Re-Thinking the Sixties

(Image: jofreeman.com)

Sixties activism, the My Lai massacre, hanging with Bob Dylan, the rise of the conservative movement and a Gen-X perspective.

Forty years ago the streets of Chicago exploded as police clashed with anti-war protesters at the Democratic National Convention. It's one of the momentous events that defined the Sixties. Or is it? Some historians now say the rise of the conservative movement is what truly made history in the Sixties. In this hour of "To the Best of Our Knowledge," the Sixties dissected.

Tom Hayden, one of the founders of Students for a Democratic Society and later a State Assemblyman and Senator in California, talks with Steve Paulson. Also, Wisconsin Public Radio reporter Gil Halstead considers himself a veteran of the anti-war movement. He went to Vietnam for the third time to report on the 40th Anniversary of the My Lai Massacre and to sort out his own complex feelings about the War.

Suze Rotolo was Bob Dylan's inseparable companion in the early 60s'. She's now written a memoir called "A Freewheelin' Time." Anne Strainchamps talks with her about Dylan and the scene they shared. And we hear lots of Dylan's music.

And, a totally different take on the sixties from the next generation: "TTBOOK" producer and GenExer Charles Monroe Kane is tired of hearing Baby Boomers wax nostalgic and he tells us why. Also, Rick Perlstein is a historian who thinks the real story of the sixties is the rise of the modern conservative movement. His books include "Before the Storm" and "Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America." Perlstein tells Jim Fleming that everything in the sixties seemed apocalyptic.

"To the Best of Our Knowledge" is an audio magazine of ideas - two hours of smart, entertaining radio for people with curious minds. More "To the Best of Our Knowledge"