Pacifica’s Convention Coverage, Part 1 of 2

This week on From the Vault, we present part one of the award-winning 2004 documentary A Passel of Pomp and a Circus of Circumstance, produced by the Pacifica Radio Archives, that explores the history of the national political party conventions, and the mission dynamics that set Pacifica Radio’s coverage apart from mainstream media — coverage that remains today an inspiration for independent, progressive journalists everywhere.

Listening to A Passel of Pomp and a Circus of Circumstance, you will travel from the formal speeches of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936, to the battles inside and outside the Chicago 1968 convention and the radical sounds of Rage Against the Machine in the streets of Los Angeles in 2000. Every historic recording is quintessential Pacifica; highlights are drawn from Republican and Democratic conventions from the past decades, as well as the Mississippi Freedom Party convention in the 60’s, and the Shadow Convention of 2000. Part one, spanning from 1936 to 1968, is hosted by Pacifica producer Mike Hodel and Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman.

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