Buckley, Kerouac, Sanders and Yablonsky discuss Hippies

A 1968 episode of William F. Buckley's Firing Line, featuring a drunken Jack Kerouac, the Fug's Ed Sanders and a clueless academic, Lewis Yablonsky, discussing the "Hippie" movement.
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[@begrackled]

The look of excruciating pain on Kerouac's face when the camera first cuts to him is priceless.

[@naturesinterface6663]

@R // It's when the camera first cuts to Kerouac. 🙄

[@ganginfr4923]

@R 1:14

[@eiseneuter2034]

He was a drunkard at the time and had already given up on life.

[@codydewing950]

That eye roll at the very end of the first cut cracks me up

[@altagraciaadames3483]

@@eiseneuter2034 Jack never gave up. He actually represented himself pretty well given his condition . And my man had style too

[@lovenotcult]

Kerouac interrupting the host: "Get your question over with!" LOL

[@eknekron]

The Dionysius the Areopagite comment: a small drunken insight into Kerouac’s soul-shift. He seems to mean to say he was part of a Dionysian movement (as in Dionysus/ Bacchus: ritualistic, embracing of chaos, inebriated) but in his drunkenness slips into calling Dionysus ‘Dionysius’ (the small matter of one iota). Dionysius is a different name and refers to Dionysius the Areopagite, a 7th century Syrian theologian whose writing on the ineffability of the divine and the celestial hierarchy (among other things) in some way shaped the whole history of Catholic orthodox theology (much quoted by Aquinas) and especially Christian mysticism. Realising this drunken slip, Kerouac embraces it, shifting from narrating his early days revelling in an ancient Greek Bacchic spirit to finding a kinship and a continuity with the deepest well in Christian mysticism - “although I’m not Dionysius the Areopagite, I shoulda been” 7:32 . :) A drunken slip saved with all the grace of a Chaplin stumble

[@eknekron]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/laukiGNoe9J_n7s Ginsberg on this interview. Worth a butchers

[@pauljenkins6807]

He was truly an entertaining and brilliant person

[@williampaulbeaugruendler7901]

I read ON THE ROAD holed up in a library at Camp Evans, Vietnam, during a storm at the end of 1971.

[@johnperrigo6474]

Interesting bit of information. Care to expound on that experience?

[@PhantomOSX]

I just smoked weed at Fort Jackson, our library was closed.

[@richardsantanna5398]

@@johnperrigo6474 He does not.

[@peterstripp822]

And?

[@peterstripp822]

There's a novel in there somewhere. Or at least a short story...

[@JojoQuik]

This is like all of the conversations I never wanted to have happening all at once.

[@rahvavaenlane]

Seems everyone's drunk, high, bored and sleep deprived there. Surreal

[@lastnamefirst4035]

Ed sure seems bored. Ah, Fug it!

[@rahvavaenlane]

@Edward Gross Heh yep, at 1.25x it looks like more familiar, more contemporary talk show. Which makes me now think it's not maybe them, it's us - we're so used to this caffeine-infused always crisp high-energy TV that normal everyday human interaction pace seems weird and laggy.. Which makes you inevitably think about our current prevalent mental health issues, drugs and sedatives use etc..

[@damiendaviswatchmanofephra2660]

The we hsvr very certainty. Speeder up.

[@flatearthsubgeniussociety6249]

shits epic

[@TheBorjamz]

@@AndrewEdwardBailey supid looking nack did you get a haircut?

[@Scottieguru]

Kerouac descended into a dark abyss of alcohol and depression. His death came from internal bleeding from his esophagus. His blood could no longer coagulate because of the damage the alcohol did to his liver. Terrific writer. Once very athletic. He died too young.

[@golgipogo]

Not a writer-a typer

[@tyc4231]

Unfortunately his mind lost that same coagulating property vis a vis his thoughts.

[@altagraciaadames3483]

Please Jack Kerouac literally started the hippie movement, literally On the Road inspired people to go out on the road. Peter Fondas flim Jim Morrison Bob Dylan the Beatles ect were inspired by Jack. Please don't disrespect reality. CAPOTE WROTE A LITTLE SCANDALOUS BOOK THEN GOT SHUNNED BY THE SOCIETY THAT HE WANNTED SOOO MUCH TO BE PART OF . JACK SHUNNED THE SOCIETY THAT SO MUCH WANTED TO BE PART OF HIM. THATS CALLED A POWER MOVE. YEAH A TYPEST WITH INTELLIGENCE HEART AND SOUL.

[@vagabond719r]

@@golgipogo Depends on the book he wrote. On the Road was written in pencil on a roll of toilet paper.

[@DreamArchitect]

You think your write like jack it’s so cringe sorry dude

[@kamalmanzukie]

this is fucking amazing. a television show 50 years old that acts like a magnifying lens on our current situation. it puts so much into context

[@torosdepamplona]

This is so much better than anything we have today on TV.

[@calebm9000]

Please. They’re drunk, bored, and angry.

[@ianburton8050]

This is as FINE A STUDY of four men sitting cross legged in plastic chairs as I have ever seen.

[@ianburton8050]

...and no, I did not steal that from John Cleese, but I did imagine him as the "clueless academic" Yablonsky..

[@andreaandrea6716]

Fabulous.

[@mvs3553]

That is a particularly acute observation you old chap.

[@SlappyG]

ian burton ... if that’s all that you observed, you have already lost the plot

[@ianburton8050]

+Slappy GetRight That's sooo unkind. I hope someday you lose YOUR hearing and then you may see the world's multiplicities.

