Episode #221 |02.11.25

Louis Armstrong: Gangsters, the CIA, and Hot Music

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In this episode

You know Louis Armstrong, right? Jazz icon? Satchmo? Nice guy from the movies with the trumpet? Did you know he was part of a CIA coup in Africa? Did you know he compelled a President into civil rights action? Did you know Louis Armstrong was controlled by gangsters? There’s a lot to learn about this one-of-a-kind musician in DISGRACELAND.

Sources

Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong, by Terry Teachout

Louis Armstrong’s Black and Blues (2023, dir. Sacha Jenkins)

Louis Armstrong and the spy: how the CIA used him as a ‘trojan horse’ in Congo (The Guardian)

Review: White Malice: The CIA and the Covert Recolonization of Africa (CIA.gov)

Not a wonderful world: Louis Armstrong tapes reveal how racism scarred his life and career (The Guardian)

Billie Holiday: the highs and lows of Lady Day (Jazzwise)

Billie Holiday's ultimate triumph (Jazzwise)

The Day Louis Armstrong Made Noise (NY Times)

How the U.S. Used Jazz as a Cold War Secret Weapon (Time)

DISGRACELAND is a podcast about musicians getting away with murder and behaving very badly. It melds music history, true crime and transgressive fiction. Disgraceland is not journalism. Disgraceland is entertainment. Entertainment inspired by true events. However, certain scenes, characters and names are sometimes fictionalized for dramatic purposes.