American History Too!

On episode nine of American History Too! we turn our attention to a period in American history that has become indelibly linked to one man: the Second Red Scare and Senator Joseph McCarthy. But is McCarthy the be all and end all of anti-communism? What influence did he really have?  And were there other figures in the United States who played more prominent and important roles in creating what the historian David Caute called ‘the great fear’?  Is ‘Hooverism’ – or even ‘Nixonism’ – a better name to understand this period? We take you through a tour of the interesting, and often distasteful, figures that the Second Red Scare brought to prominence.  We also discuss the parallel rise of the  so-called ‘Lavender Scare’ which saw gay Americans targeted – on some occasions more aggressively – than suspected communists.  Stay tuned until the very end when you’ll be treated to a Cold War “anthem” from Carson Robison! We will back in two weeks to discuss Lyndon Johnson and the Great Society. Cheers, Mark a