Richard Smith

1. 1968 - Born to be wild

John Priddow, Chuck Hagel, Thomas Vallely, Margot Alexander, Kit Back, Fry Gillyard, Bill Baxley, James Baker, Richard Smith, Roger Ebert

The podcast "Boom!" investigates how the 1940s birth cohort, possessing unique historical advantages from World War II and the Cold War, has maintained a disproportionate grip on US political power while navigating a trajectory from 1960s idealism to current polarization. Host John Piddington and featured figures like Chuck Hagel, Kit Back, and Frye Gillyard trace the 1968 fracture of political consensus caused by the Vietnam War, civil rights upheaval, and the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. to explain the enduring partisan divides that now characterize the American presidency. Ultimately, the series argues that this generational legacy, defined by competing narratives of healing versus exploitation, has resulted in a modern political stalemate dominated by aging leaders.