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Photo of Adam and monks, Washington DC, 1994 by Erin Potts

Album cover with a black circular background, stylized orange sun and white cloud design, red text reading "FREEDOM NEEDS A SOUNDTRACK," and the name "kalw" in black at the bottom right corner.

Thirty years ago, the Beastie Boys, U2, Rage Against the Machine, Björk, Radiohead, Pearl Jam, A Tribe Called Quest, and other major artists came together for nonviolence, freedom, and Tibet through the Tibetan Freedom Concerts.

In this six-part audio documentary, concert co-founder Erin Potts tells how a small team of twenty-somethings helped build one of the largest concert series of the 1990s. With friends, artists, activists, and organizers who were part of the story, Erin looks back at how the concerts began, what they changed, and what their legacy offers today.

Available wherever you get your podcasts starting June 15th.

Can’t wait? Check out our playlists on Spotify and YouTube.

Episode 1: The Power of Music

Before the Tibetan Freedom Concerts became one of the biggest shows of the 1990s, teenage Erin Potts dreams of a concert for Tibet featuring her favorite band. Meanwhile, imprisoned Tibetan nun Ngawang Sangdrol reveals what it meant to resist from inside Tibet. Their stories meet in the same place: the power of music.

Publish date: June 15, 2026, on the 30th anniversary of the first concert.

Photo by Jay Blakesberg

A person with red hair playing an electric guitar in front of a colorful mural with a sun and lion motifs, with audio equipment nearby.

Episode 2: Inside Tibet

After studying Tibetan and meeting Adam Yauch of Beastie Boys in Nepal, Erin comes face to face with the stakes of Tibet’s struggle when she witnesses China’s violent response to a protest and is left holding proof that the world needs to see.

Publish date: June 22, 2026

Photo by Erin Potts

People walking on the street near a construction site with scaffolding. Two women and a child in the foreground, part of a group of pedestrians.

Episode 3: “Standing Up for Freedom”

After protest photos and freedom songs are smuggled out of Tibet, Erin returns home, where a dinner with Adam transforms what she witnessed into a new kind of action and sends her on tour with Beastie Boys and a group of Tibetan monks.

Publish date: June 29, 2026

Photo by Erin Potts

Group of monks dressed in traditional robes and hats performing at a stage, with musical instruments and microphones, during an outdoor cultural event.

Episode 4: The First Concert

After two years of near misses, Erin, Adam, and a young team of organizers finally bring the first Tibetan Freedom Concert to life, with one of the most talked-about lineups of the 1990s and a bold new model for turning music into action.

Publish date: July 6, 2026 (His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s 91st birthday)

Photo by Jay Blakesberg

A woman singing on stage at a large outdoor concert with a very crowded audience, security staff, and trees in the background.

Episode 5: No Slowing Down

The Tibetan Freedom Concerts head to New York, where the team faces slow ticket sales, city bureaucracy, and the pressure of turning one breakthrough concert into something bigger. But even as the concert nearly breaks them, U2’s surprise appearance fulfills Erin’s teenage promise and helps carry the movement toward Washington, D.C.

Publish date: July 13, 2026

Photo by Danny Clinch

A person with long dark hair, wearing sunglasses, a red shirt, and a black jacket, holding an orange ukulele up in the air during a live performance, with a microphone and a group of people visible in the background.

Episode 6: After the Storm

Just two weeks before President Clinton’s trip to China, the D.C. concert becomes the biggest and most consequential yet. After lightning injures concertgoers, the movement carries its message to the Capitol, Beijing and beyond. Erin and others look back on what it set in motion, and ahead to what the fight for freedom needs now.

Publish date: July 20, 2026

Photo by Danny Clinch

The image shows the United States Capitol building in black and white with protest signs on the building railing reading "FREE TIBET." The photograph has a grayscale tone.
The image shows the United States Capitol building in black and white with protest signs on the building railing reading "FREE TIBET." The photograph has a grayscale tone.

Credits

No one who worked on this project was paid what they deserved, and some were not paid at all, but every person listed below brought a lot of talent, love, care, and generosity that made each episode infinitely better. Thank you, all!

Writer and Producer: Andrés Caballero

Editor: Martina Castro

Project Manager & Archival Producer: Mariano Pagella

Sound Designer and Mastering: Martin Cruz

Fact Checking: Ana Lucia Murrillo and Lhadon Tethong

Some of the voices heard in the series through new interviews and archival tape include: Adam Yauch, Biz Markie, Björk, Bono, Dave Grohl, Deyden Tethong, Erin Potts, Flea, Kurt Loder, Lhadon Tethong, Ngawang Sangdrol, Palden Gyatso, Sam Chapin, Thom Yorke, Tom Morello, Yoko Ono and others.

Original Theme Song: Money Mark
Dramyae Music: Tendor
Music Supervision: Kathleen Smith

Recording: Paige Sutherland, Rick Nelson & Marigny Studios Black Sheep Studios, KALW, Preservation Hall Studios, and Tenzin Leckphel (India).

Logo Design: Aaron Terry

Communications: Jamie Paratore

Publicity: Perry Serpa, Vicious Kid PR

Finance & Operations: Jon Voss

Legal: Joe Voss, Esq.

Legal Review: Neil Rosini, Franklin Weinrib Rudell + Vassallo LLP

Fiscal Sponsorship: Shift Collective‍ ‍

Project Advisor: Leah Rose

For KALW: James Kass and David Boyer

Executive Producers: Deyden Tethong, Erin Potts and Martina Castro

Creators of Freedom Needs a Soundtrack: Erin Potts and Deyden Tethong

Freedom Needs a Soundtrack is a Rangzen, LLC Production. The audio documentary was produced by Adonde Media and distributed in partnership with KALW Public Media in San Francisco.