WEBVTT - Short Stuff: Flower Power

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, welcome to the short stuff. I'm Josh and there's Chuck,

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<v Speaker 1>and we're going to talk about flower power. So let's

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<v Speaker 1>start doing that right now.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah. Kind of specifically the two flower Powers, because there

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<v Speaker 2>was one flower Power movement and the nineteen sixty seven

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<v Speaker 2>specifically into sixty eight that had to do with politics

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<v Speaker 2>and protests, and then there was a second Flower Power

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<v Speaker 2>movement kind of either concurrently or on the heels of that,

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<v Speaker 2>that was a little bit more about like, hey, man,

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<v Speaker 2>like wear this cool shirt and listen to this music.

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<v Speaker 2>We're in San Francisco.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, that is a good point, and one more from

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<v Speaker 1>the other. I think the whole thing originally had its

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<v Speaker 1>origin in nineteen sixty five thanks to Alan Ginsberg, who

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<v Speaker 1>would become one of the luminaries. He was, like Neil Cassidy,

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<v Speaker 1>one of those rare beat generation guys who was able

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<v Speaker 1>to kind of make the transition over to hippie and

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<v Speaker 1>so he became a luminary of this whole scene the

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<v Speaker 1>very beginning of like the hippie movement in the sixties,

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<v Speaker 1>and so by this time he was already a very

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<v Speaker 1>respected counterculture person. And so when a bunch of Berkeley

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<v Speaker 1>students decided that they were going to protest basically a

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<v Speaker 1>clamp down on political speech on campus. They asked Allen

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<v Speaker 1>Ginsburg if he had any advice for him, and boy

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<v Speaker 1>did he ever.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah. He wrote a essay to give out to the

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<v Speaker 2>protesters called demonstration or spectacle as example as communication or

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<v Speaker 2>how to make a march slash spectacle.

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<v Speaker 1>And they said what and he said, just read it.

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<v Speaker 2>He's I love Allen Ginsburg, great poet, and he always

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<v Speaker 2>had these kind of funny long titles.

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<v Speaker 1>Like that yeah, or very short like how well, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>good point, thanks man. So there was a lot to this,

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<v Speaker 1>But the thing that really has to do with our

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<v Speaker 1>episode is that he was searching for a way or

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<v Speaker 1>advising them to look for ways to basically take the

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<v Speaker 1>psychology of war and people who are for war and

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<v Speaker 1>that kind of stuff and just kind of change it.

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<v Speaker 1>Like take this scary thing and this violent thing and

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<v Speaker 1>just turn it on its head. If you're trying to

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<v Speaker 1>protest it, just don't follow its rules of engagement, like

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<v Speaker 1>create your own.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah. And you know, one of the things that was

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<v Speaker 2>they knew for sure was going to happen at this

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<v Speaker 2>Berkeley protest was the Hell's Angels were going to come

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<v Speaker 2>in to counter protest the protests, or I guess just

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<v Speaker 2>counter protests. And he said kind of like kill him

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<v Speaker 2>with kindness. You know, he didn't actually say the words

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<v Speaker 2>flower power, but he mentioned flowers as what he called

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<v Speaker 2>a visual spectacle, like masses of flowers, a visual spectacle,

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<v Speaker 2>especially concentrate in the front lines. And also little toy

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<v Speaker 2>soldiers and toy guns and candy and little tiny musical

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<v Speaker 2>instruments and to basically just sort of be like, yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>just throw a bunch of like silliness and whimsy at them,

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<v Speaker 2>and these hell's angels aren't know what to do. They

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<v Speaker 2>they might want to beat you up, but they'll probably

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<v Speaker 2>maybe even feel bad trying to.

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<v Speaker 1>Right, So this was really good advice, and that was

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<v Speaker 1>definitely the origin of flower power. And so you can

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<v Speaker 1>make a really good case and it would be totally

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<v Speaker 1>correct that the flower power movement or idea came from

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<v Speaker 1>anti war protests or even before that, free speech protests

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<v Speaker 1>among young liberals and counterculture types, even before there was

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<v Speaker 1>such a thing as hippies like Sonny and Cher were

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<v Speaker 1>just starting to get into this. It was so early, right,

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<v Speaker 1>and so those students at Berkeley were successful. The administration

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<v Speaker 1>at the university was like, fine, say whatever you want,

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<v Speaker 1>we don't care anymore. Just just get off the lawn.

