Thomas King Forçade - AGENTS OF CHAOS - High Times & the Paranoid End of the 1970s

Thomas King Forçade - AGENTS OF CHAOS - High Times & the
Paranoid End of the 1970s



Sean Howe joins Ed Opperman to discuss his book, Agents of Chaos,
which focusses in on the legendary iconic, revolutionary
publication High Times.The life and times of High Times’
 enigmatic founder Thomas King Forçade, an underground
newspaper editor  and marijuana kingpin who—between police
raids, smuggling runs, and  outrageous stunts—battled both the
US government and fellow radicals.At  the end of the 1960s,
the mysterious Tom Forçade suddenly appeared,  insinuating
himself into the top echelons of countercultural politics  and
assuming control of the Underground Press Syndicate, a coalition of
 newspapers across the country. Weathering government
surveillance and  harassment, he embarked on a landmark court
battle to obtain White House  press credentials. But his
audacious exploits—pieing Congressional  panelists, stealing
presidential portraits, and picking fights with  other
activists—led to accusations that he was an agent provocateur.As
 the era of protest faded and the dark shadows of Watergate
spread,  Forçade hoped that marijuana could be the path to
cultural and economic  revolution. Bankrolled by drug-dealing
profits, High Times would be the Playboy of pot, dragging a
once-taboo subject into the mainstream. The magazine  was a
travelogue of globe-trotting adventure, a wellspring of news
 about “the business,” and an overnight success. But High
Times soon threatened to become nothing more than the “hip
capitalism”  Forçade had railed against for so long, and he
felt his enemies closing  in.Assembled from exclusive
interviews, archived correspondences, and declassified documents,
Agents of Chaos is a tale of attacks on journalism, disinformation
campaigns,  governmental secrecy, corporatism, and political
factionalism. Its  triumphs and tragedies mirror the cultural
transformations of 1970s  America, wrought by forces that
continue to clash in the spaces between  activism and
power.------------------Sean Howe is an American journalist and
writer. He  is a former editor at Entertainment Weekly and The
Criterion Collection.  In 2012, he published the book Marvel
Comics: The Untold Story, after  interviewing more than 150
people who worked at or were associated with  Marvel Comics.
You can meet Sean Howe in person next week. Details:
Seanhowe.com Book : Thomas King Forçade Marvel ComicsOct 2nd
LA 7pm Storeys Book and Cafe (1716 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA
90026-3225)oct 6th Changing hands Bookstore Pheonix (300 W
Camelback Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85013-2384)Oct 10 Diamond Hollow Books,
New York (72 MAIN STREET ANDES, NY, U.S.A. 13731)























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