Music and Youth
VH1 & Sundance to air documentary series on drug use
MUMBAI: VH1 partners with Sundance Channel for a four-part documentary about illicit drug use in America and its impact on popular culture.
The Drug Years is based on the book Can’t Find My Way Home: America in the Great Stoned Age, by Martin Torgoff. It premieres on 12 June on VH1, with repeat telecast on Sundance beginning from 16 June. It spans from the 1950s to the present and uses archival footage and interviewed to show how music, movies, television and theater were affected by the rise in drug use.
The first episode, Break on Through focuses on the period from the 1950s to 1967, when artistic and social subcultures embraced marijuana and LSD use. The second episode, Feed Your Head, covers 1967 to 1971, when film and television content began to address drug use in America. The third installment, Teenage Wasteland, explores the years from 1972 to 1979, marked by the popularity of High Times magazine, drug humor by comedians like George Carlin and the emergence of Cocaine as the celebrity drug of choice. The last episode, Just Say No, takes viewers from 1980 to now.
Produced by Hart Perry and Dana Heinz Perry, who has delivered titles such as Imagining America: Icons of 20th Century Art and the Peabody Award-winning John Hammond: From Bessie Smith to Bruce Springsteen.
MUMBAI: Mumbai is about to witness something it has never seen before. The Global Youth Festival arrives on 6-7 December at Jio World Garden with 15,000 attendees and 60-plus experiences sprawled across six sprawling arenas. On its sixth edition, this is no ordinary jamboree—it is a carefully orchestrated collision of wellness, adventure, arts, music, yoga and social change.
Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis will throw open the proceedings with a landmark ceremony, signalling the state’s backing for a movement that has already mobilised youth across 20-plus countries and 170-plus cities. The sheer scale is staggering: 500-plus volunteers powering the machine, 600,000-plus volunteer hours logged across previous editions, and millions of lives touched annually.
The speaker roster is formidable. Diipa Büller-Khosla and Dipali Goenka, chief executive of Welspun India, will share the stage with Malaika Arora in conversations spanning leadership, creativity and culture. Union Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Mansukhbhai Mandaviya will also attend, reinforcing GYF’s reach into the corridors of power.
But this is not mere talk. The Solaris Mainstage promises concerts from renowned Indian artists. Innerverse delivers a 360-degree LED spectacle of art, technology and sound. The Love and Care Arena houses hands-on projects spanning women’s empowerment, child education, rural upliftment and animal welfare. India’s largest outdoor sound-healing experience awaits. An inflatable obstacle course, neon drifter karts and open-sky bouldering cater to thrill-seekers.
Some have branded GYF the “Coachella of Consciousness.” Others call it “India’s Largest Sober Festival.” Spiritual visionary Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshji, who inspired the festival, will deliver the Wisdom Masterclass. Every rupee goes to charity.
After Mumbai comes Kolkata on 14 December. New York looms next year. For one weekend in December, Mumbai becomes the epicentre of youth-driven change—and nothing will be quite the same after.
Tickets available on BookMyShow. Visit youthfestival.srmd.org or follow @globalyouthfestival on Instagram.