[@4l4ddin77]

"All the best men are laughed at in this nightmare land." -Jack Kerouac

[@Seegie16]

That dude is way over rated

[@susiq4857]

He was a drunk

[@isaysee]

@@Seegie16 ... he makes his point well enough ..

[@isaysee]

@@susiq4857.. So was Hemingway & many others

[@sharinganchidori100]

@@susiq4857 Your fucking point???

[@matthewbacque1622]

Sanders was so on point and ahead of the curve on this subject.

[@dschlicks]

Buckley could read a Dr. Seuss book and still sound condescending.

[@rebekatalebi8046]

😂😂😂😂

[@thomasschreiber9559]

That mid Atlantic accent

[@hermessanhao]

@Manny Santiago Racism, that's why.

[@comcasthawk]

Manny Santiago , you’re right people can be fooled by bullshit artists. Thank God I’m not fooled by a bullshit artist like yourself. To say Buckley is a fake intellectual is so off the mark I laughed when I read it.

[@afonsosousa2684]

@@comcasthawk No, you're just easily impressed by a Transatlantic accent and smug demeanor. The truth is that Buckley's knowledge of subjects rarely went beyond the surface--with some armchair commentary he gleaned from other conservative "intellectuals"--, which is why he was repeatedly trashed whenever he had guests who weren't complete idiots, and why he had to fall back on his witticisms to deflect. The Chomsky episode is particularly hilarious in that not only is he dominated in debate, but he also fails at saving face with his usual snarky asides, which Chomsky just cuts right through. Buckley was just a closeted racist and homophobic bully cultivating the public image of a fair-minded intellectual with acerbic wit. He was neither fair nor witty.

[@prokesuk]

Kerouac seems like some family man in the 50s, home from an hour or two at the bar after work, and now sitting in the living room for some quality time with his family.

[@lastnamefirst4035]

Well idk about quality time w the family but maybe hanging out in the living room after and w a few drinks

[@MrRickywallace]

He was a hell raiser, don't think otherwise!

[@lastnamefirst4035]

@@MrRickywallace Jack probably raised some hell when drunk. Ed was a hell raising FUG

[@251648]

Between his alcoholism and homosexuality, I doubt there was much quality time at home with the family,

[@lastnamefirst4035]

@@251648 lol so true

[@lunasheng2348]

“It was pure on my heart." Love you, Kerouac.

[@TheGreatToucan]

Yeah, we all want our heroes to stay forever young, forever the way they were when they were heroes. Kerouac proves here that heroes are mortal, but he still shows flashes of brilliance, sadly too drunk to participate meaningfully. Ed Sanders proves that he was a lot more of a hippie than he would care to admit, and very much in form. Buckley shows that he is the one so far out of it and over-analytical. I find Yablonsky was academic, but he did know the subject matter. Kerouac, if one is tuned into the "On the Road" mentality, shows a suppressed antagonism to Ed Sanders which probably surprised a good many people who were watching this at the time, but looking back, is true to form for the way Jack K. was thinking at the time. An excellent, historic program. Excellent of you to post it. Thanks.

[@Jamie-js3qw]

not over-analytical. Buckley asked one major question, 'what was the proximate cause of the hippy movement?' Was it the Beats? Was it the death of Kennedy? Was it the Vietnam War? If it was Kennedy's death, why was more civil rights legislation being passed under future presidents still not satisfying the hippies? This was good analysis. The other questions stem from the first.

[@bledsoetx]

"...Yablonsky was academic, but he did know the subject matter..." - Actually, if you look into his work on "hippies", you'll find it was basically him recording conversations, having some questionnaires filled out by "hippies" then collating their responses and drawing assumptions, and trying to "fit in" to the hippie scene to try and "understand" it. Maybe TOO "academic" . . . so "academically" obsessed he is no earthly good.

[@Jmr-o5e]

Kerouac is a hero? Wow, sad.

[@greglarry11]

It's wonderful to see the open-minded, idealism and exploring of society that was done, even on TV, in the 1960s. Could you imagine what this would be like today? People would be at each others throats. They were so much better behaved even during the middle of an unpopular war.

[@briantyson6138]

@@MrDinghus wow, good for you. Always a pleasure to hear from intelligent, aware people. Which is good for the rest of us. The great unwashed.

[@AdamLuedtkeCUNY]

Never liked Buckley, but his brand of genteel conservatism is starting to look pretty good right now. I miss when Republicans at least kept up a pretense of open-mindedness.

[@khh1964]

I feel it’s like this. Today no points would be made succinctly, and calmly well. Everyone would be at each other’s throats verbally & sounding immature. Back then at least 1 was drunk, and in the streets everyone was bashing each other’s heads in.

[@RobJazzful]

Guido Ellipses only consist of three dots, not ten.

[@Teeveepicksures]

@yollam You just uknowingly proved his point.

[@roadking0073]

Buckley talks like he's 'air quoting' every second word or title he mentions.

[@kevinkilpatrick7510]

lollll

[@Dawn24Michele]

Isn't it great! How nice to see someone go to such great effort to better themselves. Elocution used to be the mark of a mans intelligence. For if he won't take the time and effort to learn to enunciate properly he won't put much effort into anything else. Can you imagine what a great lover he was. I bet he had women begging him for sex. After all, if he took such effort to speak properly, imagine what effort he took to pleasure himself and others. My god the lucky women.

[@masoudsarvin6117]

It's a real meeting of the mind.

[@lechanneldemysterieuxmante1807]

This comment is astute, hilarious and accurate.

