A listener just shared this William F. Buckley interview with me, and it is essentially a checklist of everything that Wolfe is concerned about in Operation ARES.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WpGtTVqaqk&feature=youtu.be&t=8m3s
Lovecraftian Fiction
Literary Podcasts
Great find.
As an erudite Catholic conservative who was a walking lexicon, and who was verbally and visually (Buckley's ability to slouch back in his chair was legendary) a lot of fun to watch (whatever your political persuasion), I would guess that Wolfe was a regular viewer of Buckley's Firing Line back in the 1960s and 1970s.
Mickjeco: At the time (and in retrospect), Wolfe described himself as a “William F. Buckley conservative”, so it’s certainly quite likely. I wonder if he subscribed to the National Review?
I had never actually seen Buckley before, and I found this video very impressive. We've still got a handful of political SF stories to read before we get to New Sun, so I'll probably even pick up some Buckley to read.
I would bet that Gene watched this interview Buckley did on Firing Line with Jorge Luis Borges, on February 1, 1977: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNxzQSheCkc
I miss that show. Just intelligent people talking to each other.
Oh, this is awesome. We'll need to keep an eye on the stories that were published in 1977 and 1978 to see where this shows up.