The question has been asked why the present opposition seems to lack the moral authority of the anti-Soviet dissidents. In part, this must surely be because of the change from totalitarianism to ‘guided democracy,’ where there is – despite the murder of journalists – some semblance of a marketplace of political and economic ideas. Where there is such a marketplace, it is more difficult to achieve moral grandeur [in dissidence], though it is much easier to say something; strange compromises and alliances are made; it is not simply a matter of courageously facing down patent monolithic evil. You can oppose Marxism root and branch, from its epistemology to its practical economic corollaries; the corruption of the Putin regime seems more the consequence of the weakness of human nature than of an ideology, and few people are quite sure what they would do if subject to the temptation of a quick fortune.

An American organization called Family Security Matters has just interviewed Dalrymple about his new book Anything Goes, a collection of his New English Review essays between 2005 and 2009.

The interview is interesting, especially as it includes discussions of Dalrymple’s use of different pseudonyms, his history with the New English Review, his childhood and his appearance (or lack thereof) in the media.

Read it here.

Dalrymple is in the media a lot more these days for his newest book Litter and for his views on the rioters in England. He will be appearing on the CNN show “Fareed Zakaria GPS” Sunday morning at 10am Eastern U.S. Time to discuss the riots. I may be wrong, but I believe this will be the first time he has appeared on television in the United States. It looks like the show is broadcast internationally, but I’m not sure in which countries.

He recently gave a very short (and poorly-conducted) interview for ABC Radio National in Australia (Hat Tip to Tom R.). Halfway through, the interviewer asked him why he was qualified to have an opinion on the topic, to which someone less-polite could have replied, “Well, why did you invite me on the show?”

Lastly, the Yorkshire Post recently did this story on the new book.

I really enjoyed this interview, entitled “Unraveling the Mystery of Murderous Minds”, of Dalrymple by Brian M. Carney in the Wall Street Journal. Not only does Dalrymple make some great points about the attempt to understand Breivik’s motivation (we can’t), he does so in a way that highlights some of the philosophical undercurrents in the modern world:

The human impulse to explain the inexplicably horrific is revealing, according to Dr. Dalrymple, in two respects—one personal, one political. First, it says something about us that we feel compelled to explain evil in a way that we don’t feel about people’s good actions. The discrepancy arises, he says, “because [Jean-Jacques] Rousseau has triumphed,” by which he means that “we believe ourselves to be good, and that evil, or bad, is the deviation from what is natural.”

For most of human history, the prevailing view was different. Our intrinsic nature was something to be overcome, restrained and civilized. But Rousseau’s view, famously, was that society corrupted man’s pristine nature. This is not only wrong, Dr. Dalrymple argues, but it has had profound and baleful effects on society and our attitude toward crime and punishment. For one thing, it has alienated us from responsibility for our own actions. For another, it has reduced our willingness to hold others responsible for theirs.

Carney also provides a glimpse at Dalrymple’s personality.

…we find irresistible the urge to understand an atrocity like Breivik’s, even as we are repulsed by it. When asked whether we hope thereby to understand something about ourselves, the former prison doctor offers an arch denial: “Well, he doesn’t tell me much about me.” And then, with a morbid chuckle and wary look—”I can’t say for you…”

TD even gets the illustrated portrait treatment — in color, no less.

The smart people at Smart People Podcast have published a 37-minute audio interview of Dalrymple. I was not previously aware of the site, but they do a good job of drawing out some of the larger themes of his writing, focusing on his encounters with and ideas about evil. The interview may be streamed or downloaded.

Ed Driscoll of Pajamas Media interviewed Theodore Dalrymple last Saturday on his PJM Political radio show on the Patriot channel of Sirius satellite radio. The 20-minute interview touched on the highlights of Dalrymple’s new book The New Vichy Syndrome. Dalrymple argues in the interview that Western liberal intellectuals have seized on the inevitable dark periods of history to undermine confidence in Western society; that the great artistic, moral and technical accomplishments of Western civilization have been rejected or ignored; and that while extreme Islam does represent a challenge to the West, it is mostly a function of simultaneous doubt among Muslims about the future of Islam and the spinelessness of the Western elite.

Listen here

On February 23 in London, MEP Daniel Hannan interviewed Theodore Dalrymple in a public event sponsored by Monday Books, the publisher of Dalrymple’s two latest works, Not With a Bang But a Whimper and Second Opinion. Topics included the nature of British poverty, the National Health Service, myths of opiate addiction and the growing nomenklatura that rules Britain.

Theodore Dalrymple will be interviewed by Maurice Boland on Talk Radio Europe on Thursday, March 4, 2010 at 12:15pm Central European Time (that’s GMT +1). They will apparently discuss the potential parole of mass murderer Peter Sutcliffe aka the Yorkshire Ripper. Information on the show and a “Listen Now” link is located here.