The Political History of Smack & Crack
By Ed Edwards
In the whole of Britain there’s 2000 heroin addicts. 3000 tops.
Mostly middle class.
By the mid-1980s there is 330000 heroin addicts in Britain.
Mostly working class.
Presented by the playwright of The Political History of Smack and Crack, this limited series globetrots through the history of international drug trade in the 20th Century, encompassing US prohibition, the Sicilian Mafia, World War Two, the establishment of the CIA, revolutions of the 1980s, the Golden Triangle and much more.
The Political History of Smack & CrackJun 29, 2023
Bonus Episode: "Carl"
Bonus episode with a special guest smack bang in the middle of 1980s Manchester, UK
Written by Ed Edwards
Hosted by Ed Edwards and Eve Steele
Sound Design by Serafin Dinges
Audio Production by Serafin Dinges
Produced by Alastair Michael
Funded by the Arts Council England
Supported by the Mustard Tree Manchester and Arts & Homelessness International.
Further Reading
- Alfred W. McCoy, The Politics of Heroin. Big fat must-read on the subject for exhaustive detail, every last twist and turn over nearly a century. Most of the above is shaped by McCoy’s towering work.
- Peter Dale Scott and Jonathan Marshall, Cocaine Politics: Drugs, Armies, and the CIA in Central America. Univ of California Press; again exhaustive, largely drawn from the work of US congressional hearings into the Latin American situation.
- Gary Webb (R.I.P), Dark Alliance: The CIA, The Contras and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. Forensic and massive on detail.
- Nick Schou, Shoot the Messenger. The story of how Journalist Gary Webb (see above) was hounded to his death – partly by the big hitters in the US print media – for trying to tell the truth about the link between CIA assets in Latin America and the crack explosion. The book is better than the recent film of the same name telling the same story.
The last book is probably the easiest to read, the first is the best.
And if you are interested in reading Ed Edwards’ play and essay on these topics, you can buy that here: https://www.nickhernbooks.co.uk/political-history-of-smack-and-crack
Part 2: The Road to 'Nam
Digging into the post-WW2 French Connection and the first Vietnam war
Written by Ed Edwards
Hosted by Ed Edwards and Eve Steele
Sound Design by Serafin Dinges
Audio Production by Serafin Dinges
Additional Music by Blue Dot Sessions
Produced by Alastair Michael
Funded by the Arts Council England
Supported by the Mustard Tree Manchester and Arts & Homelessness International.
Further Reading
- Alfred W. McCoy, The Politics of Heroin. Big fat must-read on the subject for exhaustive detail, every last twist and turn over nearly a century. Most of the above is shaped by McCoy’s towering work.
- Peter Dale Scott and Jonathan Marshall, Cocaine Politics: Drugs, Armies, and the CIA in Central America. Univ of California Press; again exhaustive, largely drawn from the work of US congressional hearings into the Latin American situation.
- Gary Webb (R.I.P), Dark Alliance: The CIA, The Contras and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. Forensic and massive on detail.
- Nick Schou, Shoot the Messenger. The story of how Journalist Gary Webb (see above) was hounded to his death – partly by the big hitters in the US print media – for trying to tell the truth about the link between CIA assets in Latin America and the crack explosion. The book is better than the recent film of the same name telling the same story.
The last book is probably the easiest to read, the first is the best.
And if you are interested in reading Ed Edwards’ play and essay on these topics, you can buy that here: https://www.nickhernbooks.co.uk/political-history-of-smack-and-crack
Part 1: The Birth of the Modern Mafia
Queen Vic's original hustle, the birth of the modern Mafia and fighting fascism in Europe
Written by Ed Edwards
Hosted by Ed Edwards and Eve Steele
Sound Design by Serafin Dinges
Audio Production by Serafin Dinges
Produced by Alastair Michael
Funded by the Arts Council England
Supported by the Mustard Tree Manchester and Arts & Homelessness International.
Further Reading
- Alfred W. McCoy, The Politics of Heroin. Big fat must-read on the subject for exhaustive detail, every last twist and turn over nearly a century. Most of the above is shaped by McCoy’s towering work.
- Peter Dale Scott and Jonathan Marshall, Cocaine Politics: Drugs, Armies, and the CIA in Central America. Univ of California Press; again exhaustive, largely drawn from the work of US congressional hearings into the Latin American situation.
- Gary Webb (R.I.P), Dark Alliance: The CIA, The Contras and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. Forensic and massive on detail.
- Nick Schou, Shoot the Messenger. The story of how Journalist Gary Webb (see above) was hounded to his death – partly by the big hitters in the US print media – for trying to tell the truth about the link between CIA assets in Latin America and the crack explosion. The book is better than the recent film of the same name telling the same story.
The last book is probably the easiest to read, the first is the best.
And if you are interested in reading Ed Edwards’ play and essay on these topics, you can buy that here: https://www.nickhernbooks.co.uk/political-history-of-smack-and-crack
