This episode is from the WNYC archives. It may contain language which is no longer politically or socially appropriate.

Seldes opens with an apology for errors he made on an earlier broadcast regarding the work of Dr. Eleanor E. Maccoby. He quoted a newspaper article about Dr. Maccoby, a lecturer of social psychology at Harvard University, by Frederick C. Othman. Former students of Maccoby's contacted Seldes, informing him that he had given the impression that he was quoting Maccoby, while he was actually quoting Othman. Seldes returned to primary sources and found that in many cases Othman misquoted or misused Maccoby's words. Can't blame the violence in movies and television. These books are read by hundreds of thousands of children and only a few of them become delinquents. The ones that do are "predisposed." Seldes talks about his testimony as a literary expert on Arthur Schnitzler's book "Casanova's Homecoming." Talks about John Sumner, head of the Society for the Suppression of Vice, and his misundestanding of a scene in the book. Seldes then moves on to discuss J. B. Priestly and Billy Graham. Priestly compares the British and the Americans and how they are influenced by mass communication and advertising.

Audio courtesy of the NYC Municipal Archives WNYC Collection

WNYC archives id: 70364
Municipal archives id: LT6403