A Brief History of Boomers

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Archive on 4: A Brief History of Boomers

BBC Radio 4 - Archive on 4, A Brief History of Boomers

American satirist Joe Queenan (b1950) addresses the faults and failings of a generation.

What is a boomer? What do they believe? And have they messed it up? An exploration from the inside with American satirist Joe Queenan (b1950).

Joe Queenan follows up his archive explorations of Blame, Shame and Lust with a journey into the generation he knows the best, his own. 

"Chronologically, culturally, and cardiovascularly I am undeniably a boomer even though I never did acid, never read CATCH-22, and despise the Grateful Dead. There is no escaping it. I was 13 when the Beatles came to America, I routinely made love not war, I was part of the solution and not part of the problem, and I was present in Washington D.C the day a million of us levitated the Pentagon through the sheer, awesome power of drug-induced telekinesis. Also I saw Hendrix. And Joplin. And the Stones. So there is just no denying it. I am a Boomer par excellence. As Jim Morrison once said, I am a spy in the house of love."

With new interviews and cunning archive, including Bill Clinton and Donald Trump (why won't these men move out the way?) plus UK politician David Willetts, author of The Pinch, and Emma Soames of Saga magazine. New material comes from economist Dr Marina Adshade, who has been calculating how many boomers there are worldwide; plus Jonn Elledge of the New Statesman; and star of both Strictly and Barging Round Britain, John Sergeant.

Joe Queenan is the author of Balsamic Dreams: A Brief But Self-Important History of the Baby Boomer Generation. He is 72. 
The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde who requested that Joe Queenan watch the Swedish horror film, Midsommar. 
In Midsommar everyone aged 72 is made to jump off a cliff. 

Produced by Miles Warde

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