Press + Liberty Salon Panel Discussions

a reception and presentation at Fat City Gallery in support of game-changing solutions to the climate crisis. The Global Warming Mitigation Project (GWMP) awards projects and programs that are reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing carbon uptake.

Recorded 7/15/2021

At Poster House’s Freak Power Exhibit, Salvador Muñoz is joined by Gonzo Gallery’s Daniel Joseph Watkins. Watkins’s talk will highlight Benton’s collaborations with Gonzo Journalist Hunter S. Thompson as well as the larger body of political posters Benton created in the 1960s and 70s.

Recorded 3/16/2021

Hunter Thompson’s Lawyer Gerry Goldstein and former Pitkin County Sheriff Bob Braudis reminisce with stories of the infamous gonzo journalist and a public showing of his gunshot artwork for the first time in over twenty years.

Recorded 8/16/2020

Director of the Aspen Institute Society of Fellows Genna Moe is joined by Artist Ajax Axe to discuss the themes of her new show playtime, which explores the symbols and values that Americans worship and their detriment.

Recorded 8/03/2020

A discussion on the lives and works of Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs, known as leading voices of the Beat Generation of poets, and to a lesser extent, visual artists in their own rights. The two challenged each other and strengthened their opposing ideologies while maintaining a close friendship for decades. Featuring Peter Hale of the Ginsberg Trust, Curator Yuri Zupancic, and Paul Miller aka DJ Spooky.

Recorded 7/19/2020

Loren Jenkins joins Juan Thompson to discuss and read an excerpt from Juan's memoir "Stories I Tell Myself", chronicling his life and relationship with his complicated father, Gonzo Journalist Hunter S. Thompson.

Recorded 1/16/2016

Former Pitkin County Sheriff Bob Braudis is joined by Steve Cohen to discuss the ins and outs of putting together Hunter S. Thompson’s funeral. Steve was tasked by Johnny Depp to build the 153-foot monument shaped like a Gonzo Fist which shot Hunter’s ashes into the air. Originally aired

Recorded 1/15/2016

Daniel Joseph Watkins and Bob Braudis are joined via video call with artist Ralph Steadman, known for his wild and unhinged illustrations and his work with Hunter S. Thompson.

Recorded 1/2/2016

Matt Rice of American Rivers and Matthew Mosley, swimmer and author of "Dear Dr. Gonzo" came to the Gonzo Gallery to reinforce the importance of conserving the ecology of the Colorado River, a valuable ecological and economic artery for the western United States.

Recorded 12/11/2015

With the release of "Freak Power: Hunter S. Thompson's Campaign for Sheriff", the Gonzo Gallery hosted a panel with Joe Edwards, formal Mayoral candidate for Aspen and a key player in Hunter's campaign, as well as David Hiser and Bob Krueger, photographers who captured the campaign and Aspen's history.

Recorded 8/22/2015

The Gonzo Gallery hosted NPR's leading foreign correspondent Loren Jenkins and legal activist Gerry Goldstein to discuss their friendship with Hunter S. Thompson and explore how his brand of politics rippled throughout the last 50 years.

Recorded 8/21/2015

Robert Egger returns to the second Gonzo Gallery to further reflect on the potential for wasted food and the manner in which society treats ex-convicts as they attempt to rejoin the workforce.

Recorded 8/20/2015

With the opening of the second iteration of the Gonzo Gallery and the release of the Freak Power book, former four-term Pitkin County Sheriff Bob Braudis and current Sheriff Joe DiSalvo reflect on Hunter S. Thompson's legacy of holistic law enforcement in Pitkin County for the past 50 years.

Recorded 8/15/2015

With the release of "Freak Power: Hunter S. Thompson's Campaign for Sheriff", author Daniel Joseph Watkins and Bob Braudis discuss the book's origins and the kind of change in law enforcement that Hunter strived for.

Recorded 8/10/2015

Tom Benton, as an avid consumer of poetry, frequently incorporated lines of poetry in his posters to reinforce their ideas. In that spirit, the Gonzo Museum hosted a poetry reading where participants read some poems they find important.

Recorded 2/9/2013

Joe Edwards, former County Commissioner and candidate for Mayor in 1969. Hunter S. Thompson served as Edward's de-facto campaign manager and Thomas W. Benton created his first local campaign posters for the Edwards campaign. Although Edwards narrowly lost the election by 6 votes, he won a seat on the County Commission in 1972 and had a profound influence on the community through his progressive policies on land use, public transportation, and the local trails system.

Recorded 8/15/2012

Robert Egger explores the intersection between Gonzo and the food-based philanthropy he partakes in with his non-profit DC Central Kitchens, which works to repurpose otherwise wasted food for those in need and training ex-convicts to work in restaurants.

Recorded 7/21/2012

Back in 2012, Daniel Joseph Watkins gave a tour of the original Gonzo Museum located in the Benton Building in Aspen, Colorado. The first run showcased the political posters of Tom Benton, Ralph Steadman, and their collaborations with writer and father of gonzo journalism, Hunter S. Thompson.