Gore Vidal in conversation with Melvyn Bragg

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From 2008: Gore Vidal in conversation with Melvyn Bragg. Filmed at the Royal Geographical Society.
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[@johnwilliamleonard]

Gore Vidal, as your last year 2012 comes to an end, the New Year will be a little darker without you. I miss you, the world will miss you. It was a better place with your logic and straight talking. - Nobody else can compare, or even come close, to your ability, wealth of knowledge, wit and experience, you are an irreplaceable loss. R.I.P.

[@JimDocker]

I always thought Buckley whipped his ass.

[@user-ff4lr2jj5r]

@@JimDocker you thought wrong. Forgive my late entry into this but I just discovered this video.

[@twolegsnotail]

It's so outrageous that every interviewer asks Vidal the same questions. It's such a pity. Vidal was such an extremely intelligent and interersting man and more than that: Vidal was an iconoclast. In this age where everything is "iconic" Vidal was smashing icons - we need him back.

[@vinoverus]

Admirably put, notail. I've not watched the Dick Cavett interviews or Vidal's appearance on The South Bank Show. Both venues tended to kill less brain cells than others. Cheers!

[@MrLoobu]

He and Hunter Thompson

[@petermaxwell2965]

KZbin has got plenty of other examples of his experience and humanity !

[@captpogossian]

I saw him at a festival around the same time, interviewed by Andrew Marr whose weedy interview technique he simply batted out of the way and got on with what he wanted to say. This was a very old man; how many people criticising him will have half his wits in the unlikely event of their surviving into their 80s? Of course the anecdotes are well-worn by now and the second volume of his autobiography is the work of a tired and unwell man, but read "Palimpsest" if you want an insight into his extraordinary life. His fiction has seldom grabbed me but the essays and criticism remain the best testament to his talent. An honest man in the City on the Plain.

[@srmcriclesinthenight9317]

Pan oRoya your lucky that you saw him. I'm too young to be able to have seen him

[@normanduke8855]

'Myra Breckinrige' is a masterpiece. The rest? Nah.

[@unkleskratch]

Imagine... even in advanced old age, he was still the smartest, most informed, wittiest and most articulate man in the room. And if some of his prognostications were dark- look at us now.

[@MickHuerta]

And your comment above still holds true (in 2021).

[@indigoviperlondon8838]

@@MickHuerta even more so!

[@Conscious_Pilot]

@@indigoviperlondon8838 Why do I feel I could come back to this thread in five years and still be, "and...even more so now...?"

[@GudLawdHammercy]

@@Conscious_Pilot Ditto.

[@dengelke]

Have heard Gore do a lot of impressions, but never expected him to mimic Buckley.

[@clemsonbloke]

You should hear him in the old Buckley vs Vidal debates from the 60's, they both sounded like they were trying to outdo each others accent. Interestingly enough I saw a video of this guy from 2002 and he had no transatlantic accent at all, he actually sounded American. Now fast forward to this 2008 video and not only has the transatlantic returned, it's almost as though he's trying to do an English accent. Buckley never changed his accent, this guy goes back and forth.

[@glossypots]

If only he was around now, my god what would he think?

[@Landroverdude101]

"Well, he's not gonna like hell" America, now more than ever, needs more young people to step up and carry his torch!!!

[@goodboybuddy1]

My intellectual hero. Thanks for posting.

[@MrLoobu]

He and Hunter Thompson.

[@jfs78]

Great to see the master at work

[@jeremyreagan9085]

Gore Vidal changed my view of history along with Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky I will love them tell my last day in this world.

[@MattSingh1]

You should also give Christopher Hitchens a try, unless you're one of the crackpot anti-Hitchens/'Hitchens was a Neo Con' types.

[@jeremyreagan9085]

Christopher Hitchens to me was a man with merit once but he sold out to power as the majority of supposed "Intellectuals" have throughout recorded history. I cannot forgive his Feb. 2010 slander against Vidal who is as careful with the facts as a person can be.

[@sullivansongz]

he was great for a period but it really is futile to dispute his embrace of Wolfowitz toward the end of his life oddly

[@chrisbennett606]

Jeremy Reagan please explain I would like to know more on why you said that?

