Journalism

Joe Kennedy, Cold War Critic: The Nation, 2/4

As we head toward the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination later this year, a new book has revealed the striking differences between JFK and his father, Joe Kennedy on the bedrock fact of American politics during that era: the Cold War.  JFK’s declaration in his famous inaugural address is well known: the US should “pay any price, bear any burden” to fight communism everywhere in the world.  Virtually unknown, until now, is the fact that a decade earlier his father had declared the entire Cold War “politically and morally” bankrupt.
. . . continued at TheNation.com, HERE

‘The Americans’: Soviet Spies on TV — The Nation 1/31

The best thing about The Americans, the new spy show on FX, is that the Soviet spies are not Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.  They are a different married couple—Russians, sent by the KGB from Moscow to Washington, DC. The show begins shortly after Reagan takes office. . . .
. . . continued at TheNation.com HERE

 

 

Eight Things I Miss about the Cold War: TomDispatch 1/15

It couldn’t be a sadder thing to admit, given what happened in those years, but — given what’s happened in these years — who can doubt that the America of the 1950s and 1960s was, in some ways, simply a better place than the one we live in now?  Fifty years ago, college was cheap, unions were strong, and we had no terrorism-industrial complex. . .
. . . continued at TomDispatch.com, HERE — also at TheNation.com HERE — or Mother Jones HERE – or Salon.com HERE — or Huffington Post HERE — or Daily Kos HERE — or Alternet HERE — or Truthdig HERE — or History News Network HERE — or Redit HERE – with 480 comments!

The Noir Forties: L.A. Review of Books, 1/15

DETOUR is an ultra-low-budget 1946 film noir that packs an undeniable punch. “He went searching for love,” the Detour poster said, “but fate forced a detour” — to accidental murder. The film is one of Richard Lingeman’s touchstones in his new book The Noir Forties: The American People from Victory to Cold War. . . .
. . . continued at the L.A. Review of Books, HERE.

Largest Mass Execution in US History – The Nation 12/26

December 26, 1862: thirty-eight Dakota Indians were hanged in Mankato, Minnesota, in the largest mass execution in US history–on orders of President Abraham Lincoln. Their crime: killing 490 white settlers, including women and children, in the Santee Sioux uprising the previous August.
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Lincoln’s treatment of defeated Indian rebels against the United States stood in sharp contrast to his treatment of Confederate rebels. . . .
. . . continued at TheNation.com, HERE

Tarantino vs. Spielberg on Slavery: The Nation 12/25

Two films about American slavery in the Civil War era are currently playing in theaters.
Steven Spielberg’s film “Lincoln” begins with a black soldier reciting the Gettysburg Address.
Quentin Tarantino’s film “Django Unchained” begins with a black slave being recruited to kill two whites murderers. . .
. . . continued at TheNation.com HERE

Q&A with Calvin Trillin: The Nation 12/17

Jon Wiener: Your new book is not just a collection of verse from your Deadline Poet contributions to The Nation—it’s a 150-page narrative poem.
Calvin Trillin
: Let’s not be afraid of the word “epic” here. It’s a long epic poem in iambic pentameter, interrupted at points by what we call “a pause for prose.” There’s a prose piece, for instance, that’s called “Callista Gingrich, Aware That Her Husband Has Cheated On and Then Left Two Wives Who Had Serious Illnesses, Tries Desperately to Make Light of a Bad Cough.” . . .
. . . continued at TheNation.com, HERE

Oliver Sacks: Tripping in Topanga, 1963:
L.A. Review of Books 12/11

Oliver Sacks is the legendary neurologist and New Yorker essayist whose books include the classic The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. His new book is Hallucinations.
Jon Wiener: In your book Hallucinations you mention what you call your “long virginity” in experience with hallucinogenic drugs.
Oliver Sacks:
I was afraid you’d get onto this. That was the last chapter I wrote, and I wasn’t sure whether it should be in the book or not. I think it probably should. I think I was afraid of hallucinogenic drugs. . .
. . . continued at the LA Review of Books, HERE.