communism

According to legend, Joe Stalin hated John Wayne and tried on several occasions to have the leading man killed.  This story has been told and re-told across books, blogs, articles, youtubes.  In every version, the FBI play a key role in stopping at least one of the supposed plots against Wayne.  But Wayne's FBI file doesn't mention anything about any of these state-sponsored attempted murders, begging the question of where these stories originated, and why?

‘Cultural Marxism’ is a term that these days is almost exclusively used by hard right wing critics of the popular...

Part 2 of the excellent Myths on Screen: Hollywood at War series aired this week and is available to download...

Part 2 of the excellent Myths on Screen: Hollywood at War series aired this week and is available to download...

In 1962 the US and the Soviet Union came to the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis...

In 1962 the US and the Soviet Union came to the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis...

In 1962 the US and the Soviet Union came to the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis...

The Vietnam war drama Platoon was recently inducted into the US Library of Congress’ National Film Registry, in recognition for...

The Vietnam war drama Platoon was recently inducted into the US Library of Congress’ National Film Registry, in recognition for...

The Vietnam war drama Platoon was recently inducted into the US Library of Congress’ National Film Registry, in recognition for...

Yesterday, NPR’s podcast Marketplace released a new episode titled How Chinese censorship changed “Top Gun” (and the rest of Hollywood)....

Yesterday, NPR’s podcast Marketplace released a new episode titled How Chinese censorship changed “Top Gun” (and the rest of Hollywood)....

Yesterday, NPR’s podcast Marketplace released a new episode titled How Chinese censorship changed “Top Gun” (and the rest of Hollywood)....

It has been another curious week of half-truths, spin and outright falsehood as culture commentators get to grips with recent releases Jack Ryan (on Amazon), For all Mankind (on Apple TV) and Midway (in theaters now).

It has been another curious week of half-truths, spin and outright falsehood as culture commentators get to grips with recent...

It has been another curious week of half-truths, spin and outright falsehood as culture commentators get to grips with recent...

A 1940s MI5 file shows that British intelligence suspected that the Odeon chain of cinemas was a front organisation providing cover for Soviet spies to get into the UK.  Proving once again that it is the intelligence services who are the bigge

A 1940s MI5 file shows that British intelligence suspected that the Odeon chain of cinemas was a front organisation providing...

A 1940s MI5 file shows that British intelligence suspected that the Odeon chain of cinemas was a front organisation providing...

Today’s entertainment news features an absolute gem of political hypocrisy: Vietnam’s one party ‘Communist’

Today's entertainment news features an absolute gem of political hypocrisy: Vietnam's one party 'Communist' state has banned the animated kids' movie Abominable, and the Western media are heralding the decision, claiming that Vietnam are standing up to China's censorious one party 'Communist' state.  This is perhaps the dumbest employmen

Today’s entertainment news features an absolute gem of political hypocrisy: Vietnam’s one party ‘Communist’

The original Cultural Cold War has been the subject of numerous books and articles on both sides of the divide, but the new version has been almost entirely ignored.

The original Cultural Cold War has been the subject of numerous books and articles on both sides of the divide,...

The original Cultural Cold War has been the subject of numerous books and articles on both sides of the divide,...

In 1998 retired FBI deputy director Cartha DeLoach was asked by the producers of The X-Files to review the script for an episode of the show that was set in the 1950s.  The FBI recently released DeLoach's response to the producers, where he branded t

China is without doubt a major player in Hollywood. Both private investment and state regulations and censorship have played a significant role in the American movie business in recent years.

While some senior military officials have spoken openly about the possibility of a war between the US and China, the entertainment liaison offices appear to be working to ensure that doesn't happen.

Since launching National Security Cinema last year, Matt and I have encountered a lot of questions about the field.

John Paisley was a senior CIA officer who worked on Team B, was the Agency’s liaison to the Watergate burglars, and according to some was a Soviet double agent.

Julia Kristeva is one of the 20th century’s most famous female intellectuals who has won numerous gongs and awards for her contribution

Ever since the revelation that the radical author George Orwell had provided names of possible communists to British intelligence, liberal revisionists have claimed he was a crypto-racist and a British spy.

Dennis Rodman's visit to North Korea in early 2013 sent shock waves through the international media and inspired a CIA-supported Hollywood film about assassinating Kim Jong-Un.

The entertainment highlight of the Trump-Kim negotiations is, undoubtedly, the fake movie trailer the White House showed to North Korean officials and displayed before Trump's press conference in Singapore.

The latest files to be released by the National Archives include one on Kinsgley Amis - the former novelist and critic who was knighted in 1990. Amis was a member of the Communist party while at Oxford university in June 1941, though he renounced Marxism in 1956-7.

Arthur Ransome was a well-known children’s author, best known for his series of adventure books beginning with Swallows and Amazons. He was also close friends with the Bolshevik leadership and married Trotsky’s secretary.

Arthur Ransome was a very well-known author of children's books, best known for his series beginning with Swallows and Amazons. He was also a spy for British intelligence and a close enough friend to the Bolshevik leadership that he married Leon Trotsky's secretary.

November 22nd is the 27th anniversary of a European Parliament resolution condemning Operation Gladio. For decades, secret armies in over a dozen NATO countries carried out terrorist attacks to influence the political landscape and manipulate elections.

Britain saw Zionism as a weapon against communism.

Like most major 20th century writers the FBI has a brief file on Aldous Huxley - the 'author and social critic' behind Brave New World, Island and The Doors of Perception. Huxley was never the subject of a Bureau investigation but they kept tabs on some of his public appearances and statements.

The 1973 ITV documentary The Red Under the Bed helped convict the Shrewsbury 24 by accusing them of being communists for their role in leading the 1972 Building Workers Strike.

Eric Johnston was the second head of the MPAA, a high level political operative and a friend of CIA director Allen Dulles. In this episode we take a look at his life and work, from his role instituting the Hollywood blacklist to his relationships with the FBI and CIA.

Sterling Hayden's life encompassed many important events and periods of the 20th century. A lifelong seaman he joined the Marine Corps and the OSS during World War 2, running smuggling operations to support anti-fascist partisans in Yugoslavia.

With the death of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro I felt this would be a good time to provide a copy of an important but seldom-read CIA memo from 1959 where they discuss and approve the 'elimination' of Castro. Shortly after the Cuban revolution Castro visited the United States, speaking with then Vice President Richard Nixon on friendly terms.

The CIA has had an interest in James Bond almost since its inception as a series of novels in the 1950s. The books were probably the first spy fiction to refer to the CIA by name and to depict them through the character of Felix Leiter.