ON PREVIOUS DAYS:
- YESTERDAY:
Greyhound Hits The Road - DAY BEFORE:
Make Me Some Levi's - DAY BEFORE THAT:
How Shrek Changed Hollywood - DAY BEFORE BEFORE THAT:
America's Last Witchtrial
ON THIS DAY
America's Longest Line
Hands Across America, a human chain from New York to California was formed on 25th May, 1986, in an attempt to raise awareness and funds for domestic poverty.
The brainchild of advertising executive Jeffrey Nightingale and We Are the World producer Ken Kragen, the kooky concept gained traction once corporate sponsors Coca-Cola and Citibank jumped on board, McDonald’s turned placemats into promotion tools, and popstar Prince sponsored a mile of the chain. The event got a Super Bowl promo starring Lily Tomlin and Bill Cosby, but, in the end, raised less money than expected.
In this episode, Arion, Olly and Rebecca sample the official Hands Across America anthem (but can’t bear to endure it all); consider the Regan’s involvement in the chain from the White House lawn; and explain why the event wasn’t truly as original as many people were led to believe…
Further Reading:
• ‘Hands Across America might have been the most Eighties thing to happen in the 1980s’ (The Washington Post, 2016): https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2016/05/25/hands-across-america-might-have-been-the-most-eighties-thing-to-happen-in-the-1980s/
• ’Us: What Was Hands Across America, the Creepy Event That Inspired Jordan Peele?’ (Vanity Fair, 2019): https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/03/us-movie-hands-across-america
• ‘Bill Cosby for Hands Across America’ (1986): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-llI2voCn2Y
ON THIS DAY
America's Longest Line
Hands Across America, a human chain from New York to California was formed on 25th May, 1986, in an attempt to raise awareness and funds for domestic poverty.
The brainchild of advertising executive Jeffrey Nightingale and We Are the World producer Ken Kragen, the kooky concept gained traction once corporate sponsors Coca-Cola and Citibank jumped on board, McDonald’s turned placemats into promotion tools, and popstar Prince sponsored a mile of the chain. The event got a Super Bowl promo starring Lily Tomlin and Bill Cosby, but, in the end, raised less money than expected.
In this episode, Arion, Olly and Rebecca sample the official Hands Across America anthem (but can’t bear to endure it all); consider the Regan’s involvement in the chain from the White House lawn; and explain why the event wasn’t truly as original as many people were led to believe…
Further Reading:
• ‘Hands Across America might have been the most Eighties thing to happen in the 1980s’ (The Washington Post, 2016): https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2016/05/25/hands-across-america-might-have-been-the-most-eighties-thing-to-happen-in-the-1980s/
• ’Us: What Was Hands Across America, the Creepy Event That Inspired Jordan Peele?’ (Vanity Fair, 2019): https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/03/us-movie-hands-across-america
• ‘Bill Cosby for Hands Across America’ (1986): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-llI2voCn2Y
ON PREVIOUS DAYS:
- YESTERDAY:
Greyhound Hits The Road - DAY BEFORE:
Make Me Some Levi's - DAY BEFORE THAT:
How Shrek Changed Hollywood - DAY BEFORE BEFORE THAT:
America's Last Witchtrial
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OLLY MANN
Olly Mann made his name with another trivia-wielding podcast, Answer Me This! with Helen Zaltzman – and now presents The Modern Mann, The Week Unwrapped, and Four Thought for BBC Radio Four. He also has an A-Level in History, so Dan Snow beware.
REBECCA MESSINA
Rebecca got a passion for podcasting working at The Week magazine and a passion for trivia appearing on University Challenge in 2011, making The Retrospectors her natural home.
ARION MCNICOLL
Arion started out in satirical news in Australia, then moved to the UK to work for ostensibly serious publications including The Times, CNN, and The Week… before realising that since around 2016 the news has all been satire really.
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