[@julierozo]

chris bennett Vidal mentions Hitchens’ transition in United States of Amnesia, but not in detail.

[@GeneDangoMd]

I love how Melvynn Bragg asks Vidal about himseld and Vidal goes into the war in Iraq and education.

[@VICSWEB1]

He said both party's are the same, 40 years ago!!!!!! Not even today do prominent people repeat that truth.

[@tiffsaver]

The cat was a pure visionary... a total genius.

[@normanduke8855]

Not true. Where they are both the same is campaign contributions.

[@nestorar]

norman duke That’s “why” they are both the same.

[@stuartwray6175]

Karl Marx made that observation.

[@mytruthbekind5793]

They are both the same because of money. Isn’t absurd that most of the people in the country are not rich and who represents us? Millionaires and billionaires?? It’s politics so the have less get further pushed behind and then told, without irony that it’s our fault. It is absurd. What gives me comfort is continued knowledge and understanding. That is what is so great about Vidal. There is so much power and control with hard earned wisdom.

[@MaryJaneHancock]

Loving this man's perspective.

[@SuperbowlJoel]

this discussion could be a template for understanding wisdom, without the forceful direction.

[@thegreathadoken6808]

One thing's for sure, the old man has an international-standard ability to grab the attention by the balls and hold it prone with nothing more than well placed language and the kind of gentle, grandfatherly gravitas earned through decades of experience at the highest levels of intellect.

[@jrbleau]

That's eloquently put.

[@jadezee6316]

vidal was never gentle or grandfatherly....it is ridiculous to say so

[@jadezee6316]

@Bruno56 vidal was open about his sexuality....but that really isnt your point....you just are a very immature child...who projects their homosexuality onto others in a negative way to alleviate your feelings of guilt....it is always a clear give away...and you fool no one....no one BUT a latent homosexual..like you are would even think of making such a comment...

[@renatelittlejohn177]

@Bruno56 Mr. Vidal lived in Europe for decades, he had a life partner and if you know something about him being a pedophile you should have some credible evidence, without it it is a slander on your part.

[@kristinpfanku3927]

Also, he can remember everything he's read.

[@boomerangchronicle6171]

Also very talented and gifted in voices.....a brilliant imitator

[@12artman]

Yes, I'd never realized how good an impressionist he was. What convinced me was his impression of Eisenhower! LOLLOLLOL! I'd never heard anyone do Ike!

[@dragonfly1929]

Great memory too ..

[@Conscious_Pilot]

You think there's a connection . . . between his brilliance and his ability to do impressions?

[@teeniebeenie8774]

i so miss our midnight walks down by the lake...may ur spirit thrive up yonder on the special cloud for men of wit and class...

[@jadezee6316]

i had a friend who knew vidal in italy...he told me gore would enter sit in HIS chair and proceed to hold court

[@philipmartinhammond8313]

Vidal was brilliant he was right about lying it’s pure evil and causes untold misery

[@higgsmerino3925]

The The Orange One never lies . . . . . never.

[@eamonwright7488]

@@higgsmerino3925 "Politicians lie in the way that birds sing." -Gore Vidal

[@bbbartolo]

thanks so much for this upload. He was old and infirm but at his sententious best. The way his weltanschauung revealed itself in short sentences was almost breathtaking.

[@mediolanumhibernicus3353]

bbbartolo why say “worldview” or “outlook” when one can say the magnificent “weltanschauung”......?

[@bbbartolo]

@@mediolanumhibernicus3353 I misspelled. Shoulda been capitalized.

[@corryjookit7818]

@@mediolanumhibernicus3353 Not wishing to stray from these uploads about Vidal, I don't know what these German looking words means. Help please !

[@tonirose6776]

@@corryjookit7818 See synonyms above, i.e. worldview

[@corryjookit7818]

@@mediolanumhibernicus3353 Thank you so much. Yes it's a great word, joyful to ponder and then to speak.

[@freejazzandcheese1]

Thankyou for uploading this. Any Gore is absolute gold, nevermind Gore being interviewed by Melvin Bragg.

