HOWL

" I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by
madness, starving hysterical naked..."

So begins the iconic poem of the Beat Generation, Howl by Allen Ginsberg. Fifty years ago today, a San Francisco Municipal Court judge ruled that Allen Ginsberg's Beat-era poem "Howl" was not obscene. And on that 50 year anniversary, a New York public radio station has buckled to fear of the FCC and decided not to air a reading of Ginsberg's poem. You can read about the whole silly mess here.

In honor of the anniversary, Pacifica.org will post audio of a reading. Or you can read it for yourself here.

It is a sad time when fear of censorship does the censor's job for him.