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★★★★★

4.8

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Zayd 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.

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Bonus Episode: Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young

2026/05/12

DANGEROUS, DIRTY, VIOLENT AND YOUNG: A Fugitive Family in the Revolutionary Underground, published by W. W. Norton & Company, comes out on May 19. The audio edition, read by Zayd Ayers Dohrn, will be published by Tantor Media on May 26. Readers can find out more, including links to preorder, at Zayd Ayers Dohrn's website, https://zayddohrn.com/, and from the publisher, https://wwnorton.com/books/dangerous-dirty-violent-and-young

Introducing Family Lore

2026/04/20

Family Lore is a weekly narrative podcast that celebrates and investigates ancestral mystique. Each episode begins with a guest sharing a fascinating family legend, followed by a historical deep-dive to uncover the truth and meaning behind the tale. Available now: https://link.pscrb.fm/f0281/FLFD

Bonus: Radical Family Histories (A Crossover with I Was Never There)

2022/11/17

Zayd sits down with his mom, Bernardine Dohrn, along with Jamie and Karen Zelermyer of Wonder Media Network’s I Was Never There to look back at the process of making a show so deeply rooted in personal family history. Jamie and Zayd interview their mothers to learn how they felt reliving their radical pasts and what it was like to make a podcast with their children. And in a time that feels so similar politically to the turbulent decades Karen and Bernardine lived through - how do they find hope?

Chapter 10: Inheritance

2022/07/28

Zayd connects to other children of the underground. Out of the shards of the radical movements of the 1970s, a new generation fights to build a better future. For more of the story, check out: Chesa Boudin, Letters from Young Activists: Today’s Rebels Speak Out (2005) Patrisse Cullors & asha bandel, When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir (2018)

Chapter 9: Revolutionary Suicide

2022/07/21

Former members of the Weather Underground and the Black Liberation Army carry out one last action together, with deadly consequences that reverberate across generations. For more of the story, check out: Assata Shakur, Assata: An Autobiography (1987) Dhoruba bin Wahad, Assata Shakur & Mumia Abu-Jamal, Still Black, Still Strong (1993) Dan Berger, Outlaws of America: the Weather Underground and the Politics of Solidarity (2005)

Chapter 8: Hard Times

2022/07/14

The end of the Vietnam War means the end of the Weather Underground. Zayd’s parents and their radical comrades, still on the run from the FBI, plan a different kind of future. For more of the story, check out: Emile de Antonio, Underground (1976)Mona Rocha, The Weatherwomen: Militant Feminists of the Weather Underground (2020)

Chapter 7: The Belly of the Beast, Part II

2022/07/07

The Weather Underground Organization and the Black Liberation Army go to war with the United States government. For more of the story, check out: The BLA, Black Liberation Army Papers (1963-1998)Sekou Odinga, Dhoruba Bin Wahad & Jamal Joseph, Look for Me in the Whirlwind: From the Panther 21 to 21st Century Revolutions (2017)

Chapter 6: The Belly of the Beast, Part I

2022/06/30

The FBI targets the Weather Underground, and a split in the Black Panther Party gives rise to a new, more militant organization - the Black Liberation Army. For more of the story, check out: The Weather Underground, Prairie Fire: The Politics Of Revolutionary Anti-Imperialism (1974) Federal Bureau of Investigation, The Declassified FBI Files on the Weather Underground Organization (2010)

Chapter 5: New Morning

2022/06/23

The Weathermen go underground, and become famous - and infamous - as counter-culture outlaws. For more of the story, check out: Thai Jones, A Radical Line: From the Labor Movement to the Weather Underground (2004)Timothy Leary, The Psychedelic Experience (1964)

Chapter 4: Bring the War Home

2022/06/16

The Weathermen decide to bring the horrors of the Vietnam War back to America’s doorstep, planning an action that will change the future of the organization, and Zayd’s family, forever. For more of the story, check out: Bill Ayers, Fugitive Days: Memoirs of an Antiwar Activist (2001)Cathy Wilkerson, Flying Close to the Sun: My Life and Times as a Weatherman (2007)

Chapter 1: The Most Dangerous Woman in America

2022/06/09

In 1970, a former law student named Bernardine Dohrn declared war on the United States government. Decades later, her son Zayd Ayers Dohrn tells the story of how his mother was radicalized, and became the most wanted woman in America. For more of the story, check out: Students for a Democratic Society, The Port Huron Statement (1962) Revolutionary Youth Movement, "The Weatherman Paper" (1969)

Chapter 2: Days of Rage

2022/06/09

Zayd’s father Bill Ayers joins the Weathermen, and he and his friends teach themselves to be revolutionaries, gearing up to build bombs and brawl with police on the streets of Chicago. For more of the story, check out: Gillo Pontecorvo, The Battle of Algiers (1966)Carlos Marighella, The Mini-Manual of the Urban Guerrilla (1969)

Chapter 3: I Am A Revolutionary

2022/06/09

Jamal Joseph is radicalized at 15, and joins the New York Black Panthers. And a deadly attack by Chicago Police puts both Panthers and Weathermen on a path towards violent revolution. For more of the story, check out: Jamal Joseph, Panther Baby: A Life of Rebellion and Reinvention (2012)Stanley Nelson, The Black Panther Party: Vanguard of the Revolution (2016)

Introducing Mother Country Radicals

2022/05/24

Zayd Dohrn was born underground - his parents were founders of the Weather Underground organization, and on the run from the FBI. Now Zayd takes us back to the 1970s, when his parents and their young friends brawled with riot cops on the streets of Chicago, bombed the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol, and teamed up with Black militant groups to rob banks, fight racism - and help build a revolution.

Podcast reviews

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4.8 out of 5

1420 reviews

★★★★★

Dr Nyasha 2026/04/08

Absolute Must Listen

Forget One Battle After Another. Tune into this serial for powerful insight into the US 1970’s radical left.

★★★★★

katyhull78 2026/03/22

The best

Best podcast I have listened to in a long time. So thoughtful, personal, and revealing. Also incredibly helpful to me as a historian to get a feel for...

★★☆☆☆

Bellamammal 2025/01/29

Spoiler!

Wow. So sad. Seemed the whole way through you were having an honest reckoning with the violent horror your parents caused. Still, a well-told story. T...

★★★★☆

marty blatt 2025/01/04

Historian

Fascinating program. I was involved in the anti war movement at Tufts University, 1968-1972. I recall despising the Weatherman group because they we...

★★★★★

PaperElation 2024/12/08

Fascinating

I was raised at about the same time as Zayd by progressive, politically active parents. This podcast really resonated with my memories of my childhood...

★★★★★

Littleworldcunningly 2024/08/24

A story that needs telling

This podcast is one of the very best I’ve had the privilege of listening to. As a mother and so-called radical, this story hit me like a gut punch—esp...

★★★★★

pitateet66 2024/04/16

Reminds me of my father

What a great show, it brought back so many memories. My father worked for the “Citizens Action Committee”, he helped poor people of all races to get h...

★★★★★

Temple Run = Really fun 2024/02/11

Excellent show

Loved it and have everyone I know listening to it

★★★★★

hot-potato2000 2024/01/24

So well done

I have recommended this to so many people

★★☆☆☆

thesimonewest 2023/11/13

Tone deaf

In an attempt to showcase multicultural support for civil rights, we somehow created a whole series glorifying white contributions (some of which were...

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