Show Notes
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.
IN THIS EPISODE
The 1998 Tibetan Freedom Concert sells 122,000 tickets in 27 minutes.
A lightning strike at RFK Stadium seriously injures concertgoers and forces organizers to end the first day early. The concert returns the following day with a renewed sense of purpose.
Lhadon Tethong addresses 66,000 people and reflects on a new generation of Tibetan leadership.
Musicians, activists, politicians, and thousands of young people rally at the U.S. Capitol before President Bill Clinton’s trip to China, where Clinton publicly calls for dialogue between Chinese leaders and the Dalai Lama.
Ngawang Sangdrol is released after 11 years in prison and hears the Drapchi nuns’ freedom songs outside prison for the first time.
Students for a Free Tibet takes nonviolent action to the Great Wall of China and the 2008 Beijing Olympic torch relay.
Erin reflects on leaving the Milarepa Fund and the leadership that grew from the Tibetan Freedom Concerts.
The episode honors Adam Yauch and considers his legacy as an artist, activist, and co-founder of the concerts.
Erin, Deyden, Lhadon, and Sangdrol reflect on what the concerts changed and what Tibet’s continuing struggle for freedom requires today.
VOICES IN THIS EPISODE In order of appearance:
Erin Potts — co-founder of the Tibetan Freedom Concerts and the Milarepa Fund, and executive producer of Freedom Needs a Soundtrack.
Rebecca Rankin — Music journalist associated with MuchMusic (archival audio).
John Norris – MTV News anchor (archival audio).
Flea, Red Hot Chili Peppers — musician and performer at the Tibetan Freedom Concerts (archival audio).
Deyden Tethong — Tibetan activist, producer, and executive producer of Freedom Needs a Soundtrack.
Dr. Julian Orenstein — a medic who treated injured concertgoers at the DC Tibetan Freedom Concert (archival audio).
Adam Yauch, Beastie Boys — co-founder of the Tibetan Freedom Concerts and Milarepa Fund (archival audio).
Lhadon Tethong — Tibetan activist and co-founder of Tibet Action Institute, former executive director of Students for a Free Tibet, and a speaker at the 1998 Tibetan Freedom Concert.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama — Tibetan spiritual leader and global advocate for nonviolence (archival audio).
Thom Yorke, Radiohead — Singer and performer at the Tibetan Freedom Concerts (archival audio).
Josh Schrei – Part of the Milarepa Fund staff (archival audio).
President Bill Clinton — 42nd President of the United States (archival audio).
Ngawang Sangdrol — Former Tibetan Buddhist nun and political prisoner.
Katty Kay, BBC World — journalist who reported on the 2008 uprising in Tibet (archival audio).
Adam Horovitz, Beastie Boys — musician (archival audio).
Michael Diamond, Beastie Boys — musician (archival audio).
Wolf Blitzer, CNN — journalist and anchor (archival audio).
LEARN MORE https://www.freedomneedsasoundtrack.com/ https://www.youtube.com/@freedomneedsasoundtrack https://www.facebook.com/FreedomNeedsASoundtrack https://www.instagram.com/freedomneedsasoundtrack
Freedom Needs a Soundtrack 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 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 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.
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.