Bureau of Lost Culture
SamfunnHistorie*The Bureau of Lost Culture broadcast rare, countercultural stories, oral testimonies and tales from the underground.*Join host Stephen Coates and a wide range of guests including musicians, artists, writers, activists and commentators in conversation.*Listen live on London’s premier independent station Soho Radio or via all major podcast providers. The Bureau is collected at The British Library Sound Archive
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- The Spell of David Lynch (01:00:33)
When the filmmaker David Lynch died earlier this year, fans created shrines filled with coffee, doughnuts, cigarettes and blue roses; a level of spontaneous mourning more common for dead rock stars or royalty than filmmakers. His auctioned belongings sold for staggering sums, almost as if they were relics, showing how many people felt deeply connected to his work. Why? David was that unusual figure - an artist who had mainstream success but seemed to remain defiantly and deeply countercultural. How? And, this was a man who had an adjective - ‘Lynchian’ - named after him But what does that mean? The writer and cultural historian John Higgs, returns to the Bureau. His new book ‘Lynchian: The Spell of David Lynch’ tries to answer those questions while taking a deep dive into the hidden depths of Lynch's films - where beauty and horror, dream and reality, suburban innocence and lurking evil co-exist; where simple pleasures—coffee, pie, music—take on a sacred resonance in contrast to violence and decay. Where we can take a journey into darkness and out again - changed. And we dig into art, consciousness, dreaming, ideas and the writer's life in these changing times. #DavidLynch #Lynchian #TwinPeaks #CinemaOfDreams #SurrealCinema #BlueVelvet #FilmNoir #Mulhollanddrive #CultFilm #DreamLogic #transcendentalmeditation
- This is Penny Rimbaud - Part One (01:00:00)
Penny Rimbaud , who has spent more than half a century living the ideals that most of us only talk about, has been described as an activist philosopher, an anarchist, a Zen Buddhist. Though he would likely not recognise those descriptions, he is certainly a poet, a musician, an artist. Born Jeremy John Ratter in 1943, in the late 1960s, together with artist Gee Vaucher, he founded Dial House, an open community and creative refuge in rural Essex. It became both a home and a hub — a living experiment in anarchism, art, and radical living, from which emerged Crass, a band that tore apart punk’s nihilism and replaced it with a fierce moral energy: anti-war, anti-sexism, anti-consumerism — but pro-peace, pro-freedom, and defiantly DIY. Their black-and-white graphics, polemical lyrics, and uncompromising stance made them one of the most influential and challenging acts of their time. When Crass disbanded in 1984, Penny kept on creating, often with Gee. He became a prolific poet, writer, and spoken-word performer, continuing to explore themes of love, pacifism, and spiritual autonomy. Now in his eighties, he still lives and works at Dial House — still questioning authority, still seeking truth through art and language. We range back and forth across Penny's personal history and his thoughts on culture, capitalism, art and the very notion of the self. In his own words: “There is no authority but yourself.” ---- During this conversation, we hear: 'Dulce et Decorum Est’ - from What Passing Bells (The War Poems of Wilfred Owen) ‘How?’ - from How? ‘Of Summer's Passing' - with Peter Vukomirovic - from Of Summer's Passing 'Oh America' - with Youth - from Oh America #counterculture #crass #pennyrimbaud #anarchism #capitalism #dialhouse #artschool #
- Who Owns The Ground Beneath Our Feet? (00:59:05)
We walk the streets every day — and through parks, across squares and pavements and along beaches, and mountains, over 'The Commons' — without much thought for who really owns them. These apparently public spaces have often been battlegrounds over public rights. From the rural enclosures that fenced off England’s open fields, through the city squares where protesters have clashed with police, to the gated plazas and shopping malls of today — the story of The Commons is the story of who belongs, who is excluded, who can gather, and who makes the rules. In this episode, we’re diving into that story with historian Katrina Navickas, whose book Contested Commons: A History of Protest and Public Space in England traces how people have fought, for centuries, to claim, reclaim and defend shared space. We hear about The Chartists, about The Greenham Common protests, Occupy, Reclaim the Streets, trespassing and hear some surprising answers to the question 'Who Owns The Ground Beneath Our Feet?' We finish with a recording of 'The World Turned Upside Down' by the wonderful Leon Rosselson #trespassing #thecommons #commonland #theclearances #protest #thechartists #occupy #reclaimthestreets #counterculture
