Provided by Wikipedia Jon Wiener (born May 16, 1944) is an American historian and journalist based in Los Angeles, California. His most recent book is ''Set the Night on Fire: L.A. in the Sixties'', a ''Los Angeles Times'' bestseller co-authored by Mike Davis. He waged a 25-year legal battle to win the release of the FBI's files on John Lennon. Wiener played a key role in efforts to expose the surveillance, as well as the behind-the-scenes battling between the government and the former Beatle, and is an expert on the FBI-versus-Lennon controversy. A professor emeritus of United States history at the University of California, Irvine and host of ''The Nation''s weekly podcast, ''Start Making Sense'', he is also a contributing editor to the progressive political weekly magazine ''The Nation''. He also hosts a weekly radio program in Los Angeles.
''Set the Night on Fire'' (2020) is a movement history of Los Angeles. The backbone of the book is the story of the civil rights, Black power and Chicano movements, as well as the anti-war movement, gay liberation and women's liberation and the battles between young people and the LAPD on Sunset Strip and at Venice Beach. The counterculture provides another focus—the Ash Grove folk music club, the ''LA Free Press'', KPFK radio and the Free Clinic.
