Hunter-Gatherers Podcast of Hunter S. Thompson Stories

Jimmy Buffet: An HST Friend and Too Much Fun Club Charter Member Has Left the Boat From those stories about wild long-distance bills in Key West to playing backup for Hunter during an Aspen High School book event (there's video and audio... wait until you hear what he did after he blows out the flip-flop in 1977!), we bid farewell to a truly Gonzo original.

Looking back on hours of Hunter S. Thompson stories, our hosts find that Gonzoland is clearly in good hands, next-generation wise. Also, the wealth of diversity remains strong – and, of course, the credibility of this being The Last G'Fest is always in question.

Ron Whitehead declared GonzoFest 10 "the last and final," but will his protégés carry on the Louisville tradition? Listen how Hunter S. Thompson influences Gen Z to this day, and how the Gonzo spirit shall live on in his hometown – and across the nation – with Kent Fielding and the heirs to GonzoFest, Ella Rennekamp and Elizabeth Colon-Nelson.

She was Hunter S. Thompson's first book editor, helping craft the Hells Angels book. She was also a friend and, as readers of her book "Keep This Quiet" know, "special friend." Some even say she was a muse at the most critical time of his career... she certainly pulls no punches during a live interview from Louisville.

Matt Hahn speaks on Hunter's writing style, his fear of failure as a literary motivator, those who knew him (and those who did not), and how the 1996 tribute and the 2010 GonzoFest are bookends of literary legend. Also, Curtis reflects on the hat Hunter gave him...and how it is a symbol of how Hunter brought friends together.

If terms like "The Hashbury is the Capital of the Hippies" or "Non-Student Left" are triggering for you, then of course you already know (and likely love) Peter Richardson. His book "Savage Journey" looks at Hunter's formative literary years in San Francisco and helps make the case for "gonzo" stemming from those Bay Area nights. If that floats your boat, then AFTER listening here you might enjoy...

LIVE AT GONZOFEST: WHAT'S IT WORTH TO YA? Since GonzoFest is at least part swap-meet, the legendary Hunter-stuff collector and market guru "Jackalope," from the Instagram of the same name, joins C&C to discuss what's hot... and to address a few totally hypothetical items that may include a UK baseball cap Hunter brought back from the 1996 Louisville homecoming.

You think you might be a bit OCD on HST? Well, Dr. John Brick is not just one of the nation's leading experts on Hunter S. Thompson, but his dissertation actually tracks the changes and rewrites to Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas. You can start with the changes from the Rolling Stone publication to the book. Spoiler alert: Lawyers get involved! And he also explores who the characters were in real lif...

Ron Whitehead, the legendary beat poet and GonzoFest founder, joins Curtis and Christopher to explain the event's origins, serve up some gonzo history and make his case that this is really, truly, no kidding the 10th and last GonzoFest... most likely.

In our first posting from GonzoFest 2024, Curtis and Christopher welcome a scholarly “guru” of modern American literature. Tulane University professor and HST expert T.R. Johnson explains how Hunter may stand as the modern American Mark Twain, and how river cities like Louisville and New Orleans help form such a character. And Dr. T.R. believes Dr. Gonzo may have recreated himself into one of the...

In their first post-pandemic studio gabfest, the H-G crew talks with a GonzoFest organizer about what to expect in Louisville on July 14. Plus: Why does it take Louisville so long to embrace its famous residents like Hunter and Mohammad Ali? We also wonder if this will actually be the10th and last GonzoFest – well, one of those things is clearly true but the other meets skeptics. Tickets for GF10...

Those many Hunter S. Thompson campus visits are always the stuff of stories, but not always with the impact you might expect. For one Appalachian American FOC (Friend of Curtis), Jeff Weddle, it seems Charles Bukowski was a much bigger deal -- but he comes around as he becomes FOC.) Also: Ignore that politically incorrect book inscription.)

It's that time of year, when the timeless Fear & Loathing at the Super Bowl gets discovered again and again. It remains a reminder that Hunter S. Thompson began, and ended, his career as a sports writer, and that he considered politics both blood sport and the way to control your environment. But don't just stop at the 1974 version!

Matthew Hahn, a 26-year-old writing 25 years ago for The Atlantic, got Hunter S. Thompson to open up about the John F. Kennedy murder, why the Internet feeds TV lust and that Nixon obit — and, oh yes, the Modern Library honoring 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.’

The Hunter S. Thompson classic "Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail, '72" book was published in 1973, just one of many follow-on impacts of that year on the next. For example one 1973 story involves HST, Franco Harris, ESPN Legend John A. Walsh, George Plimpton and Jann Wenner, Trigger warning: It was a different era in gambling on race.

The votes are finally mostly counted, so how did 2022 reflect the wisdom of Hunter S. Thompson's 1972 classic Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail, 72? Fifty years later, the trends are oddly similar including that President Nixon had only slight influence on down-ballot Republicans. So, when a seated president has little influence on other elections... well, Curtis and Christopher break it down...

Election news during October 50 years ago was such that Hunter S. Thompson more or less took a pass at writing about Nixon v. McGovern, instead musing about a certain werewolf visiting the Watergate. With a look at how the looming midterm votes are likely (or not) to mirror those of a half-century ago, Curtis Robinson and Christopher Tidmore dive into a short chapter. Also: Some predictions about...

Fifty years ago, as September rolled into October, Hunter S. Thompson was returning to the National Affairs Desk from an extended Aspen respite. Then, as now, the November elections really went into high gear after Labor Day, and the accelerating countdown finds Hunter ignoring his famous gambling objectivity. Instead, his is widely speculating that the Democrats might yet avoid an historic defeat...

The famous "Tales of the Cocktail" mixologist & drinks gathering returned to New Orleans, and about half of Louisville showed up for the bourbon tastings. It offered a chance to explore the complicated history between HST and his home town, even with some appreciation of Knob Creek offered in the bargain. Curtis and Christopher record live from NOLA for the first time in years – yes, that's a stre...

Happy birthday Hunter! Curtis and Christopher discuss the milestone along with that birthday story about a certain A-list celebrity's daughter getting to rub HST's bald spot for luck. Could there be any better foreshadowing for 50 Shades of Gray?

A half-century after Hunter A. Thompson covered the milestone Nixon re-election and later published Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail, '72, our C2 (Curtis and Christopher) address the HST affinity for the firebrand activist and organizer Saul Alinsky and also what Christopher learned from his several interviews with Sen. McGovern. It's the best story about blowing up a barn you're likely to he...

The lawman of more than 30 years proved that Hunter & Co. may not have won the 'Battle of Aspen,' but they won the cultural war.

It was May 28, 1972, and Hunter Thompson was having drinks at the bar at the Watergate Hotel. Unbeknownst to him, nearby, the offices of the Democratic National Committee were being infiltrated by the “plumbers.” It had already been a landmark month in politics, as we remember reading the May chapter of “Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ‘72.” From the shooting of George Wallace to the antic...

Our frequent guest Matt Moseley, author of the book Dear Dr. Thompson about Hunter's successful effort to free a Colorado woman from prison after her strange felony murder conviction, helps kick off our parallel podcast we're calling "District-to-District." Based in the District of Columbia and linked with the Garden District of New Orleans (where the HG studio is STILL under construction!), the p...

The first Saturday in May is galloping toward us, which means the Kentucky Derby looms. Hunter S. Thompson's created gonzo journalism with is 1970 coverage of the race. In this episode Christopher and Curtis offer insight into how that happened and just what it cost to send a page of your notes across the early fax machines, aka "mojo wire."