Buckley, Kerouac, Sanders and Yablonsky discuss Hippies 

The look of excruciating pain on Kerouac's face when the camera first cuts to him is priceless.

Kerouac interrupting the host: "Get your question over with!" LOL

I read ON THE ROAD holed up in a library at Camp Evans, Vietnam, during a storm at the end of 1971.

I wish there slow, contemplative talk television like this still

RU-vid at its best, totally bizarre archived moment in time.

This is like all of the conversations I never wanted to have happening all at once.

The Dionysius the Areopagite comment: a small drunken insight into Kerouac’s soul-shift. He seems to mean to say he was part of a Dionysian movement (as in Dionysus/ Bacchus: ritualistic, embracing of chaos, inebriated) but in his drunkenness slips into calling Dionysus ‘Dionysius’ (the small matter of one iota). Dionysius is a different name and refers to Dionysius the Areopagite, a 7th century Syrian theologian whose writing on the ineffability of the divine and the celestial hierarchy (among other things) in some way shaped the whole history of Catholic orthodox theology (much quoted by Aquinas) and especially Christian mysticism. Realising this drunken slip, Kerouac embraces it, shifting from narrating his early days revelling in an ancient Greek Bacchic spirit to finding a kinship and a continuity with the deepest well in Christian mysticism - “although I’m not Dionysius the Areopagite, I shoulda been” 7:32 . :) A drunken slip saved with all the grace of a Chaplin stumble

Seems everyone's drunk, high, bored and sleep deprived there. Surreal

“It was pure on my heart." Love you, Kerouac.

"All the best men are laughed at in this nightmare land." -Jack Kerouac

Kerouac descended into a dark abyss of alcohol and depression. His death came from internal bleeding from his esophagus. His blood could no longer coagulate because of the damage the alcohol did to his liver. Terrific writer. Once very athletic. He died too young.

Buckley could read a Dr. Seuss book and still sound condescending.

This is as FINE A STUDY of four men sitting cross legged in plastic chairs as I have ever seen.

Sanders was so on point and ahead of the curve on this subject.

This is so much better than anything we have today on TV.

Kerouac seems like some family man in the 50s, home from an hour or two at the bar after work, and now sitting in the living room for some quality time with his family.

I love how the interviewer knows kerouac is drunk and plays along with it

It's wonderful to see the open-minded, idealism and exploring of society that was done, even on TV, in the 1960s. Could you imagine what this would be like today? People would be at each others throats. They were so much better behaved even during the middle of an unpopular war.

Buckley talks like he's 'air quoting' every second word or title he mentions.

Having a difficult time, as always, with the tenor of Buckley as a host. He is like a Quaalude come to fruition.

this is fucking amazing. a television show 50 years old that acts like a magnifying lens on our current situation. it puts so much into context

This segment is a great microcosm of the "Hippie/Vietnam War" era. The brilliance of this show was knowing that each one of these guys represented their respective stance in the most prototypical way possible. -Sanders represents what the ideal Hippie was "supposed" to be about. Music, sit-ins, peaceful protests, etc. but comes off as an ineffectual example of why that doesn't work. -Kerouac represents the so-called "silent majority." He knows exactly why the Hippies' approach doesn't work and in some cases empathizes with a few of their core tenets, but unfortunately is too drunk to make a cohesive point or offer any constructive advice (again, a perfect representation of the middle-aged American in 1968) -Lewis Yablonsky represents the old guard of American academia who tries so desperately to deconstruct the Hippie movement in a sociological way and actually does makes a few good points, but ultimately fails in finding any audience, often shushed and talked over by Kerouac (the middle American) -and finally ol' Buckley, the ultra-Conservative (by the times' standards) who puts them all in a room together and gives them a false feeling that their points are being heard, but in the end controls the program and who talks when. Buckley would be the US government. The only people (glaringly) missing are a woman and a person of color. Then this would be the late 60s in 22 minutes.

Though many dismissed WFB Jr as an academic stiff, it would be unheard of, today, to enjoy such a forum for active thinkers, doers and antagonists just sitting and talking and making sense or, in some cases, nonsense. So grateful for these archives.

Kérouac is 48 going on 70 in this clip. He died about a year after this due to cirrhosis of the liver.

Please watch an Allen Ginsberg interview where he talks about this Firing Line episode. He said that Jack had no idea that there would be those other two: Yablonsky and Sanders, and it was more of a panel. Jack thought it was going to be a one-on-one intellectual discussion between him and Buckley, and that is why he was behaving erratically, he’s was pissed off to be lumped in with the hippie and being analyzed by the sociologist.

Every one of them is like a caricature of themselves.