- Roots, Radical and Rockers - With Billy Bragg (00:59:59)
As musician and activist BILLY BRAGG makes a welcome return as a voice of countercultural sanity, we revisit the Lost History of Skiffle as he takes us on an extraordinary whirlwind tour through the music that the counterculture forgot. Along the way, we hear about the emergence of The Teenager in post-war Britain, the massive impact of Rock Around the Clock, the Soho espresso bar culture of the 50s and the birth of British youth culture. We explore why Skiffle, which soundtracked that youth culture for a few intense years and was the inspiration for musicians in The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Who and The Rolling Stones, has been oddly forgotten. And Billy explains why, as the first British DIY musical revolution, Skiffle provided the template for the Punk movement of the 70s that was to inspire him. Along the way, we get educated about the post-war 'trad jazz' movement, the cultural stranglehold of the BBC - and the terrific transformatory power of a guy - or a girl - with a guitar. For more on Billy and his book Roots, Radicals and Rockers: https://www.billybragg.co.uk/product/roots-radicals-and-rockers-how-skiffle-changed-the-world-hardback-signed-by-billy/ #skiffle #billybragg #beatles #rock'n'roll #teenager #1950 #musichistory
- The Dark Counterculture of British Folk Tradition (00:57:29)
In the old towns and villages of Britain, before the police, before the tabloids, before social media shame-storms, there were other ways to deal with those who stepped outside the rules. Noisy ways. Cruel ways. Dangerous ways - the 'Rough Music' rituals — part punishment, part performance, part pagan magic — at the dark edge where community, cruelty and celebration collide. Liz Williams, the Glastonbury-based author, folklorist and pagan, came to the Bureau to talk about them. Her latest book Rough Music: Folk Tradition, Transgression and Alternative Britain, explores often violent, forgotten traditions of noise, mockery, and ritual humiliation — and how they ripple forward into today’s counterculture, protest movements, and online doxing. And we hear about some other, less cruel, but deeply strange British rituals that cling on: the annual Cheese-Rolling at Cooper’s Hill, The Burryman’s Parade in Scotland and the yearly Shin Kicking competition in the Cotswolds.. #folklore #tradition #albion #cruelty #shaming #doxing #skimmington #roughmusic #counterculture
- Ghost, Trolls and the Hidden Folk (01:00:15)
Iceland is one of the last remaining Western countries where a substantial proportion of the population believes in the presence of other beings - The Hidden Folk. For centuries, and until fairly recently, ghosts, revenants, trolls and elves were regarded as an integral part of everyday life. Their stories were shared during the long nights of winter gatherings, and they felt just as real to Icelanders as the people sitting beside them. Ethnologist Dagrún Ósk Jónsdóttir came to the Bureau to talk about the role of these mythical and supernatural beings in Icelandic society and landscape. Her book 'Ghosts, Trolls and the Hidden People: Icelandic Folktales’ opens the door to the astonishing and eerie world of folk legends in the various settings of farm, wilderness, darkness, church, ocean and shore. We hear about her own family's ghost, how to recognise a magical being, how to scare off a troll and how construction projects in Iceland can still be delayed or rerouted in order to take account of the Hidden Folk. #folklore, #iceland, #icelandicfolklore, #trolls, #elves, #ghosts, #supernatural, #supernaturalbeings, #sorcery #ghoststories, #counterculture
- EVP - Voices From the Other Side (01:00:00)
They called them the voices of the dead. Whispers in the static. Words in the hiss. Messages that—so believers said—slipped through the veil between worlds and onto magnetic tape The story of Electronic Voice Phenomenon, or EVP begins in the late 1950s, when Swedish artist Friedrich Jürgenson was out in the countryside recording birdsong. On playback, he heard not only the birds but what he swore were voices—some speaking to him directly, including that of his deceased mother. Latvian-born psychologist Konstantin Raudive took up the work, making thousands of recordings and publishing his 1971 book Breakthrough, which brought EVP to wider public attention and cemented its place in paranormal lore. We explore the history and the practice of EVP—its roots in spiritualism and its connection to the technology of sound recording with Rikard Friberg von Sydow whose research examines how we preserve and interpret recorded sound, and Carl Michael von Hausswolff — Swedish sound artist, composer, and curator who has incorporated EVP into his artistic practice for decades. William Burroughs, Genesis P-Orridge, Lars Von Trier, Nigel Kneale and David Lynch also get a look in.. Thanks to Carl Michael von Hausswolff — for the archive audio and his recording. #Friedrich Jürgenson #Konstantin Raudive #paranomal #numberstations #EVP #electronicvoicephenomenon #William Burroughs #Genesis P-Orridge, #LarsVonTrier #NigelKneale #DavidLynch #twinpeaks