[@michaelweber5702]

He was quite amazing . A good writer as well ...

[@joshuaklein2859]

" I guess I'm not looking at it" at the 54:00 mark... ha ha! He has a remarkable sense of humor.

[@vadaann1279]

We still use mercenaries. So embarrassing what America really is.

[@JosephORourke]

a nation built on slavery and genocide isn't enough?

[@Conscious_Pilot]

@@JosephORourke Actually it is.

[@boomerangchronicle6171]

He was brilliant.

[@joaquinmisajr.1215]

Spoke truthfully, too

[@gordygibson4558]

Gore Vidal was and is the greatest historian dramatist political commentator and critic.

[@thomasd2444]

0:50:20 - Q & A 0:51:35 - Q1 : 0:53:20 - 0:53:48 - Q2 : 0:54:56 - Q3 : 0:55:23 - Q4 : 0:56:22 - Q5 : 0:58:09 - Q6 : 0:59:29 - Q7 : 1:00:28 - Q8 : 1:02:48 - 1:04:08 - Q9 : 1:06:11 - Q10 : 1:08:22 - Q11 : 1:09:17 - Q12 : 1:10:00 - Q13 : 1:11:04 - 1:11:56 - Q14 : no mic 1:13:49 - Q15 : 1:15:15 - Q16 : 1:16:46 - Q17 : 1:18:00 - Thank you very much, indeed.

[@charlesashurst997]

I've tended to think of Gore Vidal in conjunction with William F Buckley, both verbal masters but different in how they applied words. Buckley trotted out words as ornaments. Vidal used words to speak.

[@AntPDC]

+Charles Ashurst Nicely put.

[@tanyet]

+Dennis Diderot Although I love Gore Vidal I tend to agree with this. I guess a public debate may not be about whether an idea is true or not though. It's more about performance and Gore was ridiculously good at that.

[@mykkie100]

+Charles Ashurst They hated each other in real life!

[@robertrichard6107]

Buckley trotted out words as subtle insults. I think he was ashamed of being from West Virginia. While Vidal was actually a gentleman of the south who knew a politician when he saw one. Buckley was a typical status quo politician who really took his politics seriously, while Vidal being well schooled by his maternal grandfather knew better than to take politics too seriously. Vidal wouldn't be corralled by Buckleys sound bites, and Buckley took it personally.

[@andronicemarinis1072]

Can you just imagine how horrified he would be in 2021!!

[@reidwhitton6248]

He wouldn't be surprised. He saw it coming a long way off.

[@ttrons2]

He is a wonderful man. Sad that he is aging. They are startiing to destroy his writings and memory.

[@vadaann1279]

Sorry to inform you, but Vidal died years ago. 😥

[@OneAdam12Adam]

What the hell are you talking about? You sound like a Russian Disinformation Troll.

[@N2Large0Shirt]

Hes less than one in a million... I don't think there are more than 7,000 people like him in the world.

[@bertcanepa5651]

Correction: There are/were only two.....Gore Vidal and myself....now unfortunately only one: me.

[@steevsmith2792]

This is priceless. Gold. Wonderful stuff.

[@tomkiefaber4297]

"Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted. That mankind does not learn very well from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history." - Aldous Huxley -

[@Conscious_Pilot]

Ironically, died as Kennedy was being assassinated . . . great quote btw

[@David_A._Ream]

Sorely missed in today’s USA 🇺🇸 a skeptic, an historian, an anti-war advocate, an anti-Israel American but sad to say having little or none at all faith! ♥️✝️♥️

[@bobbywimsy6741]

David Ream The philosophical flaws were cynicism, the religion of unbelief, and bitterness. I would say he had a certain faith in a virtuous Republic based upon truth. But he also had a deeply realistic view of human nature, not an idealistic one. In a Country that no longer longer believes in the truth- a deep unifier in former times, or Virtue, or teaches, generally, the virtues that flow therefrom, Gore probably would now be comparing us to Rome in decline, and quoting Gibbon.

[@astrospect]

This man takes 5 minutes to answer a simple question and every second of every minute of it is entertaining. A true intellectual.

[@jojohorvath8538]

And he takes 5 seconds to answer complex ones.

