Cold War, Cool Medium: Television, McCarthyism, and American Culture

Doherty (American studies, Brandeis U.) examines the cultural history of the United States of the McCarthy period through the window of the television screen. Although the treatment of the House Un-American Activities Committee's anti-communist witch hunts television and the television industry are the central focus of the discussion, Doherty also explores tangentially related issues of religion, race, and homosexuality. He argues that television subtly acted as a resistant force to the forces o…