- 5000 Years of Queer History (01:01:51)
Amongst its pages, there are many familiar names—Oscar Wilde, Quentisn Crisp, Sappho, James Baldwin, Freddie Mercury — but also many we might not expect: Florence Nightingale, Marlene Dietrich, Cary Grant, J. Edgar Hoover, Eleanor Roosevelt, Tchaikovsky, Greta Garbo, Richard the Lionheart, even Abraham Lincoln, along with 1000 other stories of artists, generals, politicians, kings, despots and many more figures drawn from 5000 years of hidden culture. Keith Stern came to the Bureau to talk about his extraordinary encyclopaedia ‘Queers in History’, what drove him to write it, and why it matters. The book is more than a who’s-who of queer life —it’s a challenge to the official version of the past, a reminder of how history gets made, unmade, and remade, depending on who’s telling the stories, inviting us to consider how queerness has always existed, and has contributed to the culture. And we get into the subject of whether Gandalf was Queer - yes, we really do…
- A Brief History of Nakedness (01:03:31)
What does it mean to be naked, in body or in spirit? Why has human nudity so often been revered, feared, sexualized, or weaponised? This episode was recorded on July 17 - International Naked Day. Our guest Philip Carr-Gomm is a writer, psychologist, spiritual teacher, and for 30 years, leader of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids—one of the largest Druid organisations in the world. His book A Brief History of Nakedness (Reaktion, is a rich, wide-ranging exploration of the role nudity has played in religion, protest, art, and performance, from the ancient world to the modern era. He takes us through everything from Christian flagellants and naked monks to contemporary naturists and political activists who’ve used nudity to make bold statements. We get into all that, into druidry, the difference between being naked and nude, Lady Godiva, naked Counterculture, Adam and Eve, John and Yoko, Breasts not Bombs, The Naked Rambler - and streaking. And Philip tells why we should all get our kit off and shares some tips on how to get more naked… Allen Ginsberg by Richard Avedon #counterculture #johnandyoko #naked #nakedness #nude #nudity #naturist #druid #druidry #streaking #ladygodiva #breastsnotbombs #OBOD #nakedrambler
- The Bureau meets Aquarium Drunkard (Bonus Episode) (01:01:30)
This is a special edition when The Bureau meets Jason Woodbury of Aquarium Drunkard for a joint transmission. Los Angeles-based online music magazine Aquarium Drunkard is a one-of-a-kind map to the sprawling and often overwhelming landscape of independent music. Founded in 2005 and piloted for over twenty years by Justin Gage, it has served as a curator, a passionate advocate, and a community for those seeking sounds beyond the mainstream. The Aquarium Drunkard podcast - Transmissions - hosted by Jason Woodbury, has become a massive resource for deep dives into music and culture via conversations and with an amazing range of musicians and cultural figures including Jeff Bridges, Jim Jarmusch, John Lurie, Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, Devendra Banhart, Lee Ranaldo, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Shirley Collins, Gina Birch of the Raincoats and many, many more. Jason and I decided to make a joint transmission to talk about Aquarium Drunkard and Bureau of Lost Culture, and why we do it. As well as writing for AQ, Jason writes for Pitchfork and Stereogum, is the creative director of WASTOIDS audio network, makes radiophonic sound collage, and he is a musician himself, so, of course, one of the first questions I ask him his how he gets it all done - especially as he has two dogs at his home in the Sonoran desert. There is a bit of mutual back scratching, but we soon get onto the much more important topics of: the best time for creative work, not eating in your twenties, smoking, dreaming, the collective unconscious, David Lynch who really owns The Beatles song Yesterday, AI, consciousness, the most emotional moments from shows, the power of conversation and storytelling, who we'd really like to interview and what's next..