[@jansmiths8629]

mr vidal ur an absolute darling!

[@boomerangchronicle6171]

He was a patriot (not a populist nationalist).......

[@brockmeeks1695]

Boomerang Chronicle he called patriotism the last bastion of phonies or cowards.

[@ActionableFreedom]

What an absolutely wonderful talk.

[@richcampus]

"Lies will damage your immortal soul"

[@DBEdwards]

Gore is witty, brilliant, funny and quite the raconteur. He is the supreme speaker. Honest, candid and outspoken, fearless. Literary giant. When asked why he left the United States to live in Italy, he replied: "Americans live in constant guilt and fear and he wanted no part of it." God bless him. I miss him terribly. Thank you for posting this extraordinary episode.

[@nannersguyaners2745]

Wow - Vidal is really speaking to us today ... he wld have been SCATHING @ Trump and Americans having elected him...

[@MySquash1]

Good thing he did not live to see Trump.

[@dragonfly1929]

Just my thought ...he would have died of SHAME TO BE STILL ALIVE ,IN A TWISTED AMERICA ,WITH A TRUMP IN THE HOUSE !!

[@robertrichard6107]

Yeah Trump is just the symptom. But he would have shuddered seeing Trump strong arm the silly ass U.S. embassy into Jerusalem. Makes you wonder what are they ever going to do with the one in Baghdad.

[@monicaangelini3324]

But his thoughts, brilliant intellect ate sorely missed, right?

[@claudenobles3826]

great clarity

[@PB-mo1fs]

Always great to hear GV, but how did MB get away with it all these years?

[@simonlee8889]

stealth, ambition and treachery... just like most TV execs

[@Rufus..Calhoun]

reading one of his autobiographys....awesome

[@robertholland8283]

Very interesting conversation.

[@weavethehawk]

Would it be to much to expect that the audio people have any audio problems sorted out and rectified before the program commences, precisely to avoid the unpleasant squeals and grunts audible at the start of this event? Not to have the audio working perfectly seems to me to be an insult to the two formidable intellects here.

[@jadezee6316]

vidal is brilliant here...intent on cutting right to the point....with nothing but truth....the interviewer does his part...keeping gore away from the simple and easy laughs

[@gibbogle]

Who could forget Bierce?

[@reidwhitton6248]

"We've become a country of lies. Everyone knows it and the politicians know we know but they don't care." America hasn't changed course since this discussion.

[@greenenergy5481]

No More War

[@stuartjohns230]

Anybody viewing this in May 2020 (Covid-19)

[@jojohorvath8538]

No

[@PhoenixConsoleGamer]

One of the best conversations, If not the best ever. As time passes and ignorance sweeps this country, what do we do??????? We can now understand what civilizations thought as the dark ages have sweep across the land. We maybe heading for the second dark ages. This was the fear that this man felt in his last days. How sad of state we find our country.

[@user-xy4lk6zh3o]

it is hard to hear. whre are the microphones~?~

[@regmunday8354]

An American actor should adapt this as a One Man Show for theatre, and take it on national tour: Gore Vidal sharing his thoughts about America. Perhaps the show could use a little bit of 'poetic licence' and speculate on what Vidal might have said about Trump's presidency.

[@luanp.hasnay2600]

Totally fascinating, his sharp mind is contagious.

[@kingoftheseamusic]

I bought a ticket for this event, then bought train tickets. Then on the day i went to the train station I realised that the even occured the day previously and I had bought train tickets for the wrong day. I still went to London, but was devastated I never got to see the man.

[@joecook5689]

I had to read gore vidal's Julian novel in college western civ. It was pretty awesome, the first third that I got thru, at least.

[@Dannycarry]

My God what would he make of the current monstrosity in the White House

[@bobbywimsy6741]

Daniel Carry He would marshal his not inconsiderable intellect and razor wit, and the English language, and call him out as a fraud and a con. Might've called him something like Roy Cohn's Charlie McCarthy. Your suggestions a la Gore?

[@stumbling]

To me it seemed like a reaction to dull and loaded questions. I do think he lost a certain fire about him, and wasn't so easily piqued, I would attribute that to some of his more bland answers rather than mental decline.

