The Ayn Rand Institute recently posted a 26-minute interview with Ayn Rand’s Johnny Carson, which aired in August 1967. This was the first of 3 interviews with him.
I recommend the whole thing, whether you agree with Ion Rand or not. Although he was very important in my intellectual development and I have a good chance of not being an economist or an American if I don’t read him at the age of 16 and about 17, I like and dislike him for his philosophy and themes.
Personally interesting to me during this interview. In August 1967, I was running a dishwasher at Meenaki Lodge, and I left at the end of the month to move to our rented apartment in Winnipeg. I started at the University of Winnipeg in mid-September. When I told a friend of my brother how annoyed I was in college (excluding calculus) around the end of October, he said I had a book I might like. He lent me. It was Fountainhead.
That’s how seriously Johnny Carson took him. He asks good questions. In more modern times, I can imagine Brian Lamb of C-Span being as good or as good as he could be if given the chance. Anyone else?
Follow a few highlights.
13:30: Flies are buzzing around. Notice Ayn Rand’s comments.
15:44: Some of the first spectators clapped. Notice his remarks that they are applauding.
18:25: Notice his opposition to the Vietnam War and his relatively narrow reasons for opposing it. I now think that I must be one of the “bitniks” whom he criticized.
24:20: Notice who was shocked because Carson found Rand very attractive.
HT2 Alex Tabarrok.
