Meeting of Minds

I was first turned on to "Meeting of Minds" by my high school Humanities teacher during my senior year in 1977, the year it debuted. I'd had some interest in history and historical figures for a few years but NOTHING I'd ever seen before (or have seen since) brought history to life quite like this show. It's one thing to read about the likes of Socrates, Thomas Aquinas, Thomas Jefferson, Karl Marx, Teddy Roosevelt, et al., but to actually see them as characters in a talk show/interview format was simply incredible. There has never been a TV program like this one.

It's borderline tragic that this series has never been issued in a DVD format because it's a terrific learning tool and if I was a history teacher, you'd better believe I would incorporate "Meeting of Minds" into my in-class curriculum). Thank goodness several episodes are viewable on YouTube, but it really deserves to be available as a set and I don't know why PBS or Steve Allen's estate (whoever owns the rights) has never issued a boxed set. Some things deserve to be considered beyond rights fees and this series is one of them.

If all the songs Steve Allen wrote are forgotten, if nobody remembers that it was he who invented the late night talk show, and if nothing else he did makes a difference, Meeting of Minds is the one thing Steve Allen should be remembered for. It is television at its best: entertaining, yet also intellectually stimulating and educational. It doesn't sacrifice entertainment for education, or education for entertainment: it combines the two in a way that creates a whole that is infinitely greater than the sum of the parts. It must never be forgotten.

I've only ever seen two or three episodes of this series, but they enthralled me. I only wish it were possible to buy them on DVD.

Who else but Steve Allen would conceive of a talk show that had Genghis Khan debating with Emily Dickinson? Pure genius! Highlights from the other episodes that I've caught featured:

* The Marquis De Sade giving a most wonderful soliloquy on the sadism of God -- to the booing of the audience.

* Gandhi debating with a woman (whose name I forget) on the value of birth control (Gandhi was very much against).

* There was an entire episode entirely about Shakespeare and his various characters, but it was IMHO, one of the weakest of the episodes.

There are volumes 1 & 2 available now for Meeting of Minds at the Steve Allen Store Front....I believe the Volume 2 has them all? I remember watching it around high school age even...initially our Dad had us watch it first with him before we we able to see the program we wanted. But it did make history more interesting to learn about...it made you curious...to go on further and find out more.....I believe even the children in school today would enjoy seeing a few...it might peak their curiosity....to learn more...children are like sponges...it might give a little twist for the better on history...I couldn't believe that I remembered watching them after all these years!

Simply put, the general intellect and ability to listen to other points of view are all but no-existent today. Sadly, most people wouldn't even know who these historical personages were, let alone be engaged in an imaginary discourse with them. Mass / social media has succeeded in dumbing down our society. There is no going back.