For the week of May 26, 2006:

“The point is that God is what nobody admits to being, and everybody really is.” ~Alan Watts

What are the circumstances that causes one to question the long traditions they’ve been taught? How, and why does one question their role in society? While many people have pondered these questions, very few are able to communicate simplistic, yet spiritual alternative ways of seeing the universe, without the structure of religion. And so for many, this is the appeal of Alan Watts, who, since the 1950s, has consistently been one of the most popular voices on the Pacifica Radio Network.

While his death in 1973 saddened listeners worldwide, Alan Watts’ spirit is alive and well, and to this day his Sunday morning show (it’s all re-runs now!) on Pacifica Radio KPFK enjoys throngs of the faithful. This week on From the Vault, we’ll listen to Alan Watts, a great interpreter of Eastern philosophies for the West and a fixture in Pacifica Radio’s History.

Click here to purchase a copy of this program or learn more about and purchase copies of the historic archival recordings used within this episode. To purchase a CD copy of this program by phone, please call Pacifica Radio Archives at 800.735.0230 x 262.

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For the week of May 19, 2006:

“You see, I speak only of happiness because it’s the only thing I understand. And I do want people to understand that happiness is not out there, it’s in here. And it doesn’t matter what other people think of you. What matters is what you think of yourself. And if I can get people to do that I’ve . . . it’s a triumph. Because that is the whole point.” – Quentin Crisp

This week on From the Vault we listen to the voice of one of the most unique figures of the 20th century: Quentin Crisp. Mr. Crisp died in November 1999, and New York City, his adopted home for the last 18 years of his life, held a memorial for him soon after.

A remarkable collection of people came to give their remembrances and Pacifica was there to record the event. We bring you that amazing event, along with selections from interviews and performances Mr. Crisp gave throughout his life.

We’ll also hear Jessica Schuman speaking with Mr. Crisp in 1978 in an interview she did for Los Angeles’ KPFK.

LISTEN to this episode.

Click here to purchase a copy of this program or learn more about and purchase copies of the historic archival recordings used within this episode. To purchase a CD copy of this program by phone, please call Pacifica Radio Archives at 800.735.0230 x 262.

Click here to send an email to From the Vault.

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“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked …” ~ Allen Ginsberg, from “Howl”

This year marks the 50th anniversary of what is considered one of the greatest American poems ever written. It’s author, not yet 30, joined the ranks of the great poets of the 20th Century, almost as soon as the poem was published. To this day, several years after his death, he is arguably the most well known poet the United States has ever produced. He resides with Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allen Poe, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and sits next to Bob Dylan.

He personified the “poet” in American minds: rebel, promiscuous, liberal, intelligent, troubled. As Einstein personifies The Scientist, Ginsberg is The Poet.

This week, on From the Vault, we look back at the poem that made the man; We look at the poem that got people arrested for its controversial language when first published; and we do it all, without playing the poem in its entirety, since it is still illegal to air Howl on America’s airwaves unedited.

LISTEN to this episode.

Click here to purchase a copy of this program or learn more about and purchase copies of the historic archival recordings used within this episode. To purchase a CD copy of this program by phone, please call Pacifica Radio Archives at 800.735.0230 x 262.

Click here to send an email to From the Vault.

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“And, of course, the hostages are okay.” – Unidentified Iranian Student speaking to KPFK radio – One of many who held 52 American Embassy personnel hostage for 444 days during 1979 – 1981.

In the early morning hours on November 30, 1979, Elliot Mintz and Roy Tuckman – while on Roy’s nightly program “Something’s Happening” on Pacifica’s KPFK in Los Angeles – called up the American Embassy in Tehran, Iran, and asked to speak to one “anyone” inside. They were – amazingly – connected to a twenty-one year old student who was one of the people responsible for taking dozens of Americans hostage. It was day 26 of a 444 day crisis. This week on From the Vault, as relations between Iran and the United States sour to their worst point since 1979, we go back to the time of Carter and Reagan, the Ayatollah and the Shah of Iran, and how those 444 days would cost one man the presidency of the United States and changed the course of both countries forever.

We’ll also be joined by Elliot Mintz and Roy Tuckman, who reflect back on this historic phone call almost 30 years ago.

LISTEN to this episode.

Click here to purchase a copy of this program or learn more about and purchase copies of the historic archival recordings used within this episode. To purchase a CD copy of this program by phone, please call Pacifica Radio Archives at 800.735.0230 x 262.

Click here to send an email to From the Vault.

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