Embedded Files
Episode 1. Swinging 60s. The Beatles.
It is inconceivable to contemplate a podcast series on the 60s without The Beatles. So here they are right from the start. From rock n roll to pop to pschyedelia to great pop anthems. This episode follows their remarkable story and takes a couple of stops in Spain.
Episode 2. Swinging 60s. The Moon
Despite the chaos that often seemed to reign during the 60s, the most iconic moment came in 1969 when the first human set foot on The Moon. For many reasons it was nothing short of a miracle that President Kennedy's pledge at the beginning of the decade was met.
Episode 3. Swinging 60s. Women start swinging.
With the availability of "the pill" for contraception and a new young female post war generation emerging, women really started to gain ground in assuming a more prominent role in all walks of life. Betty Friedan's book "The Feminine Mystique" was a catalyst that fed into the demands for change that were playing out over the decade.
Episode 4. Swinging 60s. The Rolling Stones
While The Beatles proved themselves photogenic, met the Queen at Buckingham Palace and set off Beatlemania, The Rolling Stones moved in different circles. From early Blues Rock roots, the band exploited Keith Richards' rock guitar riffs and Mick Jagger's stage presence to create a counter-balance to The Beatles. Their story in the 60's is full of scandal but above all great music.
Episode 5. Swinging 60s. Sport. Muhammad Ali
The 1960s saw sport in general become more professional. While Stanley Matthews hung up his division 1 football boots at the age of fifty(!) money and T.V. were starting to move sport in a new direction. The 1960s also gave us one of the greatest sports personalities of all time in the figure of Cassius Clay who later changed his name to Muhammad Ali.
Episode 6. Film. Hollywood comes to Spain!
Despite the fact that television started to provide serious competition in the sixties, the decade offers a fantastic selection of great movies of varying genres. In Spain film-making was not easy for Spanish directors or actors but ironically, with the end of Spain's international isolation, an astonishing number of international movies were filmed, either partially or entirely, at varying locations around the country taking advantage of the country's varied climates, landscapes and historical assets...and of course cheap extras!
Episode 7. Comedy. Monty Python
The arrival of television provided comedy with a new medium to exploit and reach millions of viewers. The radio had been the home for a lot of comic shows and some comedians like Tony Hancock were successful in making the transition from radio to T.V. but now completely new formats of humour emerged including the legendary Monty Python's Flying Circus series of half hour programmes, full of bizarre sketches.
Episode 8. Swinging 60s. Escuela Oficial de Idiomas Xmas special.
The 1960s saw Spain begin to modernise and, fortunately, begin to leave behind the appalling lack of investment in education. With the start of the tourist boom and the millions of Spaniards who emigrated to look for work between 1960 and 1975, the demand for foreign languages rose quickly. During the decade the denomination of Escuela Oficial de Idiomas was created along with a number of schools to begin a nationwide network of state language schools that still exists today. Miriam joins us to discuss the story.
Episode 9. Swinging 60s. Literature.
While eyes and ears may have been focussed on TV sets and the music scene the 1960s offered an eclectic range of literature. This episode looks at four singular examples, starting with Harper Lee's "To kill a mockingbird", then Anthony Burgess' "A Clockwork Orange", "Do androids dream of elcetric sheep" by Philip K. Dick (the inspiration behind "Blade Runner" and finally Roald Dahl's " Charlie and the Chocolate Factory".
Episode 10. Swinging 60s. T.V.
So much of what happened in the 1960's was recorded for T.V. and at the same time T.V. influenced the 1960's. This episode scratches the surface of the T.V. revolution in the U.S.A. and the U.K. There's so much to contemplate, but many of the iconic series and programmes that started then are still with us today...Coronation Street, Dr Who, Star Trek...
Episode 11. Swinging 60s. Black civil rights
The 1960s were a game-changing decade for black civil rights but at a huge cost, especially to the Black American community. This episode starts with a reflection on the situation for a large proportion of the segregated population with Maya Angelou's beautiful book "I know why the caged bird sings" before taking up the story of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King.
Episode 12. Swinging 60s . Bob Dylan
In 2016 the world was surprised when Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel prize for Literature. Anybody who has followed the singular musical career of this iconic musician knew it was probably overdue. The 1960s forged Bob Dylan, starting from a folk and blues background and morphing into rock while angrily pronouncing judgement on the social, political and racial issues of a tumultuous decade. Bob emerged in the 60s but he shaped them too.
Episode 13. Swinging 60s. Minis and SEAT 600s.
While the 60s saw the emergence of many iconic cars, one in particular became larger than life and typified the cheeky nature of the decade. The mini not only became a fashion item for both young men and women, especially around London but, in the Mini Cooper model, proved to be unbeatable in a rally. In Spain meanwhile a similar revolution was happening with the SEAT 600.
Episode 14. Swinging 60s. Tourism. Spain is different.
The 1960s saw an extraordinary growth in the number of tourists visiting Spain. A construction boom on the Mediterranean coasts emerged and Franco's regime invested in state run hotels and advertising campaigns to lure foreigners to come to sunny Spain. It worked but it also became a factor in the modernizing of Spain as younger generations discovered new references.
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