{"id":63136,"date":"2018-07-20T20:53:00","date_gmt":"2018-07-21T02:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=63136"},"modified":"2018-09-05T09:52:59","modified_gmt":"2018-09-05T15:52:59","slug":"a-last-comment-on-freedomfest-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/07\/a-last-comment-on-freedomfest-2018.html","title":{"rendered":"A last comment on FreedomFest 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"World<\/a>
Looking at the very building where I\u2019m currently sitting on a balcony.
(Wikimedia Commons public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Before FreedomFest 2019<\/a> draws too near, I want to post my final comment about the just-concluded FreedomFest 2018.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

My participation in FreedomFest 2018 commenced with a private Wednesday night dinner with roughly twenty invited guests, including such folks as\u00a0as John Mackey<\/a>, Michael Shermer<\/a>, Mark Skousen<\/a>, Daniele Struppa<\/a>,\u00a0Deirdre McCloskey<\/a>, Grover Norquist<\/a>,\u00a0Steve Forbes<\/a>, Lisa Sparks<\/a>,\u00a0Larry Elder<\/a>, Doug Casey<\/a>, Ross Douthat<\/a>, and George Will<\/a>. \u00a0It ended with a gala closing dinner on Saturday night,emceed by Fox New\u2019s Kennedy<\/a>, during which, among many other things, Steve Forbes received the annual Lanny Friedlander Award from the Reason Foundation<\/a>. \u00a0At that dinner, I found myself seated next to a Canadian economic historian who has taught for several decades in Melbourne, Australia. \u00a0We hit it off really well and had a great conversation.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Between the two dinners, I debated Michael Shermer<\/a> on the question \u201cIs Faith Compatible with Reason?\u201d \u00a0I took the affirmative, and he, of course, took the negative. \u00a0Candidly, I thought that his argument was remarkably weak, and that he failed to engage much, if anything, of what I had said. \u00a0But anybody interested should, I think, eventually be able to judge for himself or herself: The debate was recorded for eventual broadcast (I suppose) by C-SPAN Book TV. \u00a0When it will go up, I have no idea. \u00a0A look just now at available programs on C-SPAN Book TV indicates that the most recent events currently available there date to 10 June 2018, suggesting that the Shermer\/Peterson debate, if it actually goes up, will be available sometime around or just after mid-August.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

My second official involvement was chairing a panel discussion, on Saturday afternoon, on \u201cHow to Make a Bestseller into a Classic.\u201d \u00a0My co-discussants were Dr. Daniele Struppa<\/a>, an Italian-born mathematician and the president of Chapman University, in Orange, California, and Dr. Maurice O\u2019Sullivan<\/a>, who is\u00a0Kenneth Curry Professor of English at Rollins College as well as co-director of the Florida Center for Shakespeare Studies. \u00a0It was a fun and good natured discussion, although we never really got to the \u201chow to\u201d part of the title. \u00a0Instead, we concentrated on what it is that makes<\/em> a classic a classic \u2014 mostly in literature, but also in music and in other fields. \u00a0Amusingly, Dr. O\u2019Sullivan publicly declared, agreeing with me, that the film Groundhog Day<\/em> is a very great<\/em> classic. \u00a0(In fact, he told me that his wife was probably going to suspect that he had paid me to bring that movie up and to endorse it so enthusiastically.)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Anyway, we had a lot of fun there in Las Vegas, and I hope to be back to Freedom Fest many more times. \u00a0(This was, I think, my fourth.)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Posted from Victoria, British Columbia<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 Before FreedomFest 2019 draws too near, I want to post my final comment about the just-concluded FreedomFest 2018. \u00a0 My participation in FreedomFest 2018 commenced with a private Wednesday night dinner with roughly twenty invited guests, including such folks as\u00a0as John Mackey, Michael Shermer, Mark Skousen, Daniele Struppa,\u00a0Deirdre McCloskey, Grover Norquist,\u00a0Steve Forbes, Lisa […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nA last comment on FreedomFest 2018<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    Before FreedomFest 2019 draws too near, I want to post my final comment about the just-concluded FreedomFest 2018.   My participation\" \/>\n<meta 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