Open VISIONS Forum: Espresso - Jesse Jarnow - Wednesday, October 30 at 7:30 PM

Jarnow’s writing on music, technology, and culture has appeared in the New York Times, Pitchfork, Wired.com, Rolling Stone, Dupree's Diamond News, and more.

His 2018 book Wasn’t That a Time: The Weavers, the Blacklist, and the Battle For the Soul of America tells the story of the Weavers, one of the most significant popular-music groups of the postwar era.

The Weavers saw their career nearly destroyed during the Red Scare of the early 1950s. Even with anti-communist fervor in decline by the early 1960s, the Weavers' leftist politics were used against them as late as January 2, 1962, when the group's appearance on The Jack Paar Show was cancelled over their refusal to sign an oath of political loyalty.

The quartet went from being embraced by the public, and selling four million records, to being reviled and rejected over the political backgrounds of its members. Despite the controversy that surrounded them, the Weavers managed to alter popular culture and to set the stage for future musicians like Bob Dylan.

Jarnow’s book achieved critical and popular acclaim, including a review by Academy Award-winning actor Alan Arkin, “Wasn't That a Time reads more like a Dickens novel than the history of a folk group. God, what a wild ride. And I remember it well."