The United States of America is almost 250 years old, and political violence has been here the whole time. On this episode of Bad Elizabeth Kathy and Gideon look at Betty Ann Duke, a Texas-Born woman who joined a bunch of domestic terrorists (or are they Freedom Fighters?) called the May 19th Communist Organization. The May 19 Group started as an offshoot of The Weather Underground and was a women-led revolutionary group that perpetrated a number of violent acts in the late 1970s through the early 1980s. They robbed banks, broke other revolutionaries out of prison, and were responsible for a series of bombings including the US Capitol in 1983.

To help navigate this complicated and fascinating story, is Bill Rosenau whose book Tonight We Bombed the U.S. Capitol: The Explosive Story of M19, America's First Female Terrorist Group is a gripping chronicle of who these people were, what they did, and what they believed in. It is the only in depth look into The May 19 group, and members like Betty Ann Duke, who is still at large.

In 2026, political violence is still very much a part of pop culture (One Battle After Another) and in the news (the recent assassination attempt of the President) so this episode about a group of 70s radicals seems oddly relevant.

----------------------------------------

Jett Road Studios - Website - YouTube - Instagram - Substack

Bad Elizabeth - Instagram - YouTube - Substack