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Was Folk Music a Commie Plot?

Mat Callahan Monthly Review
U.S. music was shaped to a considerable extent by people the government sought to destroy. Even as it mounted an effective attack on the Communist Party, the government was unable to erase the influence of musicians with which it was associated.

Tidbits - Jan. 21, 2021 - Reader Comments: He's Gone, Trump is GOP Past, Present and Future; 'Tax the Rich' to Raise State Revenue; DC Statehood; Trump as Citizen Kane; Rosenberg Children; Woody Guthrie; Student Activist Scholarship Applications;

Portside
Reader Comments: He's Gone, Trump is GOP Past, Present and Future; 'Tax the Rich' to Raise State Revenue; DC Statehood; Trump as Citizen Kane; Rosenberg Children; Woody Guthrie's 'This Land Is Your Land'; Student Activist Scholarship Applications;

Folk Singer Arlo Guthrie Reflects On A Life Spent Making Music

Lauren Daley WBUR
Born in Brooklyn in 1947, the oldest son of folk icon Woody Guthrie and professional dancer Marjorie Mazia Guthrie, Arlo grew up surrounded by folk legends — Pete Seeger, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, to name a few.

The Radicalism of Woody Guthrie

Arvind Dilawar Jacobin
Legendary folk singer Woody Guthrie is best known for his anthem “This Land Is Your Land,” which can come off as an innocuous ode to America if you aren’t listening closely. But the singer-songwriter was a lifelong socialist.

The Misguided Attacks on 'This Land Is Your Land'

Will Kaufman The Conversation
As the author of three books on Guthrie, I wonder how the folksinger would respond to recent criticism of “This Land Is Your Land.” We can’t know for sure, but some of his unpublished writings and recently discovered recordings offer some clues

Friday Nite Videos | May 3, 2019

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William Barr's Master Class on Hair Splitting. For Pete at 100 | This Land Is Your Land. Elizabeth Warren: Time to Open Impeachment Proceedings. How Quantum Computers Break Encryption. Ady Barkan Testifies on Medicare for All.

John Steinbeck, The Dust Bowl, and Farm-Worker Organizing

Harry Targ Portside
John Steinbeck was one of the most prolific and, in my view, significant American novelists of the twentieth century. He was influenced by and synthesized his own politics and personal experience with the political culture and movements of the 1930s.
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