- The Forger's Apprentice (01:08:14)
Elmyr De Hory was the greatest art forger of all time. By the time he was exposed in 1967, it's estimated he had created over 1000 works that had been sold as by Picasso, Modigliani, Matisse, Derand, Duffy, and various other modern masters, and many of which remain undetected in institutions and private collections around the world. But does it matter if we believe it's a Picasso and we enjoy it as such? Mark Forgy came to Europe as a 20-year-old backpacker in 1969, bumped into Elmyr on a quayside in Ibiza, and lived with him for seven of the years between his exposure as the greatest art forger of all time in 1967 and his suicide in 1976. It was a whirlwind life of culture, glamour, intrigue, Hollywood stars, dodgy writers, and psychopathic villains, all of which can be glimpsed in the extraordinary Orson Welles film ‘F For Fake’. Welles visited Elmyr in Ibiza and used his life for a meditation on the poetry of what 'fake' means, of what truth means, of what facts mean in comparison with a good story, a great image, an extraordinary performance. Mark came to the Bureau to tell us all about it and to muse on whether the products of Elmyr's undeniable genius were really any less authentic than the art world itself. In our time of fakery, epic frauds, fake news, fake gurus, fake identities, deep fakes, 'my truth not THE truth', feelings over facts, a time when the distinction between Reality and AI-generated content is getting very difficult to spot, this story seems very prescient.. Mark's book The Forger's Apprentice Orson Welles' 'F For Fake' Photographs courtesy Mark Forgy/ #ElmyrDeHory #BureauOfLostCulture #Elmyr #forgery #artforgery #fake #artworld #OrsonWelles #FforFake #Ibiza #fernandlegros #markforgy
- Stonehenge and The Battle of the Beanfield (01:15:04)
The ancient temple of Stonehenge is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world and one of the most visited sites in the UK. Yet, despite hundreds of years of archaeological investigation and speculation, to some extent it remains a mystery. And it is a mystery that is deep at the heart of the British psyche, for Stonehenge has been a gathering place for thousands of years, and remains a nexus where prehistoric culture, mainstream culture and counterculture interact - and sometimes collide. 40 years ago, in June 1985, an incident occurred near Stonehenge that saw the largest mass arrest of civilians in Britain's history. Over 1000 police, many in riot gear, some with their IDs covered so they couldn't be held accountable for what happened, clashed with a raggle-taggle convoy of travellers, hippies and bohemian folk heading towards the Stones to hold the free Festival, which had happened at Stonehenge every year since the early 70s. It was brutal Women with babies were dragged from their mobile homes, others were pulled through smashed windscreens. Vehicles were trashed. People were truncheoned to the floor. There were huge numbers of arrests, but in the end, virtually nobody was found guilty of a crime, although the police themselves were subsequently taken to court and lost. Matt Pike came to the Bureau to tell us all about it. Matt has an official role at Stonehenge, as a guardian of the stones, as a guide to visitors and is the official writer in residence of the site. He also has an unofficial role as social historian and archivist of a huge amount of information, oral testimonies and lesser-known histories of Stonehenge and the things that has happened there, including 'The Battle of the Beanfield', the shameful incident 40 years ago, when the British state turned its security forces on its own people as a warning to the counterculture of the times. Matt's Youtube Channel Matt's Instagram Photos: Andy Worthington #Stonehenge #BureauOfLostCulture #BattleOfTheBeanfield #policestate #freefestival #wallyhope #thatcher #counterculture #Stonehengefreefestival
- The Sonic Explorer of the Psychedelic Frontier (01:00:00)
