With a simple “good luck” from President Richard Nixon, Ambassador Joseph Farland set out to Pakistan, unsure of what to…
Food for Thought: A Woman in African Agricultural Development
In 2003, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) allocated up to $650 million worth of food aid to…
The Felix Bloch Affair: An Unsolved Case of Cold War Espionage
In 1989, French counterintelligence agents watched Felix Bloch as he dined in Paris with known Soviet spy “Pierre Bart.” Bloch…
On Loan to the U.S. Senate—A Change in Perspective
Among the American general public, the United States Congress is commonly found to have a poor reputation, stereotyped as inefficient…
Stephen Thuransky’s 1947 Escape from Hungarian Political Police
Stephen T. Thuransky was arrested for calling the president of Hungary an obscene name. Communist Hungary in 1947 was a…
Presidents, Russians, and Diplomatic Wives: Anecdotes from a Voice of America Newsman
Journalist Euguene F. Karst knew the importance of words. He personally witnessed how communication could highlight the opinions of little…
60 Minutes in Central America: The Politicization of Development During the Cold War
Complex geopolitical realities, poor leadership, and economic dysfunction characterized the Cold War in Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador. USAID (United…
The Fall of South Vietnam and Operation Babylift
The fall of Saigon and the chaotic evacuation of the U.S. Embassy is one of the most infamous episodes in…
The 1964 Murder of Noted Composer Marc Blitzstein in Martinique
In 1964 on the French island of Martinique, well-known American composer Marc Blitzstein was found on the street badly injured…
Diamonds, Coal, and the Dutch Queen—NBC’s First Female Broadcaster Escapes The Netherlands in 1940
Reporting live from a shortwave radio station near the German border at the beginning of World War II, NBC’s first…