Summary
A porcine presidential campaign, the feeling of freedom in a communal action and a Danish poet who helps you re-imagine the world - Josie Long hears stories of small radical acts.
Comedian and activist Mark Thomas talks about the feeling of liberty on a city street flooded with bicycles, we explore how Inger Christensen's words have fed into the imaginations of Danish activists, and we hear about Pigasus's curtailed political campaign.
Pigasus the Immortal Featuring Abe Peck, Jim Lato and Judy Gumbo Interviews by Sarah Geis
Inger Christensen Produced by Maria Dønvang
Critical Mass Featuring Mark Thomas Produced by Sarah Cuddon
Series Producer: Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in June 2018.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is the BBC. |
| 0:04.0 | Hello, welcome to the podcast of Shortcuts. Today's episode is all about acts of civil disobedience, |
| 0:11.0 | but ones which are largely silly, joyful and humane. |
| 0:19.0 | This is Shortcuts. |
| 0:28.2 | Brief encounters, true stories, radio adventures and found sound. |
| 0:31.5 | Today, civil disobedience. |
| 0:40.2 | I had this incredible feeling of freedom in the sunlight as it flashes in and out through the leaves. |
| 0:42.1 | You know, we talked about the politics of joy. |
| 0:44.9 | You didn't organise people around pain. |
| 0:46.9 | You need an alternate vision. |
| 0:56.0 | In 1968, activists from the Youth International Party, better known as the Yippies, a radical offshoot of the free speech and anti-war movements of 1960s America, |
| 1:01.0 | decided to enter the presidential race with a very special candidate. |
| 1:05.0 | 50 years on from the campaign's launch at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. |
| 1:14.8 | People I'm going to informally refer to as campaign staffers, |
| 1:17.5 | Abe Peck, Jim Lato, and Judy Gumbo, |
| 1:22.4 | tell the story of the brief but important political run of Pegasus. |
| 1:28.3 | It was just a superheeded time. Different groups were organizing differently. |
| 1:31.3 | Some people were coming to recruit the McCarthy kids or the Kennedy kids and radicalized them. |
| 1:36.3 | Other people were coming to support civil rights. |
| 1:39.3 | Other people were coming to freak freely. |
| 1:41.3 | Other people were coming to immobilize against the war. My name is Judy Gumbo. I am an original member of the Yippies, the Youth International Party. |
| 1:51.1 | The Yippies were a countercultural group who saw protest as theater. |
... |
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