This Bay Area Sex-Loving Commune Is Still Going Strong

Bay Curious

KQED

History, Society & Culture, Places & Travel

4.9 • 999 Ratings

🗓️ 12 May 2022

⏱️ 17 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Sabrina McQueen grew up in Walnut Creek and would often see people driving around in purple limos. The locals call them "Purple People," and she's been wondering about them for decades. The group's official name is Lafayette Morehouse and they're one of the few 1960s-era intentional living communes that have survived the decades. Additional Reading: This Bay Area Sex-Loving Commune Is Still Going Strong Reported by Jon Brooks. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Katrina Schwartz, Sebastian Miño-Bucheli and Brendan Willard. Additional support from Kyana Moghadam, Jessica Placzek, Jen Chien, Carly Severn, Ethan Lindsey, Vinnee Tong and Jenny Pritchett.

Transcript

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0:00.0	From K-QED.
0:03.7	All right, we're going to venture back this week to the 1960s and 70s, when the Bay Area
0:08.5	was a center for many social movements.
0:11.6	People took to the streets to protest the Vietnam War.
0:15.0	The Black Panther Party formed in Oakland in response to police brutality against black people.
0:22.0	We are talking about the survival of black people.
0:27.3	Women were frustrated by the gender inequality they faced daily.
0:31.3	And a lot of people started to think differently
0:37.2	about how they wanted to live. As many as a million Americans decided to join
0:42.3	communes.
0:43.2	Group living situations, often with shared chores and finances.
0:47.4	Today I'm Bay Curious, we'll learn more about one commune that still exists in the Walnut Creek area.
0:55.7	It's a group that has been steeped in mystery and controversy over the years.
1:00.1	One note for listeners, we do talk about sex in this episode.
1:04.4	I'm Olivia Alan Price, and we'll get to it right after this.
1:10.4	Support for Bay Curious is brought to you by Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, still family owned, operated, and argued over.
1:17.0	Explore their brews wherever fine beverages are sold and taste how trailblazing runs in the family.
1:24.0	Visit Sierra Nevada.com to find your new favorite beer today.
1:30.0	The Bay Area is known for its central role in the political, social, and cultural movements of the 1960s.
1:37.0	So it may come as no surprise that the region also had a lot of communes.
1:42.0	Now the vast majority of those intentional communities have
1:45.6	disappeared but not all of them. Reporter John Brooks went looking for one that
	...

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