The Revolutionsts: How The Counterculture Turned to Terror

The Weather Underground, The Baader-Meinhof Group, The Red Brigade, Carlos the Jackal, The Japanese Red Army.

The counterculture has always had a shadow side. There have been bad actors, casualties, the needle and the damage done -  and in this episode, we dive into the world of revolutionary and political violence, exploring how radical groups emerged from countercultural movements and evolved into what my guest Jason Burke describes as Revolutionists     Jason is an award-winning British author and journalist, currently serving as the International Security Correspondent for The Guardian. He is widely regarded as one of the preeminent experts on modern radicalisation, terrorism, and global security, reporting from hotspots around the world.     His latest book, The Revolutionists: The Story of the Extremists Who Hijacked the 1970s, is an extraordinary sweeping history of the period  1968–1979, a decade defined by a global explosion of secular, leftist political violence.      The Revolutionists were the orphans of the 1960s, young people who grew up in a 1950s existential vacuum of consumerism and a 1960s idealistic overload. When the student protests of 1968 failed to topple the global order, a radicalised minority concluded that the "System" was too resilient for peaceful protest. Violence and spectacle in a 'theatre of terror' might be the answer.     It's an incredible story - and links the counterculture, through 9/11 with events taking place in the Middle East right now.   ---   If you’d like to get involved and contribute to this crazy endeavour, join our Patreon HERE   Thank you to everyone who’s signed up to support the show —that means a lot. We have chosen not to carry ads here; it simply wouldn’t sit right with the spirit of the Bureau. But that does mean we can benefit from your support, in whatever form that takes, not just financial.     Stephen   #counterculture #terrorist #terrorism #revolution #revolutionists #TheWeatherUnderground, #TheBaader-MeinhofGroup, #TheRedBrigade,  #TheJapaneseRedArmy #Baader-Meinhof #carlosthejackal