American Utopia Dan Greenstone

Hey folks, I just wanted to let you know about my new documentary film, Far Out West: Inside California's Kerista Commune.
It's available now on Amazon, (or for iTunes, Google Play, and Vudu click here).   
The Kerista Commune (1971-1991) is the closest thing we have to a modern day descendant of Oneida. Kerista was a group marriage, that had a charismatic leader, a form of Mutual Criticism (which they named Gestalt-o-Rama) a successful company.  And the parallels are even more erie--they raised children together, and suffered an exquisitely painful breakup when the company made them wealthy.
The Keristans are fascinating, intelligent people, who have been reluctant to share their story until now. My co-director and are the first people to be given access to the more than 250 hours of home movies that the Keristans made to document their utopia.  Far Out West utilizes this footage and over 50 hours of interviews with the former Keristans to tell this amazing story. 
So, go ahead and rent it, and let me know what you think of it-- dangreenstone@yahoo.com
Or, better yet, leave a review for the film on Amazon or iTunes, which helps us get the word out. 
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Introducing Dan's new podcast series, Madness on Trial.
Have you seen that John Hinckley Jr. is starting a music career? For real. He's planning a "Redemption Tour." When I first saw this, it kinda broke my brain and sent me down a research rabbit hole. Well, I've  come out the other side with a new podcast called Madness on Trial. It's a deep dive into  Hinckley's trial (the most important insanity defense case of the last century) and the history of the insanity defense. We've just released the trailer, and regular episodes will begin coming out next week. It's available on Apple, Spotify, etc. I hope you enjoy it!
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/madness-on-trial/id1644545571
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In the first episode of American Utopia, we meet Harriet Worden. After Harriet's mother died, Harriet's father, in a decision that would profoundly shape her life, brought his 9 year old daughter to live in the brand new Oneida Community. Through Harriet's eyes, we learn about the excruciating process of Mutual Criticism, what it was like to grow up in the Children's House, the vibrant cultural pursuits that made life joyous, and the complicated, and sometimes painful sexual practices of the Community.
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In this episode we meet Oneida's founder, John Humphrey Noyes, a painfully shy boy whose life and character are transformed after he attends a wild, four day religious revival. We watch as Noyes becomes a religious and sexual revolutionary so extreme that Yale College expels him. Still, Noyes manages to convince himself, and others, that he's actually perfect. And with the help of historians Christian Goodwillie and Ellen Wayland Smith, we compare Noyes’ ideas to those of other fringe religious visionaries of the 1830s and 1840s.
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Dan and historian Stephanie Coontz talk vibrators, graham crackers, and female orgasms, as they try to make sense of Oneida's Complex Marriage system, in which 300 adults were (heterosexually) married to each other. This (complicated!) arrangement grew directly out of the wide ranging, and sophisticated, critique of 19th century marriage and family structure put forth by John Humprhrey Noyes, Oneida's founder. Dan and Stephanie evaluate both Noyes' critique of 19th century sex, love and marriage and the commune's attempt to improve all three. So, yeah, this one might not be for kids.
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In 1848, when word of his free-love practices spread in his hometown of Putney, Vermont, John Humphrey Noyes and a few followers fled to Oneida Creek, in central New York state. There, bucking terrible odds, a harsh climate, and the nostalgic pull of the agrarian past, Noyes, and his followers managed to build a flourishing, vibrant community of 300 people who lived and loved together under one giant roof. This is the story of how they did it.
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