Ayn Rand - Mike Wallace Interview 1959

[Victor Pross]

Ayn Rand - Mike Wallace Interview 1959

"For over 40 years, Mike Wallace has been among a handful of outstanding reporters who have set the standard for television journalism in America. As one of the most skilled interviewers in the history of visual media, he is known for asking bold, direct questions that push his subjects to the limits of their intellectual ability, and force them to reveal their true thinking. Wallace's interview of writer/philosopher Ayn Rand, exemplifies these qualities; however, he soon discovers that she is not a thinker who's afraid to say what's on her mind. The combination of Rand—at the height of her powers and at her charismatic best—and Wallace—young, aggressive, and powerfully charismatic in his own right—provides one of Rand's most engaging and memorable appearances of all time. This remarkable meeting of their minds constitutes an extraordinary chapter in the rich chronicle of American culture of the 20th Century."

[part one]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-pHxlwFgOc

[part two]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wsr768hdk4

[part three]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5poUSQ4L8pY

****

Edited January 16, 2007 by Victor Pross

[omphalos]

Very cool, thanks!

[Kat]

I've seen this interview on video before. It was not her best day and she did not present herself very well in this interview and her appearance and presentation skills (eye movement, slouching, etc.) are very distracting. I wish she had a little more coaching beforehand and came off more poised and professional. Later interviews, like with Tom Synder, show her much more at ease and in a much better light.

Kat

[Dragonfly]

I've seen this interview on video before. It was not her best day and she did not present herself very well in this interview and her appearance and presentation skills (eye movement, slouching, etc.) are very distracting. I wish she had a little more coaching beforehand and came off more poised and professional. Later interviews, like with Tom Synder, show her much more at ease and in a much better light.

Yes, I found her rather disappointing in these interviews, she made a rather shifty and uncertain impression, quite unlike the descriptions of her that I've read. Now I found Wallace a better interviewer than that creep Donahue with all his patting and used-car salesman talk (I wouldn't trust anyone with that kind of hair!). Of course Wallace said some weird things, but we shouldn't forget that this was in the fifties, when such ideas were quite common, which also explains some of Rand's idiosyncrasies that were more understandable in that context, but which became rather dated in the course of time.

[Ellen Stuttle]

Yes, I found her rather disappointing in these interviews, she made a rather shifty and uncertain impression, quite unlike the descriptions of her that I've read.

Was that her first video interview? It could have been -- 1959; it would have been within a couple years of Atlas being published. The lighting and the activity going on in the background from the video crew might have distracted her so that her eyes kept shifting around, a shifting especially noticeable with eyes as large as hers. I never did see the Johnny Carson show appearances, but I've heard that the way she came across was firm and powerful there.

Ellen

___

[Victor Pross]

I love this interview. I don’t have a problem with the eye twitching as I take that as an indication of a very strong mind at work. Rand is as sharp as a Kill Bill sword in answering Wallace’s challenging questions. What makes this interview appealing is the absence of an “audience questions” period—always a show stopper when you exhibit an array of dim-witted unwashed masses types before a great artist and philosopher. At the time of this interview, I’m sure the “rude hippie” of the Donahue show was still sucking her thumb and crying—a dirge she didn’t relinquish when she came face-to-face with Rand.

Edited January 21, 2007 by Victor Pross