Most of you know that the mad prophet the airwaves was Howard Beale. The very idea that we can listen to a clip from Network, made 38 years ago, and its sounds as relevant as if it were written yesterday, speaks to the genius of Paddy Chayefsky's script, and the serendipity of the movie and its production.

The movie was at once spot on in its portrayal of its moment in time and prescient about something as big and hard to hold on to as the television and the media landscape.  It is truly a movie for the ages.

Not to put down other efforts, but look at Network in the context of the simplicity and gloss of contemporary movies, and you begin to understand why we are still talking about Network today.We’re also talking about it because Dave Itzkoff, culture reporter at the New York Times, has written the definitive behind the scenes story of this iconic film, Mad as Hell: The Making of Network and the Fateful Vision of the Angriest Man in Movies.

My conversation with Dave Itzkoff