Doug McKechnie is an unsung pioneer of electronic music, a visionary who traversed the fringes of sound and consciousness at a time when technology, art, and radical thought were colliding to reshape culture. Emerging from the explosive counterculture scene of San Francisco in the late 1960s, Doug was one of the first musicians to experiment extensively, and the very first to play live, with the Moog synthesiser, using it not merely as an instrument but as a portal into new dimensions of experience. "I wasn’t interested in playing melodies. I wanted to find out what electricity sounded like when it told the truth.” He didn’t just make music—he made experiences. He played marathon sets in warehouses, at acid-fueled happenings, art galleries, planetariums, and with The Grateful Dead. His performances were long-form, trance-like explorations of voltage, feedback, and consciousness—music as transformation. “Those shows weren’t performances. They were portals” His music lay largely hidden for decades until re-released by VG+Records Doug's Music: The Complete San Francisco Moog: 1968-72 San Francisco Moog: 1968-72 Vol. 2 With Thanks to Lee Gardner at VG+ #DougMcKechnie #BureauOfLostCulture #lighshows #sanfrancisco #thegratefuldead #frankoppenheimer #goldengatebridge #ElectronicMusicHistory #ModularSynths #MoogMusic #Psychedelic60s #VintageSynthesizers #UndergroundSounds #modularFrequencies #alanwatts
- Ibiza and The Meteoric Rise of Club Culture - From Arty to Party (00:59:59)
Sunshine + Love, Beats + Drugs How did a sleepy island off the coast of Spain, metamorphose from an artistic, countercultural haven into the global epicentre of electronic dance music, lighting the touch paper that caused the explosion of club culture? Alexis Petridis, chief music writer for The Guardian, and Dean Chalkley, one of the UK’s leading photographers of British subculture (both seasoned ravers), witnessed this extraordinary rise from the underground at Mixmag, the clubbers’ bible, and have documented the subsequent transformations. Alexis takes us on a trip through the island’s bohemian past and tells how its unique combination of natural beauty, 60s counterculture and 70s glamour set the scene for an extraordinary pop cultural explosion in the 80s and 90s that would resonate through the Western world. The photographs in Dean’s new book ‘Back in Ibiza 1998 - 2003’ , taken in the heat of many magic moments, capture the golden age of happy, all-in-it-together, 24 hour party people, bacchanalian excess, and sunkissed beach life the island offered before the corporate monsters of superstar DJs, big brands and VIP lounges swallowed it whole. For more on Dean Alexis on music Alexis on Club Culture Images courtesy Dean Chalkley #BureauOfLostCulture, #IbizaClubCulture, #Rave, #BalearicBeats, #90sClubScene, #80sClubScene, #IbizaHistory, #AcidHouse #CultureUnderground, #Dancemusic, #LostCultureFound,#mdma, #pasha, #nickyholloway, #superstardjs
- The Victorian Freak Show (01:00:07)
The Bearded Lady, Zip the Pinhead, Major Tom Thumb, The Elephant Man, The Hottentot Venus - we delve into one of the more controversial corners of popular entertainment: the world of Victorian freak shows — where the abnormal, the extraordinary, and the misunderstood were paraded as spectacle and sold as wonder. But who were these so-called “freaks” - vulnerable human oddities driven to make a living the only way they could, cictims of exploitation, or pioneers of performance who found power in their difference? We’re joined by Dr. John Jacob Woolf, historian and author of 'The Wonders: Lifting the Curtain on the Freak Show, Circus and Victorian Age', a book that offers a deeply researched, empathetic, and eye-opening look at the lives behind the wonderful posters, at the performers who captivated crowds and challenged Victorian notions of normality. We explore Freakery and ask who are the modern freaks? Who do we gawp, marvel and laugh at? More on John and hs work #counterculture #bureauoflostculture #lostculture #freaks #freakshow #victorian freakshow #davidlynch #elephantman #ptbarnum #josephmerrick
- Becoming Black: A 2-Tone Story (01:00:35)
"I was never going to be a nice little white girl" she says. Instead, she became an underground star, had hit records with the 2-Tone band The Selector, became a style-icon, an actor, a TV Presenter - and author. Whilst Margaret Thatcher was reshaping Britain and promoting her very own particular vision of what it meant to be British, in the urban jungle of Coventry, a young woman whose image couldn't be more different than Maggie's, was presenting a radically different vision of what it meant to be British Belinda Magnus, born on 23 October 1953 was given away as the baby of a white unmarried mother and an unknown black father. She was adopted by a white family and re-named Pauline Vickers. Growing up in a completely white neighbourhood as the only person of colour, she experienced first-hand the often racist attitudes of the time. She came to the Bureau to talk about all that, how she overcame it, her life as a star of the 2-tone musical scene with her band Selecter, and how, along the way, she became Pauline Black For more on Pauline Image by Dean Chalkley #PaulineBlack #2ToneRevolution #BureauOfLostCulture #SkaPunkHistory #TheSelecter #WomenInMusic #PunkAndPolitics #CulturalResistance #BlackBritishVoices #MusicAsProtest
