Specialist 'Brains Trust'
IWAS a little disappointed with last week's Brains Trust on TV in which Fr. Corbishley, S.J., the superior of Farm Street, appeared, because it soon became evident that most of the questions had been selected in order to tax his skill in Catholic defence, especially against the agnostic Professor Ayer. Happily. an Oxford camaraderie and mutual understanding of philosophic problems enabled the two to understand one another's point of view, and consequently we had an intelligent and entertaining discussion, especially in the first half. But I deplore the fashion now to angle questions to the expertise of changing members of the panel. We gel this in many other programmes, but the original charm of the Brains Trust was that it used to be a conversation piece between three or four cultured men prepared to talk intelligently on most problems and frankly admit that specialist questions were not necessarily for them. The present fashion, when a Catholic " brain" is invited. reinforces a view too widely held that Catholics can only talk about specifically religious matters and possess no general culture. I should have greatly preferred to hear Fr. Corbishley on art, literature, and questions of the day against the Christian background.
Overheard in Liverpool bookshop "NAY I have a copy of Fr, McCormick's 'P e o p 1 e, Space, and Food' " — " Oh, that'll be among our cookery, books."