There will be a half hour program about the Farm, mostly interviews with Farm folks living off and on the Farm, especially youth, on MSNBC "Reports" with Forrest Sawyer, Monday night at 9 PM East Coast time. -P -- http://www.plenty.org

A Different Drum We explore the attraction, participants, and surprising longevity of the counterculture from the Burning Man Festival in the Nevada desert to a rare first-hand look inside Tennessees The Farm, one of the original 1960s communes now in its 30th year.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/599517.asp?0dm=C219V#Investigates

It wasn't back to the future, it was back to the past. The MSNBC Burning Man / Farm special paid homage to both these institutions in a respectful, considerate way. They focused in on the story of the Farm, from the Family Dog days, the Caravan and the settling of the Farm in Summertown. There was some great old footage and interviews, probably done at Ragweed Day, with Phillip Schweitzer, Alan Graf, Stephen, Ina May, and a couple of the kids that are now in their 30s, Janet and Jose Mundo's daughter and the Frohmann's daughter, who's a photojournalist now for the San Jose Mercury News. They slid in a shot at Al Gore, who visited the Farm while a young Nashville photojournalist. Scoop Nisker interviews provided the bridge and background context between Burning Man and the Farm. Stephen on Al Gore, "Gore had a good time . . . he never said a word about pot . . . except it was a 'false experience' . . . I've got a degree in English and I'm a general semanticist and I don't know what that means." Alan Graf had a lot to say and summed up why it left the Farm, "when you've got two kids and you're 30 years old a school bus doesn't make it anymore." Phil Schweitzer is back on the Farm running a small video business. A lot of folks and the kids still feel like the Farm is their home Ina May is still running her birthing center, "there's not too many midwives in the country that get to live with their results." "The once exalted Stephen Gaskin has let go of his Zen Master role and just lives like everyone else there." Rina Mundo looked cool, she's writing an producing documentaries in New York City. She still considers the Farm "her real home". Susanah Frohmann found herself "embarrassed about the Farm . . . it took her three years to tell someone she was from a commune. Daniel Hunt married another Farm girl and they're running a Hidden Gardens Nursery in Aptos. Will the Farm go on? It's a challenge, say Phillip. It's no doubt had a huge impact on a lot of lives. "I come back to the Farm because it's my home and my heart, I want to be buried on the Farm," said Susanah. "It's where I'm allowed to be who I am." said Stephen at the close of this program. The Farm couldn't have made a more positive documentary about itself. MSNBC gave the Farm a huge stroke tonight.