Kurt Vonnegut interview on His Life and Career (1983)

In this interview, Kurt Vonnegut-iconoclastic writer of science fiction and satire-discusses his family history, how he got his start as an author, his obsession with the betrayal of humankind by science, and his vision of technology gone mad. Delving into the psyches of his characters, he even enters into a dialogue with his fictional alter ego, Kilgore Trout. Dramatizations and excerpts from Slaughterhouse-Five, Breakfast of Champions, Cat’s Cradle, and Deadeye Dick bring the offbeat yet vivid world of Vonnegut’s stories to life.
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[@ManufacturingIntellect]

Check out these Kurt Vonnegut books on Amazon! "Kurt Vonnegut: A Life": amzn.to/2Q5Y1NM "On Writing With Style": amzn.to/34yUFWP "Kurt Vonnegut: The Complete Novels": amzn.to/2HU13yu Join us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/ManufacturingIntellect Donate Crypto! commerce.coinbase.com/checkout/868d67d2-1628-44a8-b8dc-8f9616d62259 Share this video! Free Audible Trial with Two Free Audiobooks: amzn.to/2LBdkZl Checking out the affiliate links above helps me bring even more high quality videos by earning me a small commission! And if you have any suggestions for future content, make sure to subscribe on the Patreon page. Thank you for your support!

[@dr.m.hfuhruhurr84]

"Fates Worse Than Death" -K.V.; also most worthwhile

[@BrianCarnevaleB26]

One of his famous quotes was "We are what we pretend to be so we must be very careful what we pretend to be!" Irony and truth was his calling card.

[@Strik9]

My favorite line,"The purpose of life, to be the eyes, ears, and conscience of the creator of the universe."

[@danielweiner7251]

I have rediscovered Kurt Vonnegut. My older brother died recently and I remember he at least at one time in his life was a staunch fan of and admired Vonnegut so I have been rediscovering his books and I really am crazy about him so glad I reread his books, I read them when I was a teen just our of curiosity now I get so much more out of them as a guy in middle age, I do think Breakfast of Champions is my favorrite thank you for the interview You don't know how much I appreciate it.

[@kathand1729]

I've been pretty dead the last couple months. I think reading Vonnegut's books is helping me feel again. I haven't seriously read anything in years but I thought I'd finish Miramar by Mahfouz and it just made me wanna read more, so I picked up Cat's Cradle. I'd been wanting to read something by KV for a long time, and I'm glad I did. Now I've been reading fairly regularly again.

[@ghgffhg8525]

I found cats cradle in jail. I had been pretty dead too.

[@kathand1729]

@@ghgffhg8525 I could only imagine. Bless. Hope things are going well for you.

[@gallopingmajor4637]

God bless you Mr. Vonnegut! See you on Tralfamadore

[@ianmartinezcassmeyer]

I'm so happy I didn't have Vonnegut shoved in my face in high school. I likely would've come to loath him. Instead, I found him on my own, and I'm so glad I did.

[@MrRayWilliamJohnson9]

So true

[@lopezpresentsthestories8624]

I had to read it in HS. Luckily I was too high while I read it so I was able to enjoy it years later.

[@MRSPACECAT]

I had it shoved in my face in high school but with me I really enjoy him then most in my English class

[@shlomohsamuel19]

This is so true. I was browsing through my Kindle app and had downloaded a bunch of ebooks two years ago. One of them was Breakfast of Champions. Vonnegut will find you at the weirdest of places.

[@haskellbob]

Me too. I can just imagine the tripe they must teach about him in high school! As soon as the "scholars" get a hold of a writer things that could have been understood become murky and impossible to really understand.

[@mungomidge1090]

I read most of his books 30 or 40 years ago and many things still remain with me to this day, I often think of “Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly; Man got to sit and wonder 'why, why, why?' Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land; Man got to tell himself he understand.”

[@tiasara5967]

Please read them again you’ll be so glad you did!😊

[@joshmusic9766]

He has so many great ideas. Sure, he has themes that many stories are centered on, but there are nuggets of wisdom screaming off each line.

[@tiasara5967]

Long ago l read somebody say that slaughterhouse 5 was the best novel about WWll ever written. Many years later l still feel like that is a legitimate statement. I love this man so much it makes my stomach hurt.

[@-8l-924]

videos like this make me grateful for what an incredible innovation/resource KZbin is. “if this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is”

[@harrisonmccartney4878]

Kurt Vonnegut is one of those people where you automatically know what he's going to sound like before he even opens his mouth just based off of the way he looks, and I love that!

[@JXY2019]

Vonnegut has a unique and cool accent. You can hear touches of his Hoosier upbringing but his speech also has a touch of old fashioned upper class

[@reidwhitton6248]

Same for Gore Vidal. They come from better than average stock.

