100 Days

July 15, 2019
In this somewhat contrived grouping, Lebo, a fellow at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, argues that four 1969 events were cultural watersheds: the moon landing, the Manson family killings, Woodstock, and the creation of the first four nodes of the ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network). Lebo digs deeply into the context and history of each: the political energy behind space exploration, Charles Manson’s psychology, the lives and experiences of Woodstock attendees, and the internet’s technical history and commercial influence. Lebo counts among the moon walk’s legacies public attention to environmental causes championed by former astronauts and a cultural acknowledgment of the value of technology. He argues that the Manson killings led to a cultural elevation of symbolic and political murders as more culturally significant than ordinary mass murderers. Other insights are less original: he contends that Woodstock was a cultural touchstone for baby boomers, with a cross-generational ripple effect that includes the continuing popularity of counterculture festivals such as Burning Man. And his take that the internet is changing the fabric of social relationships won’t exactly be news to anyone who is even marginally familiar with the web. Readers may not agree with his arguments that these events were seminal, rather than merely memorable, but those new to the period will find this account edifying.