Aided by new sources, Clay Risen's 'Red Scare' brings McCarthyism back to life

NPR's Book of the Day

NPR

Books, Arts

4.2 • 672 Ratings

🗓️ 21 April 2025

⏱️ 8 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Journalist Clay Risen is out with a new narrative history of the Red Scare, based in part on newly declassified sources. In Red Scare, Risen depicts McCarthyism as a cultural witch hunt against all kinds of people, not just potential communist spies. And he argues that the Red Scare was part of a broader cultural backlash against New Deal progressivism and an increasing sense of cosmopolitanism in the United States. In today's episode, Risen joins NPR's Steve Inskeep for a conversation about Senator Joseph McCarthy's personal and political opportunism, the enduring power of conspiracy theories, and how the Constitution did – and didn't – stand up to protect American civil liberties.

To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey, it's NPR's book of the day. I'm Andrew Limbong. What does it look like to stress test the
0:08.2	Constitution? The journalist Clay Risen has a book out about one of the times we, as Americans,
0:14.0	really try to find its limits. It's called Red Scare, Blackless, McCarthyism, and the Making of
0:19.9	Modern America. And he gets into the anti-communist fervlist, McCarthyism, and the making of modern America. And he gets into the
0:22.4	anti-communist fervor Senator McCarthy and his allies got into after World War II, and how they
0:28.0	used it as an opportunity to elevate their own status. Reisen tells NPR Steve Inskeep that
0:33.8	this was a real constitutional crisis, a real test. And America, quote, did not do very
0:40.7	well until it did. That's coming up. In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from
0:48.0	daily life. Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our our new show, Sources and Methods.
0:55.5	NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people,
0:59.3	helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.
1:02.8	Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:08.5	A new book by journalist Clay Risen brings back to life a period of American history after World War II, known as the Red Scare.
1:16.8	According to Risen, what should have been a counterintelligence effort ended up as...
1:21.6	The whole cultural witch hunt against all kinds of people who, regardless of their basts, did not deserve to be hounded out of their professions and out of their livelihoods.
1:33.3	The book is Red Scare, Blacklist, McCarthyism, and the Making of Modern America.
1:38.2	And it's based in part on newly declassified sources.
1:41.9	Ryzen spoke with our co-host, Steven Skeep.
1:44.2	It would be easy to think of the McCarthy era as a relic or a part of the Cold War,
1:50.0	but you say it's part of a culture war.
1:52.2	What do you mean by a culture war?
1:54.4	What I mean, Steve, is that, you know, beginning in the 1930s, there was a real
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.