[@liammcooper]

37:30 when talking about the science in Cat's Cradle, I only learned the other day that Vonnegut's brother was a scientist who studied seeding clouds.

[@alcosmic]

If this isn't nice, I don't know what is.

[@chr66is]

Best comment.

[@azazel2490]

Bingo

[@TRACELHENTZ]

BIG SMILE!

[@NixieEppler]

Nice, nice, very nice!

[@azazel2490]

I am Polish and Kurt Vonnegut is closest person in my life, although I do not always entirely agree with him. So it goes.

[@user-lg2zl5nm1w]

Poot-Twe-Tweet

[@iampaoyt]

ONE OF MY FAVORITE WRITERS.

[@recoverybeer8165]

An Argentinean introduced me to Vonnegut. The cute girl in college math gave a greater thrust to pick him up. Vonnegut is everyone's hero who reads him. 🤘🤘

[@lopezpresentsthestories8624]

Nice dude, how’d it end up going with her? Did you get with her?

[@Pixelkip]

@@lopezpresentsthestories8624 lol

[@barbarawillis5187]

Thinking back, I enjoyed reading Kurt Vonnegut books. I had a stack of them.

[@Tharg_the_mighty]

Maybe go back and read them again 😉 I’ve re-read my collection several times. Most do repay a second or third reading, I think.

[@tomajortom]

Thank you very much. You've been missed.

[@ManufacturingIntellect]

Thank you! Expect much more soon!

[@tomajortom]

Manufacturing Intellect I'm so glad to hear that. Welcome back!

[@harmonicparadox2055]

Note how they play Schubert's "Trout" Quartet in the background.

[@captop12]

The best documentary I've seen in quite a while. It was brilliantly conceived and executed, A+. Thanks for sharing.

[@kristinezanno9085]

One of the greats of humanity. Thanks for sharing this.

[@TheJacklwilliams]

I've never read Vonnegut. I stumbled through this maze due to research on a similar subject and via the algorithym... I'm compelled after watching this to read all his works. Thank you...

[@anthonymorales842]

likewise although his name was part of the literary vernacular when I was growing up. This interview dispels my preconceived notion of who he is. Not a bitter grumpy man, but a person with a sense of biting humor regarding humanity

[@mistere5204]

@@anthonymorales842 read.

[@anthonymorales842]

@@mistere5204 Who's says I don't . I've read some of his stuff.

[@danacoleman4007]

And......

[@naturalistmind]

How is Vonnegut precisely the man i would expect him to be, awesome.

[@mikescott4195]

As a huge fan of his since I'm a teenager (36 now), it's quite refreshing to not be let down by a personal hero of mine

[@GuitarGrrrella]

Gosh, I wish he were still around. Would love to have had the chance to meet him. If he'd grown up today he might not have become a writer, since in his day he was paid a lot of money for writing stories. That doesn't happen to new authors anymore. :(

[@wimgrundyearth5753]

But who survives mass killings of over 100,000 any more?

[@ghgffhg8525]

I think he would have wrote regardless. But maybe he wouldn't have had certain experiences that made his works so profound.

[@brianburke5570]

im so happy that this is available. thank you for posting this

[@waltersolomon9049]

_So it goes_

[@HingleMcCringleberryPSU]

hear hear

[@rachelthompson9324]

Vonnegut is why I became a writer. My short story collection, Stalking Kilgore Trout, is dedicated to his memory. My forth coming book could have been written by Trout.

[@PWNDpresents]

Alright, Rachel Thompson.

[@Mordecai9052]

I will find it.

[@anthonymorales842]

Fantastic, like others have stated I will look for your work.

[@rachelthompson9324]

@@anthonymorales842 Cool , thanks

[@barryflick54]

Rachel Thompson....really...that can't be your real name??

[@pixelwash9707]

Thanks so much for posting this - ideas that still apply today.

[@johnparadise3134]

33:08 “Earthlings are the great explainers”

[@lemonpaper]

Wow! I can’t believe this exists and I just got to watch it!

[@dwdavis5977]

Thanks for sharing your stories!

[@Ekkobelli]

Thank you so very much for uploading this. This was one of the best things I‘ve seen these years.

[@Bill-cv1xu]

Happy birthday Kurt.

[@recoverybeer8165]

Thanks for sharing this.

[@lopezpresentsthestories8624]

recovery beer No problem dude, DM me if you have any other requests.

[@SCB-dd4io]

Thank you for posting…great stuff

[@paradoxinmotion]

Thank you!

[@mhbackman]

Love the little Brian Eno intro tune!

