308: The Politics of Beatles with Candy Leonard. 

 

In 2014, sociologist Candy Leonard published Beatleness: How the Beatles and Their Fans Remade The World. It was a groundbreaking work, representing a serious exploration into the phenomenon of fandom and the reciprocal relationship between artist and audience, and the impact that all of it had on lives – and the world – that reverberates ever onward even today, sixty years on.  Candy has twice been a guest on the show (155: 1968 and 180: “…I buried Paul…”) but for this conversation, we focused on the politics of Beatles: not their personal convictions per se but what they meant fresh out of the gate – what they represented and how they were received by fans and the establishment alike.    In this talk, we covered hair (as a statement) – drugs – evolution – One to One – Beatles ’64 – feminism – Taylor Swift – The Monkees.   Check out Candy’s site for her essays and more (https://www.candyleonard.com/beatleness ).