The Docket 08.10.23 Manson: The "Major-est" Case
Why it still endures; what that should look like going forward
the true crime that's worth your time
The intersection of celebrity and randomness; “local stories” of San Francisco and Indiana; the specific American-ness of the case, and the influence of prison culture; the (unearned?) calming influence of Helter Skelter; what exactly is Chaos trying to say; preferring fictionalized Manson narratives; who would follow him today, and why; the hunt for a “Manson Boys” podcast.
show notes
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From the hardcover edition: “Manson, [Donald] DeFreeze and the Brandeis radicals all believed that a race war was imminent in America, and that they could trigger that war with a few well-timed acts of violence. I don’t think that was a central idea for sixties radicals… I think it was more of a prison-culture idea that, in these three cases, crossed over into the counterculture.” (287)