Interviews & Recordings
A growing finding aid to interviews, talks and archival collections about Ken Kesey, the Merry Pranksters and their circle. 82 records so far — each links out to where it lives (we don’t host the recordings). Links are re-checked by script; anything that fails is marked.
Interviews & talks (67)
- Audiotalk2026-04-28
David Streitfeld on Western Star: The Life and Legends of Larry McMurtry (with Marie Arana)
Larry McMurtry
Politics & Prose (Internet Archive)
- Audiointerview2022-09-23
Stewart Brand reflects on a lifetime of staying hungry and foolish
Stewart Brand · interviewed by Manoush Zomorodi
TED Radio Hour (NPR)
- Audio / videointerview2022-01-11
Cronies to the end: Ken Babbs talks of Ken Kesey and decades of Merry Pranksterhood
Ken Babbs
KLCC (Eugene, Oregon public radio)
- Audiointerview2019-08-13
The Oral History of Woodstock on WAMC
Wavy Gravy, Graham Nash, Melanie, Michael Lang
WAMC Northeast Public Radio (The Roundtable)
- Videointerview2017-10-19
A Conversation with Jami Cassady
Jami Cassady
Internet Archive
Daughter of Neal and Carolyn Cassady.
- Audiointerview2016-10-28
Merry Pranksters swap stories — extended interview with Mountain Girl and George Walker
Carolyn “Mountain Girl” Garcia, George “Hardly Visible” Walker · interviewed by Tiffany Eckert
KLCC (Eugene, Oregon public radio)
- Audiointerview2016-04-13
Ken Babbs 01
Ken Babbs · interviewed by Alan Patterson
Internet Archive
- Textinterview2016
Q&A: Stewart Brand revisits the Trips Festival 50 years later
Stewart Brand
KQED Arts
Date inferred from “50 years later”; check the page for the exact day.
- Audiointerview2015-09-29
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, with special guest Merry Prankster Ken Babbs
Ken Babbs · interviewed by Alan Patterson
Internet Archive
- Audiointerview2015-09-18
Rag Radio: Beatnik man of letters Ed Sanders of The Fugs
Ed Sanders · interviewed by Thorne Dreyer
Rag Radio (Internet Archive)
- Audiointerview2013-11-25
Robert Stone at Politics & Prose
Robert Stone
Politics & Prose (Internet Archive)
Date inferred from the file name.
- Videointerview2013-11-05
Jerry Garcia on The Acid Tests
Jerry Garcia
Blank on Blank (via Internet Archive)
Animated excerpt from an archival interview; the Archive date is the upload date.
- Audio / videointerview2013
Ken Kesey talks about the meaning of the Acid Tests
Ken Kesey
Open Culture (post date; the interview itself is older)
- Textinterview2012-01-21
Kesey, Cassady, Meatspace, and the Fourth World: Checking in with Ken Babbs
Ken Babbs · interviewed by Brian Robbins
Relix / Jambands.com (page 3 of 4)
Babbs on the bus name (“Further” vs “Furthur”) and Kesey’s “only one bus” remark.
- Audiointerview2011-08-12
Ken Kesey on misconceptions of counterculture
Ken Kesey
KANW (public radio)
Archival Kesey audio broadcast in 2011; the recording itself is older.
- Audiointerview2011-08-12
Tom Wolfe: Chronicling counterculture’s Acid Test
Tom Wolfe
NPR
- Audiointerview2011-04
Hearing Voices HV113: Hippies (Mountain Girl & Hardly Visible)
Carolyn “Mountain Girl” Garcia, George “Hardly Visible” Walker · interviewed by Ann Heppermann, Ceil Muller, Kara Oehler
Hearing Voices (produced for PRI Weekend America)
Interviews mixed with audio from the Prankster archives.
- Audiointerview2011-03-16
SFBG Radio: Wavy Gravy & Owsley
Wavy Gravy, Owsley Stanley
San Francisco Bay Guardian archive (48hills)
- Textinterview2011
Director Alison Ellwood on Ken Kesey’s Magic Trip, old footage and on-screen acid trips
Alison Ellwood
Westword
- Textinterview2011
Alison Ellwood on Magic Trip
Alison Ellwood
Filmmaker Magazine
Site blocks automated checks; known from a search listing, not opened by our checker.
- Videointerview2010-12-10
GRITtv: Wavy Gravy — Fools and Nobody for President
Wavy Gravy
GRITtv (via Internet Archive)
- Audiointerview2010-11-01link unverified
Mountain Girl (Carolyn Garcia) — McKiernan interview
Carolyn “Mountain Girl” Garcia · interviewed by Stephen McKiernan
Binghamton University Libraries (Omeka)
98-minute audio interview in Binghamton University’s McKiernan collection of 1960s-era interviews. Server was unreachable from the link checker, so confirm access.
