MINISODE: Live Aid

Live Aid - the 1985 worldwide charity extravaganza - has often been called the "greatest concert of all time." So why is it here getting the Polishing Turds treatment?

Well, there's more to Live Aid than the iconic Queen set from Bohemian Rhapsody. There's the disturbing, politically-charged famine that inspired the event in the first place. There's a famously inept reunion show from a legendary band backed by a globe-trotting Phil Collins. And of course, there's the lingering, thorny question of where exactly all that money went.

We discuss all of these things and more in this brief little minisode!

SELECTED SOURCE MATERIAL:

https://www.spin.com/2015/07/live-aid-the-terrible-truth-ethiopia-bob-geldof-feature/

https://web.archive.org/web/20180516155623/http://www.sahistory.org.za/sites/default/files/file%20uploads%20/peter_gill_famine_and_foreigners_ethiopia_sincebook4you.pdf

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/19/turn-down-band-aid-bob-geldof-africa-fuse-odg

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1985/07/14/rock-around-the-world/1f4ca02b-a8b2-4bd7-a94c-b60713b59a93/

[Also credit to Bob Geldof's 1986 autobiography Is That It?]

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Chapters

• 0:00 COLD OPEN/INRO
• 0:48 Warmup/Cal's Cult Idea
• 3:47 Welcome/Introducing Live Aid
• 13:53 Basic Facts about Live Aid
• 21:59 The 1983 Ethiopian Famine
• 49:15 Origins of Live Aid
• 1:12:02 The Lineup
• 1:15:02 Notable Absences
• 1:23:04 The Performances
• 1:42:46 Bob Geldof Drops the "F" Bomb
• 1:47:35 Live Aid Spinoffs
• 1:55:12 Hear'N Aid
• 2:00:03 What Happened to All That Money?
• 2:14:27 "White Savior" Critique of Live Aid
• 2:20:48 Back to Ethiopia
• 2:22:39 CONCLUSION: What Does it all Mean?
• 2:25:34 Cool down/Thank Yous/Plugs
• 2:30:08 OUTRO