Ziemowit GowinARI Members will have the rare opportunity to hear a previously unavailable Ayn Rand–Mike Wallace interview at the next ARI Member Roundtable on August 24.
Ayn Rand first appeared on The Mike Wallace Interview in 1959, a conversation which, since its publication in 2020, has garnered nearly two million views on ARI’s YouTube channel. Undoubtedly, the clarity and directness of Rand’s answers to Wallace’s often-difficult questions makes the interview stand out and drives its popularity.
Rand was interviewed by Wallace more than once. However, her second appearance on The Mike Wallace Interview, which was broadcast on May 4, 1960, hasn’t been publicly available. In the surviving audio of that interview, listeners hear Rand’s thoughts on U.S.–Soviet relations at the height of the Cold War, the proper relationship between reason and emotion, the cause of the Great Depression, and why she was still optimistic despite the state of the world, among other topics.
The interview is also historically important because it led to a correspondence between Rand and Senator Barry Goldwater. After the interview was broadcast, Goldwater sent a favorable letter to Rand. You can read her (philosophically rich) response here.
In addition to this “lost” audio (which premiered at the 2024 Objectivist Summer Conference in Anaheim), the Roundtable will feature commentary by ARI archivists Audra Hilse and Brandon Lisi about the interview’s importance, Rand’s friendship with Wallace, and ARI’s work to preserve and make available Rand audio/video content.
Following the listening party and the commentary, which will take place on Zoom on Saturday, August 24, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time / 1:00 p.m. Eastern time, we will have breakout rooms hosted by ARI staff and scholars, concluding with a free-form hangout session. The event will last approximately 90 minutes, with an additional hour for the hangout.
If you’d like to attend this inspiring listening party as well as upcoming events, please consider becoming a Member.
ARI offers its sincere gratitude to the University of Syracuse Archives for making available the digital recording of Ayn Rand and Mike Wallace’s 1960 interview. We also extend our gratitude to the copyright holder, the Bentley Library at the University of Michigan, for granting us permission to release the audio.
Image credit: Brian A Jackson/Shutterstock.com.
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