Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Rip Current

California, September 1975. Within a span of 17 days and less than 90 miles, two women, working separately, tried to assassinate the president of the United States, Gerald R. Ford. These are the only two times we know of that a woman has tried to assassinate an American president. 

The first, Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, was already infamous as a prominent follower of cult leader Charles Manson.

The second, Sara Jane Moore, was a 45 year-old housewife who infiltrated San Francisco's violent radical underground  working undercover for the FBI.

The story of one strange and violent Summer, this season on RIP CURRENT.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Earth First! and Judi Bari plan a huge, months-long protest call "Redwood Summer," the reaction from the timber industry is fierce. Judi and other organizers are subjected to threats of physical harm and death; a disinformation campaign claims that "Redwood Summer" activists will be violent; and law enforcement and government officials seem indifferent to the danger the activists are facing. As "Redwood Summer" approaches, the situation become more tense and more volatile.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A federal agency comes to the Pacific Northwest to hold hearings that could severely limit logging of redwoods. With the Ecotopia in the center of media attention, both Earth First! and the timber corporations see an opportunity to to get their message to the public. The result is a week of tension, confrontation and violence, with Judi Bari in the center of it all.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Earth First! was founded in the 1981 by four men who were willing to take an "by any means necessary" approach to saving the planet. By the time Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney joined the movement in Ecotopia, the group was divided over key issues. Namely, should tree-spiking, a controversial and potentially dangerous tactic - play a role in Earth First's activism?

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

By the 1980s, about 95% of the redwood forest in California is gone, the result of 150 years of timber cutting. In 1985, a Texas businessman named Charles Hurwitz buys Pacific Lumber Co, plunging the company into debt. Pacific Lumber is the largest private owner of the remaining old growth redwood forest. It soon becomes clear that Charles Hurwitz intends to clear cut the trees, which would be an environmental catastrophe. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With a history of activism and labor organizing under her belt, Judi Bari moves to the Redwood Empire region of California in 1988. She arrives at a time of transition for the region as timber begins to give way to the marijuana industry as the main economic force. It is a tense time to be protesting the increase in timber harvesting and Judi quickly becomes a leading voice ... and target. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On May 24, 1990, a pipe bomb detonated in the white Subaru driven by radical environmental activist Judi Bari. The bomb malfunctioned and Bari, though critically injured, survived. She was the most visible leader of Earth First! in the northernmost counties of California. At the time, Earth First! was in a tense and violent conflict with major timber corporations who planned to clearcut large swaths of the remaining Redwood forest. The person who planted that bomb has never been identified. Who tried to kill Judi Bari?

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An all new season, an all new case. Rip Current returns. This time, examining the peculiar assassination attempt on environmental activist Judi Bari. The first episode drops on November 5th.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.