Zayd Ayers Dohrn was born underground – his parents were radicals and counter-culture outlaws, on the run from the FBI. Now Zayd takes us back to the 1970s, when his parents and their young friends in the Weather Underground Organization declared war on the United States government. They brawled with riot cops on the streets of Chicago, bombed the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol, broke comrades out of prison, and teamed up with Black militant groups to rob banks, fight racism – and help build a revolution.
This expansive narrative podcast features Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers in their own voices, along with intimate interviews with Weather Underground members like Jeff Jones and Kathy Boudin. The show captures the 1970s with voice features from figures like Fred Hampton, Angela Davis, Assata Shakur and more. And it brings us up to today with interviews with Zayd’s own generation – Weather kids and Panther Cubs like Thai Jones, Chesa Boudin, and Kakuya Shakur.
Over the ten-part series, Zayd journeys to understand his parent’s radicalization and how it molded his family and life – and the history of this country. Born underground with his parents on the run from the FBI, Zayd unpacks a childhood in the shadows of the Weather Underground through intimate conversations with his family and friends. Ultimately, he must square his personal experience of his loving parents with their notorious media portrayals – narratives that have long been weaponized by conservative media and politicians, most notably during Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign.
Bill Ayers 