WFB actually told me many years later that it saddened him that Jack Kerouac had so much to drink before the show. It was only one of a few shows that really bothered him.

Kerouac gives the "thumbs-down" when Yablonsky brings up psychedelics at 4:54, then Sanders gives thumbs-up. Epic.

I kept waiting for the guy with the moustache to say "As your attorney, I advise you to..." Haha

buckley is one of the few interviewers in history that could get away with shushing a guest

This is Kerouac pickled in cynicism ... he's bitter for all that good time lost and now gone. The Carnival is over ... all that's left is a bottle and his arm chair. If they praise him he will bite them, if they knock him he will roll his eyes ... it's all a bit sad. He still manages a genuine moment of great humour ... the kick about jeeps was hilarious.

Kerouac's writing is so raw, poetic, soaring, hilarious, and honest that it slays me. It's like Shakespeare to me. I almost drank myself to death too, but I quit. I wonder sometimes if I have more courage than Jack, or less

I'm drunk from watching Kerouac.

Yeah, we all want our heroes to stay forever young, forever the way they were when they were heroes. Kerouac proves here that heroes are mortal, but he still shows flashes of brilliance, sadly too drunk to participate meaningfully. Ed Sanders proves that he was a lot more of a hippie than he would care to admit, and very much in form. Buckley shows that he is the one so far out of it and over-analytical. I find Yablonsky was academic, but he did know the subject matter. Kerouac, if one is tuned into the "On the Road" mentality, shows a suppressed antagonism to Ed Sanders which probably surprised a good many people who were watching this at the time, but looking back, is true to form for the way Jack K. was thinking at the time. An excellent, historic program. Excellent of you to post it. Thanks.

That is a national treasure! Thanks for uploading!

I love ❤️ this video! Thanks for the throwback!

Kerouac's laugh after Buckley mentions "The Fugs" is awesome! I think he laughs harder after Buckley says "Combooooo."

Jack drank so much at that time.He looks well beyond his years. Actually, this is kind of sad to watch. Imagine if he hadn't started drinking like he did? He just ruined himself sick. But his comments, you can tell how intelligent he was. He spoke very poetic.

What a remarkable group of individuals indeed.

Kerouac: "As far as I'm concerned, the Vietnamese war is nothing but a plot between the North Vietnamese and the South Vietnamese, who are cousins, to get Jeeps in the country." Buckley: "They're not very good plotters are they?" Kerouac: "Well they've got a lot of Jeeps!"

Man Kerouac was 47 during this interview it looks like he was in his 60s

Old Saint Jack called the hippies "some kind of Dionysian movement in late civilization." You can't keep living that way forever, and what you see in this interview is Kerouac crashing down spectacularly. In a way, he's rather heroic since he preferred to flame out brightly, rather than compromising himself and selling out like most of the hippies, who became the insufferable "me generation" baby boomers of the 1980s and beyond. A tragic yet noble soul he was!

This is absolutely my favorite episode of Firing Line.

This is like a Chopped & Screwed interview. It’s fantastic.

poor Jack. God bless him.

Remember watching this on live TV, although I think we still had a B&W set. My parents used this as part of their anti-hippie campaign on me. They made me quit the drums and start classical piano and no more garage bands!

11:33 paused the show for a pizza delivery

If he can figure out what is "happening", he can rise one notch to become "hip", and if he can convince himself to approve of what is "happening", he can become "groovy".

I feel the hippie spirit really began in 1949 with J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, the first novel to delve deeply into the individual angst of a teenager, barely a young man. From there, its almost like Salinger opened the door for America's permission to focus on youth. It's not a big step to go from Salinger to the Beat Generation to the hippie movement and "youth culture" in general.

@SensitiveSkinTV I would not characterize Yablonsky as a "clueless academic". I think he was very well informed for the time. If only more "clueless academics" were as thoughtful back then

Big Sur is one of the most incredibly written books I've ever read

academic's not clueless - he makes very good points and is very articulate....

Proving there's nothing more surreal than life itself. :)

I found a sentence on an article that says a lot: "Lawless hedonistic out of control lifestyles left unchecked usually leads to an early grave"

HIGHLY INTELLIGENT AND MASTERFUL INTERVIEW

It was the coded messages in the show "Leave it to Beaver" that caused the Hippie movement

Kerouac may be drunk, but this exchange is COMPLETELY BRILLIANT.... Buckley: What, in your opinion, distinguishes the hippie movement from, for instance, a simply a routine-- Kerouac: Get your question over with Buckley: --radical political movement? Kerouac: What? I interrupted your sent-sentence. Buckley: Yeahhh, I said, what distinguishes the hippie movement from just an orthodox, radical, say, uh-- Kerouac: NOTHING Buckley: Adamite movement Kerouac: Adamite? Adam? You mean Adam and Eve or Atom? Buckey: Aduuuum, as in Adam and Eve Kerouac: What's an Adamite? Where they all wear their hair long in layers and in caves? Buckley: Yeah, sorta back to nature Kerouac: They might have to in due time, after the Atom-ite Bomb

I'm concerned I've lost some sensitivity because I fell into maniacal laughter just within the first 2 minutes of this.