- Alan Moore on Magic (00:49:26)
Alan Moore first gained recognition in the 1980s with his work for the comic 2000 AD, and DC Comic's Swamp Thing. He went on to create Watchmen, V for Vendetta, Batman: The Killing Joke, From Hell, an extraordinary take on the Jack the Ripper story, and The League of Extraordinary Gentleman. He's often been at odds with publishers and with Hollywood, and in recent years has removed himself from the mainstream, focusing on writing novels, esoteric pursuits, and the practice of a particular kind of Magic. This is a slightly unusual episode. It's a recording of an event we held last October as part of our London Month of the Dead festival. It features, Alan in conversation with the writer Gary Lachman and the artist John Coulthart. The occasion was the publication of 'The Bumper Book of Magic'. a kind of modern grimoire, which Alan had written with his friend the late Steve Moore (no relation), another writer of comics and fellow magic practitioner. It is a book that took 20 years to come to publication. John Coulthard was the main artist and designer of the book. Alan is somewhat of a recluse these days so it was great to have him with us to talk about the book, about his friend Steve Moore, about his practice of Magic, and about the unconscious, dreams, consciousness and creativity. Gary Lachman, a previous guest on this show, was once the bass player for Blondie before he put down the plectrum and picked up the pen, gave up rock'n'roll for writing, and has become the U.K.'s foremost writer on the Esoteric John Coulthart is a wonderful graphic artist who worked with Alan on many projects and is a cultural phenomenon in his own right We also hear from the audience with questions to Alan about his practice of magic. Our previous episode with Alan on Counterculture #counterculture, #alanmoore, #johncoulthard, #garylachman, #dreams, #magic, #magick, #magik, #paracelsus, #glycon, #stevemoore, #2000AD, #grimoire
- Myths of the Magic Mushroom (00:59:15)
The evolutionary leap from ape to human was precipitated by primates eating psychoactive fungi, there is an ancient shamanic lineage of psychedelic plant use in the West, mushrooms have their own consciousness, drinking Reindeer piss can get you high.. there are many myths about magic mushrooms. Meanwhile, we are living through a kind of psychedelic renaissance: psilocybin is often in the press, hailed as a potential treatment, for depression, addiction, grief, psychosis - and a way to be more productive and well-adjusted. What to make of it all? Has the counterculture gone mainstream? Never mind The Age of Aquarius, is this The Age of the Mushroom? Andy Letcher is a British scholar, author, activist and musician. His work explores the intersections of psychedelics, culture, paganism and folk traditions, and 20 years ago he published 'Shroom: A Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom'. He came to the Bureau to discuss it, how things have changed since he wrote it - and the myths behind the magic. For more on Andy #bureauoflostculture #magicmushroom #psilocybin #terencemckenna #psychedelic #grahamwasson #mariasabina #libertycaps #tripping #psychoactive
- The Myth of Easter Island (01:05:32)
The giant stone heads of the fantastically remote Easter Island have gazed out mysteriously for over a 1000 years, fascinating the world since Dutch sailors came across them in the 18th century. They were created by some lost civilisation it was said, or perhaps they may not have been made by humans at all, but by extra-terrestrial visitors. Most commonly the story has been that the original people who made them brought about their own complete destruction in a kind of unintentional eco-suicide - a narrative that acts as a moral fable, a warning against our own selfish destruction of the planet's resources. But is that really true? James Grant Peterkin, historian, author and educator lived on Easter Island amongst its people for 20 years. He is one of the very few outsiders to speak their language of Rapanui and to be accepted in their community. He came to the Bureau to talk about how he came there, why he stayed and to dispel some of the myths, tell some of the truths about a very particular, and very peculiar lost culture. James's thoughts on the Easter Island statue in the British Museum #easterisland, #rapanui, #stoneage #polynesia #earthmystery #esoteric #archaeology #statues #island
