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Still from the film 'Red Dawn" showing three men holding rifles and binoculars.
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Why 1984's 'Red Dawn' Still Matters

By framing the U.S. as a victim, 'Red Dawn' obscured U.S. aggression in Latin America and elsewhere.
by Michelle D. Paranzino via Made By History on August 9, 2024
Image from the filmstrip, showing a grieved woman with her head in her hands, being comforted by a man standing beside her

Uncle Tom’s Cabin in the Hands of the Red Scared

Again and again, a fervant British anticommunist's filmstrip of the novel shows images of women in states of distress.
by Georgina Blackburn via Commonplace on February 6, 2024
A John Birch Society billboard in Stratton, Colorado, calls for the impeachment of Chief Justice Earl Warren, December 1962.

The Fringe Group That Broke the GOP’s Brain — And Helped It Win Elections

The John Birch Society pushed a darker, more conspiratorial politics in the ’50s and ’60s — and looms large over today’s GOP.
by Matthew Dallek, Ian Ward via Vox on March 19, 2023
1961 pamphlet for Florida's "Americanism vs. Communism" course.

The Long History of Conservative Indoctrination in Florida Schools

The top educational priorities in the Sunshine State were apparently reading, writing, and anti-communism.
by Tera W. Hunter via The Nation on February 27, 2023
"Thinking like an Economist" light blue book cover

The ‘Economic Style’ as Red Scare Legacy

The rise of the “economic style of reasoning” in the 1960s cannot be properly understood without attending to the political fallout of earlier decades.
by Landon Storrs via LPE Project on September 13, 2022
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Dictators and Civil Wars: The Cold War in Latin America

Driven by fears of the rise of communism, the U.S. intervened in elections across the globe. In Latin America, the consequences are still being felt.
via Retro Report on February 25, 2022
Actors James Stewart as George Bailey, Donna Reed as Mary Hatch, and Frank Faylen as Ernie in the 1946 film It’s a Wonderful Life. (Photo by Silver Screen Collection / Getty Images)

That Time the FBI Scrutinized “It's a Wonderful Life” for Communist Messaging

The film “deliberately maligned the upper class,” according to a report that didn’t like the portrayal of Mr. Potter as a bad guy.
by John Nichols via The Nation on December 24, 2021
Claudia Jones reading the newspaper at a table

Claudia Jones and the Price of Anticommunism

During the Cold War era, communist activists and their families suffered from harassment by the federal government.
by Denise Lynn via Black Perspectives on September 30, 2020
The Trump family at a public event

Why is the Nationalist Right Hallucinating a ‘Communist Enemy’?

Reactionary leaders are invoking communism as a way of attacking the left, says author and activist Richard Seymour.
by Richard Seymour via The Guardian on September 26, 2020

The Murderous Legacy of Cold War Anticommunism

The US-backed Indonesian mass killings of 1965 reshaped global politics, securing a decisive victory for U.S. interests against Third World self-determination.
by Stuart Schrader via Boston Review on May 17, 2020

White Power

A review of two recent books about white paramilitarism in the wake of the Cold War.
by Thomas Meaney via London Review of Books on August 1, 2019

Making the Movies Un-American

How Hollywood tried to fight fascism and ended up blacklisting suspected Communists.
by Noah Isenberg via The New Republic on July 3, 2018

Cold War Propaganda: The Truth Belonged to No One Country

During the Cold War, US propagandists worked to provide a counterweight to Communist media, but truth eluded them all.
by Melissa Feinberg via Aeon on December 11, 2017

When the U.S. Government Tried to Fight Communism With Buddhism

Recent violence in Myanmar reminds us that religion has long been central to Southeast Asian politics.
by Joe Freeman via Politico Magazine on September 10, 2017
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When ‘Free Speech’ Becomes a Political Weapon

What we can learn from liberal anti-communists.
by Jennifer Delton via Made By History on August 22, 2017

Your Child Care Conundrum Is an Anti-Communist Plot

Red-baiters deserve at least part of the blame for the shortage of affordable, high-quality pre-K.
by Rebecca Onion via Slate on June 14, 2017
William Gropper's map of American folklore.

