It’s April 19th 1995, the 220th anniversary of the start of the American War of Independence, and two years since the violent end of the Waco, Texas siege. Subscribe for more from Factual America: [ Ссылка ]

In Oklahoma City, a disaffected army veteran named Timothy McVeigh leaves a truck outside the Alfred P Murrah Federal Building. Inside the truck is a bomb. At 9am, McVeigh lights the two minute fuse. When the bomb explodes, it kills 168 people and wounds 680 more.

In An American Bombing: The Road to April 19th, Marc Levin retraces McVeigh’s footsteps, showing how he went from being a war hero to a terrorist. Rather than look at McVeigh in isolation, however, Marc places his actions in the context of the evolution of political violence in the US. It is an evolution that continues to the present day.

In this episode of Factual America, Marc and Daphne discuss the making of the film. They look at how the bombing has become an almost forgotten moment in American history; the economic and military as well as historical background to the outrage; whether McVeigh acted alone; and how views that in the 90s were regarded as being extreme have now entered the mainstream.

As we head towards the 2024 US presidential election on November 5th, An American Bombing: The Road to April 19th reflects upon the dangerous journey of American democracy and the high price Americans have had to pay for their freedoms.

“He may be dead but the ghost of McVeigh lives, and there are lots of people out there that subscribe to some of his thinking.” – Marc Levin

What is Covered:
00:00 – Trailer for An American Bombing: The Road to April 19
01:44 – Matthew Sherwood introduces this episode’s guests, Marc Levin and Daphne Pinkerson, and their film: An American Bombing: The Road to April 19
03:46 – Marc Levin explains what An American Bombing is about
05:40 – Marc explains why the Oklahoma City bombing has been largely forgotten about in America
09:35 – Timothy McVeigh: The man behind the attack
11:29 – The economic history of the Oklahoma City bombing
15:17 – How war helps extremism to flourish
17:22 – Marc on how easy it was for Timothy McVeigh to become radicalised
20:49 – The significance in American history of the April 19 th date
25:38 – Discussing whether McVeigh acted alone
32:39 – Discussing whether we have learnt any lessons from the Oklahoma City bombing
39:40 – How long term economic restructuring has helped extremism to flourish
42:51 – Daniel Coss: from the April 19 bombing to January 6 insurrection
44:58 – Marc on why they made An American Bombing
48:05 – Feature film vs. docu-series
50:25 – Marc and Daphne’s upcoming films
52:58 – Discussing the closure of Participant films
54:39 – Discussing the current state of documentary filmmaking in the UK
57:37 – Matthew Sherwood on his point-of-connection with Waco, Texas and Oklahoma City

Resources:
An American Bombing: The Road to April 19th: [ Ссылка ]
MovieMaker Magazine [ Ссылка ]
Innersound Audio [ Ссылка ]

Connect with Marc Levin
IMDb [ Ссылка ]

Connect with Daphne Pinkerson
IMDb [ Ссылка ]


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Factual America uses documentary filmmaking to examine the American experience as well as universal topics that affect all Americans. Guests include leading documentary filmmakers, their subjects, as well as experts on the American experience.

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