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Fresh Air Weekend: Billy Bragg On Skiffle; 'Crime And Punishment In Black America'

Billy Bragg says he initially pursued songwriting as a way to escape working in the local car factory.
Andy Whale
/
Courtesy of Faber & Faber
Billy Bragg says he initially pursued songwriting as a way to escape working in the local car factory.

Fresh Air Weekend highlights some of the best interviews and reviews from past weeks, and new program elements specially paced for weekends. Our weekend show emphasizes interviews with writers, filmmakers, actors and musicians, and often includes excerpts from live in-studio concerts. This week:

Billy Bragg On Skiffle, The Movement That Brought Guitar To British Radio:The singer describes skiffle as "a bunch of British school boys in the mid '50s playing Lead Belly's repertoire ... on acoustic guitars." Bragg's new book is Roots, Radicals And Rockers.

How Black Leaders Unwittingly Contributed To The Era Of Mass Incarceration:James Forman Jr., son of civil rights activists, says that African-American leaders seeking to combat drugs and crime often supported policies that disproportionately targeted the black community.

You can listen to the original interviews here:

Billy Bragg On Skiffle, The Movement That Brought Guitar To British Radio

How Black Leaders Unwittingly Contributed To The Era Of Mass Incarceration

Copyright 2020 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.

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