Maggie speaks with Aaron J. Leonard, author and historian whose intriguing and insightful works include "Heavy Radicals: The FBI’s Secret War on America’s Maoists," "A Threat of the First Magnitude—FBI Counterintelligence & Infiltration" and "The Folk Singers & the Bureau." His latest book is "Whole World In An Uproar: Music, Rebellion and Repression 1955-1972" which we discuss is detail in this interview.
Leonard has established himself as a leading expert when it comes to accessing and researching FBI files. He deftly sorts through these documents to demonstrate the breadth of state surveillance against musicians who offended those in power.
— Scott Costen, Morning Star (UK)
Whole World in an Uproar is a great trip back for those who were there and, more importantly, an excellent and very readable history for those who weren’t.—Ron Jacobs, CounterPunch.
A fascinating counter-history of the 1960s music revolution through the eyes of the persecutors, paranoiacs, and culture warriors who tried to stop it
—Dorian Lynskey, 33 Revolutionary Per Minute.
What happened when HUAC, the FBI, Jim Crow, corporate media outlets, drug warriors, the religious right, and even the Old Left tried to stop a freight train? Drawing on a broad range of sources, including FBI files, Whole World in an Uproar recounts that momentous story
—Peter Richardson, No Simple Highway: A Cultural History of the Grateful Dead
Aaron Leonard integrates an amazing amount of research into a story that ranges from FBI surveillance of the Old Left to the rock scene to the social dissension around the anti-Vietnam War and Black liberation movements...a well-thought-through, fascinating documentary about movements and people who were affected by oppressive societal actions
—Terri Thal, early manager of Bob Dylan, then-husband Dave Van Ronk, the Holy Modal Rounders, and others.
******
Artists such as Jim Morrison, Miriam Makeba, Bob Dylan, and Nina Simone transformed pop music in the 1960s, but they did not do so without a fight. They were confronted by deeply entrenched forces within the status quo who pushed back against them. This book charts the rise of these artists, the opposition they encountered, and how they responded—all amid the unprecedented upheaval of the Black freedom movement, opposition to the war in Vietnam, and the arising of the counterculture. Through the use of previously unreleased FBI files and other government documents, interviews, extensive research of the media of the day, and other works, the book brings to light a hidden and unexplored aspect of a period in history that continues to impact our world. Whole World in an Uproar is a great trip back for those who were there and, more importantly, an excellent and very readable history for those who weren’t.
Source: http://aaronleonard.net/index.html
Host Maggie LePique, a radio veteran since the 1980's at NPR in Kansas City Mo. She began her radio career in Los Angeles in the early 1990's and has worked for Pacifica station KPFK Radio in Los Angeles since 1994.
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