HOW VIOLENCE AND FIREARMS BECAME A PART OF AMERICAN IDENTITY
Hosts Jim and Bobbi Jean Bell
Join us for an engaging conversation with our two guests, Henry C. Parke, True West Magazine Film Editor and author of The Greatest Westerns Ever Made and The People Who Made Them and two-time Emmy Award winner Kirk Ellis. Henry takes the lead and gives us his scoop on current Western films and TV shows with this month’s Henry’s Western Round-up. We take an in-depth look at Kirk Ellis’ latest release, They Kill People: Bonnie And Clyde, A Hollywood Revolution, And America’s Obsession With Guns And Outlaws. This riveting and important book is the story of the outlaws whose real lives were anything but glamorous. Most of all, it is the story of how violence and a predilection for firearms became a fundamental part of American identity.
Here’s what a few readers have to say:
A supple and far-ranging narrative. — Hampton Sides
This is a thoughtful and frequently surprising look at a film that quite literally changed the way movies were made.– Booklist
In THEY KILL PEOPLE, Kirk Ellis leads the reader through our history of gun-fueled outlawry with entertaining enlightenment. –Bryan Cranston, producer/star of Breaking Bad
Playlist:
Foggy Mountain Breakdown – Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs
The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde – Merle Haggard
Hosts – Jim and Bobbi Jean Bell
Opening and Closing Music – Hot Texas courtesy of Alex Dormont and the Hot Texas Swing Band
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Aired June 4, 2026
