rant · moment 19 of 21
Woodstock, Bethel, and the Dark History of the 60s
from 2017, A Year Of Love And Peace · #76
Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.
4 minTim describes wandering around Woodstock, NY (clarifying the actual concert was in Bethel) and reflects on how the hippie era's romanticized image hides a darker reality of near social collapse, CIA involvement via MKUltra, and figures like Manson emerging from Laurel Canyon, citing the book 'Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon.'
- 53:56Tim recalls walking around Woodstock, New York and his history with psychedelics.
- 54:13The actual Woodstock concert happened in Bethel, not Woodstock—about an hour and a half away.
- 54:25Tim mocks tourists conflating Woodstock town with the concert, describing head shops and overpriced omelets at the diner.
- 54:47Many people romanticizing the era weren't even at the concert—they're children or grandchildren of that generation.
- 55:14Tim argues people don't realize how dark and unstable the 1960s actually were, how close the system came to total collapse.
- 55:46The interplay between hippies, the CIA's MKUltra experiments, and murderous cults like Manson's overlapped in that era.
- 56:11Dave McGowan's 'Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon' argues the CIA engineered much of the counterculture to discredit the legitimate anti-war movement.
- 56:35McGowan's thesis: the CIA pumped young hippies full of drugs, encouraged major musical acts, and used that generation as guinea pigs for experimental programs.
- 57:09Tim quotes Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas about the counterculture having something real, but realizing too late there was no way to overthrow the power structure.
- 57:28Whatever the movement had, it's now just nothing—watching those people pretend to recreate that era.
CIADave McGowanCharles Manson1960s countercultureHaight-AshburyWeird Scenes Inside the CanyonFear and Loathing in Las VegasLaurel CanyonWoodstock, New YorkBethel