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Mohrbooks Literary Agency
Marie Arendt |
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UNPLUGGED
Adventures from MTV to Timbuktu
In this candid and revealing memoir, Tom Freston -- co-founder of MTV, former CEO of MTV Networks and Viacom, and one of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries' most prominent media moguls -- takes readers behind the scenes of his adventurous, envelope-pushing, and creative life, from draft dodging and falling in with counterculture New Yorkers, to hitchhiking around Afghanistan and India, to founding MTV and navigating the snake-pit politics of corporate media.
Tom Freston didn't set out to change the face of American pop culture and media. But now, looking back on a life of risk-taking, of cultural exchange and rule-defying, it seems almost obvious that his fate was one of creativity, fame, art, and yes, controversy.
Turning eighteen the day President Kennedy was assassinated, Freston entered adulthood in an uncertain, terrifying time in American history. His post-high school years were spent dodging the Vietnam War draft, leading him to business school at NYU and his first introduction to the hippies and counter-culturalists of New York's downtown. After graduating with an MBA, Freston meandered from New York to Aspen to San Francisco to Mexico, initiating a lifelong passion for traveling and experiencing other cultures that would forever imbue his creative work.
Freston's most eye-opening travels were along the Hippie Trail to Afghanistan and India, countries that introduced him to unfamiliar sights, sounds, scents, and -- most importantly -- textiles, which became the basis of his first successful business, Hindu Kush, a textile export company that brought the vibrant colors and unfamiliar silhouettes of Afghani and Indian clothing to American consumers. Through it all, Freston brings readers along on his adventures, from riding pickup trucks through the Sahara desert to sleeping in Kabul drug dens to returning a changed man to New York, filled with new ideas and visions.
Part of the ragtag team that launched MTV, Freston foresaw how music and video could bring cultural consumption to another level; he landed the support of legendary musicians like the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Cyndi Lauper, Billy Idol, Hall and Oates, and others that helped launch MTV to household recognition. He climbed the ladder at Viacom, eventually overseeing not just MTV but also Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, VH1, Comedy Central, TV Land, and CMT, placing him squarely among the greatest cultural influencers readers have likely never heard of.
In Unplugged, Freston brings readers on an audacious, memorable, and daring trip through a life of equal parts business and art, friendship and betrayal, and adventure and reflection.
Freston is the founder of MTV and former president of Viacom. After launching a successful textile import company, Freston transitioned into the media landscape, helping launch MTV to international fame and presence. While at MTV, he also oversaw the launches of Nickelodeon, VH1, Comedy Central, and other legendary networks.
Turning eighteen the day President Kennedy was assassinated, Freston entered adulthood in an uncertain, terrifying time in American history. His post-high school years were spent dodging the Vietnam War draft, leading him to business school at NYU and his first introduction to the hippies and counter-culturalists of New York's downtown. After graduating with an MBA, Freston meandered from New York to Aspen to San Francisco to Mexico, initiating a lifelong passion for traveling and experiencing other cultures that would forever imbue his creative work.
Freston's most eye-opening travels were along the Hippie Trail to Afghanistan and India, countries that introduced him to unfamiliar sights, sounds, scents, and -- most importantly -- textiles, which became the basis of his first successful business, Hindu Kush, a textile export company that brought the vibrant colors and unfamiliar silhouettes of Afghani and Indian clothing to American consumers. Through it all, Freston brings readers along on his adventures, from riding pickup trucks through the Sahara desert to sleeping in Kabul drug dens to returning a changed man to New York, filled with new ideas and visions.
Part of the ragtag team that launched MTV, Freston foresaw how music and video could bring cultural consumption to another level; he landed the support of legendary musicians like the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Cyndi Lauper, Billy Idol, Hall and Oates, and others that helped launch MTV to household recognition. He climbed the ladder at Viacom, eventually overseeing not just MTV but also Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, VH1, Comedy Central, TV Land, and CMT, placing him squarely among the greatest cultural influencers readers have likely never heard of.
In Unplugged, Freston brings readers on an audacious, memorable, and daring trip through a life of equal parts business and art, friendship and betrayal, and adventure and reflection.
Freston is the founder of MTV and former president of Viacom. After launching a successful textile import company, Freston transitioned into the media landscape, helping launch MTV to international fame and presence. While at MTV, he also oversaw the launches of Nickelodeon, VH1, Comedy Central, and other legendary networks.
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Book
Published 2025-11-01 by Gallery |