Ep. 142: The Manson Family Murders, Pt. 2: Cease to Exist (w/ Paul Ferrante)

"Cease to exist, just come and say you love me

Give up your world, come on you can be,

I'm your kind, I'm your kind, and I see..."

This week, we take a tour through the epicenter of the hippie movement right at the peak of the Summer of Love, when Charlie Manson finally leaves prison and makes his way to the Haight-Asbury neighborhood of San Francisco. There, he sows the first seeds of what would become the Family cult, attracting his first followers with a blend of pop culture sermonizing and targeted psychological manipulation. From there, the Manson "Family" will grow...and move out to LA, chasing Charlie's dreams of hitting it big and the desperate high of being in his orbit.

Father of the Pod, author, and 60s music aficionado Paul Ferrante joins us after the break for an expert interview to discuss what Carrie posits as the major turning point for Charlie when it came to the violence he would eventually inflict: the mounting madness of the semiotic Family and the broken dreams that drove him to want to punish all the "piggies" that denied him the fame he thought was his certain fate. His last grasp at stardom would be puppeted through Dennis Wilson, the lost but kindly drummer for the declining rock 'n roll band, The Beach Boys. Through Dennis, Charlie would get closer than any other time at achieving his dreams - and, perhaps, it is because he did get so close that the bitter disappointment would turn into absolute destruction.

You can find out more about our guest Paul Ferrante at his website, www.paulferranteauthor.com.

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