The problem is he is usually speaking on the clock in interviews and debates, so he's trying to cram a lot of information into a small time frame. Try the following discussion with him and Dan Dennet, Sam Harris, and Richard Dawkins. In this they take their time and have a few drinks while having a deep but casual discussion. You may enjoy his normal pace and tone better.

Hitchens, now deceased, is something of a hero in the atheist community. Many of his talks are in YouTube and I believe that allows you to slow the playback speed a bit.