- Textinterview2007
Ken Babbs interview
Ken Babbs · interviewed by David Wills
Beatdom (Vol. 1, City of Recovery Press)
- Videointerview2007
Notorious LSD chemist Owsley Stanley gives rare interview
Owsley Stanley
Laughing Squid
Year inferred from contemporaneous 2007 coverage; check the page.
- Audiointerview2006-01-20
Restoring Kesey’s famed Acid Test school bus
Zane Kesey · interviewed by Alex Chadwick
NPR Day to Day (via APR)
- Videointerview2004
Interview Stewart Brand (2004)
Stewart Brand · interviewed by Lutz Dammbeck
Internet Archive
- Textinterview2003-03
Erowid: Wavy Gravy (includes “The Insider: Wavy Gravy” interview)
Wavy Gravy · interviewed by Andy Langer
Erowid
Character page linking the interview; per the listing it was conducted in March 2003. Site blocks automated checks; known from a search listing, not opened by our checker.
- Audiotalk1998-03-07
Peter Lamborn Wilson and Lawrence Ferlinghetti reading
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Peter Lamborn Wilson
Naropa University Archive (Internet Archive)
- Textinterview1996
Gary Snyder, The Art of Poetry No. 74
Gary Snyder · interviewed by Eliot Weinberger
The Paris Review (no. 141, Winter 1996)
Conducted before an audience at the 92nd Street Y (Unterberg Poetry Center) on Oct 26, 1992; later updated for publication.
- Audiotalk1994-07-06
Amiri Baraka lecture on revolutionary poetry
Amiri Baraka
Naropa University Archive (Internet Archive)
- Textinterview1994
Ken Kesey, The Art of Fiction No. 136
Ken Kesey · interviewed by Robert Faggen
The Paris Review (Issue 130, Spring 1994)
- Audiointerview1993-04-06
Albert Hofmann interviewed on 50 years of LSD
Albert Hofmann · interviewed by Manfred Reist
Internet Archive (community upload)
- Textinterview1992-09-13
Comes Spake the Cuckoo (Far Gone interview about Sailor Song)
Ken Kesey · interviewed by Todd Brendan Fahey
The Blacklisted Journalist (Al Aronowitz column, reprinted 2002)
Phone interview dated September 13, 1992 in the transcript header; later collected in Conversations with Ken Kesey.
- Audiotalk1992-07-25
Allen Ginsberg, Anne Waldman and Amiri Baraka reading with Steven Taylor song performance
Allen Ginsberg, Amiri Baraka, Anne Waldman
Naropa University Archive (Internet Archive)
- Audiointerview1990-03-05
Ken Kesey discusses his life and career (second interview)
Ken Kesey · interviewed by Terry Gross
Fresh Air (NPR)
Transcript noted as unavailable.
- Videotalk1990-02-24
Timothy Leary lecture in Maryland, Feb. 24, 1990 (part 1)
Timothy Leary
Timothy Leary Archive (Internet Archive)
- Audiointerview1989-12-15
Ken Kesey discusses his life and career
Ken Kesey · interviewed by Terry Gross
Fresh Air (NPR) archive
Archive page lists a transcript.
- Audiotalk1989-07-31
Michael McClure lecture about the origins of theater
Michael McClure
Naropa University Archive (Internet Archive)
- Audiotalk1986-08-17
Edward Abbey reading at the Telluride Ideas Festival
Edward Abbey
Other Minds archive (Internet Archive)
- Audiotalk1982-07-26
On the Road: The Jack Kerouac conference — Sam Charters lecture, “Jack and jazz”
Sam Charters
Naropa University Archive (Internet Archive)
- Audiotalk1982-07-26
On the Road: The Jack Kerouac conference — Ann Charters workshop
Ann Charters
Naropa University Archive (Internet Archive)
- Audiotalk1981-05-18
Allen Ginsberg class: Literary history of the Beat generation, the 50s (part 17)
Allen Ginsberg
Naropa University Archive (Internet Archive)
- Audiotalk1980-08-11
William S. Burroughs lecture on public discourse
William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg
Naropa University Archive (Internet Archive)
- Audiotalk1979-08-13
William S. Burroughs class on creative reading — Part 1
William S. Burroughs
Naropa University Archive (Internet Archive)
- Audiotalk1977-08-05
Philip Whalen class, part 1
Philip Whalen
Naropa University Archive (Internet Archive)
- Audiotalk1977-04-30
Country Joe McDonald at KPFA
Country Joe McDonald
Other Minds archive (Internet Archive)
Radio appearance.
