Crooked Media and Audacy are proud to present Mother Country Radicals, a new original podcast telling a family history of the Weather Underground from host Zayd Ayers Dohrn with his parents, radical outlaws Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers.
LISTEN NOW: Mother Country Radicals Chapter 1
The original podcast, premiering June 9 on the Audacy app, offers a highly personal, politically charged account of a counterculture group of young activists in pursuit of radical change through any means necessary, which included bombing the Pentagon (50 years ago this month) and the U.S. Capitol, breaking comrades out of prison, and teaming up with Black militant groups to rob banks, all in an attempt to build a revolution in America
This expansive narrative features Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers in their own voices, and intimate interviews with Weather Underground members like Jeff Jones and Kathy Boudin, in one of the last recordings before her passing. The pod captures the 1970s with voice features from figures like Fred Hampton, Angela Davis, Asatta Shakur, and more. Over the ten-part series, Zayd journeys to understand his parent’s radicalization and how it molded his family and life. Born underground with his parents on the run from the FBI, Zayd unpacks a childhood in the shadows of the Weather Underground through intimate conversations with the visionary Bernadine and conflicted Bill, who still grapple with the consequences of their actions. Ultimately, he must square his personal experience of his loving parents with their notorious media portrayals - narratives that have long been weaponized by conservative media and politicians, most notably during Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign.
Mother Country Radicals combines the propulsive historical storytelling of Judas and the Black Messiah with the character-driven stakes of The Americans. The series paints a compelling, cinematic portrait of the era in which the Weather Underground gained steam, chronicling the collision of the sexual revolution with the attempted destruction of bourgeois ideals, and of course, the unstoppable influence of Rock n’ Roll, exemplified by the group’s use of a Bob Dylan lyric for its namesake. (“You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.”)
Enjoy music from the era and other protest songs chosen just for you on Audacy's Mother Country Radicals Radio!
"This is a story that is in my blood, but one that I never thoroughly examined until now. I wanted to try to understand my parents, and what made them risk their own lives - and their children’s lives - to try to change the world,” said host Zayd Dohrn. “And as I was piecing the story together, the ways in which our current political systems are haunted by old conflicts became obvious. The Weather Underground and their allies in the Black freedom movement were fighting the same systemic racism and police violence we see today. And that fight holds important lessons – lessons of both caution and inspiration - for idealistic young people today."
All ten episodes are now playing on the Audacy app. On all other major podcast platforms, the first three episodes will debut on June 9, with seven subsequent episodes released every Thursday.
Created in partnership by audio heavyweights Crooked Media and Audacy and produced by Dustlight Productions, Mother Country Radicals explores the young people who bravely acted on their ideals, even when the lines between democratic activism, civil disobedience, domestic terrorism, and a cult-like mentality became all too blurred. Listen starting June 9 on the Audacy app.
The Audacy app can be downloaded through the Apple Store or Google Play.
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