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Back to To the Point

To the Point

Woodstock: The Myths and the Realities

It's been 40 years since a half-million young people turned up at a muddy farm in New York State for an event that's still celebrated as a major cultural moment. The concert, lost money, but a year later, a documentary film more than recouped the promoters' losses.

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By Warren Olney • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

It's been 40 years since a half-million young people turned up at a muddy farm in New York State for an event that's still celebrated as a major cultural moment. The concert, lost money, but a year later, a documentary film more than recouped the promoters' losses. "Sex, drugs and rock 'n roll" didn't begin at Woodstock, but the film brought the counter-culture into America's mainstream. It was “3 days of peace and music” that dramatized opposition to the Vietnam War and raised questions about politics and commercial values. At the same time, it popularized illegal drugs, helped create a conservative backlash and showed promoters new ways to make piles of money. We look at the Woodstock paradox 40 years later.

  • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

    Warren Olney

    former KCRW broadcaster

  • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

    Rebecca Mooney

    Producer, The Treatment

  • Sonya Geis with wavy brown hair wearing a black dress with red accents and decorative earrings against a white background.

    Sonya Geis

    Senior Managing Editor

  • KCRW placeholder

    Dale Bell

    Filmmaker, Backfired: When Volkswagen Lied to America

  • KCRW placeholder

    Rick Perlstein

    author and historian

  • KCRW placeholder

    James Miller

    author and political scientist

    NewsNationalPolitics
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