
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


One of the most controversial, outspoken men of the last century, comedian Lenny Bruce spent much of his life in court defending his freedom of speech and First Amendment rights. His provocative social commentary and “verbal jazz” offended mainstream culture and resulted in countless arrests on obscenity and other charges. Over the decades, since his death from a heroin overdose in1966, Lenny’s only child Kitty Bruce, became his keeper, gathering and preserving everything related to her father’s life. We follow the saga of this collection from daughter Kitty's attic — to archivist, Sarah Shoemaker, who drove a van to Kitty’s house in Pennsylvania to gather this historic collection to take to Brandeis University. With the help of an endowment from Bruce's long time friend and supporter Hugh Hefner, creator of Playboy Magazine, and his daughter Christie Heffner, the collection is now cataloged and open for use by all. The archive comes alive in the story of this brilliant, pioneering, complicated man who paved the way for comedians like George Carlin, Richard Pryor and Lewis Black.
By The Kitchen Sisters & Radiotopia4.5
12661,266 ratings
One of the most controversial, outspoken men of the last century, comedian Lenny Bruce spent much of his life in court defending his freedom of speech and First Amendment rights. His provocative social commentary and “verbal jazz” offended mainstream culture and resulted in countless arrests on obscenity and other charges. Over the decades, since his death from a heroin overdose in1966, Lenny’s only child Kitty Bruce, became his keeper, gathering and preserving everything related to her father’s life. We follow the saga of this collection from daughter Kitty's attic — to archivist, Sarah Shoemaker, who drove a van to Kitty’s house in Pennsylvania to gather this historic collection to take to Brandeis University. With the help of an endowment from Bruce's long time friend and supporter Hugh Hefner, creator of Playboy Magazine, and his daughter Christie Heffner, the collection is now cataloged and open for use by all. The archive comes alive in the story of this brilliant, pioneering, complicated man who paved the way for comedians like George Carlin, Richard Pryor and Lewis Black.

90,941 Listeners

43,958 Listeners

38,216 Listeners

27,046 Listeners

26,225 Listeners

11,636 Listeners

3,029 Listeners

2,878 Listeners

6,892 Listeners

1,268 Listeners

3,657 Listeners

10,424 Listeners

17,632 Listeners

2,237 Listeners

2,132 Listeners

5,214 Listeners

3,556 Listeners

1,116 Listeners

4,837 Listeners

5,762 Listeners

145 Listeners

271 Listeners

445 Listeners

117 Listeners

573 Listeners

71 Listeners

13 Listeners

36 Listeners

0 Listeners

0 Listeners

47 Listeners

98 Listeners

1 Listeners