Clay Risen

You know, he had said, look, there is communism in Hollywood, and we don't want it there, but... But we can't go after people for speaking their minds. Other people were less guarded. But Reagan actually at the time was fairly measured. But what was striking was that the Screenwriters Guild, which had been a fairly progressive group, started to give away very quickly.

And certainly by the early 50s was a handmaiden of the Red Scare and the Blacklist.

And certainly by the early 50s was a handmaiden of the Red Scare and the Blacklist.

And certainly by the early 50s was a handmaiden of the Red Scare and the Blacklist.

Yeah, it was hard to find a lawyer because any lawyer was faced with you pick this client and you will never have another client in this town. But even more, bar associations were increasingly willing to censure or even to strip a license from somebody who took on an alleged communist or a subversive as a client. And so there were very few people—

Yeah, it was hard to find a lawyer because any lawyer was faced with you pick this client and you will never have another client in this town. But even more, bar associations were increasingly willing to censure or even to strip a license from somebody who took on an alleged communist or a subversive as a client. And so there were very few people—

Yeah, it was hard to find a lawyer because any lawyer was faced with you pick this client and you will never have another client in this town. But even more, bar associations were increasingly willing to censure or even to strip a license from somebody who took on an alleged communist or a subversive as a client. And so there were very few people—

And even groups that we think of today like the ACLU, they did not drape themselves in glory during this period. They also were largely quiescent or even supportive of the Red Scare.

And even groups that we think of today like the ACLU, they did not drape themselves in glory during this period. They also were largely quiescent or even supportive of the Red Scare.

And even groups that we think of today like the ACLU, they did not drape themselves in glory during this period. They also were largely quiescent or even supportive of the Red Scare.

Yeah. I mean, one of the, you know, one of the quotes, one of the many quotes that comes out of this era, you know, comes from Hugo Black, the Supreme Court justice. And, you know, he was a very ardent opponent of all of this, a very strong civil libertarian. But in one of his dissents, he essentially said, you know, we just have to accept that this is how things are.

Yeah. I mean, one of the, you know, one of the quotes, one of the many quotes that comes out of this era, you know, comes from Hugo Black, the Supreme Court justice. And, you know, he was a very ardent opponent of all of this, a very strong civil libertarian. But in one of his dissents, he essentially said, you know, we just have to accept that this is how things are.

Yeah. I mean, one of the, you know, one of the quotes, one of the many quotes that comes out of this era, you know, comes from Hugo Black, the Supreme Court justice. And, you know, he was a very ardent opponent of all of this, a very strong civil libertarian. But in one of his dissents, he essentially said, you know, we just have to accept that this is how things are.

And hopefully, as a court, we can come back in calmer times and offer redress to what's going on. But at the moment, there's very little that even we as the Supreme Court can do.

And hopefully, as a court, we can come back in calmer times and offer redress to what's going on. But at the moment, there's very little that even we as the Supreme Court can do.

And hopefully, as a court, we can come back in calmer times and offer redress to what's going on. But at the moment, there's very little that even we as the Supreme Court can do.

Yeah, so this is a fascinating sort of turn of events because it's a group of former FBI agents who did have experience hunting communists and with this kind of incipient blacklist. They were also entrepreneurs. And they understood that there was a thirst out there in the public for information on potential subversives. You know, that there wasn't enough to have –

Yeah, so this is a fascinating sort of turn of events because it's a group of former FBI agents who did have experience hunting communists and with this kind of incipient blacklist. They were also entrepreneurs. And they understood that there was a thirst out there in the public for information on potential subversives. You know, that there wasn't enough to have –

Yeah, so this is a fascinating sort of turn of events because it's a group of former FBI agents who did have experience hunting communists and with this kind of incipient blacklist. They were also entrepreneurs. And they understood that there was a thirst out there in the public for information on potential subversives. You know, that there wasn't enough to have –

attorney general's list of subversive organizations. They wanted, you know, the next step, which was tell me who in this case in Hollywood is suspect. And so the book had, you know, it's like it's just a directory. And you would go through and say, okay, well, Kirk Douglas, okay, what is his, you know, here, here and here, Aaron Copland. Oh, Aaron Copland was