Sean Howe - Thomas King Forçade - AGENTS OF CHAOS - High Times & the Paranoid End of the 1970s





Sep 27, 2023






Sean Howe joins Ed Opperman to discuss his book, Agents of Chaos, which focusses in on the legendary iconic, revolutionary publication High Times.The life and times of High Times’  enigmatic founder Thomas King Forçade, an underground newspaper editor  and marijuana kingpin who—between police raids, smuggling runs, and  outrageous stunts—battled both the US government and fellow radicals.At  the end of the 1960s, the mysterious Tom Forçade suddenly appeared,  insinuating himself into the top echelons of countercultural politics  and assuming control of the Underground Press Syndicate, a coalition of  newspapers across the country. Weathering government surveillance and  harassment, he embarked on a landmark court battle to obtain White House  press credentials. But his audacious exploits—pieing Congressional  panelists, stealing presidential portraits, and picking fights with  other activists—led to accusations that he was an agent provocateur.As  the era of protest faded and the dark shadows of Watergate spread,  Forçade hoped that marijuana could be the path to cultural and economic  revolution. Bankrolled by drug-dealing profits, High Times would be the Playboy of pot, dragging a once-taboo subject into the mainstream. The magazine  was a travelogue of globe-trotting adventure, a wellspring of news  about “the business,” and an overnight success. But High Times soon threatened to become nothing more than the “hip capitalism”  Forçade had railed against for so long, and he felt his enemies closing  in.Assembled from exclusive interviews, archived correspondences, and declassified documents, Agents of Chaos is a tale of attacks on journalism, disinformation campaigns,  governmental secrecy, corporatism, and political factionalism. Its  triumphs and tragedies mirror the cultural transformations of 1970s  America, wrought by forces that continue to clash in the spaces between  activism and power.------------------Sean Howe is an American journalist and writer. He  is a former editor at Entertainment Weekly and The Criterion Collection.  In 2012, he published the book Marvel Comics: The Untold Story, after  interviewing more than 150 people who worked at or were associated with  Marvel Comics. You can meet Sean Howe in person next week. Details: Seanhowe.com Book : Thomas King Forçade Marvel ComicsOct 2nd LA 7pm Storeys Book and Cafe (1716 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026-3225)oct 6th Changing hands Bookstore Pheonix (300 W Camelback Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85013-2384)Oct 10 Diamond Hollow Books, New York (72 MAIN STREET ANDES, NY, U.S.A. 13731)