- Burroughs, Bowles and The Tangier Interzone (00:42:18)
Tangier was a magnet for artists, writers, musicians, and political exiles throughout the mid-20th century, amongst them the writers Paul Bowles and William Burroughs From 1924 to 1956 the city operated as an international zone under the joint administration of several European powers. This status created an environment of legal ambiguity, which, combined with the city’s strategic location at the crossroads of Africa and Europe, made it a haven for those seeking escape from the constraints of conventional society The zone had a sense of lawlessness and freedom, attracting a diverse mix of expatriates, spies, smugglers, and avant-garde intellectuals. The city’s permissive attitude towards drugs, homosexuality,and radical political thought made it a particularly alluring destination for members of the counterculture. Composer and writer Paul Bowles, settled there and drew members of the Beat Generation to the city to be inspired, to complete their projects and to live the Moroccan dream. Few lived in human dialogue with the locals, operating rather as economically priveleged colonial bohemians William Burroughs' time in Tangier in the 1950s deeply influenced his novel Naked Lunch. Burroughs saw the city as a place where the constraints of Western morality could be discarded in favor of a more experimental and uninhibited lifestyle. He christened it THE INTERZONE Although the Tnagier International Zone officially ceased to exist in 1956, its mythos lived on in literature, music, and the enduring image of Tangier as a place where the world’s outsiders could find a home Multimedia artist and curator Abdelaziz Taleb, director of The Arab Media Lab Project has taken a deep dive into the Interzone - both its reality and its myth, exploring the blurred line between the two. He came to the Bureau to talk about it, the often untold influence of Moroccans on the Beats, and the mystery of Tangier. For more on Aziz and the Interzone Project and Here #counterculture, #thebeatgeneration, #thebeats, #tangier, #thetangierinternationalzone, #thetangierinterzone, #interzone, #burroughs, #bowles, #williamburroughs, #paulbowles, #heroin, #nakedlunch, #thearabmediaproject, #allenginsberg, #jakckerouac,#mohammedchakri, #bryingyson, #brianjones, #joujouka,#morocco
- The Birth of British Youth Culture (00:58:25)
Teddy Boys (and Teddy Girls)emerged in Britain in the early 1950s, becoming the UK's first distinct youth subculture. Born in the aftermath of World War II, these working-class teenagers rejected post-war austerity and embraced a bold, rebellious style of dandyish suits, long drape jackets, narrow trousers, velvet collars, patterned waistcoats - and of course pomaded quiffed hair for the boys and equally sharp threads for the girls. Musican and writer Max Decharne, author of 'Teddy Boys: Post-War Britain and the First Youth Revolution’, came to the Bureau to talk about the Teddys - and about Mods, Punk, the masssive influence of Bill Haley's Rock Around the Clock and of the impact the working class have had on British fashion. The Teds became notorious in the media - associated with violence, for clashes with rival gangs and for their alleged involvement in the 1958 Notting Hill riots. But was that really the case? Or was it because, as working class upstarts they rattled the middle and upper class establishment? Embracing American rock'n'roll, they became the foundation for future youth movements, proving that teenagers could form their own cultural identity, shaping Britain’s rock and roll scene and inspiring later subcultures like the Mods and Rockers. For More on Max For his music For more on the book Ken Russell's wonderful images of Teddy Girls #teddy #teddyboys #teddygirls #quiff #rock'n'roll #billhaley #rockaroundtheclock #streetstyle #youthculture
- Soho Night + Day (00:57:06)
