Holly Near on Women's Music, Jane Fonda's Free The Army Tour, and music as activism episode artwork

EPISODE · Jun 10, 2025 · 1H 2M

Holly Near on Women's Music, Jane Fonda's Free The Army Tour, and music as activism

from Cruising | Queer History and Culture · host Sarah Gabrielli, Rachel Karp, and Jennifer McGinity

Holly Near is a world-renowned singer and activist, known for producing music with powerful political messaging - she sings about war, racism, queer love and much more. She is one of the early pioneers of Women's Music (also known as radical lesbian feminist music) and the first lesbian to come out in People Magazine in 1975. Holly started her political career in the anti-war movement. Most notably, joining Jane Fonda's FTA (Free The Army) tour in 1971. We discuss all of her adventures from first meeting Jane - to starting her own record company - to the profound impact of her music on people from all walks of life. Thank you for listening to Cruising Podcast! -Reviews help other listeners find Cruising! If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave us a 5-star review! -For more Cruising adventures, follow us @cruisingpod on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠ - Visit Holly's personal website - Learn more about Women's Music at becauseofasong.com - Watch the full F.T.A. documentary - Follow Holly on Instagram -Special thanks to this episode's sponsor, Olivia Travel -Discover Olivia at ⁠⁠⁠⁠Olivia.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ and save $100 on your next trip when you use promo code CRUISING -⁠⁠⁠⁠Support Cruising here⁠⁠⁠⁠! Cruising is an independent podcast. That means we're entirely funded by sponsors and listeners like you! -Cruising is reported and produced by a small but mighty team of three: Sarah Gabrielli (host/story producer/audio engineer), Rachel Karp (story producer/social media manager), and Jen McGinity (line producer/resident road-trip driver). Theme song is by ⁠⁠⁠⁠Joey Freeman⁠⁠⁠⁠. Cover art is by Nikki Ligos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Holly Near on Women's Music, Jane Fonda's Free The Army Tour, and music as activism

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