[@aerowashburns6004]

25:00 I love his reaction to the punchlines

[@bryn5108]

A creative and quirky take on a great writer. Thanks for sharing.

[@ES_Glenn]

I love this

[@misterkefir]

A great one.

[@cartoonvandal]

I once dedicated an entire unpublished novel to Vonnegut. While I can't be entirely sure, I believe it was called 'Golf farts and ghastly carts'.

[@deeliciousplum]

I do hope to find Nigel Finch's original BBC link to this video. I always feel icky when not promoting the original content creator(s) of something that I am re-uploading and due to how much of an impression the content had on me. Thank you for sharing this re-upload. Now to find the original. 📽️🎬🎞️

[@Tharg_the_mighty]

Good luck with that!

[@glossypots]

What a fabulous imagination. This documentary is nearly 40 years old and all the problems he mentions war, pollution, even food obsession, just get worse.

[@lavalamps9007]

from one of his speeches, he also said that he wished he could lie about being an optimist but things are just going to get worse and worse. first time reading that line, i felt relieved because finally someone said it. but then it's all just crumbling down lmao.

[@trippmccalyster3869]

And finally humans all got together to put an end to the glacier question. With a combined effort seated mostly in comfort activities, driving and air conditioning, things of that nature. Humans were able to collectlively melt away at the glaciers one billionth of a meter at a time. War was still unsolved at this time as it would remain to the end of their species. But on the subject of melting glaciers, the humans had won. So it goes.

[@MegaAnzora]

This is the best video on KZbin!!!!!!!!!

[@MegaAnzora]

I was high when I wrote this but I stand by it

[@fjrjdjjjcdjjdj7282]

They play "Another Green World" by Brian Eno in the beginning

[@EnvisionerWill]

I would pay good money for a copy of "Now It Can Be Told" with that cover illustration, even if the actual text provided is just a page or two excerpted straight from "Breakfast of Champions".

[@rickyvela8788]

I thought Slaughterhouse-5 was great. Gonna start Mother Night soon. Thanks to my sister's boyfriend for recommending the books to me

[@itsjustme4371]

Kurt is up in heaven now

[@g-ratedhistory8233]

True, nice timequake reference too

[@wimgrundyearth5753]

Vonnegut Heaven.

[@stanboman7190]

Haha! I get it! He is up there with Asimov. :)

[@ghgffhg8525]

So it goes

[@derektrudelle4182]

He's with the Creator of the Universe.

[@nicoleklimper8596]

they dont make them like kurt vonnegut any more.

[@tablighibayans]

45:30 40 years on, nothing has changed

[@RiverFlotsam]

My people!

[@luc7937]

love

[@tonyspoetry]

Intresting film

[@EndOfEntertainment]

Cool stuff :)

[@CTangeloe]

Happy Bday Kurt :/

[@jamesjun6393]

Mr. Vonnegut deserves a much better documentary on his life and work.

[@quarterlifecrisis9241]

How can I get this on DVD?

[@recoverybeer8165]

great believer of truth. Let truth be what truth is.

[@thehighpriestess978]

"Firearms as a health problem". Imagine if he was doing the interview now, where it seems in the US you might have the same chance of catching a bullet as you would some diseases. How incredibly sad, that it has gotten to this point.

[@powerranger2467]

I found him in my procrastination.

[@ghgffhg8525]

I came across cats cradle while being robbed of my procrastination.

[@jatin461]

So it goes.

[@recoverybeer8165]

read Vonnegut and everything else.

[@pooteeweet7848]

They deff did not show this man justice when I was in school

[@Ruylopez778]

It's chilling to see that kid with a gun, even though it's obviously being filmed for the documentary

[@jamesturley1980]

and so it goes

[@recoverybeer8165]

Be rational even against a popular sect. Where's our heavyweight philosophers? Ideas always need to be discussed.

[@sarumandali]

" I was a great believer in truth .... scientific truth. Then truth was dropped on Hiroshima."

[@ghgffhg8525]

This struck me as well.

[@keithmclean3627]

We are all peepholes. Genius.😊

[@fuzzydunlop4513]

Eno at the beginning. nice

[@FathomlessJoy]

Hundreds of thousand vaporized into only shadows instantly in Hiroshima.

[@justinrowland5191]

his uncle Alex almost went down though.

[@donniedemarco]

1:07 YOO! Stephen King?!

[@recoverybeer8165]

trained to take an attitude. I wish I'd learned that sooner. Al, ehh and sorry?

[@davidreames8752]

*

[@anthonymorales842]

Firearms a terrible health risk and they should not exist like smallpox - 1983. Even back then guns viewed as a health risk

[@EnvisionerWill]

LOL...that is NOT how that nursery rhyme goes, Kurt!

