Interview with John Flanagin (Part 2) - a podcast by George Bessett, Patrick "Sully" Sullivan, Ryan Black, REB Records

Where does it all start?  Sully believes it begins with "the dangers of government."  The abuse of power, fear mongering, paranoia, deception and cover ups- that's where it, starts.  It, has a consequence. People begin to pay attention, begin to doubt and question the motives of their government.  When "the people" begin to act and demand accountability and transparency, people in power start to get caught. People like Joseph McCarthy and Richard Nixon. 

Movements and scenes emerge like the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society), The Black Panthers and The Weather Underground.  Both Ken Hughes' book, Chasing Shadows and Ronald Brownsteins', The Second Civil War, are the blueprints for these two episodes, while Good Morning Vietnam, Apocalypse Now and the documentary The Weather Underground directed by Sam Green and Bill Siegel help provide humor and context.  All of this set on a backdrop of folk, punk and rock music.  

What was the media's impact on students and civilians alike by televising the Vietnam War?  Who was the Dragon Lady and why were the Paris peace talks sabotaged?  What were the political identities of newspapers and how did people rely on such magazines as Time and Life?  As these questions find answers, more questions undoubtedly unfold.  

Whether you are a Republican, Democratic, Socialist, Communist, Liberal or maybe just a punk, this is the historical hootenanny to listen to.  Let the likes of Nina Simone, The Temptations, Dead Kennedys, and Barbara Dane chime into the conversation with such song's as "I wish I knew how it would feel to be free", "Holiday in Cambodia", and "Ballad of the Unknown Soldier".  These songs and their lyrics hold as much weight about this era as any book or conversation.  Much like the Folk Music Revival so eloquently documented in the book "Folk City: New York and the American Folk Music Revival" by Stephen Petrus and Ronald D. Cohen, John Flanagin brings thoughtful nuanced sensibilities to a time when everyone was being sent, in the words of Joe Strummer, "straight to hell."  

List of songs that are in this episode and songs that should be:

russian roulette, exhuming mccarthy, straight to hell, charlie don't surf, holiday in cambodia, ballad of the unknown soldier, I don't want your millions mister, ball of confusion, ride of the valkyries, run through the jungle, I wish I knew how it would feel to be free, funkier than a mosquito's tweeter, draft dodger rag, subterranean homesick blues, hurricane, shot of love, ohio, for what it's worth, ripple, dire wolf, hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic, going in circles, why do I keep fuckin' up, after the gold rush (full album), comes a time (full album), hot buttered soul (full album), black moses (full album), wake of the flood (full album), terrapin station (full album).  

 

Further episodes of What the Punk!?

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Website of George Bessett, Patrick "Sully" Sullivan, Ryan Black, REB Records