Ken Kesey: Oregon’s countercultural icon | Oregon Experience

Video Description

Ken Kesey (1935 - 2001) is one of the best-known authors to ever emerge from Oregon. He wrote his two most-acclaimed novels, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest” (1962) and “Sometimes a Great Notion” (1964), when still in his twenties. Kesey was also attributed by the news media as “a founding father” and proponent of the '60s counterculture, after encountering psychedelics in 1959 through a government-sponsored clinical drug trial. “Oregon Experience” offers a fresh look at this tie-dyed-in-the-wool Oregonian, featuring rare interviews with Kesey family members and distinguished authors with insight into Kesey's writings and antics. This story originally aired on Jan. 20, 2014. Read more about Ken Kesey here https://www.opb.org/television/programs/oregon-experience/article/or-exp-ken-kesey/ Chapters 0:00 Introduction to Ken Kesey: Icon of the 1960s counterculture 2:03 Ken Kesey's early life and background: Growing up in Oregon 8:36 Ken Kesey's participation in government-sponsored drug trials 12:45 Writing 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest': Kesey's literary breakthrough 18:00 Ken Kesey's 'Sometimes a Great Notion': A masterpiece from coastal Oregon 22:50 Kesey's cross-country bus trip: The Merry Pranksters 28:45 Ken Kesey, LSD, and The Grateful Dead: Psychedelic adventures 32:30 The arrest of Ken Kesey and the birth of the hippie movement 35:25 Ken Kesey's rural life: Settling down on a farm with his family 47:00 Ken Kesey's later works and the second bus tour 52:23 Stage plays, film adaptations, and the final years of Ken Kesey 58:15 Credits For more stories like this visit OPB online at https://opb.org --- Oregon Public Broadcasting aims to elevate and amplify the community, connect Oregon and its neighbors, and illuminate a wider world through stories. OPB Every Day. OPB Everywhere. One way to support OPB and the work of public media is to subscribe to our channel for new OPB videos every month: https://www.youtube.com/opb?sub_confirmation=1 Member support makes all the videos on the OPB YouTube channel possible, and everything else you love. Ensure the next important story is covered and join in as a Sustainer now at https://give.opb.org/opb/?s=OAMEGNS220500000 #oregonexperience #KenKesey #OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest #SometimesAGreatNotion #OregonAuthors #Counterculture #1960sCounterculture #PsychedelicHistory #Psychadelics #KenKeseyDocumentary #OregonExperience #LiteraryLegends #BeatGeneration #PsychedelicPioneers #OregonWriters #LiteraryHistory #CountercultureIcons #OPB #Oregon #PacificNorthWest