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:
- Charles Manson’s Hollywood, Part 1: What We Talk About When We Talk About The Manson Murders
- Charles Manson’s Hollywood, Part 2: Charlie Manson Finds His Family
- Charles Manson’s Hollywood Part 3: The Beach Boys, Dennis Wilson and Manson the songwriter
- Charles Manson’s Hollywood Part 4: Spahn Ranch and The Beatles’ The White Album
- Charles Manson’s Hollywood, Part 5: Doris Day and Terry Melcher
- Charles Manson’s Hollywood, Part 6: Kenneth Anger and Bobby Beausoleil
- Charles Manson’s Hollywood, Part 7: Sharon Tate and Jay Sebring
- Charles Manson’s Hollywood, Part 8: Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski
- Charles Manson’s Hollywood Part 9: August 8-10, 1969
- Charles Manson’s Hollywood Part 10: Roman Polanski After Sharon Tate
- Charles Manson’s Hollywood Part 11: Death Valley ’69
- Charles Manson’s Hollywood, Part 12: The Manson Family on Trial