ABOUT THE FILM

“I watched the movie with awe…” — Ty Burr, The Boston Globe

THE AIRWAVES BELONGED TO THE PEOPLE: WBCN AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION tells the story of the legendary Boston rock station that transformed broadcasting through groundbreaking music, fearless journalism, and the counterculture that shaped a generation. Built from rare photographs, unseen footage, and never-before-heard broadcasts, the film captures WBCN-FM from 1968 to 1974: Bruce Springsteen’s first radio interview, Patti Smith’s first live radio broadcast, Jane Fonda and Abbie Hoffman in the thick of the era, and a time when three dollars got you into the Boston Tea Party to see The Who, the Velvet Underground, or Led Zeppelin. More than rock & roll history, it’s an entertaining, music-filled journey through journalism, activism, and free expression—whose themes could not be more timely.

PANEL DISCUSSION FOLLOWS

Following the screening, director Bill Lichtenstein and executive producer Robert Sennott stay for a conversation and audience Q&A about the station, the era, and why WBCN’s story of independent media and free expression feels so urgent today.

BILL LICHTENSTEIN
Director and Producer, WBCN and the American Revolution
Bill Lichtenstein is a Peabody Award-winning journalist and documentary producer and president of Lichtenstein Creative Media. A Newton native who attended Newton South High School, he began working at WBCN in 1970 at age fourteen, while still a student at Weeks Junior High. Over his career he has produced investigative reports for ABC News and public radio and television, and his writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Nation, and The Boston Globe. He is also a Guggenheim Fellow.

ROBERT F. SENNOTT
Executive Producer, WBCN and the American Revolution
Robert F. Sennott is an entrepreneur, investor, and executive producer whose passion for independent filmmaking has helped bring true stories to audiences worldwide. He served as executive producer of WBCN and the American Revolution and, most recently, of 76 Days Adrift, the acclaimed survival documentary considered for the 2026 Academy Awards. Before film, he founded and built several real estate information services companies later acquired by publicly traded firms on the New York Stock Exchange.