The Story of Punk

In the 1970s, an aggressive and nihilistic new style of music burst onto the pop culture scene in the United States and Great Britain. Punk, as this new genre came to be called, would become more than just a musical outlet for disaffected youth—it would disrupt the entire music industry, spawn shocking fashion trends, and even shake up the political status quo.

In the nine lectures of The Story of Punk, you’ll join Michael Stewart Foley for a whirlwind exploration of punk music and punk attitude, tracing the emergence and evolution of a genre that would become a cultural touchstone of the late 20th century. Along with the pioneering voices of punk, you’ll also meet musicians like Ian MacKaye and Kathleen Hanna, who caried the torch of the punk resistance into the 1980s and beyond. You’ll visit punk scenes around the world, from the underground clubs of London and New York to stages in San Francisco, Tokyo, and São Paulo. Along the way, you’ll uncover the unique mixture of personality, politics, and culture that created punk and see how it continues to influence youthful rebellion and pop culture to this day.

In the grand scheme of history, punk (in its earliest, purest form) was a short-lived phenomenon. The ethos of the movement was defined by provocation and transgression, and as such it would see some of its biggest names burn out in spectacular—and often tragic—fashion. Once the music industry could commodify it, the passion that fueled the punk sound was quickly watered-down for mass consumption, diluting its ideals along the way. But as you’ll discover, punk’s legacy is not defined by a single moment in time. Rather, it lives on in a cycle of death and rebirth, inspiring new artists and movements within each new generation that (re)discovers it.

Punk is dead. Long live punk.