World of Ideas

by Bill Moyers, Betty Sue Flowers

Conversations with thoughtful men and women about American life today and the ideas shaping our future.  Bill Moyers brings us one-on-one interviews with forty-two extraordinary men and women--poets and physicists, historians and novelists, doctors and philosophers--discussing what's happening in our lives, our hearts, and our minds as we approach a new millenium.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Politics, Sociology, History, Cultural, Social Science

528 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Billy Don Moyers was an American journalist and political commentator who served as the eleventh White House Press Secretary from 1965 to 1967. He was a director of the Council on Foreign Relations from 1967 to 1974. He was also a onetime steering committee member of the annual Bilderberg Meeting. Moyers also worked as a network TV news commentator for ten years. Moyers was extensively involved with public broadcasting, producing documentaries and news journal programs, and won many awards and honorary degrees for his investigative journalism and civic activities. He was well known as a trenchant critic of the corporately structured U.S. news media.

Reviews

[Julie Akeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally done and this was a good intellectual stretch of the brain. This book is huge, like a coffee table book but worth the long reading experience. I was in eight grade when this book was published so reading this took me back to a lot of history of the current events back then which of course didn't have that much recollection of personally, it's through my other reading that I recall those events covered in this World of Ideas. Well worth reading and seeing how far we come and interesting to see how this book is still relevant today.

[James S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of mostly dry and repetitive interviews with a range of experts who seem to have nothing in common except that they love to yearn after the "good old days."I'm not sure if it was the zeitgeist of the 1980s, Bill Moyers' leading questions, or perhaps the nature of being an expert on something, but almost every single person interviewed here is full of anger at the current state of affairs and nostalgia for a vanished golden age in American life. This gets old after a while, especially since Moyers never pushes back against this belief that the past used to be better. No one questions that the US is in a political decline, that the era of the Founding Fathers was a political paradise, or that pop culture is getting worse. The book has also dated quite a bit - there are predictions that Japan will overtake the US and that the Soviet Union is entering its newest, strongest phase.

There are, however, a handful of excellent interviews. My favorites were with August Wilson, Vartan Gregorian, and Isaac Asimov.

[Marjorie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found the interviews interesting. The problems talked about and there were examples given of how to prevent them growing worse. However we still have the same problems today, 30 years later. They are worse and the USA seems to be suffering from not heeding its' thinkers of the time. There are many thoughtful comments and points to ponder in this book. There are as many brilliant people in the world today and yet we don't seem able to hear them. The theme is: listen, talk lots, learn from others, compromise.

[Kimberly Purcell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty heady stuff, but it certainly gets you thinking. You probably won't agree with everything that's talked about, but it gives you another perspective and that's always a good thing.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slowly flipping through this and reading interviews at random. It was published in 1989, but it is fascinating to see how much the book still speaks to me and to our contemporary world. Moyers is an excellent interviewer. The interview with Asimov is blowing me away! That man...wow!

This is a book one needs to own because it is impossible to read all at once. I got through 5 of the interviews. Wow, some really interesting stuff. I was so excited to read the interview with Chinua Achebe. He's been one of my favorite authors since I studied West African Lit in college. And Bill Moyers, he rocks!

[Cat]

Inspiring and thought-provoking. This reminds me of why Bill Moyers just rocks! What's fascinating is that he conducted the interviews over 20 years ago specifically to address the ideas of the day--and it still shines.

Here's one tidbit:

Moyers: "The chief reward of [interviewing people] is the joy of learning, of coming away from each person with a wider angle of vision on the times I live in, on the issues I am expected to act upon and the choices I can make as a father, husband, journalist, and citizen. The main reason I seek the ideas of others is for help—the diagnosis and treatment of my own isolation and the enlargement of my understanding."

[Will Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice idea for a book, gathering transcripts of conversations held with intelligent guests of Bill Moyers PBS series (one of whom I actually met at a dinner party)...

...but a bit dated now.

This book predates 1990, so there's a lot of references to people and events of the 1980's (President Reagan, Iran-Contra, etc).

Still, some of the discussions are universal and relevant, and therefore worth a look.

And since I bought my copy at a library sale, definitely worth $1!

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's interesting reading this from a perspective some 20 years down the road. Most of what they say about America and the future applies just as much today as it did then, but there are also the obvious major changes -- everyone is hand-wringing about Japan overtaking our economy instead of China, for example, which is kind of amusing. But it would be great if Moyers would do this series again now, and preferably with a less America-centric focus.

[Dick Aichinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book! Moyers questions in his interviews have always been insightful. This book is a collection of those interviews. Very insightful people. You'll agree with some, disagree with others, but will find it interesting. In fact I think it's time to reread.

[Jploof]

I've had this book for a couple years now. Nothing like putting the author's face on a book to remind me that I haven't read his book yet.

[Cws]

XOS-973.92M

[Don Stanton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Undeniably a visceral look at today's Liberal movement, but written before today's politics. Excellent read and well written.
I recommend it.

[Ahmed Monib · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book a long time ago, and yet to this day some of the insights from the interviews have forever shaped my life.

[Mary]

Read during lunch at work off and on, but did to have time to read a whole chapter at a time. Liked some interviews better than others. Some gave an interesting reminder of an earlier decade.

[Jake · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worth the read.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A compilation of interviews with influential leaders across different areas of thought.

[WndyJW · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book. Bill Moyers would be an interesting man to sit next to at a party.

[Ophel · Rating 5 out of 5]

magnificent work!

[Bradley Voyles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many things have come to pass. But many of the same problems still face us.

[Elizabeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

paperback, slight wear at cover edges.