Bert Wylen interviews Allen Ginsberg, introducing Ginsberg’s life and work by situating his mythic role within gay history. Wylen and Ginsberg discuss literary censorship, from Ginsberg’s early experiences during the McCarthy era to parallels in the 1990s involving Jesse Helms and the Heritage Foundation. Ginsberg voices concern over renewed censorship efforts by the FCC and anti-obscenity campaigns. Wylen and Ginsberg explore the relationship between Ginsberg’s activism and creative practice, touching on his expulsion from Columbia after being discovered in bed with Jack Kerouac. Ginsberg discusses Hydrogen Jukebox, his opera collaboration with Philip Glass, to be performed in Philadelphia in April 1990.
