Table of Contents
So to Speak podcast: McCarthyism and The Red Scare
“Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?”
On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, we explore how America’s fear of communism in the early- to mid-20th century led to firings and blacklists in Hollywood, government, and higher education — and how these actions compromised America’s treasured principles of free speech, free conscience, free association, and due process of law.
We are joined by Ellen Schrecker, a former professor at Yeshiva University and the author of Many Are the Crimes: McCarthyism in America and No Ivory Tower: McCarthyism and the Universities. Click here for a transcript of the conversation.
You can subscribe and listen to So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Stitcher, or download episodes directly from SoundCloud.
Stay up to date with So to Speak on the show’s Facebook and Twitter pages, and subscribe to the show’s newsletter at sotospeakpodcast.com.
Have questions or ideas for future shows? Email us at sotospeak@thefire.org.
Recent Articles
FIRE’s award-winning Newsdesk covers the free speech news you need to stay informed.