103 - Streaking
Episode Synopsis: President Ford is coming to Point Place! Kitty wants to make a good impression, Red is angry about the economy, and Eric wants to be cool and stage a protest... by streaking.
Theme: Patriotism
Music Break: The Cowsills / American National Anthems
Love, American Style (The Cowsills, 1967)
The Rain The Park and Other Things (The Cowsills, 1967)
Indian Lake (The Cowsills, 1968)
Hair (The Cowsills, 1969)
The Star Spangled Banner--Live from Super Bowl XXV (Whitney Houston, 1991)
America the Beautiful (Ray Charles, 1972)
God Bless America (Kate Smith, 1940)
Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing (The Wardlaw Brothers, 2018)
Woke or Joke: Protest as an act of patriotism
Burn of the Week: Red
Fact Checking:
The Recession of 1973-75 devastated middle America, and it was unique from previous recessions by having high unemployment and high inflation in the same period. The recession hit industrial production particularly hard because of the steel crisis. In That '70s Show, Red has his hours cut back at the plant, which certainly would have happened, but probably not as late as 1976. By the end of that year, industrial production had returned to pre-recession levels. That said, it's not impossible to think that a smaller, local plant (they never specify which company Red worked for) would have had a harder time recovering, and so may have been forced to lay off workers and eventually shutter its doors even as the rest of the economy was improving. ✔️
Gerald Ford was definitely on the campaign trail in 1976. He had become president after Nixon was threatened with impeachment and consequently resigned, so this was his first race as his own candidate. Ford ran for election against Jimmy Carter, to whom he eventually lost both the popular and the electoral vote. That '70s Show has Johnson making a campaign stop in Point Place--a symbol of generic midwestern suburbia--which makes sense because that region was still reeling from the economic downturn of the previous three years. As Red vocalizes, much of the tension and concern was still about the economy, but there was also lingering anger about the Watergate scandal and it's unsatisfying resolution. Any politician would have recognized the potential to create goodwill by making a stop at small working class town. In the end, Carter won Wisconsin by only 1.68%. ✔️
Red, who is a veteran of the Korean War, frequently says that when he was 18 he shipped off to fight in the army. The Korean War occurred 1950-1953, so that would place Red's birth sometime between 1932-1934. If we go for the older end of the possible spectrum, that means that Red was not just born into the Depression, but also probably has some memories of it, before experiencing World War II as a pre-teen in the midwest and then being drafted through the Selective Service Act of 1948. The question of what to call his generation has been debated, and the most widely accepted title is "The Silent Generation." This silence is in reference to their focus on careers over activism. As young adults coming of age during The McCarthy Era, many felt it was dangerous to speak out. This generation is also credited with being the "silent majority" of whom President Richard Nixon asked for support in a 1969 television address. He was verbalizing the idea that there was thought to be a large majority of citizens who didn't join the protests against the Vietnam War, who didn't identify with the burgeoning counter-culture, and who didn't participate in public discourse. It was felt by many that the concerns of these Middle Americans were being overshadowed by the media attention to the very vocal minority. In this podcast episode, Louisa supposes that this group of people is called "The Greatest Generation," but this thought is incorrect. That name is in fact the title of a book by Tom Brokaw about the generation immediately preceding The Silent Generation. Close, but no cigar. ❌