[@clemsonbloke]

My god, this man put on so much. He had this perfect transatlantic accent in the 60's. Fast forwarded to a 2002 video of him and he had lost that accent. Now here he has tried to adopt an old world English accent. What was with this man and accents?

[@yamezschneider6892]

His accent is hardly english by any stretch of the imagination. His enunciation is simply excellent and educated.

[@glgdpeter]

Transatlantic is not what you call "English" accent.

[@ThePlayboyLen]

The affectation is very similar to FDR's. Compare them. But, truly, fuck that stupid distraction: the content of his commentary is the thing. Dork.

[@timmccaffrey1326]

I think Mr Vidal adapted his accent to suit whatever country or maybe even whatever mood he was in!....even in American interviews he rarely spoke with the same cadences and inflections in any two successive interviews. He was the mythological 'left handed gun' of both the American political and literary establishments.

[@MattSingh1]

Same went for Buckley and Mailer.

[@BluesmanBri]

He's a one off. Hilarious. Who willreplace him? Jordan?

[@tonirose6776]

You must be joking. i hope you are.

[@ThePriority99]

Bragg the Establishment lackey can't hold Vidal back .

[@SobersRajakumar]

An intellectual American, which he was and a shining icon etched in the American literary history. Today when we say intellectual American, one feels strangely uncomfortable, as if, he has uttered an oxymoronic expression. Times changed

[@donluchitti]

Gore's sexuality was ambidexterous?!? There goes any consolation I awarded myself when thinking of my own hetero conquest scorecard! I heard him remark that the person he loved most was not his partner he died with (who also spent the most years 'with' him.) Hitchens also remarks in his book "Hitch 22" that Gore was notorious for denying his counterpart in sex any pleasure. His ability to utilize mystique equiponderate to confrontation I believe did wonders for his writing and sex life.

[@imperialtimes9136]

Bragg's retorts on the religion argument were pathetic deflection, Vidal is beyond him in so many ways here.

[@davidwilkie9551]

It's necessary to acknowledge the concept of the perceptions and labels in terms of "god", but remain agnostic in the conception of Actuality, and without anthropomorphic projections.

[@billykersh7061]

I heard someone say one time that he had spent most of his life dealing with an irrational fear of being gored to death by a bull. But that fear had now changed to being bulled to death by a gore.

[@simonlee8889]

or bored to death by a gull

[@gibbogle]

Yes. After a couple of sentences he gets back to the same topics.

[@luismanuel2612]

Thank you, Gore Vidal...

[@carmeniglesias1714]

The sound needs improvement. Is to low!

[@SUpersaiyajinjerkbag]

HE said nobody did anything for vets? Didn't lincoln dish out a bunch of veterans' pensions?

[@lynngregory393]

I miss Mr Vidal; it seems I grew up watching him on television.

[@martinzitter4551]

His disgust for liars must have him spinning in his grave in the age of trump.

[@gardenlizard1586]

Geniius

[@SLAVESweARE]

Look up H L. Mencken and Albert Jay Nock if you liked Gore Vidal...

[@bezoozime9170]

This Man was a treasure. American intelligence is in decline with every passing of the few

[@andrews527]

The RGS couldn't afford a competent audio engineer?

[@harvestcanada]

Thats it Gore Vidal is on my Xmas list!!

[@Reprodestruxion]

The Vidals come from Catalunya

[@pixiemouse1]

How nervous was Bragg.. I mean he's an intelligent chap but he's very much realised the true eminence present

[@benjaminglover1570]

This wisdom has gone forever. No guts no more.

[@brainsareus]

A bit extreme on your part, no? I get your main point, though.

[@circlesinthenight3141]

31:10 gore is right here

[@eyelutalulu7266]

What a loss. Does anyone know of anyone in 2021 that's as open, logical, informative as Gore Vidal? Let's say, a successor if you will.

[@carlberke9512]

His liking Hilary is very strange since she is a complete self server on the side of Wall Street. The Third Way personified.