- Audiotalk1976
Ken Kesey in Portland (KBOO archive reel)
Ken Kesey
KBOO Community Radio, Portland
Part of KBOO's “Treasures from the Archives” series of digitized reels.
- Audio / videotalk1973
Ginsberg on Kerouac, Kesey and Cassady (Salem State College Kerouac Festival)
Allen Ginsberg
AllenGinsberg.org
Audience Q&A in which Ginsberg recounts the 1964 bus trip east.
- Audio / videointerview1972
Gary Snyder: From the Archives (College at Brockport interview)
Gary Snyder
SUNY digital repository (The College at Brockport)
Described in search results as a 1972 interview held in SUNY archives; confirm format on the record.
- Audiointerview1970
Alex Bennett with the Grateful Dead (WMCA radio interview, 1970)
Grateful Dead · interviewed by Alex Bennett
Grateful Dead Archive Online (UC Santa Cruz)
Broadcast on WMCA, New York.
- Videointerview1966-10-27
Ken Kesey interviewed on Further Bus (KRON-TV, Winterland)
Ken Kesey · interviewed by Art Brown
San Francisco State University — DIVA (KRON-TV)
KRON report filmed at the Winterland Ballroom.
- Videointerview1966
Ken Kesey interviewed at Winterland
Ken Kesey
San Francisco State University — DIVA (SF Bay Area TV Archive)
KRON-TV news segment of the era; Kesey with the bus.
- Audiotalk1965
Allen Ginsberg lecture at the Berkeley Poetry Conference (introduced by Gary Snyder)
Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder
University at Buffalo Poetry Collection
Date per the Poetry Collection’s description of the Berkeley Poetry Conference; confirm on the item record.
- Videotalk1959
Alan Watts — Death (KQED, 1959)
Alan Watts
Internet Archive (classic TV, KQED San Francisco)
- Videotalk1959
Alan Watts — The Silent Mind (KQED, 1959)
Alan Watts
Internet Archive (classic TV, KQED San Francisco)
- Textinterview
Interview #9: John Allen Cassady
John Allen Cassady · interviewed by Simon Warner
Simon Warner (Substack), from the Rock and the Beat Generation series
Son of Neal and Carolyn Cassady; discusses the Kesey connection.
- Textinterview
Wavy Gravy interview (The Sun Magazine)
Wavy Gravy · interviewed by The Sun Magazine
The Sun Magazine
Long-form conversation held at the Hog Farm house in Berkeley; transcribed by Ann Schaaf. Site blocks automated checks; known from a search listing, not opened by our checker.
- Audiointerview
Wavy Gravy (Comes A Time podcast episode)
Wavy Gravy
Comes A Time (podcast)
Site blocks automated checks; known from a search listing, not opened by our checker.
- Audiointerview
American Prankster: Wavy Gravy's Life Story (podcast series)
Wavy Gravy
Rainbow Valentine
11-episode podcast series.
- Audiointerview
Set and Setting, Ep. 28 — Mountain Girl with Carolyn Garcia
Carolyn “Mountain Girl” Garcia · interviewed by Madison Margolin
Set and Setting (Be Here Now Network)
Covers her time as a psychedelic lab analyst at Stanford, the Pranksters, and communal living.
- Audiointerview
Mountain Girl (“MG”) Garcia on Life with the Merry Pranksters, Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead
Carolyn “Mountain Girl” Garcia
Protozoa Pictures podcast (iHeartPodcasts / Global Player)
- Audio / videotalk
Journey Through Psychedelia: A Pioneer’s Tale — Carolyn Garcia
Carolyn “Mountain Girl” Garcia
Visionary Congress
- Videointerview
Ken Kesey & Mountain Girl on Arrest
Ken Kesey, Carolyn “Mountain Girl” Garcia
San Francisco State University — DIVA (KRON-TV news)
- Videointerview
Ken Kesey interviewed on Further Bus (KPIX)
Ken Kesey
San Francisco State University — Bay Area Television Archive (KPIX)
Short clip (about 2 minutes).
- Audiointerview
Still Chasing, Ch. 5 — Meeting the Chief: The Ken Kesey Experience
Ken Kesey
Still Chasing (podcast)
Described as featuring never-before-heard footage from one of the last interviews of Kesey’s life.
- Textinterview
This Still Present Moment: an interview with Gary Snyder
Gary Snyder
East Carolina University — ScholarShip repository
Date not stated in the listing; see the repository record.
- Videointerview
Interview with Timothy Leary at home in the 1990s
Timothy Leary
Timothy Leary Archive (Internet Archive)
The Archive lists 2007 (digitization date); the interview is from the 1990s per its title.
Archives & special collections (15)
Where the primary material lives: University of Oregon (Kesey papers), UC Santa Cruz (Grateful Dead Archive), UCLA (bus-trip film and audio) and more. Most are finding aids; access to audiovisual items is often by appointment.
