With Ted Kennedy’s death over night, interest in the “Lion of the Senate” is at a high.

With the help of folks at the Dole Institute of Politics at KU, especially senior archivist Morgan Davis, we were able to digitize five, 25-year-old audio recordings of Face Off, a nationally syndicated radio show featuring Kennedy and former Sen. Bob Dole, the institute’s namesake.

The two, a Democrat and a Republican, discussed the issues of the day, with each presenting his party’s point of view in about one minute.

These five audio clips are all from March 1985. They touch on subjects from conflict in Cambodia, to technology development, to international relations and even the budget.

Keep in mind, this audio’s nearly 25 years old and wasn’t recorded straight to MP3, so the quality may not always be the best.

I’m working on a larger product with the Dole Institute’s archives, but this popped up and seemed particularly relevant today.