[@bobbyron1747]

Though many dismissed WFB Jr as an academic stiff, it would be unheard of, today, to enjoy such a forum for active thinkers, doers and antagonists just sitting and talking and making sense or, in some cases, nonsense. So grateful for these archives.

[@l.ronhubbard5445]

It happens very much today. You're just looking in the wrong places

[@AmericanJohnGrass]

Happens more so today. The internet has given us podcasts

[@roughhabit6496]

No , Buckley did not work in academia, in fact his first book God and man at Yale was a severe critique of the academic system. Not sure who your “many” people are.

[@BSDean]

I wish there slow, contemplative talk television like this still

[@jjwellbucks8438]

What does it matter when you can just listen to and watch endless amounts of contemplative talks about all manner of subjects on the internet?

[@urbanlumberjack]

Kérouac is 48 going on 70 in this clip. He died about a year after this due to cirrhosis of the liver.

[@TheSnowballEarth]

Not cirrhosis- died of an esophageal hemorrhage. His booze-damaged liver certainly didn't help. Oh well, all 50 years in the past now.

[@urbanlumberjack]

TheSnowballEarth the hemorrhage is caused by cirrhosis. Blood can’t go through the liver anymore so pressure builds up and needs to rupture somewhere. For Kerouac it was his esophagus.

[@bentonja668]

everyone, including Jack himself, knew that he was in the process of drinking himself to death. And his children apparently changed the spelling of their last name because they hated him so much.

[@kuruman1]

So unpleasant to watch him.

[@MrRickywallace]

Yeah, the Beats didn't learn not to drink alcohol, just to smoke pot, drop a little acid, and eat mostly vegan! Too bad.

[@jackleford6209]

I love how the interviewer knows kerouac is drunk and plays along with it

[@jakeornot6306]

That isn't "playing along with it." He is conducting a professional interview, even WITH the drunkenness.

[@roughhabit6496]

It’s not an interview and Buckley wasn’t an interviewer.

[@jackleford6209]

@@roughhabit6496 bro chill it's basically an older form of the same sort of medium that an interview falls under

[@DreamArchitect]

@@jackleford6209 You think your write like jack it’s so cringe sorry dude

[@calebm9000]

@@jakeornot6306that’s literally “playing along with it.”

[@tekdro]

I kept waiting for the guy with the moustache to say "As your attorney, I advise you to..." Haha

[@koreyy47]

Spot on man he totally looks like the attorney lmaooo

[@iket.9930]

Ed Sanders was Abbie Hoffman's handler at the 1972 Democrat Convention in Miami Beach. Hoffman was out on bail while appealing his recent Chicago 7 conviction. I was hiding in the bar of the Albion Hotel along with those two watching demonstrators getting beaten and arrested on the bar TV. Abbie was coked out, drunk and trying in vain to score with a female bartender.

[@johnnyohanian4237]

Please watch an Allen Ginsberg interview where he talks about this Firing Line episode. He said that Jack had no idea that there would be those other two: Yablonsky and Sanders, and it was more of a panel. Jack thought it was going to be a one-on-one intellectual discussion between him and Buckley, and that is why he was behaving erratically, he’s was pissed off to be lumped in with the hippie and being analyzed by the sociologist.

[@calebm9000]

Well he was complementary of the hippie movement so I don’t think he’s angry about that. He’s drunk, that’s all there is to it.

[@hotcoldman3058]

buckley is one of the few interviewers in history that could get away with shushing a guest

[@AdamLuedtkeCUNY]

Yes! That was epic. I want to see Chris Wallace do this to Trump.

[@lutze5086]

Only because his guest is a somewhat disorderly drunk

[@isaactiselius2959]

@Guido This aged well.

[@deweypug]

It was my favorite part! Seriously, I was dying as Kerouac makes noises as Yablonsky speaks and 'mean old interviewer guy' shushes him! Hilarious.

[@peterhawkins3004]

WFB actually told me many years later that it saddened him that Jack Kerouac had so much to drink before the show. It was only one of a few shows that really bothered him.

[@AdamLuedtkeCUNY]

What was in his coffee cup? I've always heard that guests can get booze in their talk show coffee cups. When Kerouac took a pull from his, it made me wonder if he was trying to sober up, or getting drunker.

[@fkylw]

WFB is a bore.

[@noamtrotsky9601]

I am sure his debate with Chomsky was among one of those shows he wasn’t too impressed with ;)

[@peterhawkins3004]

@@noamtrotsky9601 That's true

[@peterhawkins3004]

@@fkylw while his tv personality was one thing, in person he was one of the most gracious men I've met in my life.

[@indigowendigo8464]

Kerouac's writing is so raw, poetic, soaring, hilarious, and honest that it slays me. It's like Shakespeare to me. I almost drank myself to death too, but I quit. I wonder sometimes if I have more courage than Jack, or less

[@societywolf]

💞

[@zazuzazz5419]

The whole point is: Don’t romanticize being an alcoholic. Neither of you have more or less courage. Just walk your talk.

[@amyarnelle]

@@zazuzazz5419 best comment on this thread. 👍🏻

[@DreamArchitect]

Dude you think your at his level your style is so cringe bro

[@DreamArchitect]

@@zazuzazz5419 Dude you think your at his level your style is so cringe bro

[@martinhyizna3299]

I feel the hippie spirit really began in 1949 with J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, the first novel to delve deeply into the individual angst of a teenager, barely a young man. From there, its almost like Salinger opened the door for America's permission to focus on youth. It's not a big step to go from Salinger to the Beat Generation to the hippie movement and "youth culture" in general.

