{"product_id":"cold-war-cool-medium-television-mccarthyism-and-american-culture-9780231129534","title":"Cold War, Cool Medium: Television, McCarthyism, and American Culture","description":"\u003cp\u003eConventional wisdom holds that television was a co-conspirator in the repressions of Cold War America, that it was a facilitator to the blacklist and handmaiden to McCarthyism. But Thomas Doherty argues that, through the influence of television, America actually became a more open and tolerant place. Although many books have been written about this period, \u003ci\u003eCold War, Cool Medium\u003c\/i\u003e is the only one to examine it through the lens of television programming. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eTo the unjaded viewership of Cold War America, the television set was not a harbinger of intellectual degradation and moral decay, but a thrilling new household appliance capable of bringing the wonders of the world directly into the home. The \"cool medium\" permeated the lives of every American, quickly becoming one of the most powerful cultural forces of the twentieth century. While television has frequently been blamed for spurring the rise of Senator Joseph McCarthy, it was also the national stage upon which America witnessed--and ultimately welcomed--his downfall. In this provocative and nuanced cultural history, Doherty chronicles some of the most fascinating and ideologically charged episodes in television history: the warm-hearted Jewish sitcom \u003ci\u003eThe Goldbergs\u003c\/i\u003e; the subversive threat from \u003ci\u003eI Love Lucy\u003c\/i\u003e; the sermons of Fulton J. Sheen on \u003ci\u003eLife Is Worth Living\u003c\/i\u003e; the anticommunist series \u003ci\u003eI Led 3 Lives\u003c\/i\u003e; the legendary jousts between Edward R. Murrow and Joseph McCarthy on \u003ci\u003eSee It Now\u003c\/i\u003e; and the hypnotic, 188-hour political spectacle that was the Army-McCarthy hearings. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBy rerunning the programs, freezing the frames, and reading between the lines, \u003ci\u003eCold War, Cool Medium\u003c\/i\u003e paints a picture of Cold War America that belies many black-and-white clichés. Doherty not only details how the blacklist operated within the television industry but also how the shows themselves struggled to defy it, arguing that television was preprogrammed to reinforce the very freedoms that McCarthyism attempted to curtail.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=AUTH-4599447\"\u003eThomas Doherty\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Columbia University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/10\/2005\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 320\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.90lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.72h x 6.46w x 0.70d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780231129534\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN10:\u003c\/b\u003e 023112953X\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBISAC Categories:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-PER\"\u003ePerforming Arts\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-PER010030\"\u003eTelevision | History \u0026amp; Criticism\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-HIS\"\u003eHistory\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-HIS036060\"\u003eUnited States | 20th Century\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-HIS\"\u003eHistory\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-HIS054000\"\u003eSocial History\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThomas Doherty is a professor in the American studies department and chair of the film studies program at Brandeis University. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eProjections of War: Hollywood, American Culture, and World War II; PreCode Hollywood: Sex, Immorality and Insurrection in American Cinema, 1930-1934;\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eTeenagers and Teenpics: The Juvenilization of American Movies in the 1950s, \u003c\/i\u003e and is associate editor of the film journal \u003ci\u003eCinéaste.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Columbia University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44529191092461,"sku":"9780231129534","price":58.33,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0550\/8097\/6621\/products\/img_0e6a4387-e3d4-4674-a7a5-b0827acd4924.jpg?v=1701396813","url":"https:\/\/sureshotbooks.com\/products\/cold-war-cool-medium-television-mccarthyism-and-american-culture-9780231129534","provider":"SureShot Books Publishing LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}