The Long Seventies Podcast

We continue our discussion with author and Robert Anton Wilson biographer Gabriel Kennedy, this time focusing specifically on the Long Seventies period of Wilson's life. 

We interview music journalist and writer John Stevenson about two of the Long 70s most interesting musical genres -- Barbadian Spouge and Afrobeat. 

We interview Gabriel Kennedy, author of the deeply researched and definitive #RAW biography "Chapel Perilous: The Life & Thought Crimes of Robert Anton Wilson."  Gabriel Kennedy's Website Buy the book on Lulu Buy the book on Amazon Gabriel Kennedy AKA Prop Anon's Substack

We discuss (in a short episode) the 1984 movie Fear City, starring Tom Berenger at his scowling best. 

We interview editor and author Andrew Nette about his new book, co-edited with Samm Deighan, “Revolution in 35mm: Political Violence and Resistance in Cinema from the Arthouse to the Grindhouse, 1960–1990” You can buy the book at PM Press: https://pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1656 Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Revolution-35mm-Political-Resistance-Grindhouse-ebook/dp/B0CRNHVK68 Andrew's Substack newsletter: https://andrewnette.substack.com/ X: @Pulpcurry Bluesky: @pulpcurry.bsky.social Instagram: @pulpcurry Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/AndrewNette/

We discuss Psychotronic Films, a wild genre blend of low-budget exploitation films almost universally panned by critics but loved by fans. 

We talk about the phoenix program some more. 

We discuss Dolemite (1975), the first of blaxploitation auteur and stand-up comedian Rudy Ray Moore's brilliant two year, four film run of seventies classics. 

We start a planned trilogy of episodes on the secret Vietnam-era Phoenix Program, nominally a joint Military and Intelligence pacification and assassination program aimed at the Vietcong, but in reality a sweeping nation-building enterprise. 

We discuss John Boorman's 1974 magnum opus Zardoz, starring Sean Connery and Charlotte Rampling. It's a whirlwind of ideas and visual delights. Connery is the chosen one, a Mega-Connery in a post-apocalyptic world waiting for him to arrive and tear the place down. 

We interview author, BBC broadcaster and journalist Colin Babb and discuss his book "1973 and Me: The England v West Indies Test Series and a Memorable Childhood Year." Join us for a fascinating interview on Cricket, culture, British and American sports and why the year 1973 inspired Colin to write this very personal book. 

We're  joined by author, veteran broadcast journalist, Patch.com journalist and podcaster Jerry Barmash to talk about his recent book "Here Now the News: An Inside Scoop into New York's Best-Loved Anchors." Join us as we explore the world of 70s New York City news anchors.

We welcome author and collector Jared Stearns to the show to discuss his book “Pure: The Sexual Revolutions of Marilyn Chambers. This is a unique exploration of one of the early adult film industries biggest stars and her wild life.

We discuss Gene Roddenberry's 1977 television pilot "Spectre" about an Occult Detective (Robert Culp) and his rational-minded medical doctor sidekick/partner (Gig Young). Sound familiar? We're looking at you, X-Files. The duo do detective things and battle an ancient Mesopotamian demon. 

We interview esteemed author and historian Aaron Leonard and pick his brain about his new book "Meltdown Expected: Crisis, Disorder, and Upheaval at the end of the 1970s." The title really says it all.   

We discuss the 1978 film Capricorn One, conspiracy theories, how the government keeps secrets and how to fake a moon landing in six easy steps. 

We discuss the 1971 autobiography "Me and the Orgone: The True Story of One Man's Sexual Awakening" by actor Orson Bean. It's a fun journey through the therapeutic methods of Wilhelm Reich and its associated offshoots in the Wellness Movement. 

We're joined by author and film connoisseur Toby Roan to talk about his book "Another Run Through The Gauntlet" and the Clint Eastwood film The Gauntlet. It's one of Eastwood's most underappreciated (yet over the top) films and Toby knows it inside and out.  Another Run Through The Gauntlet by Toby Roan on Amazon Toby's Blog 50 Westerns From The 50s Toby's Blog The Hannibal 8 Toby's The Sorcerer Blog

We interview James Riley, author of "Well Beings - How the Seventies Lost Its Mind and Taught Us to Find Ourselves." A fascinating interview with a Cambridge scholar pulling together the various threads of the Wellness industry into a truly wild Long Seventies story.  https://www.iconbooks.com/ib-title/well-beings/

We discuss Paddy Chayefsky's 1978 novel Altered States and the 1980 film adaptation. It's an epic story of scientific zealotry, psychedelic adventure, the power of love and 4 foot protohumans. 

