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Episode Description
Pop culture critic James Sullivan joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss the history of American protest music. Sullivan, the author of the book Which Side Are You On?: 20th Century American History in 100 Protest Songs, talks about how music has been an important part of inspiring and supporting protest movements from anti-Vietnam War efforts to the Black Lives Matter Movement and present-day protests against ICE. Sullivan considers the importance of protest music to facilitate camaraderie, build morale, and change minds. He explains how the way a song is sung can transform it into protest, even if the lyrics don’t change; he comments on recent Super Bowl halftime shows and their political relevance. He also reflects on songs that not only protest, but also honor political martyrs. Sullivan reads from Which Side Are You On?
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This podcast is produced by V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell.
- Which Side Are You On?: 20th Century American History in 100 Protest Songs
- Island Cup: Two Teams, Twelve Miles of Ocean, and Fifty Years of Football Rivalry
- 7 Dirty Words: The Life and Crimes of George Carlin
Music
- “I Didn’t Raise My Boy to be a Soldier”
- “We Shall Overcome”
- “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy”
- “Which Side Are You On?”
- “Try That in a Small Town”
- “Man in Black”
- “Streets of Minneapolis”
- “American Obituary”
- “Mississippi Goddam”
- “You Don’t Own Me”
- “The Times They Are A-Changin’”
- “Blowin’ in the Wind”
- “This Land Is Your Land”
- “The Preacher and the Slave”
- “Casey Jones (The Union Scab)”
Others
- ICE OUT SING-IN Resistance Songbook
- ‘Streets of Minneapolis’: 32 protest songs inspired by the city's ICE resistance
- Alfred Hayes
- The Man Who Never Died by William M. Adler
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