Shorts: The Three Body Problem

In 1985, a group of powerful "Washington Wives" led by Tipper Gore formed the PMRC to clean up rock and roll, sparking a culture war that culminated in a dramatic Senate hearing. This episode of ⁠Rock N Roll Archaeology⁠, "The Three-Body Problem," performs a forensic autopsy on that manufactured moral panic. We explore how the unlikely, chaotic alliance of John Denver, Dee Snider, and Frank Zappa dismantled the PMRC's case piece by piece. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You can listen to Shorts: The Three Body Problem online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Shorts: The Three Body Problem is an episode from Rock N Roll Archaeology by Pantheon Media.

This episode is 34:17 long.

This episode was published on Sep 17, 2025.

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