It’s September 14th. This day in 1986, President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan gave a prime-time television address about drugs, drug policy, and crack cocaine.
Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by journalist Donovan X Ramsey to talk about why both Reagans took part in the address, the media-savvy narratives that emerged in the “Just Say No” era, and the real victims of drug abuse who were left behind.
Donovan’s new book is When Crack Was King — buy it now, or check out the audio book!
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Our team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Brittani Brown, Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia
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Ship of Gold (1857)
Monkey Business (1987) w/ Matt Bai
McKinley Shot (1901)
The Condom On Jesse Helms's House (1991)
Camp Casey (2005)
Fred Korematsu's Internment (1942)
Teacher In Space (1984)
Capitol for A Day (1814)
The Battle of Blair Mountain (1921) w/ Anna Sale
Nat Turner's Community (1831) w/ Vanessa Holden
Banneker's Sneaky Letter (1791)
Leo Frank and the KKK's Resurgence (1915)
The Flag, Elvis, Aliens (1977) w/ Josh Levin
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"Macaca" (2006) w/ Peter Hamby
East Africa Bombings (1998) w/ Karen Greenberg
Reagan Fires Air Traffic Controllers (1981)
Garvey's Great Gathering (1920)
The Black Tom Explosion (1916)
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