The Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas is hosting an archive of Mike Wallace’s interviews from the late 1950s. It is a rich collection; if you watch these shows, you will become very dissatisfied with the noise and incoherence of contemporary TV news. Wallace had real conversations with his guests, asked meaningful questions, and got real answers. Of course it helps when you have someone like Peter Ustinov or Frank Lloyd Wright to talk to, but still, it is surprising that having an intelligent conversation was simply the expected thing to do.
The interview with Jean Seberg is remarkable. Maybe Fresh Air approaches this quality, but I have a hard time imagining anything from today’s network television that would be nearly as smart.
BoingBoing.net linked to the archive – thanks again BB!