Disorganized Crime Trailer

Host Rainbow Valentine discovers her artist mom and 'businessman' dad were deeply involved in the illegal drug trade and unknowingly spent her childhood among a massive pot distribution operation. As she talks with her father in intimate interviews, Rainbow Valentine uncovers a history of her childhood that causes her to reassess everything — and gives us a unique personal window into the infamous counter-culture of Marin County in the 70s and 80s -- from Ken Kesey's acid tests and the birth of the Grateful Dead to a drug culture that hardened and became more dangerous in response to the War On Drugs.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Rainbow Valentine, and I grew up in an
idyllic world in northern California. My childhood was filled with
gardens playing in abundance. Most of my worries were centered
on whether or not I'd ever get a star in
the musical Annie. When I was fourteen years old, my
older sister told me the family secret. Our parents were

(00:22):
able to pay for this idyllic life because my dad
was a pot smuggler. I was forbidden to talk to
my parents about their smuggling career. I remember my dad
driving me home from the airport in college. I wanted
to broach the subject, but when I did, my dad
abruptly pulled over, slammed on the brakes, and well, I'll
let him tell you what happened. I remember very much,

(00:46):
stopping the car and saying to you, it is critical
that you never speak of this to anyone ever, because
more than any being Bruce Lip. But it's now been
more than twenty years since then, and my parents are

(01:08):
finally willing to tell me about their lives as counterculture outlaws.
My mom and dad both grew up in the world
of the counterculture, with rock and roll, pot acid art,
and free love. They were psychedelic pioneers, disillusioned by the
Vietnam War and what they considered a repressive nineteen fifties
of society. Before that, it was all about suffering, and

(01:31):
you have to suffer. And then we decided in the
sixties that actually life should be beautiful. They were in
the middle of a movement that changed the world, like
truly in the middle. My mom took Stanford Acid, dated
members of the Great Little Dad gave Janice Joplin her
signature for hat. I always for a rabbit for her hat,

(01:52):
and so I said, here, where are this? My dad
started dealing in New York City, where he was surrounded
by some of the finest Nikki, Sunshine, acid and d
MT there ever was watch blueberries float by. As the
blueberry would float by, it would say blueberry. And the
love of adrenaline, whether from getting high, dodging the law,

(02:15):
or making huge sums of money, led to a twenty
two year long pot smuggling career from California to New York.
For the past year, I've been talking to my parents
and their friends and their smuggling network about the ups
and downs, the thrills, and the incredible risk of their
profession and this is the first time they have told

(02:37):
anyone about their lives. I'm Rainbow Valentine for my Heart
Radio and School of Humans. This is Disorganized Crime Smuggler's Daughter.
Listen to Disorganized Crime Smuggler's Daughter on the I Heart
Radio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Coming December four,