Culture

If you’re like me, sometimes the movies you watch have something to do with what is front and center in the news. Right now if you’re an escapist, you’re probably watching the 2024 Summer Olympics. And maybe you wish you’d had the time and money to go to Paris and see them in person. What kind of movies do you prefer? A true story like the one of the American hockey team … [Read more...] about Love Watching The Olympics? Here Are 16 Movies You’ll Want To Watch

More than a half century ago, in the early years of the Cold War, the US State Department organized tours to counter Soviet propaganda. At first they sent symphony orchestras and ballet companies on international tours. But Adam Clayton Powell Jr., the US representative from Harlem, had a better idea. Send out the bands -- the jazz bands that is! Powell’s rationale was … [Read more...] about Remember Soft Power: Send out the Bands!

Cultural highlights of the First Cold War era (1945-1980) were deeply intertwined with the broader context of the superpower rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union. While these cultural phenomena were not always explicitly political or directly related to the Cold War, they were influenced by the ideological struggle and tensions of the era. Caveat: Please … [Read more...] about 25 Cultural Highlights of the First Cold War

1.  Mannequin Mayhem: Atomic Test Dummies LIFE.com presents pictures made in the Nevada desert by photographer Loomis Dean shortly after a 1955 atomic bomb test. According to LIFE: "The figures were residents of an entire million-dollar village built to test the effects of an atomic blast on everything from houses to clothes to canned soup. The condition of the … [Read more...] about A Dozen Things I Found on the Internet This Week

Do you ever feel like running away? It’s the merry month of May, the sun is shining, and I have itchy feet. Nevertheless, I’m stuck at my computer, typing away at projects with due dates. This morning, though, I came across an out, a listing of the 86 Greatest Travel Books of All Time from an article I tore out of Conde Nast Traveler many years ago. So, I’m thinking that a … [Read more...] about Cold War Authors: 10 Books for Armchair Travelers