"Nobody gives a goddamn what Muhammad Ali and Gore Vidal think about the Vietnam war."

Shock preceded anger.

Hadn't I done what I was supposed to do? Booked remarkable guests, kept the conversational ball in the air and entertained the viewers?

Apparently not.

I asked what it was about the show I had just done that the network could be worried about.

"We just don't want to offend anyone," he said to my wondering ears. So that was it. Someone somewhere might be offended.

I've never quite understood why this word — "offended" — is so horrifying. What doesn't offend somebody? And who wants to see, read or write anything that is simon-pure in its inability to offend those dreaded "someones"?