So vividly great.

William Buckley blows my mind , (Remembering the commercial)

They all made their 80's except Kerouac who died the next year at 47. Buckley died 2008 (82),Yablonsky died 2014 (89), Sanders still alive (80), January 2020.

I wouldn't say Yablonksy is clueless here, he actually seems to have a decent understanding of the hippy's character traits and articulates them well.

look at how the 'literate' scene has changed. look how media has changed.

Love the story behind this episode. Kerouac acted like a giant toddler behind the scenes too, but even worse.

Jack Kerouac had 7 months to live at the time of this broadcast. He was drinking a fifth of vodka a day, and you could see it what it was doing to his mind. Just eight years earlier, he was 60 pounds lighter, full of wit and had a spring in his step. So sad to see the brilliant mind that wrote 'On the Road' in this condition.

Today we're going to talk about...*the hippies*

Thank you for this piece of the authentic Beat movement. History

10:00. "How about the Herring?". Haha! My sister and I used to sneak sips of my grandma's Cherry Heering bottle, a brandy liqueur aged three years.

holy hell. can you imagine something like this being on tv today? painful to see Jack Kerouac but certainly explains his death. 60's were wild times, this video is a great time capsule.

May you Rest In Peace my brothers Rest In Peace... Rest with the gods....talk to the gods....artist,beats,hippies,

Jack Keroauc was a jaded man at this point. He fell into his own darkness, and it could happen to anyone who aren't careful.

“They've got a lot of jeeps“.......classic!

Kerouac, even in his last days and clearly drinking, was brilliant...

The biggest difference between the Beats and the Hippies was the use of the word "cool." Hippies = "be cool" Beats = "play it cool."

I feel like Joaquin Phoenix got inspiration for his character in The Master from Kerouac

Why do these older interviews or discussions seem so much classier and more interesting than anything we see today…?

1:56 "He's one of THe Fugs" (Kerouac is giggling in the background).

Jack once told one of his friends: "I am a catholic so I cannot kill myself. That's why I'll drink myself to death." What a tragedy, what a beautiful soul. We miss you Jack. Love

18:07 is the best part, his bounce into a thought just to crack a joke with maybe 5 laughs.

The guy on stage who wasn't in ownership of a hairbrush was the most adult one up there.

Will always love Jack Kerouac. Not a phony ... not a fool.

That Buckley puppet was surprisingly life-like for the time period

“Yes, it was pure in MY Heart” -Kerouac

Back when television was REAL and the people weren't all smiley, plastic surgery politically correct puppets like today much love to Kerouac and Buckley

1:11 Jesus. Jack Kerouac definitely looks like a writer. A guy who's stared at a typewriter for hours on end...

I am crying! This is one of the funniest things I have listened to in a long time. Did you hear Buckley hush Kerouac at 9:36??? hahaaaa

The closed captions on this video are hilarious.

At exactly 1:20 Sal's eyes look up for the briefest of moments, but if you pause it in the space you can see eons of human experience flowing directly into yourself and you can feel this strange emotion

"I believe in orderness, tenderness, and piety." ~ Kerouac

Person laughing at 1:55 had me crying 🤣🤣🤣

This was a Time when People Talk to eachader and had something to say.I Feel that We have lost this for many years but I Hope and slowely start to see a Change..

Kerouac continues to break my heart...

Still waiting for him to just look up and say “I’m shitfaced next question”

Kerouac brrr-ing his lips and scoffing is priceless (and sad.)

Jack Jack Jack.... the sound of the Sea... I love Jack Kerouac... and his sparring with |Buckley is so irreverently delicate, as drunk as he is, he stays on top.

Kerouac's meaning of the Beat Movement: Order, tenderness and piety is good-no great. Thank You.

6:01 Give that man a drink. LOL

6:39 "Hey, that was good, wasn't it?... Give that man a drink..." Hah! Almost missed it!

Interesting point and indicative when Kerouac says "I wrote about what I saw" (i.e. past tense) -when he was still relatively young, he died not long after, but was already speaking as if an artist creating late work when he was only in his forties.

I so miss Buckley.