A Popular '40s Map of American Folklore Was Destroyed by Fears of Communism

The government saw Red when looking at William Gropper's painting of the United States.
by Kyle Carsten Wyatt via Atlas Obscura on March 27, 2017
Graphic illustration of people standing in a line with text boxes over their heads

Internet Privacy, Funded By Spies

Spies, counterinsurgency campaigns, hippie entrepreneurs, privacy apps funded by the CIA.
by Yasha Levine via Surveillance Valley on March 3, 2016

From Chinese Exclusion to Pro-Palestinian Activism: The History of Politically Motivated Deportation

Removal orders targeting student activists echo America’s long past of jailing and expelling immigrants because of their race, or what they say or believe.
by Rick Baldoz via The Conversation on April 30, 2025
Elon Musk holds a chain saw as he shakes hands with Argentine president Javier Milei at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

The Method in the Far Right’s Madness

How today’s far right manages to combine the call for economic freedom with pseudoscience about natural hierarchies of race and IQ.
by Quinn Slobodian, Bartolomeo Sala via Jacobin on April 13, 2025
Headshots of Charles Murray, Friedrich Hayek, and Elon Musk in front of a red backgrounds.

Free Markets and Fixed Natures

How neoliberals fell in love with “human nature”—the glue that still unites the divergent factions of the new right.
by Quinn Slobodian via Boston Review on April 9, 2025
Woodrow Wilson delivering his second innaugural address in front of a large crowd.

America Was at Its Trumpiest 100 Years Ago. Here’s How to Prevent the Worst.

During World War I, America lurched toward autocracy. Resistance was minimal.
by Adam Hochschild via Washington Post on April 3, 2025
Senator Joseph McCarthy speaking into microphones.

Newly Declassified Documents Reveal the Untold Stories of the Red Scare

In his latest book, journalist and historian Clay Risen explores how the House Un-American Activities Committee and Senator Joseph McCarthy upended the nation.
by Sara Georgini, Clay Risen via Smithsonian on April 1, 2025
Harry Bridges surrounded by a group of men.

Before Mahmoud Khalil, There Was Harry Bridges

The U.S. government repeatedly tried to deport the midcentury labor leader over his alleged ties to the Communist Party.
by Clay Risen via The Bulwark on March 24, 2025
Joseph McCarthy with a map.

Joseph McCarthy in Wheeling, West Virginia: Annotated

Senator Joseph McCarthy built his reputation on fear-mongering, smear campaigns, and falsehoods about government employees and their associates.
by Joseph McCarthy, Liz Tracey via JSTOR Daily on March 24, 2025
President John F. Kennedy's motorcade shortly before his assassination in Dallas.

What the New JFK Files Reveal About the CIA’s Secrets

A presidential lawyer and historian combed through the latest document dump so you don’t have to. Here’s what he found.
by James D. Robenalt via The Hive on March 21, 2025

The Dark, McCarthyist History of Deporting Activists

Donald Trump is using decades-old laws to expel critics and opponents.
by Michelle Chen via The Progressive on March 21, 2025
Joe McCarthy pointing to a map, while Joseph Welch looks dismayed.

Like Joe McCarthy, I Enjoy a Good Dossier

Diplomatic relations, domestic repression. Plus: the truth about Joseph Welch, and a bit of family history.
by Tim Barker via Origins of Our Time on March 12, 2025
Volunteers at a camp for internally displaced people in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, carry wheat flour donated by USAID in 2021.

USAID’s History Shows Decades of Good Work on Behalf of America’s Global Interests

USAID started in the 1960s as a way to offset the spread of communism. Since then, it has had various other soft-power benefits for the US.
by Christian Ruth via The Conversation on March 5, 2025
Frances Perkins and Border Patrol officers.
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The 1930s Case That Sparked a Debate About Deportation

The story Frances Perkins, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Labor Secretary, highlights the importance of protecting due process.
by Rebecca Brenner Graham via Made By History on March 4, 2025
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