Scar-faced, ex-jailbird Frank Norman was part of the '50s and '60s Soho bohemian set and friends with Francis Bacon, Lucien Freud, Dylan Thomas and other habitues of the infamous Colony Room club. After being abandoned as a child, growing up in institutions, and working as a fairground worker, he landed in Soho, became a petty criminal and spent time in prison where he learned to paint and write. Back in Soho on leaving jail, astonishingly he became a succesful author, writer of the smash hit cockney musical 'Fings Aint What They Used To Be’, the acclaimed prison memoir Bang to Rights, and several novels - but never painted again. In the early '60s he penned 'Soho Night and Day', a evocative survey of the area in its seedy, cosmopolitan prime, with photographs by his pal Jeffrey Bernard (later to become the most famous alcoholic in London). Frank's grandson, Joe Daniel, came to talk Bureau to talk about him and about the bohemian low-life of Soho in the '50s and '60s. If you are listening to this in early 2025, and can be in London, we have curated an exhibtion in Soho of Frank's never before shown prison paintings: See BEHIND BARS- Frank Norman’s Prison Paintings for details The republished wonderful Frank Norman and Jeffrey Bernard book Soho Night and Day #soho #london #bohemian #colonyclub #colonyroom #Lucien Freud, #FrancisBacon #DylanThomas #FrankNorman #JeffreyBernard #murielbelcher #outsiderart
- Spirit, Soul and Rock 'n' Roll - with Mike Scott (01:02:18)
The Waterboys' MIKE SCOTT grew up in the '60s in Edinburgh and said: “I accepted the incredible happenings of that decade — with all its rapid evolution, colour, revelations and magic — as the normal order of things". At the age of 4 he had his first mystical experience and remembers that from the minute he bought "Last Night in Soho" by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich in 1968 he knew he had to live a life in music. In the years since he has toured the world with The Waterboys and as a solo artist, had hit records with The Whole of the Moon, This is the Sea and Fishermans Blues and has released 15 albums. Mike has been unashamedly open about the importance of spirituality in his life - even when that has been deeply unfashionable in the mainstream culture. Now, The Waterboys have a new record about to land. It features Bruce Springsteen, Steve Earle and Fiona Apple and it's a song cycle around the life of legendary actor and countercultural polymath Dennis Hopper. Mike came to the Bureau to talk about all of that, his time at the Findhorn Foundation, Life, Death and Dennis Hopper - and much more. For Mike and his work, music and adventures Universal Hall Findhorn Foundation #thewaterboys #mikescott #brucespringsteen #findhorn #findhornfoundation #steveearle #fionaapple #ladbrokegrove #thewholeofthemoon #dennishopper
- The Boy Who Became a Girl (00:54:44)
She says: ‘I was reared Catholic but got over it, was born male but got over it, stopped sleeping with boys about the time I stopped being one and am much happier than I was when I was younger'. ROZ KAVENY is a poet, a novelist, a writer of science fiction, a reviewer, a cultural critic, a literary journalist and a celebrated activist. She has also been a sex worker - a hustler - as she would say, and has been both celebrated and denigrated. She was born a boy in 1949, became a woman all the way back in 1982 and has led a very countercultural life indeed. This is part of her story. It's a wild and at times shocking ride. It gives an insight into what it was like to come of age as trans in an era before even being gay was legalised in the UK. Note: contains descriptions of sexualabuse. #trans #transgender #rozkaveney #sexchange #genderdismorphia #gender #hustlers #gendersurgery
- The Man Who Burns Money (00:56:35)
This morning I sat in my house, took a twenty pound note from my wallet, lit a match and set the note on fire. Why? How did I feel as I watched it burn? Was it a waste, an immoral or stupid thing to do - or was it a deeply countercultural act? Jon Harris, came to the Bureau to talk about his life - as a pornographer, as a rock 'n' roll tour manager, as a bankrupt - and, most importantly, as The High Priest of The Church of Burn. We try to understand what money is, what it might be and what burning it can mean. We hear of Jon's own history of burning money and of the rites of The Church of Burn. Of course The KLF get a mention, as does Serge Gainsbourg and Youth of Killing Joke as we explore the history of the intentional sacrificial destruction of somethign that mainstream culture seems built around and compleltey obsessed with. The Church of Burn Jon's substack ---- I have often been asked about the music that plays during the Bureau episodes. Most of it is from two albums by The Real Tuesday Weld: 'Junskshop Melodies' (which will be released in 2025) and 'Songs For Crow' which has just been released. Detaisl HERE #money #moneyburning #cash #currency #churchofburn #daisycampbell #johnhiggs #youth #killingjoke #klf #theklf #thekfoundation #sergegainsbourg