[@carlberke9512]

+Dennis Diderot. Very quick of you. Gore is in his dotage so perhaps being a bit daffy is ok. I had forgotten all about this video. Hilary is the consummate self serving liar. Both Clintons are very bad for the Democrats.

[@Reprodestruxion]

Not about corruption but her competence. She was a competent bureaucrat (esp compared to the Trump circus train) but a mediocre candidate.

[@Relugus]

"The Dead Centre" as Gore memorably called it.

[@michaelmouse4024]

Gore... When asked about GW Bush he replied 'You don't need Freud when you're dealing with Caligula'. What would he think about Boris Johnson or Trump? Not much.

[@PkSage89]

36:31-39:03 ...

[@craigdobbin3521]

Wonder what he would say about the Trump hatred

[@sattarabus]

Don't rest in peace, Gore. Make the welkin ring with cakes and ale. Let the cherubim and seraphim enjoy the off-the-cuff flashes of your jeu d'esprit.

[@bobbywimsy6741]

Prof Sattar Basra Voltaire smiled. Jesus wept. Gore coined a zinger. Even God smiled, briefly.

[@chrisgreene2405]

Speaking truth to a one time Republic that became Empire and wears no clothes

[@bobbywimsy6741]

Chris Greene And it's emperor, lately giving on air medical advice. Gore would have pegged him as a self confident ignoramus, a know nothing disguised as a know it all.

[@petermaxwell2965]

We need more men (and) women of this type of intellect and humour ...

[@stickitupyourasteric]

Kennedy was unable to locate the Japanese ships as it was pitch black out so he shut off his engines as they tried to hear them. Great idea but soon after his ship was struck.

[@mightymissk]

I love Gore Vidal, but I thought his assessment of John F. Kennedy's war record was inaccurate. Jack may well have thought he was going to be court martialed for losing his PT boat--but he was wrong. His superiors knew such things happen in war. There are, for example, friendly fire deaths in every war. They don't mean the soldiers or their commanders necessarily lack competence. It is just a fact of war. Shit, as they say, happens. What really matters is that Kennedy subsequently swam through miles of open sea, towing an injured man on his back with the aid of a belt which he held between his teeth as he swam. (Kennedy had back trouble, in part, due to this ordeal, for the rest of his life.) The fact is, Kennedy led his crew to safety--I think it was 11 guys, one was lost when the PT boat went down--hid them from the Japanese when they made landfall on an island, and succeeded in contacting the Navy by carving out a message on a coconut, which he persuaded the locals to carry back to the nearest American warship. The fact is, no matter what machinations his father may have engaged in on his behalf, John F. Kennedy was a real war hero.

[@dragonslayer7627]

+mightymissk Total bullshit.

[@Reprodestruxion]

Gore preferred Audie Murphy I guess or Ezra Pound

[@dragonfly1929]

You do not know more than Vidal!Kennedys had a big problem ,with their father's sins ,they were Kennedys ,like the BUSHES,McCAINES ! Real heros ,never maid it back home !

[@jake105]

All of us get old. And if people want to pay you to keep speaking, then you go. I saw him in 2003 at Harvard Univ. He was brilliant as always but was over weight and had trouble walking. He lasted almost 10 more yrs after that. He outlived Mailer & Buckley. (a good thing for the last word) He was very critical of JFK, RFK and Bill Clinton for that matter but I still admire him greatly becasue he didn't "pull punches"

[@georginaradley8369]

Churchill Envy ….. wonderful term

[@michaelbermingham4502]

Little did they know what was on the horizon...............Don I........and then...........Don II

[@PetadeAztlan]

Never underestimate White guilt." ~ Gore Vidal kzbin.info/www/bejne/gX7YmmSHj6dor9k

[@Jess88363]

Time stamp?

[@wrmacdonald9383]

I find I'm fast forwarding past the interviewer, Melvyn Bragg. His inarticulate questions and stumbling familiarity are of less than no interest. Vidal uses his interruptions as mere jumping-off points for more important matters.

[@rational-public-discourse]

Noam Chomsky doesn't hold much credence with Kierkregard.

[@PaulSavoy-ky1ct]

Was he at the stage of "wet brain" where he claimed there were Somali pirates in his pool?