A Brief History of Disobedience

Available for over a year

"Oh my goodness, look at that sign over there. Keep Off The Grass. Makes me wonder who put it there. Makes me wonder why I should keep off the grass. And it makes me want to go on the grass!" American satirist Joe Queenan presents A Brief History of Disobedience, follow up to his programmes on Blame, Shame, Anger and Irony. He travels in time from the Old Testament to Tarrytown, his home in suburban New York. The aim? To discover the importance of not doing what we are told. As the hippies used to say, let your life be a counter friction to the machine. With notable contributions from the archive - Gandhi, the Suffragettes, the Greenham Common Peace protestors. Heroes of Disobedience include Martin Luther, Geronimo, Woody Guthrie and The Doors. Plus Matthew Parris on Margaret Thatcher, Bill Finnegan of the New Yorker on his barbarian days as a surfer, and Karen Moline on writing dirty books. Plus helpful hints about how to be usefully disobedient in everyday life. Joe Queenan is an Emmy award winning broadcaster and writer. Produced in Bristol by Miles Warde. First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2016.