[@finlaybishop5974]

whats the introduction somg

[@danacoleman4007]

Blurfk by curnsk

[@TRACELHENTZ]

(swoon)

[@geoffreynhill2833]

KV should be required reading for the twenty-eight + 🤔 Unforgettable. (from Green Fire, UK) 🌈🦉

[@yesgregyes1416]

Spent last summer re-re-re-reading "Mother Night." Here's the moral of the story: we are what we pretend to be so we must be careful what we pretend to be. I asked myself what we're pretending to be. Here's what I came up with: a reality TV audience. So it goes. #Vonnegut #MAGA

[@PatrickHogan]

YesGregYes Based on the socialism in God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater and Jailbird combined with his feelings on Bush and A Man Without a Country, I think Kurt would be ashamed having MAGA referenced in regards to him.

[@anthonyr.9566]

Kurt woulda hated Trump and the Republican party. I don't like him much but this is disrespect!

[@telescopicS627]

Vonnegut joked about sacrificing conservatives in satanic rituals.

[@g-ratedhistory8233]

He wrote how he would have liked free healthcare and debt cancellation, yikes

[@christopherhendrickson221]

“If Jesus were alive today, he’d be crucified, by the way of the electric chair, for his liberal beliefs.” -Vonnegut Vonnegut would’ve of been mortified and humored by a buffoon like Trump. Have you read any of his novels?

[@omefea8501]

Man... Dresdan was hell.

[@ruizt]

Science....

[@ghgffhg8525]

Did anyone else notice how hot that lady was?! "55:57"

[@milart12]

I think that it is Christie Hefner, Hugh's daughter.

[@user-pp9th3tt5b]

7:35

[@HenryCasillas]

❄️

[@allencollins6031]

Lou Reed

[@gregorygarcia7807]

The only way to cure an absurd world is to time your mind with an absurd author. It may not fix anything but you'll be in sync to accept the next absurdity with minimal damage to the thinking thing. one may not agree or accept the absurdity but you'll be less inclined to jump off that inclined plane. Who's to say?

[@davidzshit]

That is not trout in my eyes.

[@recoverybeer8165]

Fuhhh nihilism. ✌nothing can be known for sure. 👎

[@recoverybeer8165]

Biggest fan and worst critic.

[@telescopicS627]

"They paid very high prices for stories" Nowadays you publish a blog for free and consider yourself lucky to get even 100 views, let alone a single penny. Sad times.

[@charlie-obrien]

Everything must now be a screenplay for Netflix. No more casual and leisurely thumbing through a novel that makes you consider a different view of your existence. We now have Vonnegut and the other giants of 200 years of literature the way that opera lovers have Wagner, Puccini and Mozart.

[@CyberspacedLoner]

Mr Trout is Mr Trump

[@Tharg_the_mighty]

Don’t insult the great Kilgore Trout in such a way, please!

[@cianfurlong6336]

Spoilers!

[@recoverybeer8165]

does anyone think Vonnegut was a product of cash payers? Nobody knows anything. God forbid nihilism. Scramble you like end, I mean eggs. Let a=a be it.

[@Obama_OReilly]

Yes

[@SSkunk123]

Nothing to do with the great Vonnegut but a correction that I feel to address. At 10:20, That is a “Cockatoo” not a “Parakeet” and most importantly that cage is too small and the wrong shape for a Cockatoo. Please do not think this is alright, it is blatantly cruel.

[@arcanondrum6543]

Wow, this 15:20 didn't age well.

[@wimgrundyearth5753]

Even Herman Melville wrote terrible books.

[@pelonehedd7631]

I like Vonnegut and enjoy His Humor and intellect as well as His reminiscences . As one with a deep admiration for the Wisdom and foresight of Our Nations Founders I take umbrage with His views on Firearms and Our Second Amendment Civil Rights. Why Everyone Should Own A AR-15 is a insightful and thought provoking video on the subject. Remember that like the definition of a just war, should implies freedom of choice not a mandate for those who choose not to. Similarly i hope there will come a day when electric or other vehicles powered by fossil fuel alternatives do not consume and emit far more resources and emit more pollutants in their manufacture than they save by use. It wasn’t long ago that environmental preservationist railed against damning rivers and building Nuclear power plants for electric power production . Today there is a deafening silence and the natural Salmon be damned in favor of test tube corporate farmed Salmon . Save the environment uh? Its science. It A Brave New World. A New World Animal Farm where the Masses are kept in numeric control by the dictates and mandates of whoever erected The Georgia Guide Stones. I am waiting to hear what the “progressive” Gun Shy Authoritarian Elite have to say about the latest in alternative technology ray and sominex torpedo wallets, pens , violins , phones and watches for melting the forces and equipments of tyrants.