Cold War
Color TV Transformed the Way Americans Saw the World, and the World Saw America
A historian of 20th century media argues that the technological innovation was the quintessential Cold War machine
When Fidel Castro Charmed the United States
Sixty years ago this month, the romantic victory of the young Cuban revolutionaries amazed the world—and led to a surreal evening on “The Ed Sullivan Show”
Berlin's Famous East Side Gallery Protected from Development
The outdoor gallery on a former section of Berlin Wall has been threatened by a building boom in recent years
This Veterans Day, Visit America’s Top Military Sites
A new book offers a guide to the museums, bases and once-secret locations that reveal America’s complex military history
The Dawn of Television Promised Diversity. Here’s Why We Got “Leave It to Beaver” Instead
Using original archival research and FBI blacklist documents, a new book pieces together the intersectional narratives that never made it on air
This Freak Aviation Disaster Brought Supersonic Idealism Down in Flames
In a just-released Smithsonian Book, author Samme Chittum assesses the Concorde’s demise with the keen eye of a crime reporter
The Senator Who Stood Up to Joseph McCarthy When No One Else Would
Margaret Chase Smith was the first woman to serve both the House and the Senate and always defended her values, even when it meant opposing her party
An Immersive Art Installation Will Temporarily Resurrect the Berlin Wall
This fall, event organizers plan on constructing a pseudo-city within a block of Berlin in order to emulate life in an unfamiliar country
Found: A Forgotten Stretch of the Berlin Wall
It formed an outer defensive barrier that stopped East Germans from getting close to the main wall
The Women Code Breakers Who Unmasked Soviet Spies
At the height of the Cold War, America’s most secretive counterespionage effort set out to crack unbreakable ciphers
This Cold War-Era Publishing House Wanted To Share American Values With the World
Funded by the U.S. government, Franklin Publications was viewed as pushing imperialist propaganda
Fifty Years Ago, Airline Diplomacy Sought to Bring the U.S. and U.S.S.R. Closer Together
Hopes for a Cold War détente were sky high when the first American and Soviet flights took off 50 years ago
Greening the Future of Outer Space
A team of scientists and policy experts want to develop space sustainably for future generations
The Surprising Story of the American Girl Who Broke Through the Iron Curtain
Samantha Smith was only 10 when she wrote to Soviet General Secretary Yuri Andropov about the Cold War. In response, he invited her for a visit
The Literary Salon That Made Ayn Rand Famous
Seventy-five years after the publishing of ‘The Fountainhead’, a look back at the public intellectuals who disseminated her Objectivist philosophy
How Soviet Bomb Tests Paved the Way For U.S. Climate Science
The untold story of a failed Russian geoengineering scheme, panic in the Pentagon, and a Nixon-era effort to study global cooling
How the Death of 6,000 Sheep Spurred the American Debate on Chemical Weapons
The Dugway sheep incident of March 1968 made visible the military’s covert attempts to test and stockpile millions of dollars worth of chemical weapons
Why “The Americans” Is Taking a Big Leap Forward to 1987
The beginning of the end of the Soviet Union provides great drama for the show’s final season
Amateur Historian Reveals Forgotten Stretch of the Berlin Wall
The dilapidated structure appears to be an early iteration of the infamous Cold War partition
Kielce: The Post-Holocaust Pogrom That Poland Is Still Fighting Over
After World War II, Jewish refugees found they could never return to their native land—a sentiment that some echo today
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