From J. Edgar Hoover to Christopher Reeve

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Carl Sagan
May 19, 1975
Carl Sagan popularized astronomy for millions of Americans with his 1980 television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage. He promoted the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project, in which scientists listen with radio telescopes for signals from other life forms. In this interview, he was asked whether there could be life in space that in no way resembles life on Earth.

Not only is that possible, it is inevitable. We Earth beings are exquisitely attuned to the environment of our planet, but that's because we have evolved here. Those of us not so exquisitely attuned are dead. As a result, we regard other planets that are even slightly different as somehow inhospitable. But that's only a reflection of our evolutionary past. I could well imagine beings brought up on a place like Jupiter who would look at Earth and say: My goodness, you might want to visit, but you surely wouldn't want to live there.

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James Dickey
April 18, 1977
A peanut farmer from Plains, Ga., had moved into the Oval Office, and the South—or the Sun Belt, as it had just been dubbed—was starting to leave its old reputation behind. As urban riots were roiling the North, the South was enjoying a booming economy and vastly improved race relations. In the first half of the decade, the South grew in population more than the rest of the country combined. Among those who addressed the region's growing influence was the author of Deliverance, James Dickey, who had read one of his poems at President Jimmy Carter's inauguration gala.

What we need and have now is a thrust provided by Southern ascendancy and its particular brand of kindness, fellowship, tolerance, and easygoingness. For many years, the South was thought of by the rest of the country as racist and intolerant, but that has never really been true except in some isolated instances. Most Southerners are extremely tolerant.... The men are good to each other; the men are good to the women; the women are good to each other, and the women are good to the men.... When that Southern influence spreads throughout the country...you're going to see a good new kind of feeling of people for each other.

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Dick Cavett
June 4, 1979
An Emmy Award-winning talk show host, Dick Cavett was known for his easygoing style, a sharp wit, and a thoughtful approach to sometimes controversial issues. At the time of this interview, television was limited to a handful of networks, but the medium was taking up more of Americans' time, which concerned educators, parents, and social critics. Many worried about sex and violence on "the tube."

Television may have made this a nation of spectators. That's the real danger. All those evenings, weeks, months, and years of people sitting there passively staring at a screen cannot help but numb the brain.

This is not an indictment of talk shows, but I suppose many people cannot make conversation, so they watch other people talk on television. Or perhaps they have no sex or violence in their lives, but they would like to—so they watch television and are vicariously thrilled or repulsed by it. It's quite possible that the mental and intellectual health of the country would be better off if people didn't stare into that glowing box for so many hours.