The Manson Family: Cult Murder in Hollywood

American History Hit

History Hit

America, History

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 19 May 2025

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the summer of 1969, Hollywood was shaken by a set of brutal murders. Their perpetrators? The infamous Charles Manson and his 'family'.

In this episode Jeff Melnick joins Don to discuss how Manson and his followers came to occupy such a strong position in our cultural imagination.

Jeff is Graduate Program Director for American Studies at the University of Massachusetts, and the author of 'Creepy Crawling: Charles Manson and the Many Lives of America's Most Infamous Family'.

Edited by Aidan Lonergan, produced by Sophie Gee, Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

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All music from Epidemic Sounds.

American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi everyone, it's Don here.
0:02.0	This episode contains details of mass murder that may be distressing to some listeners.
0:11.5	Hello, movie lovers.
0:13.4	It's February 2020, and time for the 92nd Academy Awards here in Los Angeles, California.
0:20.0	Once more, the glittering elite of Hollywood are gathered to honor the year's biggest movies
0:24.9	and the nominees who made them.
0:26.9	Yes, the paparazzi are hiving to the stars.
0:30.3	There's the wonderful Tom Hanks waving warmly to his fans.
0:33.7	Joaquin Phoenix steps up, brooding darkly.
0:37.1	The beautiful Natalie Portman, dressed in
0:39.3	velvet, and Keanu Reeves being, well, Keanu Reeves.
0:43.3	And there's DiCaprio, Pitt, and Margarabi, the glamorous entourage from Once
0:49.3	Upon a Time in Hollywood, nominated in ten categories.
0:52.3	It'll only win in two, but who's counting when
0:55.3	you've already packaged an infamous slaughter into a box office bonanza featuring that
1:00.5	wacky crew of cult killers, the Manson family. On this celebrated evening, their names may
1:07.1	not be mentioned, but their shadows are lurking, stalking the edges of a blood-red
1:12.7	carpet.
1:25.6	This is American History Hit, and I am Don Wildman. Glad you're listening.
1:30.6	The 1960s in America were a whirlwind. War abroad, protests at home, civil rights advances,
1:37.4	and then assassinations. And all the while, NASA racing to the moon. Old values were crumbling.
1:43.7	Flower power energized a psychedelic generation,
	...

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