When We Were 'Free To Be'

Soundcheck | Nov 13, 2012

Forty years ago, actress Marlo Thomas and Ms. Magazine put out a children's album that taught little boys that it's all right to cry, and little girls that "ladies first" doesn’t always work out so well. Free to Be... You And Me used stories and songs to teach young people about tolerance, equality, and, perhaps most importantly, gender neutrality.

In this first part of a three part series on the 1972 record and book, we speak with the Emmy Award-winning TV producer Carole Hart, who co-produced the record and the 1974 Afterschool Special by the same name. Hart shares the story behind the album -- and the controversy it engendered.

Plus, we hear from cultural historian Lori Rotskoff, who co-edited a new essay collection called “When We Were Free To Be: Looking Back at a Children's Classic and the Difference It Made." 

Did you or your kids listen to Free To Be... You and Me? What did you think of it then? What do you think of it now? Tell us on Twitter at @Soundcheck, leave us a voicemail at 866-939-1612 or post a comment on Soundcheck.org.

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