Remember Charles Van Doren and the Quiz Show scandal? It comes up right away in Doris Kearns Goodwin’s memoir of her life with Dick Goodwin. I reached for the book as soon as it came out. Like everyone else, I need a break from today. I thought: “Here’s a chance to hang out with the good guys.”
I knew Richard Goodwin as the eloquent speechwriter who crafted some of the best works of JFK and then Lyndon Johnson. But before that, Dick Goodwin was a young “deep state” guy working in Congress. He got the FCC to blow the whistle on the immensely popular but ultimately “fake” quiz programs. At the time, I had a hard time believing it had actually happened. And now?
(See what I mean about needing a break?)
I remember those days when addiction meant watching game shows that required some independent knowledge, or so we thought
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