The Nextlander Watchcast

179: Harlan County, U.S.A. (1976)

The Nextlander Watchcast

Show Notes

This week's Watchcast takes us on a trip down to Harlan County, U.S.A. as we tackle Barbara Kopple's gripping (and Academy Award winning) documentary about the 1973 miners' strike against Duke Power. CHAPTERS:

(00:00:00) - The Nextlander Watchcast Episode 179: Harlan County, U.S.A. (1976) (00:00:57) - Intro. (00:07:38) - Geography lessons with the Nextlander gang. (00:12:53) - On Bloody Harlan, and some discussion of the movie's structure. (00:20:41) - How this movie came to be. (00:37:02) - Break! (00:37:24) - We're back, and it's time to venture down to Kentucky. (00:42:01) - Our first glimpses at the life of the strikers. (00:51:34) - A personal retelling of Bloody Harlan, and the first encounter with the gun thugs. (00:58:05) - The women of the community become more directly involved. (01:05:24) - Open conflicts begin to errupt, and people are taken to jail. (01:10:37) - Heading to New York. (01:17:22) - The Farmington accident, and discussion of black lung. (01:23:26) - The Boyle/Yablonski affair. (01:32:02) - Tensions are boiling in Harlan. (01:41:13) - The road blockade and the warrant for Basil Collins. (01:46:58) - The killing of Lawrence Jones. (01:51:18) - The fight is never over. (02:01:24) - Final thoughts. (02:07:00) - Housekeeping for next week's doc: Apollo 11! (02:11:45) - Outro.

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