[@azolioeroach3253]

The first hippies were world war 2 veterans, who went to Columbia U. on the GI bill.

[@Sapsche]

Well, I feel, the hippie spirit didn't emerge in the US, but in europe, since a lot of the beat writers adored french existentialism, the russian classics like Dostojewski and a lot of "ancient" philosophers. As popular as Catcher in the Rye may be, Holden Caulfield doesn't seem much of a hippie to me. I don't want to claim that you're wrong/I'm right, but I'd say you can't make out *one* singular item to set off an avalanche.

[@bledsoetx]

@@Sapsche - Actually, the hippie movement owes a huuuuge debt to the German Wandervogel movement of the 1890's more than the claptrap you mentioned. - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wandervogel

[@p51abc]

I believe it was Hemmingway. Who threw culture and literary pretense out the window for individualism- and was copied by everyone from Camus to Salinger.

[@darkstarone579]

I agree. Catcher in the Rye is

[@RodMacQuarrie]

Kerouac: "As far as I'm concerned, the Vietnamese war is nothing but a plot between the North Vietnamese and the South Vietnamese, who are cousins, to get Jeeps in the country." Buckley: "They're not very good plotters are they?" Kerouac: "Well they've got a lot of Jeeps!"

[@dante666jt]

🤣🤣

[@ziggymon2529]

Having a difficult time, as always, with the tenor of Buckley as a host. He is like a Quaalude come to fruition.

[@gerard1657]

buckley was always an obnoxious conservative bore

[@princeandrey]

Way back when we were young there was a meme out there about would-be intellectuals, whom folks, justly or otherwise termed "pseudo-intellectuals." But Bill Buckley is so foolishly and foppishly ersatz that he breathes new life into the term. I can't see how he lived with himself, his preposterous, posturing grandiosity, as though he were even intelligent, strutting and simpering around Stamford, CT as though he were a personage.

[@haintedhouse3052]

Buckley can't hold a candle to a Quaalude.

[@jamesmcpherson8599]

@@princeandrey Buckley is 1970s Ben Shapiro

[@RR-mp7hw]

@@jamesmcpherson8599 He reminds me more of David Berlinski

[@frankbrenner4852]

I'm drunk from watching Kerouac.

[@sammyscotch9945]

Yeah hurts my liver just seein him

[@JoeKnows44]

Was he ever sober?

[@yam83]

He's emanating powerful spirits.

[@shepdgc.og.soldier7732]

Yes,many bottles of “spirits”.

[@donshamblin55]

It's sad because he was such a good looking man when he was younger.

[@Rhonlynn]

Jack drank so much at that time.He looks well beyond his years. Actually, this is kind of sad to watch. Imagine if he hadn't started drinking like he did? He just ruined himself sick. But his comments, you can tell how intelligent he was. He spoke very poetic.

[@gregaroivanalininovich9019]

It was a conscious thing on his side. As he put it: "I'm Catholic and I can't commit suicide, but I plan to drink myself to death."

[@DreamArchitect]

You think your write like jack it’s so cringe sorry dude

[@AdamLuedtkeCUNY]

Kerouac gives the "thumbs-down" when Yablonsky brings up psychedelics at 4:54, then Sanders gives thumbs-up. Epic.

[@mojojee]

A "tell" re: JK's mindset.

[@mathieuouellet2010]

Jack's not paying attention to what Yablonsky says, he's giving the thumbs down to Ginsberg who sits in the room.

[@peterstripp822]

@@mathieuouellet2010 Kerouac appears to be the least open-minded person in the room.

[@mathieuouellet2010]

@@peterstripp822 The reason why Kerouac does the thumbs down gesture is literally explained in the video itself, for anyone who watches the whole thing.

[@peterstripp822]

@@mathieuouellet2010 I wasn't referring to the gesture. Hippie hating, red-baiting, bizarre views on the war in Vietnam - what's to like about this clown? He comes across as everyone's least favourite uncle. From On The Road to middle of the road in a few short years.

[@michaelbarrett672]

Kerouac's laugh after Buckley mentions "The Fugs" is awesome! I think he laughs harder after Buckley says "Combooooo."

[@lomedbeats6294]

This segment is a great microcosm of the "Hippie/Vietnam War" era. The brilliance of this show was knowing that each one of these guys represented their respective stance in the most prototypical way possible. -Sanders represents what the ideal Hippie was "supposed" to be about. Music, sit-ins, peaceful protests, etc. but comes off as an ineffectual example of why that doesn't work. -Kerouac represents the so-called "silent majority." He knows exactly why the Hippies' approach doesn't work and in some cases empathizes with a few of their core tenets, but unfortunately is too drunk to make a cohesive point or offer any constructive advice (again, a perfect representation of the middle-aged American in 1968) -Lewis Yablonsky represents the old guard of American academia who tries so desperately to deconstruct the Hippie movement in a sociological way and actually does makes a few good points, but ultimately fails in finding any audience, often shushed and talked over by Kerouac (the middle American) -and finally ol' Buckley, the ultra-Conservative (by the times' standards) who puts them all in a room together and gives them a false feeling that their points are being heard, but in the end controls the program and who talks when. Buckley would be the US government. The only people (glaringly) missing are a woman and a person of color. Then this would be the late 60s in 22 minutes.

[@etheneinspenner3950]

Sorry, but Buckley was quite moderate. Also, he was the interviewer; however, outside of his program he had very little control over anyone.

[@KobyOwen]

The Hippies were political clowns who drew attention from real, grounded conversations. They still exist and poison politics to this day.

