Rip Current

By the early 70s, most of America rejects the values promoted by the youth of what we call “the 60s.” Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, a follower of Charles Manson, aims a gun at Gerald Ford and pulls the trigger.

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After a troubled, but conventional upbringing, Lynette Fromme is kicked out of her house and becomes one of Charles Manson’s earliest followers. She embraces this marginal, communal life, even after the shocking Tate/LaBianca murders.

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After the conviction of Charles Manson and a number of his followers, Lynette Fromme’s life centers around aiding Manson from outside prison. A young family comes into her orbit with deadly consequences.

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In Sacramento, Lynette Fromme and Sandra Good send anonymous threatening letters to corporate leaders they feel are ruining the environment. After Fromme’s failed assassination attempt, authorities try to figure out how it was allowed to happen.

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Did Lynette Fromme really intend to kill Gerald Ford, or was she just trying to draw attention to the environment or Charles Manson? Gerald Ford emerges from the wreckage of the Nixon administration to become the first president to not appear on a presidential ballot.

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A look at the scandals that brought down the Nixon White House.

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Patty Hearst is kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army. As the nation tries to understand who the SLA are, her father helps organize the People in Need program to feed the poor around San Francisco.

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Sara Jane Moore’s life is a series of new beginnings followed by sudden exits, leaving husbands and children behind. She arrives at the PIN program, an abrasive, ambitious figure looking to make a name for herself.

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Despite being found not guilty of drug possession, radical activist Popeye Jackson faces revocation of his parole. The FBI recruits Sara Jane Moore to be an informant on the Bay Area radical underground.

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Sara Jane Moore discloses to members of the radical underground that she has been an underground informant. She also accuses Popeye Jackson of being an informant, putting his life in peril.

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After Popeye Jackson’s execution, a debate is carried out among radical groups on whether or not he should have been killed. As the police investigation focuses on a group called Tribal Thumb, Sara Jane Moore perceives herself to be in increasing danger.

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A look at the small, violent revolutionary group called Tribal Thumb.

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In the early morning hours of September 22nd, the Secret Service questions Sara Jane Moore about whether she intends to kill President Ford. Later that day, she purchases a gun, drives to San Francisco and takes a shot at Gerald Ford.

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The arrests of Lynette Fromme, Patty Hearst, and Sara Jane Moore in a 17-day period lead to unprecedented interest. How do people suddenly change from one set of beliefs to another? Patty Hearst’s trial hinges on the answer to this question. Fromme and Moore never have to answer that question.

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Interviews with co-host Mary Catherine Garrison conducted before and after her work on Rip Current.

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An interview with Dianne Lake and Deborah Herman about Dianne's life in the Manson Family, which she joined at age 14. Deborah and Dianne co-wrote the book, Member of the Family: My Story of Charles Manson, life inside his cult, and the darkness that ended the sixties, about Dianne's experiences.

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We talk with Historian Dan Berger about activism in California prisons in the 1960s and 70s.

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We chat with Author and Sociologist Brittany Friedman about prison activism movements from the 50s through the 70s.

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A further examination of the brief, violent existence of the SLA.

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