Hello and welcome to this day in esoteric political history from Radiotopia.

My name is Jody Avergan.

This day, March 2nd, 1971, a bomb was set off on the ground floor of the U.S. Capitol, causing

extensive damage and opening what Capitol Police Chief James Powell said appeared to be a

quote serious crack in the already weakened west front of the building. The bombing

actually took place on March 1st I should clarify but we're doing this

episode on March 2nd.

Now the bombing we would come to learn was the work of the Weather Underground, the

leftist militant group that came out of the nonviolent protest movements of the 60s.

The group got its name from a Bob Dylan lyric.

You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.

They originally called the weatherman,

and then they changed their name to the weather underground.

So let's talk about the bombing at the capital, this era of

political violence in the early 70s, and maybe we can get into a little compare and

contrast between leftist political tactics of the 70s and

leftist political tactics of today.

So lots to talk about and here as always

is Nicole Hammer of Columbia.

Hello, Nicky.

Hey Jody.

And Kelly Carter Jackson of Wellesley. Hello Kelly. Hey there.

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