[@iket.9930]

Sanders was a Beat not a hippie. He regarded hippies as uneducated wanna-be's. For the most part he was correct.

[@peteystix]

I wouldn't say Yablonksy is clueless here, he actually seems to have a decent understanding of the hippy's character traits and articulates them well.

[@nitewalker11]

he's sounds like he's reading a script, he doesnt have an original thought in his head and he doesn't actually *respond* to anything, just proselytizes

[@screwthenet]

@@nitewalker11 NO hes just nervous, and kerouacs fdumbass kept interrupting. The kid was obviously amongst a buncha famous people and it was intimidating, but he sitll said a good few things.

[@mathieuouellet2010]

for some reason Yablonsky comes up as the least interesting person in this room, to this day. He has the arrogance of a colonialist anthropologist. Kerouac has his flaws and it makes him human.

[@atlantaguitar9689]

I think he articulates in a typical academic fashion which involves observation and summary even if that lops off things that don’t conveniently fit into his published encapsulations. His conclusions were those of a mere observer and not a participant. "I spent last year traveling around" is not an expert qualification beyond the superficial. Sanders' comments were more accurate and essential although he denied being what he most obviously was.

[@CV_CA]

Every one of them is like a caricature of themselves.

[@SillyGoose2024]

ha so true

[@modaljazz59]

Symphony of Televisitude

[@jasonlscarabin]

I'm concerned I've lost some sensitivity because I fell into maniacal laughter just within the first 2 minutes of this.

[@thevelointhevale1132]

This is Kerouac pickled in cynicism ... he's bitter for all that good time lost and now gone. The Carnival is over ... all that's left is a bottle and his arm chair. If they praise him he will bite them, if they knock him he will roll his eyes ... it's all a bit sad. He still manages a genuine moment of great humour ... the kick about jeeps was hilarious.

[@Hitithardify]

Yeah he was a total wreck here. Booze had gotten to him pretty hard. Shame to see such a great writer sunk so low.

[@inactiveaccount29]

a sad, disrespectful piece of shit who couldn't face reality without alcohol. A loser basically.

[@firstnamelastname180]

@@Hitithardify he was always fucked up, at his best

[@phukyu9016]

If he doesn't die young and a miserable wreck was he really a great writer?

[@lenhummel5614]

You nailed it. Plus the fact that he had hoped (and expected) a one-on-one with Buckley and felt conned from the get go.

[@j.scottburgeson3928]

Old Saint Jack called the hippies "some kind of Dionysian movement in late civilization." You can't keep living that way forever, and what you see in this interview is Kerouac crashing down spectacularly. In a way, he's rather heroic since he preferred to flame out brightly, rather than compromising himself and selling out like most of the hippies, who became the insufferable "me generation" baby boomers of the 1980s and beyond. A tragic yet noble soul he was!

[@jackcoltrane5532]

funny, you mentioned "he preferred to flame out brightly", because once he wrote: “[...]the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes “Awww!”

[@DavyWhitezel]

Very well said. He could not beat this world but he gave it a fighting chance. Not many do.

[@LonnieLawless]

As if he could almost see them lip syncing Huey Lewis songs through a crystal ball.

[@benjameshowden]

I love the guy but heroic is a big word for drinking yourself to death.

[@azolioeroach3253]

He seemed to make that his message toward the end.

[@f0cusk1ng]

Man Kerouac was 47 during this interview it looks like he was in his 60s

[@breezy3725]

No kidding, and what an arrogant dick.

[@mjf8897]

you see arrogance - I see a guy who knows the score

[@vgfxworks]

by that time 47 was 60 of today

[@katevielle4263]

f0cusg0d It's so sad the contrast of footage of him in 1959, so lively and beautiful, to this video in 1969. Such a huge difference, poor thing.

[@LonnieLawless]

Yep

[@theufoexperience3859]

That is a national treasure! Thanks for uploading!

[@joe47771]

@SensitiveSkinTV I would not characterize Yablonsky as a "clueless academic". I think he was very well informed for the time. If only more "clueless academics" were as thoughtful back then

[@zootsoot2006]

If he can figure out what is "happening", he can rise one notch to become "hip", and if he can convince himself to approve of what is "happening", he can become "groovy".

[@fattymcfatso1083]

Nice of you to keep the comments open. The official Buckley site doesn’t. Wonder what they are afraid of…..

[@RonMillermymymy74]

The biggest difference between the Beats and the Hippies was the use of the word "cool." Hippies = "be cool" Beats = "play it cool."

[@Johnconno]

Twisting my melon man.

[@neil222222]

@@Johnconno You're rendering that scaffolding. Dangerous.

[@Johnconno]

@neil churcher.. Keep a clean head and always carry a lightbulb.

[@joscofe]

@@Johnconno Keep a Good head

[@Grimenoughtomaketherobotcry]

They smoked their Kools to ashes.

[@SkatingErinsMom]

Remember watching this on live TV, although I think we still had a B&W set. My parents used this as part of their anti-hippie campaign on me. They made me quit the drums and start classical piano and no more garage bands!

[@AdamLuedtkeCUNY]

Did it work? What the hell did this feel like watching at the time? I can imagine if you were a youngster flirting with the movement, it might have actually worked a bit. Though the social trends were pushing hard in the opposite direction. Thanks for sharing that. Crazy.

[@theresakilcourse9960]

I am crying! This is one of the funniest things I have listened to in a long time. Did you hear Buckley hush Kerouac at 9:36??? hahaaaa

[@AdamLuedtkeCUNY]

We need more shusshing from talk show hosts today.

