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How an underground Boston radio station advanced the American counterculture movement

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Courtesy of WBCN

This show originally aired on December 27, 2021.

Fueled by music and immersed in activism, WBCN-FM played a crucial role in the American counterculture movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

A new PBS film tells the story of how Boston airwaves radically changed when in 1968, a Harvard Law graduate founded an underground radio station that inspired a youth-driven cultural and creative revolution.

Through tunes and talk, the station built awareness about and encouraged open conversations and criticism about the U.S.’s role in the Vietnam War, civil rights struggles, and issues affecting women and the LGBTQ community, ultimately solidifying its place in American history as “the hub of the rock-and-roll, antiwar, psychedelic solar system.”

Guest: Bill Lichtenstein, producer and director of “WBCN and The American Revolution

This interview was taped in advance to air on “The Source” on Monday, Dec. 27.

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