The Tucson Festival of Books might be saving the best for last with its final event, “A Conversation with Noam Chomsky.” The professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology is famous for his audacious political activism and reputation as “the father of modern linguistics.” Chomsky will give a talk in Centennial Hall at 4 p.m. on Sunday and tickets become available at the box office at noon. His second appearance at the UA since 2012, the event will be hosted by John Paul Jones III, dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Chomsky will answer questions submitted online at 2shoesapp.com/chomsky. 

In honor of Chomsky’s visit to the UA, here are some of his more controversial points of view as a sampling for his discussion.

“Any dictator would admire the uniformity and obedience of the U.S. media.”

“The Bible is one of the most genocidal books in history.”

“If there was an observer on Mars, they would probably be amazed that we have survived this long.”

“If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don’t believe in it at all.”

“Education is a system of imposed ignorance.”

“If the Nuremberg laws were applied, then every post-war American president would have been hanged.”

“Religion is based on the idea that god is an imbecile.”

“It’s necessary to distort history and make it look as if Great Men did everything — that’s part of how you teach people they can’t do anything, they’re helpless, they just have to wait for some Great Man to come along and do it for them.”

“If you care about other people, that’s now a very dangerous idea. If you care about other people, you might try to organize to undermine power and authority. That’s not going to happen if you care only about yourself.”

— Compiled by Mia Moran