Progressive historian, essayist, and novelist GORE VIDAL is in fine form as--with much wit--he explains what's wrong with the United States.
Spoiler Alert: The answer is, two fake political parties with essentially the same program; perpetual war that benefits only the military-industrial-political complex; the ruinous costs to the citizens of perpetual war; and rule by the financial elite.
Sounds like he's got us pegged pretty well ... but he was speaking in 1982. Some things never change.
Vidal spoke to the Golden Gate Business Association, in San Francisco, on January 28, 1982. The audio recording (which I have condensed) was provided by "The Gay Life" radio program on station KFAN, San Francisco. Thanks to all.
New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "thumb") of WWUH-FM, a community service of that beacon of light in darkest Connecticut, the University of Hartford.
This is the first broadcast of this speech on New World Notes. The episode title is mine, not Vidal's.
Gore Vidal, October 3, 1925 - July 31, 2012
More details, photos, links, & other good stuff on the show's blog: http://newworldnotes.blogspot.com
You can download this program also from The Internet Archive (www.archive.org). The page with the download links is here: https://archive.org/download/nwn599vidalgarrisonstate192k
SERIES OVERVIEW -- Political and social commentary in a variety of genres. Exploring the gap between what we want ... and what they're trying to make us settle for. "Date recorded," below, = date of first scheduled broadcast.
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