The Long Seventies Podcast

Why was the Long Seventies seemingly such a fertile time for serial killers? We try to answer this question and speculate on what serial killers are up to today. We discuss how serial killers are classified, how they are potentially created or born, and how media attention drives the cultural awareness and fear of these rare individuals.

The horror punk band The Misfits was born in Lodi, NJ in 1977 and became one of the most enduring and influential punk bands of the Long Seventies. Their unique blend of violence, angst, b-movie horror lyrics, stage costumes, and one of a kind songwriting and instrumentation made them relevant and attractive to fans long after they originally broke up in 1983.

We talk Christopher Lasch’s 1979 book The Culture of Narcissism and assess how well it characterizes the period, what it means for today’s society, and how technology and advertising have effected personality.

Summary: We close out our Decade of Rage mini-series with a discussion about the end of the Weather Underground and some of the late 70s revolutionary groups that had a proclivity for robbing banks and armored cars.

We discuss the cultural significance of movies Death Wish (1974) and Hardcore (1979), starring Charles Bronson and George C. Scott, specifically how they illustrate (dramatically) mainstream America’s responses to the counter-culture’s effects on society.

We continue our series on revolutionary groups of the period with a look into the Symbionese Liberation Army. Murder. Kidnapping. Bank Robbery -- a violent shootout ending in fiery ruin. Join us and learn about one of the strangest, most dramatic groups of the time period and their weird, short-lived odyssey.

This episode we start a three part mini-series covering radical revolutionary groups of the time period. We begin with the Weather Underground and the Black Liberation Army. 

This episode explores the outrageous explosion of intentionally offensive underground comics in the early 1970s, including an emphasis on one of the period's primary figures Robert Crumb.

Summary: We talk about culturally subversive parody religion The Church of the SubGenius and also have an unexpectedly long lecture on 20th century art activism history. 80% art activism history 20% CotSG! Don’t miss it!

We discuss Melvin van Peebles 1971 groundbreaking film about revolution and sticking it to The Man.