[@slevemcdichael5274]

@@AdamLuedtkeCUNY Even more so now, you see way fewer brilliant writers and political scientists on talk shows these days

[@aprilk3008]

holy hell. can you imagine something like this being on tv today? painful to see Jack Kerouac but certainly explains his death. 60's were wild times, this video is a great time capsule.

[@happysmile6095]

Still waiting for him to just look up and say “I’m shitfaced next question”

[@brianmeen2158]

Why do these older interviews or discussions seem so much classier and more interesting than anything we see today…?

[@TheWtikaiser]

Because they are. Being real and not heavily scripted is one cause. We also no longer have the education system capable of producing Kerouacs and Buckleys.

[@zthedestroyer]

Very True This is a pure unadulterated take on reality, given by actual intelligent people of the time

[@vgfxworks]

I found a sentence on an article that says a lot: "Lawless hedonistic out of control lifestyles left unchecked usually leads to an early grave"

[@figurefiguras4104]

Wow that is veery deep :0

[@energyturtle46]

I feel like Joaquin Phoenix got inspiration for his character in The Master from Kerouac

[@barbarianblood2316]

This is like a Chopped & Screwed interview. It’s fantastic.

[@SuperSquishface]

Today we're going to talk about...*the hippies*

[@jameszinsmeister1515]

"The topic tonight is 'The Hippies,' an understanding of whom we must, I guess, acquire or die painfully." : )

[@mabul513]

Who made the hippies a derogatory manner. Not one hippy or person to other but press power. Hippy bad drugs sex blood flailing about outta there faces..... Picture on a box. Stories in a paper, also steers you from reality. I remember disliking people as papers made them sound pompous to find out they were in battle with Sony or other cut throat company. . You tube and internets new tv paper and all in one hand They probably own it as clips that are nasty showing nasty actors saying bad stuff about Gaza strip is no more. Shame as seeing Harrison Ford and Richard Gere mong dozen other actors saying shoot the Palestinians with Buddhist in writing above his head with Here but was an amazing clip. But lost gone forever. Just one of many...clips they've gone... wonder if duped. Going for a read thing for a film and then getting asked questions and replying very badly. ? Strange but I saw before and now it's gone.

[@haikat4]

I sure do love his voice haha

[@guitarttimman]

Do you want to know about hippies? It's simple! RENT AN OLD CHEECH AND CHONG MOVIE! They epitomize the meaning of the word. :-)

[@guitarttimman]

All of the band members of Led Zeppelin were hippies. ESPECIALLY JAMES PATRICK VERY VERY RICH PAGE!

[@willy3toes]

11:33 paused the show for a pizza delivery

[@lewisticknor2800]

Sneaky Was the pizza worth pausing such a riveting adventure?

[@adeadhead423]

Talking

[@lamashtu5959]

Ding fries are done!

[@deltanine6497]

What a remarkable group of individuals indeed.

[@chancewallace47]

Love the story behind this episode. Kerouac acted like a giant toddler behind the scenes too, but even worse.

[@JerseyDevilJerseyGirl]

What??? Spill! What happened?

[@jamesdunne1846]

They all made their 80's except Kerouac who died the next year at 47. Buckley died 2008 (82),Yablonsky died 2014 (89), Sanders still alive (80), January 2020.

[@staporinac]

This is absolutely my favorite episode of Firing Line.

[@clutchcarabelli8054]

Big Sur is one of the most incredibly written books I've ever read

[@matthewmp111]

Visions of Gerard is my favorite.

[@markcarey67]

The work of a master. Sadly his last. That and Dharma Bums are my favs

[@GildeaComedy]

academic's not clueless - he makes very good points and is very articulate....

[@TheAngeliaMusic]

I love ❤️ this video! Thanks for the throwback!

[@tshkrel]

It was the coded messages in the show "Leave it to Beaver" that caused the Hippie movement

[@Erin31499]

yeahyeah ?

[@richieboy6825]

He’s so right. Especially noted would be the words and subtle body language exhibited by one Larry Mondello. Turn me on Larry...he be trippin’

[@GideonWallace]

Jack Keroauc was a jaded man at this point. He fell into his own darkness, and it could happen to anyone who aren't careful.

[@RobJazzful]

He died within a year.

[@GideonWallace]

@MrPaulhease Couldn't say it any better.

[@GideonWallace]

@Leptonaut Yeah, right... just a drunk. Dehumanizing a soul to their own vice. "Your just a nincompoop" would do you well, but that's beside the point.

[@abrazalves]

Thank you for this piece of the authentic Beat movement. History

[@DreamArchitect]

You think your write like jack it’s so cringe sorry dude

[@mayormc]

Wow, Kerouac is just so sad here. He looks awful. Thank God I quit drinking 30 years ago. This is historically fascinating, but painful to watch.

[@cyberhawk80]

how did you stop.. ?

[@dats3]

Kerouac died a year later. Basically, he drank himself to death. In my youth I loved Kerouac and I read everything he wrote and even bought his beat/jazz poetry recordings. It makes me profoundly sad to see the author I so admired in such a state as this video. When I was in college I read Ann Charters' bio of him and the description of his drinking and death caused me to stop binge drinking. I barely drink at all now-a-days.

[@puggleski6097]

More painful than McCarthyism ? More painful than Vietnam ? More painful than the dumbing down of the American mind ? In front of your own eyes ? By a parade of lying Presidents who thought, and said, War is the pinnacle of civilization ( or words to that effect ? ) .. there's, to my mind, nothing more painful than watching one's country go to seed while being bought over by trinkets and cheap food. Nothing more tragic than being colonized by your own 'elected' representatives.