We discuss Allan Arkush's 1983 film Get Crazy, a truly will and crazy cinematic experience and a spiritual follow up to his earlier film Rock 'n' Roll High School. 

We're honored to interview poet and Ong's Hat creator Joseph Matheny. Great stories and some original perspectives on life from a truly original and creative thinker. 

We discuss Jim Jones' The Peoples Temple, it's life and tragectory which ended in tragedy. 

Round two of of Long Seventies Award Show. We're joined again by Sean from Fringe Biology Records. 

We discuss the transition from Westerns to Cop movies during the Long Seventies, focusing primarily on actors that started their career as Cowboys and ended the LS as Cops. 

We discuss Floyd McKissick's intentional community Soul City, North Carolina, its context, goals and why the project ultimately failed. 

We discuss the theory that The Amityville Horror and Alien are conceptually the same movie and why these movies terrified audiences in the Long Seventies and beyond. 

We discuss the story of the founding of the intentional community of Rajneeshpuram in the backcountry of Oregon and the crazy events that followed. 

 We discuss two important films that helped revitalize the American Cold War and militarism.

We discuss some super synth-based soundtracks and scores from Long Seventies films

Author Sean Howe joins the show to talk about his new book "Agents of Chaos: Thomas King Forçade, High Times, and the Paranoid End of the 1970s.” 

We talk about Oliver Stone's 1987 drama Wall Street, starring Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen, and wrap up the Decade of Dystopia series. 

We discuss the rapid and sweeping financialization, corporate raiding and deindustrialization that took place during the Long Seventies and what effect it had on society. 

Decade of Dystopia continues with two movies, The Crazies and Wizards. We discuss what these movies have in common, the dystopian visions they provide and what critique they make of the world of the Long Seventies. 

We discuss why the Long Seventies gave birth to so many dystopian creative works, specifically in the context of crises of continuity and progress. 

We discuss the 1976 dystopian sci-fi classic film Logan's Run, societal symbolic illiteracy, announce the Decade of Dystopia series and much more. 

We discuss acclaimed author JG Ballard's 1969 experimental piece of transgressive syncromystical literature. Love, death, loss, trauma, tragedy, eroticism, car accidents as immanent mystical experiences, JFK, Ralph Nader, Elizabeth Taylor, WWII, Vietnam, art etc. 

We each choose ten pieces of audio and musical gear that we think were important to the audio/musical landscape of the Long Seventies. 

We discuss the eerily prescient 1975 dystopian film Rollerball, starring James Caan. Skates, motorcycles, fire, blood, murder, drugs, multivision tv and more!

We finish our discussion of John Egerton's 1974 book The Americanization of the South, focusing on Politics, Industrialization, City growth and Culture. 

We discuss some of the best bareknuckle boxing movies from The Long Seventies, in particular Charles Bronson's Hard Times and Clint Eastwood's Every Which Way But Loose. 

We discuss the meaning of "Americanization" the first three chapters of John Egerton's fascinating 1974 book "The Americanization of Dixie." 

We talk about the 1980 Michael Mann film Thief, starring ultimate tough guy James Caan as a besieged jewel thief working the mean streets of Chicago. 

We discuss the flourishing of the horror genre during the long seventies as hauntology and Grady Hendrix's fantastic book Paperbacks From Hell. 

We discuss the 1988 movie The Beast depicting a lost Russian tank crew hunted by Mujihadeen during the Russian-Afghanistan War. Peak cold war cinema!

We discuss the vast network of tunnels the Vietnamese National Liberation Front dug underneath Cu Chi district 25 miles NW of Saigon, how they were used, how the US Army dealt with this unusual tactic, and how the tunnels origins were in the French Indochina Wars after WWII.

We discuss the 1985 film Turk 182 about a young graffiti artist fighting New York City Hall and finding love along the way.

We discuss 20th century mass communication technologies and how they facilitated the Pop Culture Empire that saw its zenith during the Long Seventies and has since crumbled.

We talk about E. Howard Hunt, CIA agent and Watergate break-in planner, and his work as an author of numerous pulp fiction novels like The Coven and Diabolus.

We talk about 1974's Foxy Brown and the ways Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown pays homage to the blaxploitation genre and provides a mature exploration of its themes.

We discuss the transitionary Masculinity and Masculine stuff of the 70s, sandwiched in between John Wayne and John Rambo.