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An Interview with Dr. Philip Hicks
Psychiatrist to Allen Ginsberg In 1955, Allen Ginsberg began attending weekly therapy sessions at the Langley Porter Clinic in San Francisco. His therapist was a young psychiatrist named Dr. Philip Hicks. It was in these sessions that Allen related to Hicks his dissatisfaction with his job in advertising, and his desire to write poetry instead; […]
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BIG MIX: Michael McClure / Ray Manzarek / Rob Wasserman / George Brooks / Jay Lane
Live at Yoshi’s June 6, 2008Directed by Jesse Block
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Hidden in Plain Sight
The magnificent Beat collection of artist Richard Prince.
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An Interview with Henri Cru
Henri Cru (known as "Remi Boncoeur in On the Road) was one of Jack Kerouac's oldest and most enduring friends.
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The Beats and Underground Newspapers of the 1960s
The Sixties were one of the most turbulent times in American history. As the Baby Boomers came of age, underground newspapers were born with a focus on political and cultural topics the conventional press was ignoring. The antiwar movement, the sexual revolution, gay liberation, and the drug culture became the everyday focus for this burgeoning underground. […]
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Interview with ruth weiss
Poet ruth weiss discusses escaping the rise of Nazism in Europe, coming to America, her introduction to jazz and poetry in Chicago, and hitchhiking the country, and ending up in San Francisco.
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Interview with Ron Turner
We sat down with Turner to talk about his publishing career at Last Gasp, standard-bearer of the San Francisco counterculture, the Beat Generation, and their numerous intersections.
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Two Poems: North Beach Dark & Light
North Beach – Dark This magnificent citystands as beautiful as everskies as clear as freshly wiped glassstreets empty like desert highwaysThere is uncertainty in the airfear on people’s facescaution concernWalking Grant Ave I see people I’ve known for yearsrecognizing their eyes above maskswe talk ten feet apartWe check in with each othernervous laughterlooks of resignationDogs […]
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Interview with V. Vale
V. Vale has been documenting counterculture for over 40 years, and is something of a legend in it himself. We sat down with the publisher of seminal SF punk zine ‘Search & Destroy’ and RE/Search Publications to pick his brain about the Beat Generation and its influences, the French connection, Philip Lamantia, and why it’s […]
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The North Beach of the Beat Generation is in Grave Danger
When Beat Generation fans visit San Francisco there are five places everyone wants to go to: City Lights Bookstore, Vesuvio Cafe, Caffe Trieste, Specs, and The Beat Museum. All five of us have now been closed for a month. All of our businesses are on the line. There is a strong possibility one or more […]
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Interview with Ed Hardy
Tattoo legend Don Ed Hardy discusses his Beat Generation influences, why San Francisco continues to be a mecca for creative people, and more.