[@DaddySizeIt]

@@puggleski6097 once in a while someone says something profound and meaningful in KZbin comments. Thank you.

[@smocloud]

BuckRogers facts don’t equate to profundity.

[@tonydalcon]

Proving there's nothing more surreal than life itself. :)

[@Robb3348]

+Charlotte Tan Word.

[@JGrunthaner1]

nothing more surreal than TV on KZbin

[@jetboy_]

reality is much much MUCH more stranger than fiction...

[@mojojee]

We are sleepwalking through the dream of life...

[@pupusaslordking5617]

lawl. the elephant in the room is that this segment was not an actual discussion about the hippie movement but just a jack kerouac interview

[@shombie2737]

10:00. "How about the Herring?". Haha! My sister and I used to sneak sips of my grandma's Cherry Heering bottle, a brandy liqueur aged three years.

[@gianca60]

1:56 "He's one of THe Fugs" (Kerouac is giggling in the background).

[@lastnamefirst4035]

Fugs was my 1st album when I was 15

[@propagandacritic5511]

Mr. Ed Sanders, your hair is beautiful and your moustache is superb!

[@unfluster]

Jack Kerouac had 7 months to live at the time of this broadcast. He was drinking a fifth of vodka a day, and you could see it what it was doing to his mind. Just eight years earlier, he was 60 pounds lighter, full of wit and had a spring in his step. So sad to see the brilliant mind that wrote 'On the Road' in this condition.

[@hctthermitcrabtranscriptio1319]

+unfluster How much is a fifth of vodka?

[@wystanisles4094]

+unfluster plural of genius is genii, and I may apologise for my pedantry.

[@plusfour1]

+HCTT = Hermit Crab Transcriptions and Translations for non americans, that's a fifth of a gallon or about 26 imperial ounces. A lot by most peoples standards. Pete Townshend drank 3 a day for a time reportedly.

[@plusfour1]

+unfluster he was rather odd and pompous and often funny but his sexual orientation has little to do with that

[@stiggyh]

unfluster weren't half of them gay ?

[@kevinlehnhardt3503]

The guy on stage who wasn't in ownership of a hairbrush was the most adult one up there.

[@lastnamefirst4035]

Ed Sanders

[@anthonymusto3537]

Most adult with childish ideals😂

[@sunkintree]

@@anthonymusto3537 send more tears

[@irishelk3]

The thing about that Buckley guy was, he seemed like quite an intelligent guy, but also gives off such a mysterious vibe and of superiority, maybe he thought he was the only intelligent one in the room?, it seems like that was his vibe, but who knows.

[@purUrban]

Jack once told one of his friends: "I am a catholic so I cannot kill myself. That's why I'll drink myself to death." What a tragedy, what a beautiful soul. We miss you Jack. Love

[@emdaughtry2576]

Oh my gosh... what a douche you are too, just for saying that.

[@obfuscated3090]

Being a drunk is never not stupid no matter how cool you think you are, and being a superstitionist is weakness period full stop. Also he's fucking dead so no longer exists to get your message.

[@emdaughtry2576]

Ok, point taken

[@toddjohnson779]

wtfellification that is the truth. He certainly did kill himself drinking whiskey and malt liquor in his favorite chair. Puking mass blood from esophageal varices. I think I will stop drinking

[@vboy13]

​@@emdaughtry2576 a lot of thought and empathy went into your comment I can tell you are a well studied open hearted human that reads a lot and has travelled far and wide thru this great world.

[@MaceWinduDuHuen]

look at how the 'literate' scene has changed. look how media has changed.

[@KingPhoey]

The description of this vid is full on accurate.

[@indigowendigo8464]

That Buckley puppet was surprisingly life-like for the time period

[@davidfreeman7455]

Back when television was REAL and the people weren't all smiley, plastic surgery politically correct puppets like today much love to Kerouac and Buckley

[@unfortunatebeam]

Today the "television" that is real is on the internet and podcasting

[@aamantium1]

I appreciate these guys and the points they're attempting to get across, but the interviewer could have done a little better at probing key points. Especially with kerouak. I clicked to hear kerouak speak...should have known better...haha

[@tiredofidiotz775]

Buckley was a despicable human being. Ice in his veins. You need to do some background reading.

[@tiredofidiotz775]

@@aamantium1 Have some patience and listen to the entire thing. Then do some background reading on Buckley who was a despicable man. A lizard.

[@tiredofidiotz775]

@@unfortunatebeam Real or not, conversations, discussions such as this, rarely occur anymore. People have little patience for pauses. Buckley was a trump, but with brains.

[@hyperactivists9390]

HIGHLY INTELLIGENT AND MASTERFUL INTERVIEW

[@vaegirshoop]

poor Jack. God bless him.

[@Joe-ol5bq]

Jack is GOLD in this interview. Flashes of pure comedy and brilliance. That Count Leo Tolstoy response and Vietnam Jeep Plot bit. But of course, the kicker: “Can I say something? Beware of false prophets who come unto you in sheeps clothing, but really underneath they are ravening wolves.” REST IN PEACE JACK DULOZ YOU DESOLATION ANGEL.

[@eterno.retorno]

I understood fifty percent but enjoyed it, especially the greasy Kerouac lines.

[@jameszinsmeister1515]

"The topic tonight is 'The Hippies,' an understanding of whom we must, I guess, acquire or die painfully." -- W.F.B., Jr.