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<v Speaker 1>And then that got parlaid into Okay, well, this is

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<v Speaker 1>a we're creating a movement here, these kids really care

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<v Speaker 1>about stuff. How about we start targeting the Vietnam War.

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<v Speaker 1>And that really quickly easily translated into it. And there

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<v Speaker 1>was a very very famous picture that was essentially the

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<v Speaker 1>culmination of this whole ideal that Alan Ginsburg suggested and

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<v Speaker 1>that those Berkeley students first adopted. And it came in

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen sixty seven, I believe it, with a march on

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<v Speaker 1>the Pentagon.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, there were more than one hundred thousand people at

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<v Speaker 2>this march, peaceful protest, and a very very famous picture,

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<v Speaker 2>like you mentioned, was taken by a guy named Bernie

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<v Speaker 2>Boston of the Washington Star when he captured a young guy,

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<v Speaker 2>eighteen year old aspiring actor named George Harris, when twenty

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<v Speaker 2>five hundred Reserve troops with M fourteen machine guns came

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<v Speaker 2>out and surrounded the place, he very calmly walked up

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<v Speaker 2>and stuck a daisy and the end of that gun,

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<v Speaker 2>creating one of the most iconic photos of the nineteen sixties.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it's pretty neat. It's called the flower Power photo.

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<v Speaker 1>It's really great to see. And also his sweater is

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<v Speaker 1>just amazing.

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<v Speaker 2>It is.

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<v Speaker 1>So I say we come back and talk about how

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<v Speaker 1>flower power morphed from that into what we think of

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<v Speaker 1>it today. How about that.

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<v Speaker 2>Let's do it all right, So, now we're in San Francisco.

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<v Speaker 2>The hippie movement is genuinely underway at this point. That's

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<v Speaker 2>the epicenter of it all during one of the mini

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<v Speaker 2>summers of love that we've talked about, and flower powers

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<v Speaker 2>sort of goten morphed a little bit and it wasn't

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<v Speaker 2>so much political protests anymore. It was just like, hey,

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<v Speaker 2>man like violence it in the way you got to

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<v Speaker 2>love your neighbor, you got to just get on board

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<v Speaker 2>with these cool clothes. It became more of sort of

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<v Speaker 2>a cultural even fashion touchstone that had not much to

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<v Speaker 2>do with protest, even though it was still about living

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<v Speaker 2>kind of a groovy, peaceful life.

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<v Speaker 1>It got co opted, and that's a really great way

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<v Speaker 1>to defuse an actual movement is to commercialize it and

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<v Speaker 1>sell it and repackage it to the rest of them

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<v Speaker 1>the America. That's exactly what happened because a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>those hippies were like, yeah, I don't want to hurt anybody.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't want anybody to have to die in war.

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<v Speaker 1>But really I'm kind of here for the chicks and

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<v Speaker 1>the acid. That's really what I'm into. So it was

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<v Speaker 1>kind of easy for it to transition into yeah, just

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<v Speaker 1>a trend, a fashion trend. I mean, it eventually trickled

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<v Speaker 1>down to the Brady kids, for God's sake, that's how

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<v Speaker 1>far away it got from putting flowers into gun barrels

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<v Speaker 1>in protests of Vietnam. And that definitely happened. That transition

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<v Speaker 1>did definitely happen in nineteen sixty seven in San Francisco,

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<v Speaker 1>and this was not lost on anybody who was really

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<v Speaker 1>into this movement at the time. I was really upset

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<v Speaker 1>to see it turn into a commercialized fashion trend.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah for sure, but that's kind of what happened in

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<v Speaker 2>the hate Ashbury District shop open there called the Psychedelic Shop.

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<v Speaker 2>This is just shortly before ls was criminalized in the

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<v Speaker 2>United States, or at least in California. But at the

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<v Speaker 2>time you could go there and get education on doing

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<v Speaker 2>acid and like how to best do it and by it.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh yeah, it was legal that you just go down the.

