The Neil Young Song That Changed a Generation of Protest Music

On a day in 1970, inspired by the horror of the Kent State shootings, the musician took his guitar into the woods and wrote 'Ohio.' If you have trouble reading this message, view it in a browser.       50 Years Ago Neil Young Wrote a Song That Changed a Generation of Protest Music   Fifty years ago this month, Neil Young changed the trajectory of his career and music history forever—catapulting himself from simple songwriter to iconic protest singer with one song. That song was "Ohio." Written and recorded in the aftermath of the massacre of four students on the campus of Kent State University, on May 4, 1970, "Ohio" resonated immediately and became identified as one of the anthems of the anti-Vietnam War movement. It has endured as a masterful, signature piece of political activism as songwriting. Jon Friedman recalls the day Young took his guitar into the woods, and emerged with a song that had David Crosby exclaiming, "Book the (recording) studio right now!" Read More           The 20 Must-Read Books of Summer 2020   Summer 2020 will likely look different from the many other summers you've enjoyed: no catching popcorn flicks in a frigid theater, no sitting shoulder to shoulder at a baseball game, no cannonballing into a crowded public pool. But not everything has to be different—in fact, one beloved summer pastime remains as available and accessible as always, and that's summer reading. By and large, the pandemic hasn't shuffled book releases, meaning that there's no shortage of buzzy new titles to put you in conversation with the cultural zeitgeist (even if that conversation has to happen over Zoom). From debut writers to members of the old guard at the top of their powers, feed your mind and heart with some of our favorite books of the summer, ranging from brain-bending nonfiction to visionary fiction. Read More           Police Are Determined to Prove Protesters' Point   This weekend, video emerged of a protest in Aurora, Colorado, demanding justice for Elijah McClain, an unarmed 23-year-old Black man who died last year after an encounter with Aurora police while walking home from a convenience store. McClain was, by all accounts, a gentle soul, not that that should have any bearing on whether police had reason to behave as they did. He taught himself to play the violin and liked to serenade stray cats, believing it soothed them. So demonstrators organized a violin vigil, where a group of musicians played before a protest crowd that included kids and families in Aurora's City Center Park. And then Aurora police stormed the park dressed for Fallujah and pepper sprayed people. Here's Jack Holmes on how this kind of behavior lends credence to the idea that these departments cannot be reformed. Read More           Not Even Republicans Are Buying This Latest Trump Tale   We are in the middle of a historical moment, in which the founding ideals and memorials of America are facing an overdue tide of revision and honesty. And, at the same time, the news came last Friday that the President* of the United States knew that the Russian Federation was arranging the payment of bounties to Taliban fighters who killed American soldiers in Afghanistan, and that the President* of the United States has done nothing about it. The story broke in The New York Times late Friday and, by Sunday night, it had been confirmed through independent reporting from every outlet from the Washington Post to SkyNews. The White House spent three days trying to decide whether its most effective defense was that the Commander-in-Chief was actively negligent in this regard, or that the Commander-in-Chief was as plainly ignorant about this as he is about every other part of his job. Charles P. Pierce weighs in on this is a horrible dereliction of duty, and the questions it raises. Read More           Was This the Greatest Party Ever?   Before there was Rock 'n Roll, there were parties, and if you really wanted to party, you gave a ball. Fifty-four years ago, Truman Capote threw "a little masked ball" for 540 of his closest friends on November 28, 1966. It was the largest private party ever given, if "private" is a term that can be used for an event that garnered more publicity than the Academy Awards. Everyone wore black and white. No uninvited guests permitted. Rose Kennedy, Arthur Schlesinger Jr., Tallulah Bankhead, Norman Mailer, and William and Babe Paley were just a few of those assembled in the Grand Ballroom of the Plaza Hotel in New York to pay homage to Capote, to his guest of honor, Washington Post Company president Katharine Graham, and to those shimmering gods, celebrity and power. In the November 1991 issue of Esquire, George Plimpton assembled an A-list cast for an oral history of perhaps the greatest party ever thrown. Read More           The 12 Best Places to Buy Blue Light Glasses Online   It's almost a guarantee that you, like the rest of the world, have spent a vast amount of time on lockdown hunched over your device—in bed, on the couch, maybe even in a park—your eyes are probably feeling pretty shot. Yes, it's a hugely inconsequential side effect given how bad it could be, but still: Staring at a screen for hours on end really ain't it, especially if you're trying to avoid any unnecessary strain or irritation. Experts do, however, recommend cutting back on blue light exposure at least a couple of hours before bed to avoid disrupting your regular sleep cycle. And though foregoing extraneous screen time entirely might be the best option here (albeit an impractical one), if you're convinced a pair of blue-light blockers will do you some good, more brands than ever are tapping into the growing demand for the style. Here are a few pairs that won't break the bank—and won't have you sacrificing your personal style either. Read More         Read More on Esquire.com       Follow Us     Unsubscribe  Privacy Notice   esquire.com ©2020 Hearst Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Hearst Email Privacy, 300 W 57th St., Fl. 19 (sta 1-1), New York, NY 10019