Forum From the Archives: Sly Stone and the ‘Burden of Black Genius’

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 11 July 2025

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

No band may better reflect the multicultural, gender-expansive exuberance of the Bay Area dream than Sly and the Family Stone. A new documentary “Sly Lives (aka The Burden of Black Genius)” explores the life and context of Vallejo’s brilliant, charismatic and troubled bandleader. We talk with the film’s creators and participants about the gifts Sly gave the world and the tolls it took on him. Guests: Joel Selvin, San Francisco-based music journalist and author, his latest book is "Words and Demons" Joseph Patel, producer of the documentary Sly Lives; he also produced Summer of Soul, which won an academy award for best documentary feature Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Support for KQED Podcasts comes from the Exploratorium.
0:04.6	Leap into the wild new world of artificial intelligence this summer
0:07.9	at the all-new All Ages exhibition, Adventures in AI.
0:12.5	Now through September 14th at Pier 15.
0:15.8	Tickets at exploratorium.edu slash AI.
0:20.1	Everything is getting more expensive, rent, groceries, insurance, and because California's
0:25.8	excessive ride share insurance laws attract litigation abused by billboard lawyers, costs are going
0:31.4	up for everyone.
0:33.3	Bogus claims and inflated settlements drive up state-required insurance costs, which make up nearly a third of your Uber ride fare.
0:41.3	Join our fight to protect your access to affordable rides.
0:45.1	Go to uber.com for slash fare dash insurance to learn more.
0:51.1	From KQED.
0:53.7	One, two, one, two, three.
0:58.6	From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrival.
1:03.8	This week we're listening back to our recent interviews with and about Bay Area writers, artists, and thinkers, the people who make the Bay Area great,
1:11.9	and today the incredible Sly Stone who died last month.
1:15.8	At their peak, Sly and the Family Stone were maybe the coolest band of all time.
1:20.9	Gender-inclusive, multiracial, and impossibly funky, they channeled the wild energy of the
1:26.6	1960s Bay Area into an explosive, inventive
1:30.7	mix that changed music forever and took a brutal toll on frontman Sly Stone.
1:36.2	We're talking about the documentary Sly Lives.
1:39.0	It's all coming up next right after this news.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 14 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from KQED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of KQED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.