Public Intellectuals on the Screen (and Praise for Donohue)

In the last posting, some commenters rightly cited public intellectuals at work today representing well the calling.  Here are a few specimens from the past, taken mostly from YouTube, which is a remarkable repository of 1950s, 60s, and 70s intellectual discussions on TV.

First, Ayn Rand on a full segment of Donohue.

And now, Milton Friedman on the full segment of Donohue.

(Cheers for Donohue for devoting so much time to intellectuals far from his own position, and for engaging them seriously and wittily without giving up his own outlook.)

And now Noam Chomsky on Firing Line with W. F. Buckley.

And here’s a clip of Ginsberg in City Lights bookstore talking about, among other things, geopolitics, with a highlight of a surprise entrance by Neal Cassady (who mentions a recent bust up at Kesey’s).

And Harold Bloom on Charlie Rose.

And here are Susan Sontag and Agnes Varda on Camera 3 from 1969.

And finally, from recent times, a video interview series Uncommon Knowledge, here’s Tom Wolfe.