Series
Firing Line with William F. Buckley Jr.
Episode Number
S0489
Episode
Why Are Our Intellectuals So Dumb?
Producing Organization
Southern Educational Communications Association
South Carolina Educational Television Network
Contributing Organization
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University (Stanford, California)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip/514-2j6833nm7r
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Description
Episode Description
The study by Paul Hollander, Mr. Buckley begins, "is terribly overdue. It has been the most conspicuous scandal of two generations that a substantial number of Western intellectuals have been seduced by monstrous social regimes." The "pilgrims" in the title of his book, alas, refers not to people who have made the pilgrimage away from totalitarianism, but simply, as Mr. Hollander's subtitle puts it, to Travels of Western Intellectuals to the Soviet Union, China, and Cuba, 1928-1978. He passes along the raptures of dozens of these people, ranging from Anna Louise Strong to Staughton Lynd, from Edmund Wilson to Susan Sontag, from Tom Hayden to Harrison Salisbury. WFB: "Is it safe to say that once you've learned political truths you are not again easily deceived?" PH: "No, I'm afraid that's not quite true, because many people who learned something from the case of the Soviet Union fell again on China and on Cuba, and are now falling for Nicaragua right after Cuba; so I think this quest for a good society outside your own is endless."
Series Description
The television series Firing Line with William F. Buckley Jr. was a venue for debate and discussion on political, social, and philosophical issues with experts of the day. Firing Line broadcasts from 1966 through March 1971 were produced and syndicated by WOR-TV, a commercial station in New York, but some of them were also broadcast on noncommercial television stations. Starting in April 1971, Firing Line broadcasts were produced by the Southern Educational Communications Association, an arm of South Carolina Educational Television. Hoover Institution Library & Archives' Firing Line collection guide can be found at: https://www.hoover.org/library-archives/collections/firing-line.
Date
1981-12-03
Asset type
Episode
Genres
Talk Show
Topics
Public Affairs
Subjects
Politics and government; Intellectuals; Europe; Communist countries; political activity; attitudes; ideology; Foreign public opinion; Journeys
Rights
Copyright held by Stanford University. This copy is provided for educational and research purposes only. No publication, further reproduction, or reuse of copies, beyond fair use, may be made without the express written permission of the Hoover Institution Library & Archives on behalf of Stanford University.
Media type
Moving Image
Embed Code
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Credits
Guest: Van den Haag, Ernest
Guest: Hollander, Paul
Host: Buckley, William F., Jr.
Producing Organization: Southern Educational Communications Association
Producing Organization: South Carolina Educational Television Network
AAPB Contributor Holdings
Stanford University
Identifier: 80040.731 (Hoover Institution)
Generation: Proxy
Duration: 1:00:00
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Citations
Chicago: “Firing Line with William F. Buckley Jr.; S0489; Why Are Our Intellectuals So Dumb?,” 1981-12-03, Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed December 7, 2024, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-514-2j6833nm7r.
MLA: “Firing Line with William F. Buckley Jr.; S0489; Why Are Our Intellectuals So Dumb?.” 1981-12-03. Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. December 7, 2024. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-514-2j6833nm7r>.
APA: Firing Line with William F. Buckley Jr.; S0489; Why Are Our Intellectuals So Dumb?. Boston, MA: Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-514-2j6833nm7r