Mother Country Radicals

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Mother Country Radicals is a documentary podcast about The Weather Underground hosted by Zayd Ayers Dohrn and produced by Crooked Media and Audacy.

Background

The show is hosted by Northwestern University professor Zayd Ayers Dohrn who is the son of Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers.[1] The show was produced by Crooked Media and Audacy.[2] The show debuted during the January 6 hearings.[3] The series ended on July 28, 2022.[4] The show is composed of 10 episodes.[5]

The show was created during the COVID-19 pandemic.[6] Zayd Ayers Dohrn was making the show when George Floyd was killed.[7] Kathy Boudin died before the show was released.[8]

The show won an award at the Tribeca festival alongside a similar show about counter culture in the 70s called I Was Never There.[9] The series was similar to the 2002 documentary The Weather Underground.[10]

Reception

Billy Binion criticized the show in Reason Magazine saying that although the show provides a thorough history of the Weather Underground it was not critical enough of the group's actions.[11] Daniel S. Chard criticized the show in the Jacobin saying that the show neglected to explore the merits of urban guerrilla warfare as a method of political change or to acknowledge that the actions of the group physically harmed anyone, which resulted in what Chard calls "radical nostalgia".[12]

Awards

Award Date Category Result Ref.
New York Festivals Radio Awards 2023 Narrative/Documentary Podcast Gold [13]
Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award 2024 Best in audio and video reporting Won [14]
Tribeca Festival Awards 2022 Best Audio Storytelling in Nonfiction Won [15]
Shorty Awards 2023 True Crime & Documentary Podcast Won [16]

References

  1. Dominguez, Alessa (July 29, 2022). "The FBI Called His Mother The Most Dangerous Woman In America. Now He's Exploring Her Legacy". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved August 28, 2025.
  2. White, Peter (May 26, 2022). "The Weather Underground Explored In 'Mother Country Radicals' Podcast From Crooked Media & Audacy". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 22, 2025. Retrieved August 28, 2025.
  3. Sananès, Rebecca (December 15, 2022). "How Podcasts in 2022 Tuned In to America's Legacy of Rage and Radicalism". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on December 31, 2025. Retrieved September 14, 2025.
  4. Smith, Ximena (July 23, 2022). "Project Unabom: Podcast takes deep-dive into one of the FBI's longest manhunts". Stuff.co.nz. Archived from the original on July 30, 2022. Retrieved August 28, 2025.
  5. Goodman, David (August 14, 2022). "Vermont Conversation: A child of the radical Weather Underground reconsiders its legacy". VTDigger. Archived from the original on July 22, 2025. Retrieved August 29, 2025.
  6. Lewis, Stephen J. (June 15, 2022). "Growing up 'underground' as the son of the most wanted woman in America". Northwestern University. Archived from the original on July 14, 2025. Retrieved August 29, 2025.
  7. Rampell, Ed (October 8, 2022). "Son of Weather Underground Leaders Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers Knows Which Way the Wind is Blowing in New Podcast". CovertAction Magazine. Archived from the original on October 6, 2025. Retrieved August 29, 2025.
  8. Johnson, Emily (March 28, 2023). "A Podcast About Growing Up in the Weather Underground". Columbia News. Archived from the original on June 22, 2025. Retrieved August 29, 2025.
  9. Quah, Nick (August 3, 2022). "2 podcasts look back at the messy decades of the American counter-culture". NPR. Retrieved August 29, 2025.
  10. Moran, Robert (June 29, 2022). "'As a four-year-old, I knew the FBI was chasing us. But I didn't know why'". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on August 8, 2022. Retrieved August 29, 2025.
  11. Binion, Billy (February 10, 2023). "Review: 'Mother Country Radicals' spotlights the Weather Underground". Reason. Archived from the original on October 14, 2025. Retrieved August 28, 2025.
  12. Chard, Daniel S. (August 23, 2022). "What Mother Country Radicals Misses About the Weather Underground". Jacobin. Archived from the original on July 19, 2025. Retrieved August 28, 2025.
  13. "2023 Winner". New York Festivals Radio Awards. 2023. Archived from the original on September 14, 2025. Retrieved August 28, 2025.
  14. "2024 Winners & Finalists". Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award. 2024. Archived from the original on August 1, 2025. Retrieved August 28, 2025.
  15. "TRIBECA FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2022 COMPETITION WINNERS". Tribeca Festival. 2022. Archived from the original on March 24, 2023. Retrieved August 28, 2025.
  16. "Mother Country Radicals, an original podcast from Crooked Media and Audacy". Shorty Awards. 2023. Archived from the original on August 28, 2025. Retrieved August 28, 2025.