A documentary focusing on four intellectual giants of the 20th century: Irving Howe, Daniel Bell, Nathan Glazer and Irving Kristol who passionately believe that ideas can change the world... especially their ideas. They have been fighting over those ideas since they sat together in City College cafeteria, as young radicals fighting over the future of Marxism. Through the trajectory of their lives: Their early idealism, their controversial role in the McCarthy era, their battle with the new left in the sixties and their vastly differing political views today, this overview creates a multi-faceted portrait of intellectual life in the 20th century.