McCarthyism: How one grifter still poisons America

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Summary <p>What are the <em>real</em> stories behind the most misunderstood ideas in politics? <strong>Ian Dunt </strong>and<strong> Dorian Lynskey</strong> explore the histories of concepts you thought you knew. In this first episode: <strong>McCarthyism</strong>. Was it really a crusade against communists or just a grifter’s opportunity that got out of hand? How did a witch-hunt morph into a way to denounce any critic, no matter who? And did Joe McCarthy really write the rulebook for Trumpism?</p><p>Help Dorian and Ian dig deeper into other criminally misrepresented ideas by supporting Origin Story on Patreon at patreon.com/originstorypod </p><p>Or if you're listening via Apple Podcasts, you can access a premium subscription in the app: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/origin-story/id1624704966</p><p>––––––––</p><p><strong>McCarthyism: A Reading List</strong></p><p>From Ian:</p><p><em>Demagogue: The Life and Long Shadow of Senator Joe McCarthy</em> by Larry Tye. Dense, but readable and very thorough account of McCarthy's life. Tye is perhaps a little too fair to his subject, but he paints a full portrait.</p><p><em>High Noon: The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of an American Classic</em> by Glenn Frankel. Beautiful biography of the film, in which the subject matter and the background oppression go hand-in-hand. Film criticism as political science.</p><p><em>A Conspiracy So Immense: The World of Joe McCarthy</em> by David A Oshinsky. The classic McCarthy biography, full of anecdotes and ideas. Fun fact: this is one of the books that inspired REM’s ‘<a href="https://open.spotify.com/track/7MkDvEslqFKLL0NubyaPNj?si=d82f76b4be494517">Exhuming McCarthy</a>’.</p><p>From Dorian:</p><p><em>Reds</em> by Ted Morgan. An exhaustive account of various Red Scares and what McCarthyism meant beyond McCarthy himself. Particularly good on the importance of the Venona intercepts.</p><p><em>Trumbo</em> by Bruce Cook. Terrifically vivid biography of Dalton Trumbo with much to say about the Hollywood blacklist in general. Much better than the movie.</p><p><em>The Crucible</em> by Arthur Miller. The essential contemporary allegory.</p><p>––––––––</p><ul> <li>“In a way, McCarthyism is actually the origin story of Donald Trump.” – Ian Dunt</li> <li>"If you say it loudly and aggressively enough, it becomes the truth.” – Peter Fraser</li> <li>“The victims were the people who are always victims in moments of national paranoia: gay people, Jews, free thinkers and liberals.” – Ian Dunt</li> <li>“McCarthy hacked the media… It was as if a restaurant served poisoned food and it was up to the diner to refuse it.” – Dorian Lynskey</li> </ul><p>––––––––</p><p><em>Written and presented by Dorian Lynskey and Ian Dunt. Audio production by Jade Bailey and Alex Rees. Music by Jade Bailey. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. </em><strong><em>Origin Story is a Podmasters production. </em></strong></p><p> </p><p>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a></p>

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