Must Listen: “Charles Manson’s Hollywood” by You Must Remember This

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My newfound obsession with Karina Longworth’s You Must Remember This comes thanks to a recommendation from great Anne Schlitt​ [of Maine Humanities Council]. Familiar with my interest in 20th Century Hollywood, pop culture generally, new age and occultism, and true crime, Anne suggested I check out the show’s 11 episode arc about Charles Manson and everything he represented and/or was in proximity to over the course of his time in Southern California. It was released earlier this year.

This is, hands down, one of the most compelling pieces of audio I have ever encountered.

It’s not so much about Manson himself—a topic so prolifically and superficially examined in popular media that this would be boring if it were—but a lens through which topics like Dennis Wilson, Roman Polanski, The Doors, cinema in the late 60s and whole of the 70s, Doris Day, Candice Bergen, Kenneth Anger, Dennis Hopper, Joan Didion, Scientology, and a million other subjects and related offshoots are explored.

This is a masterpiece.

Episodes:

 

Alex Steed

About Alex Steed

Alex Steed has written about and engaged in politics since he was an insufferable teenager. He has run for the Statehouse and produced a successful web series. He now runs a content firm called Knack Factory with two guys who are a lot more talented than himself.