Like the crackle at the center of a firestorm, students at Columbia University intensified the anti-Vietnam War movement on April 23, 1968 by starting a revolt against the school administration — seizing campus buildings and barricading themselves for days. Eventually the police moved in with military-style force, injuring 140 and arresting more than 700 participants.
Pacifica radio station WBAI 99.5 FM in New York was there to cover it all, raw and unfiltered, with much of their coverage - not surprisingly - contradicting mainstream media reports. WBAI reporters also recorded the rallies in the days after the unrest, and interviewed various students, student leaders, and thinkers - including Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonzalez, award-winning radio producer Barbara Bernstein, and author Ayn Rand. This week, on From the Vault, we celebrate the 40th anniversary of this watershed 1968 student strike by revisiting the historic audio preserved within our vault.
From the Vault is presented as part of the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project.
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