After protest photos and freedom songs are smuggled out of Tibet, Erin returns home, where a dinner with Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys transforms what she witnessed into a new kind of action. Together, they begin imagining what music, culture, and activism could do for Tibet, leading Erin to attend Lollapalooza with the Beastie Boys and a group of Tibetan monks.
Note: This episode includes discussion of torture, plus a cuss word or two.
In This Episode:
- Erin and Sam race to get the photos they took during the protests in Lhasa out of Tibet and into the hands of the international press.
- Ngawang Sangdrol describes life inside Drapchi Prison and how she and other Tibetan nuns secretly recorded songs of freedom on a smuggled cassette tape.
- Erin reflects on hearing the voices of imprisoned Tibetan women singing for freedom, and why those recordings carried a different kind of power.
- Adam Yauch receives Erin and Sam’s letter about what they witnessed in Tibet, opening a new path for his own activism.
- Erin and Adam begin imagining how music, culture, and action could come together for Tibet.
- The Milarepa Fund is born from Beastie Boys royalties and a shared belief in compassion, nonviolence, and the power of music.
- Tibetan monks join the Beastie Boys on Lollapalooza, bringing Tibetan culture and the message of freedom to thousands of young concertgoers.
- A dollar added to every Beastie Boys ticket becomes the seed money for the first Tibetan Freedom Concert.
Voices in This Episode (In order of appearance):
- Erin Potts — co-founder of the Tibetan Freedom Concerts and the Milarepa Fund, expert on music and activism, and executive producer of Freedom Needs a Soundtrack.
- Adam Yauch — member of the Beastie Boys and co-founder of the Tibetan Freedom Concerts and the Milarepa Fund, heard through archival audio.
- Ngawang Sangdrol — Former Tibetan Buddhist nun and political prisoner, first imprisoned at age 13 for peacefully calling for Tibetan independence. While in prison, she and other nuns secretly recorded songs of freedom that helped carry Tibet’s struggle to the outside world.
Learn more:
https://www.freedomneedsasoundtrack.com/
https://www.freedomneedsasoundtrack.com/
https://www.youtube.com/@freedomneedsasoundtrack
https://www.facebook.com/FreedomNeedsASoundtrack
https://www.instagram.com/freedomneedsasoundtrack
This series is a Rangzen production produced by Adonde Media and distributed in partnership with KALW Public Media in San Francisco.