S7 Ep. 46: Francine Prose on What 1974 Can Teach Us About 2024

fiction/non/fiction

Novelist Francine Prose joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss her new book, 1974: A Personal History. Prose talks about her relationship with Tony Russo, who in collaboration with Daniel Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers, a whistleblowing act which revealed decades of government lies about U.S. involvement in Vietnam; how the politics and progressive activism of today compare to those of half a century ago; and why that year was politically pivotal. She also reflects on how in 1974, the idea of government dishonesty was shocking, whereas today it’s a given. Prose reads from the book.

To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/

This episode of the podcast was produced by Anne Kniggendorf.

Francine Prose

• 1974: A Personal History
• A Changed Man
• Blue Angel
• Anne Frank: the Book, The Life, the Afterlife

Others:

• The Heritage Foundation
• The Sixties: Big Ideas, Small Books by Jenny Diski
• Opus Dei
• J.D. Vance
• Patty Hearst
• RAND Corporation
• Daniel Ellsberg
• Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 6, Episode 46: “Samuel G. Freedman on What Hubert Humphrey’s Fight for Civil Rights Can Teach Us Today”
• Ground Truth | NPR
• Journey to Italy
• Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
• Cato Institute
• Pentagon Papers
• Espionage Act
• Comstock Act
• Wag the Dog
• Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon

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