weapons they have had in 1990 cause Putin would not have risked to see Moskau erased by 10 nuclear bombs from Ukraine. But now it is too late. And the next big step will be all about the chinese sea where mostly no european society would like to send their soldiers to sacrify their sons.

[@scarlodonnell3631]

Gotta say, you have a lot to say bout how negative the us is in this world…..your doing two things simultaneously A) ignoring all,the good the United States has done for,the world and B) through omission, completely glossing over many, many nations have done far worse in history and in current geopolitical climates throughout the world. Every nation has blood and rape on its hands. Every one. The United States is still the greatest superpower ever overseen by God Almighty my friend.

[@douglasroseveare7295]

France sold nuclear technology to Iraq in the late 70's early 80's and Iraq had a weapons program that Israel and UK took out long before USA went into operation Desert storm. I used to be a contractor and Iraq had chemical weapons, end of story. It is pointless to be kind to evil people.

[@petrospetroupetrou9653]

Warmongering...who cares what the Greeks did 2500 years ago. If you think war is OK then stop complaining and go for. Why war only under certain concocted conditions or situations that suit the interests of some. Other wise stop glorifying it, or justifying it.

[@davidsnedeker8098]

Interesting. This near fascist certainly has become more strident and deceptive in his cups.

[@sanniepstein4835]

Knowledge of history=fascism???

[@davidsnedeker8098]

Benito and italian visual culture gave us the word fascism. And eurocentric definitions mostly ignore the fact that "fascism" has and still does, have many iterations around the world, most ignoring the specifics of syndicalism and govt structure in 20th century italy. With that. . . Hanson is a genre california fascist, an american regional sub specie of the beast, characteristic of the right wing of the california GOP of the birchers, nixon, reagan, etc. Hanson's "history" is a rich old man's ego response to a popular culture he fears intruding on his gentleman's farm. A bookish conservative's death rattle. @@sanniepstein4835