[@thedancingveganatheist6310]

I'm so ignorant that I thought Bernie Sanders might have been a part of this before clicking lol

[@AdamLuedtkeCUNY]

I'm a political scientist and avid student of the 60s, and I thought so too LOL. How interesting that would have been! Young Bernie on this panel. I think he just would have looked at them all like they were nuts, and stayed on message.

[@2ndshooter688]

“They've got a lot of jeeps“.......classic!

[@omatrionfetti2222]

May you Rest In Peace my brothers Rest In Peace... Rest with the gods....talk to the gods....artist,beats,hippies,

[@flamingooneleg77]

oma Trionfetti come on be honest, you know none of them are resting in peace. Torment

[@Gobble_de_Goop]

Ed Sanders died?!

[@banjorooney]

Jack! The drunken jester of modern american literature. Good to have him in there poking fun at this boorish intellectualizing. Don't despair or judge his demise. He lived the way he wanted and needed to live. He had the original set of balls to just say say fuck it! He elevated the road trip to epic, mythical, divine poetry, as it is, and should be!

[@johnscott7195]

He wasnt always tender like he advocated..he wasnt always a pleasant "drunk".

[@TheGoldenCapstone]

@@johnscott7195 Well sometimes ya gotta rough 'em up.

[@johnscott7195]

@@TheGoldenCapstone Well I've always found his myth and legend interesting...the melancholy and deep awareness..I visited the memorial to him in Lowell....but like with most great individuals contradictions exist and sometimes for me difficult to reconcile ..

[@sunkintree]

​@@DreamArchitect yeah hes a great writer. whats your favorite book of his?

[@robertdavis4192]

At exactly 1:20 Sal's eyes look up for the briefest of moments, but if you pause it in the space you can see eons of human experience flowing directly into yourself and you can feel this strange emotion

[@Chinaski83]

I was never an extensive Kerouac reader but what I did read amazed me with it’s brilliant colorful observations and I remember feeling humbled by his talent. He seemed like brilliant man. It’s hard to square that man with the tales of the older Kerouac, who by many accounts was a racist, bitter, stumbling alcoholic . Key word being alcoholic. It’s tragic. That hootch ate his brain.

[@Sgurdmai]

Kerouac brrr-ing his lips and scoffing is priceless (and sad.)

[@electrasong]

Jack Jack Jack.... the sound of the Sea... I love Jack Kerouac... and his sparring with |Buckley is so irreverently delicate, as drunk as he is, he stays on top.

[@sb4040]

"I believe in orderness, tenderness, and piety." ~ Kerouac

[@kurdtacolbain731]

Yet he talked out of order, without tenderness.

[@BS-lx6nj]

@@kurdtacolbain731 he was drunk and within a year of his death. And I disagree about the tenderness.

[@planecrashcorner7283]

For a second i thought the title meant bernie sanders lol. That would have been very interesting.

[@michelleduval27]

Bernie Sanders and Allen Ginsberg met though.

[@Tomcaatt]

William Buckley blows my mind , (Remembering the commercial)

[@jefesteel]

When did Kerouac turn into Jerry Lewis? or is it the other way around?

[@rcwilliams8854]

Noticed that too!

[@John-ho4tv]

and Sanders into James Hetfield

[@bluecollarlit]

I noticed that, subconsciously, then read your comment, and went, Yes! My gosh!

[@itsmysniff4950]

Goddamn Jeff, I saw it as well. I almost couldn't watch it. Even at almost Jack's age here, I have never seen him on video. Reminded me of my drunken brother. Swollen and a shell of what once was.

[@1958Shemp]

About 38,000 drinks before, sadly.

[@vollsticks]

It just occurred to me re-watching this that "Professor" Yablonsky IS the character from the police lecture scene from the Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas film!

[@TxxT33]

What do you mean IS. You mean for real?

[@NobodyCaresALot]

Yablonsky frokm this video isn't that bad. That character is a Hollywood take on Terrence McKenna as a square, loafer guy. Yablon is just setting it from the outside from the best perspective that he can ascertain, he is not nagging or making anything up for embellishment. His perspective is totally appropriate, accept it or not, he is entitled to that, right?

[@tdubbs684]

Sorry but this is a total stretch and you clearly haven't watched Fear and loathing enough times if you think Dr Yablonsky shares any similarities. As was said before, he's not being antagonistic in any way, just sharing his insights of a new culture that he revolutionised the field of sociology by immersing and inserting himself into the scene to study. Read The Hippie Trip that's mentioned, which details his him befriending and studying various high profile hippie culture leaders, one of which was my cousin Gridley Wright. Dr Yablonsky is a pure and unbiased academic who spent his life researching and explaining subcultures and trying to give a sociological and human context for normal societal deviance and crime.

[@vollsticks]

@@TxxT33 No, I just means his mannerism and way of explaining everything is so "establishment figure who thinks he understands "the heads""

[@vollsticks]

@@NobodyCaresALot Yeah, it just seemed amusing to me, dunno why everyone's taking it so seriously!

[@RubeeDtimebot000]

Tavestockstudiesus .. Alot of us hippies were reincarnated Indians as they genocided our whole groups so there weren't our own to get born thru so we came thru the white modern families and then tried going back to live on the land like we used to and without paying someone to live. The energy in this dialogue is so nice , pre digital when people weren't flooded with t.m.i. and multitasking all day. Thanks for uploading!

[@frankciccarelli4000]

Kerouac, even in his last days and clearly drinking, was brilliant...