The "Louie Louie" Freakout (1964)

We continue our conversation about the Bay of Pigs invasion with a look at how it all went wrong on the two days of combat in Cuba. Plus, the long-term lessons for JFK, the CIA, and US foreign policy.Join our America250 newsletter community! Subscribe for free to get the latest n ...  Show more

For the sixteenth installment of “50 Weeks That Shaped America” we go, for the first time to the Cold War. It’s April 1961, and the US is concerned about Cuba’s new leftist leader, Fidel Castro. The US has a new leader of its own, JFK, who adopts - and adapts - a plan from Eisenh ...  Show more

The supposedly pornographic lyrics of garageband classic “Louie Louie” by the Kingsmen were, improbably, thoroughly investigated by the FBI, who reached a conclusion on May 17th, 1965, when the FBI Laboratory declared the lyrics to be “officially unintelligible”.  The FBI had spe ...  Show more

Recently we went to see one of our favorite Irish singers, Glen Hansard and he was telling about his first visit to Los Angeles. He had a quote about how to really get to know a place or culture, “If you want to learn about a place, read the history books. If you want to get to k ...  Show more

This week, it's two of the earliest Cinderella stories, one of which is the earliest written version of this type of story, pre-dating European versions by 1000 years. It has evil step-mothers, murderous step-sisters, and helpful cows who will vomit up your work and call you stup ...  Show more

A completely new version of the Mulan legend, sourced from a story from the late middle ages, so even if you think you know the Mulan story, this version has twists and turns that make her big secret, that she's a woman pretending to be a man, the least of her worries.The creatur ...  Show more