21-05-2025
EXCLUSIVE 'People always tell me I wish you died instead of him': PETER HITCHENS remembers sibling rivalry with late brother CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS on new Mail podcast
On the latest episode of the Mail's Alas Vine & Hitchens podcast, acclaimed broadcaster Peter Hitchens remembered the sibling rivalry between him and his 'radically left' brother, Christopher Hitchens.
The best-selling author also shared some of the cruel comments he has received since Christopher passed from cancer in 2011.
Christopher Hitchens, the brother of Alas podcast host, Peter Hitchens, was a prodigious author and journalist, known for his divisive atheism and left-wing politics.
Over his long career, Christopher penned 18 books on topics ranging from culture and history to politics and religion. He was also a champion debater, regularly appearing on TV to defend his contrarian views.
Peter told the podcast: 'My brother had a very large reputation. He tended to take different views from me – that is to say, I'm a Christian, he was an atheist. I am a person on the socially conservative right; he was a person on the radical left.
'I am not seeking sympathy by saying this but, it happens all the time that people on social media will tell me – I wish you'd been the one that died.
'That got me thinking about the very curious business of brothers and sisters. There does seem to be a problem with certain sets of siblings, where they just don't get on.
'We used to fight a lot as children – which began a war which, in a way, continued all our lives.'
Christopher Hitchens died aged 62 from complications of oesophageal cancer. In his memoir, Christopher said the biggest divide between him and his brother was Peter's belief in God.
Reminiscing with Mail columnist and podcast co-host Sarah Vine, Peter remembered how the warring siblings used to frighten each other as children.
'There was this one famous occasion where he was supposed to have removed the brakes on my pram. He brought me up on top of a hill with evil intent.
'Another where Christopher claimed to be sitting by a flower bed, which is unlikely for him, and saw a small menacing shadow of a boy with a rake advancing towards him.
'I also remember my brother leading me into a swamp on the edges of Dartmoor. We always used to fight.'
As adults, Peter said he and his brother had a distant relationship, particularly after Christopher travelled across the pond, moving permanently to Washington DC.
Although Peter admits that 'they never really got along', he also revealed that he 'misses him all the time'.
'I owe so much to having a brother with whom I had an adversarial relationship - you learn a lot', the broadcaster began.
'There was a brief period when we were both living in DC, where we saw more of each other than we otherwise did. Seeing each other again, it became very clear why we were happy being distant – we just didn't get on all that much.
'But it was always nice saying hello. We could finish each other's sentences - we had private languages as children.
'I miss him all the time.'
