Thu, Apr 3, 1969
Noam Chomsky defends his criticism of U.S. intervention in Southeast Asia and contextualizes several arguments put forth in his work "American Power and the New Mandarins." Buckley ascribes a self-righteous tenor to Chomsky's views and chides him for omitting Vietcong terror in his book. They debate whether a state can behave disinterestedly in the international arena and whether the United States is an imperialist power.
Wed, Sep 4, 1968
Buckley interviews writer Jack Kerouac, singer Ed Sanders of The Fugs, and sociologist Lewis Yabolonsky, author of "The Hippie Trip." An inebriated Kerouac insults Yabolonsky and is shushed by Buckley. As the interview progresses, Kerouac proclaims himself to be a Republican. He disavows any link between the Beats and the Hippies. Allen Ginsberg watches from the audience.
Tue, May 28, 1968
Norman Mailer appears on Firing Line to promote his book, "The Armies of the Night." Mailer's book retells the 1967 March on the Pentagon which included Dwight MacDonald, Robert Lowell, and himself. Mailer discusses his support for Fidel Castro; the excessive propriety of left-wing intellectuals; the qualities of great men, and the journalistic inaccuracies of Time Magazine.