- Archivecollection1965–1970
Gene Anthony Summer of Love Photograph Collection, 1965–circa 1970
Gene Anthony
Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley (via Online Archive of California)
Original large-format prints; locations include Haight Street, Golden Gate Park, the Grateful Dead’s 710 Ashbury house, the Fillmore and Winterland.
- Archivecollection1964–1969
Ken Kesey / Merry Pranksters collection
Ken Kesey, Merry Pranksters
UCLA Film & Television Archive
Mostly 16mm footage of the 1964 bus trip, plus audio reels; the finding aid lists audio items including Neal Cassady’s “Speed Limit.” Collection page; a PDF finding aid is linked there. Originals are restricted — inquire with the archive.
- Archivecollection1953–2012
Ken Kesey papers (Ax 279), circa 1953–2012
Ken Kesey
University of Oregon Libraries — Special Collections & University Archives (via Archives West)
Correspondence, manuscripts, journals, artwork, tour material, clippings, and work by Pranksters; includes sound recordings and moving images. Per the finding aid, audiovisual and some digital files are access-restricted and use is in the reading room — contact the repository in advance. Purchased by UO in 2013.
- Archivecollection1910–2009
Timothy Leary papers (MssCol 18400)
Timothy Leary
New York Public Library, Manuscripts and Archives
Acquired by NYPL in 2011 and opened in 2013. Per the finding aid, audio and video await preservation transfer; some material was digitized earlier (see the Internet Archive’s Timothy Leary Archive). Copyright in Leary’s own writings is held by the Futique Trust.
- Textcollection
Conversations with Ken Kesey (book of collected interviews)
Ken Kesey
University Press of Mississippi (Project MUSE)
Includes Paul Krassner’s “An Impolite Interview with Ken Kesey.” Check your library for access.
- Archivecollection
Grateful Dead Archive Online (GDAO)
Grateful Dead
UC Santa Cruz Library — Special Collections
Online access to the band’s archive, donated to UC Santa Cruz in 2008. Includes broadcast interviews, posters and ephemera. Items carry a rights note: users are responsible for obtaining permissions.
- Archivecollection
David Gans Papers (MS 341), circa 1977–2008
David Gans
UC Santa Cruz Special Collections (via Online Archive of California)
Includes cassette-recorded interviews with Dead-world figures; audio reformatted and available via the library catalog.
- Archivecollection
Grateful Dead Records: Media (MS 332, Series 7)
Grateful Dead
UC Santa Cruz Special Collections (via Online Archive of California)
Finding aid for the media series of the Grateful Dead Records.
- Archivecollection
Acid Test Poster Reprint Collection (MS 339)
Merry Pranksters
UC Santa Cruz Special Collections (via Online Archive of California)
Reprints from Key-Z Productions, acquired 2010; open for research. Posters, not interviews.
- Textcollection
Institutionally Dead: Showcasing the Grateful Dead collections across the Smithsonian
Grateful Dead
Smithsonian — AV Preservation
Guide to Dead-related holdings at the Smithsonian.
- Archivecollection
Naropa University audio archive (Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics)
Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, Philip Whalen, Michael McClure, Amiri Baraka
Naropa University (via Internet Archive)
Decades of classes, lectures and readings by Beat and post-Beat poets, digitized and streamable on the Internet Archive.
- Archivecollection
PennSound: Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
PennSound, University of Pennsylvania
One of PennSound's most comprehensive author pages; includes recordings from the 1950s onward, including readings of “Elegy for Neal Cassady.”
- Archivecollection
Ram Dass — Here and Now (lecture excerpts across four decades)
Ram Dass
Be Here Now Network (Love Serve Remember Foundation)
Podcast of excerpts from Ram Dass lectures spanning roughly 40 years.
- Archivecollection
Ram Dass: From the Archive
Ram Dass
Love Serve Remember Foundation (Substack)
Stories, recordings and reflections drawn from the foundation’s archive.
- Archivecollection
Museum at Bethel Woods: online Woodstock photo and film archive
Woodstock
The Museum at Bethel Woods
Launched August 2018 with photographs and film from nearly 30 attendees (the museum’s press release also cites BethelWoodsCenter.org/PhotoArchive, which no longer resolves). The museum runs an oral-history project too. Check usage terms before reusing images.
Search the Internet Archive
Automated search of titles and subjects for interviews, talks and lectures, run live from your browser. These are unvetted candidates — some will be off-topic. Good ones get promoted into the catalog above.
Know of one we’re missing?
Email the project with the link, who’s speaking, the date and where it lives — and please only send links you’ve opened yourself. (Editors: add a record to data/interviews.json, then run npm run validate:catalog and npm run check:links.)