A great piece of historical documentary, reflecting the turmoil that engulfed the USA in 1968. This event may have opened the floodgates which allowed individuals to talk aggressively on TV. But "debates"? no. These two men hated each other's guts, but rarely attempted to turn their venom into sharp witty arguments about the subject matter in hand. For all their intelligence they go at one another like smug contented fat cats purring at their own highly personalised attacks on each other. On this showing I think it's safe to say that "intellectuals of today" - journalists or philosophers - would make mincemeat of them.