A stacked deck: an interview with John Cage

On August 3, 1971, Gerard Van der Leun talked with renowned intermedia artist John Cage (1912-1992). The procedure involved a series of questions on separate sheets or cards drawn at random from a hat. Mr. Cage speaks on such topics as Marcel Duchamp, submarines, mushrooms, rock and roll, jazz, the President's daughter, telephones, his father, India, play, indeterminacy, the nature of the government, anarchy, Salvador Dali, and his past, present, and future work. Also present at the interview was Joseph Shields, a Berkeley filmmaker, who can be heard in portions of the tape. The interview was originally planned for use in a magazine, hence the sometimes rough quality of the sound.