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<v Speaker 1>Street to the psychedelic shop and buy some barrel acid.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, for sure. So it's a it's a fashion thing

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<v Speaker 2>at this point. All the brightly colored sort of tide

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<v Speaker 2>ie stuff and literal like flower print dresses and things

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<v Speaker 2>like that was a It was a group of kids

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<v Speaker 2>kind of casting off finally, like the garments of the

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<v Speaker 2>nineteen fifties of their parents, where you know, women were

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<v Speaker 2>girdles and you know, skirts that weren't very comfortable and

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<v Speaker 2>too tight and too long, and they're like, hey, put

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<v Speaker 2>on this like free flowing linen flower frock and take

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<v Speaker 2>off that bra. Yeah, and tell me how that feels.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and burn it in this fifty five gallon drum

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<v Speaker 1>and we have a fire going.

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<v Speaker 2>In right, which did not happen.

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<v Speaker 1>No, that's awesome that you remembered that, because I had forgotten.

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<v Speaker 1>So there, like I said, there were people who were

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<v Speaker 1>not happy about this transition. They really believed in flower

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<v Speaker 1>power and were kind of bummed that, like like all

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<v Speaker 1>of these people had just kind of come out and

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<v Speaker 1>we're missing the point. So they actually held a funeral

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<v Speaker 1>for the hippie in nineteen sixty seven. It was in

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<v Speaker 1>October nineteen sixty seven. They had a funeral march or

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<v Speaker 1>procession I guess through Hayde Ashbury, and they even burned

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<v Speaker 1>the Psychedelic Shop sign. And I was trying to figure

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<v Speaker 1>outf the Psychedelic Shop's owner would have been like, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>that's the right thing to do, burn my sign, or

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<v Speaker 1>would have been like, hey, stop burning my sign. I

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<v Speaker 1>can't figure out how that would have gone down, but

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<v Speaker 1>it did go down like that. And also, for anybody

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<v Speaker 1>who's listened to our Biosphere in episode, this is about

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<v Speaker 1>the time when the Synergians probably left for New Mexico.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, totally. One guy was pretty happy that it waited

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<v Speaker 2>until later in nineteen sixty seven, at least because a

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<v Speaker 2>guy named Scott McKenzie had a big hit earlier that

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<v Speaker 2>year with the song San Francisco, which we for one

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<v Speaker 2>of our San Francisco shows. I believe it was the

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<v Speaker 2>one at the Palaci Fine Arch years ago. We played

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<v Speaker 2>this song as our walkout song, which was a mistake

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<v Speaker 2>because it's a little too mellow. If you're going to

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<v Speaker 2>San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair.

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<v Speaker 2>So he got that in just under the wire.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Less famously, the next line is or else those

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<v Speaker 1>hippies will mess you up real good. Yeah, but that

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<v Speaker 1>helped kind of spread flower power also to the rest

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<v Speaker 1>of mainstream America because that song was such a big hit.

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<v Speaker 1>All that stuff kind of combined really led to the

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<v Speaker 1>death of flower power and ultimately the image we have

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<v Speaker 1>of it today. But had tip to those kids that

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<v Speaker 1>gave it its original meaning and Alan Getzburg too.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah. I mean, that picture's iconic and I kind of

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<v Speaker 2>take it for granted now because I've seen it so

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<v Speaker 2>many times. But it took a lot of guts for

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<v Speaker 2>that kid, an eighteen year old kid, to walk up

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<v Speaker 2>to a guy with a machine gun and stick a

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<v Speaker 2>flower in that barrel. That was a bold move.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, yeah, that's a great one to put it. I

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<v Speaker 1>also want to give a hat tip to our former

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<v Speaker 1>colleague and host of Unladylike the podcast, Kristen Conger, who

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<v Speaker 1>wrote this originally for How Stuff Works so many years ago.

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<v Speaker 2>That's right, Congs is great and I miss working with

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<v Speaker 2>her and I miss being in touch with her. This

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<v Speaker 2>made me kind of want to email her and just

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<v Speaker 2>say how you.

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<v Speaker 1>Doing, hey, man. With the spirit of flower Power, compels

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<v Speaker 1>you go ahead and do that chuck. All right, Wait,

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<v Speaker 1>I didn't say short stuff is out.

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