Billie Holiday vs. Harry J. Anslinger

Great Moments in Weed History

David Bienenstock

Tv & Film, History, Comedy

4.8 • 669 Ratings

🗓️ 26 February 2021

⏱️ 94 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In a tale of weedy vengeance, Abdullah and Bean investigate the life of Harry J. Anslinger—America’s first “drug czar,” author of Marijuana: Assassin of Youth, and the man most responsible for the global prohibition of cannabis. And then they settle the score. This episode is tied to the premiere of The United States vs. Billie Holiday, a new film from Lee Daniels (Push, Empire) telling the awful true story of how Harry Anslinger used the full power of federal law enforcement to target the legendary jazz singer for multiple arrests, ultimately hounding her into an early grave. Highlighted by a brilliant Golden-Globe-nominated performance from Andra Day, the film rightly casts Anslinger as the villain. But with the narrative focused on Holiday and an undercover FBN agent tasked with taking her down, the head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and his decades-long racist campaign against weed doesn’t get a lot of screen time. So Abdullah and Bean decided to dig deep into Anslinger's horrific life story. And yes, exact an herbally-infused revenge worthy to be called a great moment in weed history! Special thanks to Johann Hari whose excellent book Chasing the Scream greatly informed this episode. Clips come from: Steve Martin on Saturday Night Live, George Carlin from his album Toledo Window Box, The Big Lebowski, Marijuana: Assassin of Youth, and the legend Ed “NJ Weedman” Forchion PATREON Please support Great Moments in Weed HIstory on Patreon. Supporters get exclusive access to video shows and seshes, plus access to cool rewards like a signed book or signature lighter. And it truly helps us make the best show possible. GREAT MOMENTS IN WEED HISTORY MERCH Visit our new merch store with Teepublic.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, how's it going, folks? It's Abdullah and Bean.
0:03.5	And welcome back for yet another episode of great moments in weed history.
0:09.7	This is a very special episode about one of the greatest villains in weed history.
0:16.7	Isn't that right, Bean?
0:17.8	Yeah, we love to celebrate our weed history heroes, but this episode is about
0:23.8	public enemy number one of this podcast.
0:26.9	This is somebody whose very name brings a chill of paranoia, fear, rage.
0:35.9	Yeah, truly.
0:36.9	You know, when we talk about the cops being bad guys in many of these stories,
0:41.5	especially when we're talking about America's history with cannabis,
0:44.9	this guy is like the cop of cops, you know?
0:48.2	In fact, if he was like about to enter a wrestling ring,
0:51.4	like this would be part of the, you know, announcement for him.
0:55.2	They'd call them the cop of cops.
0:57.7	But worry not, even though we're talking about somebody who is totally not great in terms of
1:03.1	weed, there is a great moment here and we think you're really going to like it.
1:08.4	So before we get started, a little update,
1:12.2	we now have a T-Public page that's got some merch on it. So the link's going to be in the show
1:18.5	notes. But if you want some great moments in wheat history gear, there's a place for it now,
1:25.2	and we're really excited about it. We're going to be updating it with new products.
1:29.3	Yeah, I just took a note in my Great Moments in Weed History Notebook.
1:34.1	Excuse me, while I just take a sip of delicious tea from my Great Moments in Weed History mug.
	...

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