Ep. 263 Revisiting Waco 30 Years Later with Jeff Guinn, Stephan Talty, and Kevin Cook
The Stacks
Traci Thomas
4.8 • 1.8K Ratings
🗓️ 19 April 2023
⏱️ 93 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today marks thirty years since the last day of the FBI siege on the Branch Davidians of Waco, Texas. We hear from three authors who released books on the events this year: Jeff Guinn (Waco: David Koresh, the Branch Davidians, and a Legacy of Rage), Stephan Talty (Koresh: The True Story of David Koresh and the Tragedy at Waco) and Kevin Cook (Waco Rising: David Koresh, the FBI, and the Birth of America's Modern Militias) They address why they chose to tell this story now, what exactly happened in Waco (and why), and why this story is still relevant today.
The Stacks Book Club selection for April is Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay. We will discuss the book on April 26th with Clint Smith.
You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks' website:
https://thestackspodcast.com/2023/04/19/ep-263-waco
Connect with Jeff: Website
Connect with Stephan: Twitter | Website
Connect with Kevin: Website
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You guys, the live and the stacks tour is underway. |
| 0:03.8 | We had an incredible night in Oakland filled with bookish conversations, hot takes, games, |
| 0:08.8 | cocktails. If you missed it, I'm sorry, but don't worry, it's not too late to see the stacks live |
| 0:15.3 | in one of our next four stops. Join me in Chicago with Samantha Erby on August 27th |
| 0:21.6 | in Washington, D.C. with Jason Reynolds on September 24th in New York City with KSA |
| 0:27.0 | Lehman on September 25th and in LA on October 18th with some extra special guests that we will be |
| 0:33.6 | announcing real soon. Tickets are selling fast so head to the stackspodcast.com slash tour and |
| 0:40.6 | get your tickets before we sell out. Welcome to the stacks, a podcast about books and the people who |
| 0:55.3 | read them. I'm your host Tracy Thomas and today April 19th 2023 marks the 30th anniversary of |
| 1:01.6 | the siege and fire on the branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. This came after a gun battle |
| 1:07.4 | with the ATF and a 51-day standoff with the FBI. To mark the occasion we're doing a special episode |
| 1:13.9 | of the stacks, I'll be joined by three different authors who have all released books this year |
| 1:19.2 | that examine, rethink and contextualize these events, David Crash and the legacy of Waco. |
| 1:25.0 | First up is Jeff Gwynn who wrote the book Waco, David Crash, The Branch Davidians, and a legacy of |
| 1:30.4 | range. Jeff and I talked about what exactly happened in Waco in 1993, the misunderstandings that left |
| 1:37.2 | so many people dead and the importance of religion in this story. Then we'll hear from Stephen |
| 1:42.9 | Talty, author of Crash, the true story of David Crash and the tragedy at Waco, who shares a lot more |
| 1:49.1 | about David Crash, The Man, and the villain. And finally, Kevin Cook will discuss his book Waco |
| 1:55.4 | Rising, David Crash, the FBI, and the birth of America's modern militias. Kevin talks with me a |
| 2:01.0 | lot about what Waco means to us now and how it's become a rallying cry for the far right in America. |
| 2:07.5 | Remember, our April Book Club selection is the poetry collection catalog of Unabashed Gratitude |
| 2:12.0 | by Ross Gay. We will be discussing the book with Clint Smith on April 26th. And a quick reminder |
... |
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