Paul Krassner on WorldStreams
Hosts: Said & Dari
Aired: Wednesday 1.11.2012 10:00-11:00 PM

Listen to the archived program.

Paul Krassner is an author, journalist, stand-up comedian, and the founder, editor and a frequent contributor to the free thought magazine The Realist, first published in 1958. Krassner became a key figure in the counterculture of the 1960s.

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, he was active in politically edged humor and satire. Krassner was a founder of the Youth International Party (Yippies) in 1967 and a member of Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters, famous for prankster activism. He was a close protégé of the controversial comedian Lenny Bruce, and the editor of Bruce's autobiography, How to Talk Dirty and Influence People. With the encouragement of Bruce, Krassner started to perform standup comedy in 1961 at the Village Gate in New York.

Krassner remains a prolific writer and lecturer. He has recently published two books, Who's to Say What's Obscene: Politics, Culture & Comedy in America Today and In Praise of Indecency: Dispatches From the Valley of Porn.

Visit Paul Krassner's website.

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