Show Notes
Episode 2: After studying Tibetan in Nepal and meeting Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys in Kathmandu, Erin Potts travels inside Tibet for the first time. In Lhasa, she and Sam Chapin leave their government-assigned tour, move into the Tibetan part of the city, and come face to face with life under Chinese occupation. When they witness a protest, tear gas, gunfire, and a violent police crackdown, they are left holding proof the world needs to see. Note: This episode includes discussion of a violent response to a peaceful protest, plus a cuss word or two.
In This Episode
The night Erin met MCA, Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys, at a party in Kathmandu, why she almost refused to talk to him, and how they ultimately became friends
What it was like to travel inside Tibet under Chinese occupation in 1993, and how Erin and Sam ditched their government-assigned tour to make their way into the Tibetan part of Lhasa
How Tibetans in Lhasa risked everything to speak with Westerners about freedom
Witnessing a protest in Lhasa, then tear gas, gunfire, and a violent police crackdown
How Erin and Sam secretly photographed the protest, evaded arrest, and hid the film
The race to get the photos out of Tibet so the world could see what happened
Voices in This Episode In order of appearance:
Erin Potts — co-founder of the Tibetan Freedom Concerts and the Milarepa Fund, expert on music and activism, and executive producer of Freedom Needs a Soundtrack.
Sam Chapin — Erin’s longtime friend and early collaborator, who was with her in Nepal and Tibet, and when she first met Adam Yauch. Sam was involved in the first Tibet work with Adam and the Beastie Boys, including all of the Tibetan Freedom Concerts.
Adam Yauch — co-founder of the Tibetan Freedom Concerts and Milarepa Fund, member of the Beastie Boys, heard through archival audio.
Learn more https://www.freedomneedsasoundtrack.com/ https://www.youtube.com/@freedomneedsasoundtrack https://www.facebook.com/FreedomNeedsASoundtrack https://www.instagram.com/freedomneedsasoundtrack This series is a Rangzen production produced by Adonde Media and distributed in partnership with KALW Public Media in San Francisco.
More from Freedom Needs a Soundtrack
Episode 6: Just two weeks before President Clinton’s trip to China, the D.C. concert becomes the biggest and most consequential yet. After lightning injures concertgoers, the movement carries its message to the Capitol, Beijing and beyond. Erin and others look back on what it set in motion, and ahead to what the fight for freedom needs now.
Episode 5: The Tibetan Freedom Concerts head to New York, where the team faces slow ticket sales, city bureaucracy, and the pressure of turning one breakthrough concert into something bigger. But even as the concert nearly breaks them, U2’s surprise appearance fulfills Erin’s teenage promise and helps carry the movement toward Washington, D.C. Note: This episode includes a cuss word or two.
Episode 4: After two years of near misses, Erin, Adam, and a young team of organizers finally bring the first Tibetan Freedom Concert to life, with one of the most talked-about lineups of the 1990s and a bold new model for turning music into action. Note: This episode includes discussion of torture, plus a cuss word or two.
Episode 3: After protest photos and freedom songs are smuggled out of Tibet, Erin returns home, where a dinner with Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys transforms what she witnessed into a new kind of action. Together, they begin imagining what music, culture, and activism could do for Tibet, leading Erin to attend Lollapalooza with the Beastie Boys and a group of Tibetan monks. Note: This episode includes discussion of torture, plus a cuss word or two.
Episode 1: Before the Tibetan Freedom Concerts became one of the biggest shows of the 1990s, teenage Erin Potts dreamt of a concert for Tibet featuring her favorite band. Meanwhile, imprisoned Tibetan nun Nawang Sangdrol reveals what it meant to resist from inside Tibet. Their stories meet in the same place: the power of music. Note: This episode includes discussion of political imprisonment and torture, and a cuss word or two.