Through the Lens

Jack Kerouac published “On the Road” in 1957, and it became the defining novel of the Beat Generation. Today, a new documentary explores the book’s legacy.

Jerry Kane and his teenage son Joseph were men of no nation. Their lives — and their violent ends — are the subject of the new feature film “Sovereign,” directed by Christian Swegal, who joins us to talk about it.

What happens when a progressive Hollywood filmmaker and a conservative congressman team up to document one of the most volatile chapters in American politics? We’re talking with Steve Pink — director of “Hot Tub Time Machine” — and former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger about their unlikely collaboration and the film that emerged.

Cannabis activist Dennis Peron started the country’s first public dispensary in 1992—before weed was legal. We’ll talk with filmmaker Kip Andersen about what drove Peron’s activism.

In 2000, the social scientist Robert Putnam wrote the book “Bowling Alone.” It was a warning about the collapse of the American community. Why? Declining participation in neighborhood networks and civic clubs.

In 1980, Jane Fonda and her producing partner Bruce Gilbert, took a serious issue — women in the workforce not receiving equal pay — and made it into the accessible and smash-hit comedy “9 to 5.” Starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton, it became a pop culture hit.

The INN Between is the only end-of-life and recuperative care facility of its kind in the U.S. And it’s housed in a quiet neighborhood in Sugarhouse.

Talk about bad. Not only does the 1965-film “The Conqueror” feature John Wayne, of all people, in the leading role as Genghis Khan, but its production may have led to cancer diagnoses in the cast and crew.

In 1977, Randy Bachman was a rock star. Then the guitar with which he’d written hits like “American Woman” and “Takin’ Care of Business” was stolen.

Everyone knows the Indigo Girls — or at least they think they do. The indie rock duo hit the music scene in the early 80’s, and people were quick to try to categorize them.

Hotshots are the hardened individuals who fight wildfires. Gabriel Mann’s new film gets viewers as close to the fire line as you can be without becoming a hotshot yourself.

In 2018, a group of inexperienced explorers — all women — set out on a journey that lots of people thought they couldn’t possibly finish: a trek to the North Pole.