Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges will be giving two talks in Pullman this week.

“What is unique about him is that he is really thinking and really using his own voice,” said Kevin Vixie, associate math professor and one of the people who invited Hedges to speak. “He is very authentic. He is a liberal, but in his own way.” The first talk is at 7 p.m. in the CUB Auditorium and the second is at 7 p.m. Friday at the Community Congregational United Church of Christ, at 525 NE Campus Street.

Hedges has only ever been to the western part of Washington but said he looks forward to visiting Pullman.

“It’s a great state,” Hedges said.

The first talk is based on Hedges’ new book “Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle.” The book is based on the idea that the general public is constantly seeking out fantasy and illusion, instead of reality.

“It just came out. It is exciting to enter the public area with something that’s new,” Hedges said.

The second talk is called “When Atheism Becomes Religion” and was inspired after Hedges debated with new atheist writers Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris, Hedges said.

Hedges, the son of a Presbyterian minister, has been involved with the church his entire life and went through seminary. He said this is one of the reasons that he wanted to write his book.

“I grew up in the church, and religion is something I care deeply about,” he said.

Vixie said this book was what first interested him in Hedges’ work.

“He inspired me to do something,” Vixie said. “He said things that aren’t being said enough.” Vixie worked with the Foley Institute, the Community Congregational United Church of Christ and the K-House to bring Hedges to WSU.

“I was struck by his combination of clarity and authenticity,” Vixie said. “Even when I disagree with him, it is like I am disagreeing with a friend, not with someone I can’t value.” Hedges got started as a writer when he published a story in the Christian Science Monitor when he was in college.

While in seminary, Hedges visited South America. This trip and a later visit to El Salvador to cover war-torn areas secured his foray into journalism.

Hedges moved into primarily writing books after publishing “War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning,” a book that sold more than 300,000 copies.

“After that, I was getting the kinds of advances that I could live off of to write books,” Hedges said.

Vixie said he looks forward to watching people react.

Hedges said that all students should enjoy the talks. He said there were no specific groups that would get more out of them, with one exception.

“People who read books, that dwindling minority,” Hedges said. “People who care about ideas and are interested in the intellectual critiques of systems and ideologies.”