In this episode of Perspectives, we sit down with Audra Wolfe to discuss her book, Freedom's Laboratory: The Cold War Struggle for the Soul of Science. In Freedom's Laboratory, Dr. Wolfe examines the relationship between science, politics, and governance in the United States during the Cold War, highlighting the ways in which scientists, policymakers, and administrators defined and thought about concepts such as "scientific freedom" and "Western science." She examines the role of scientists in American cultural diplomacy after World War II, at a time when United States propaganda promoted a vision of science as empirical, objective, and international. This view of science was often contrasted with a representation of Soviet science as politically motivated and nationalistic. 

Dr. Wolfe adds to our knowledge of how science and propaganda, psychology and diplomacy, interacted with one another and were deployed on both sides during the Cold War. Weaving diplomatic history with the history of science, Wolfe's book demonstrates the powerful and controversial uses and abuses of science during the Cold War.

Audra Wolfe is a Philadelphia-based writer, editor, and historian. She is the author of two books on science and the Cold War, Competing with the Soviets: Science, Technology, and the State in Cold War America and Freedom's Laboratory: The Cold War Struggle for the Soul of Science, both available from Johns Hopkins University Press. You can follow her on Twitter as @ColdWarScience and subscribe to her newsletter at Never Just Science dot substack dot com. 

For more resources on this topic, please visit: https://www.chstm.org/video/112

Audra Wolfe — Freedom's Laboratory: The Cold War Struggle for the Soul of Science

How did scientists, policymakers, and government officials think about concepts such as "scientific freedom" and "Western science" during the Cold War? Join us in revisiting our interview with Audra Wolfe, author of Freedom's Laboratory: The Cold War Struggle for the Soul of Science.

In Freedom's Laboratory, Dr. Wolfe examines the relationship between science, politics, and governance in the United States during the Cold War. Wolfe examines the role of scientists in American cultural diplomacy after World War II, at a time when United States propaganda promoted a vision of science as empirical, objective, and international. This view of science was often contrasted with a representation of Soviet science as politically motivated and nationalistic.

Audra Wolfe is a Philadelphia-based writer, editor, and historian. She is the author of two books on science and the Cold War, Competing with the Soviets: Science, Technology, and the State in Cold War America and Freedom's Laboratory: The Cold War Struggle for the Soul of Science, both available from Johns Hopkins University Press. You can follow her on Twitter as @ColdWarScience and subscribe to her newsletter at Never Just Science dot substack dot com.

For more resources on this topic, please visit: www.chstm.org/video/112

Replay—Freedom's Laboratory: The Cold War Struggle for the Soul of Science by Audra Wolfe

Sam interviews historian Margarita Fajardo, a professor of history at Sarah Lawrence College, about her new book, “The World That Latin America Created,” which traces how a movement of scholars and statesmen centering around CEPAL, a UN economic commission based in Santiago, Chile, formulated a new world-view and far-reaching agenda to foster unity and development in Latin America; the so-called “Capalinos” rose to dominance and set the policy agenda in Brazil and other countries in the 1950s and ‘60s and then set the stage for dependency theory, which took the world by storm in the 1970s.  We also discuss how the travails of the Cepalinos might shed light on the transformations currently happening in Chile, Colombia, and other Latin American nations and the horizons that they might open up.

Margarita’s book opening will be at:
Location:  Recirculation (a branch of Wordup Community Bookshop), 876 Riverside Drive, New York, NY
Time:  Saturday Sept. 24th, starting at 11am.

Please support this podcast to hear patron-only materials, including the recent lecture on Conspiracy Theories: www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

Latin America Inverts the World Map: A Conversation With Margarita Fajardo

In this interview, Dr. Bryce Evans discusses his research into food at the Irish pavillion in the 1939 World's Fair, and his use of materials from the Hagley Library for his project.

Dr. Evans is Senior Lecturer in History at Liverpool Hope University.

Stories from the Stacks is an ongoing program from the Center for the History of Business, Technology, and Society featuring interviews with researchers who share the excitement of discovering the rich and varied historical materials in the Hagley Library’s collections. Listen to additional episodes at www.hagley.org/storiesfromthestacks.


Stories From The Stacks: Bryce Evans on how Guinness saved Ireland in World War II

Author Josh Shifrinson joins us to talk about his new book Rising Titans, Falling Giants: How Great Powers Exploit Power Shifts

Josh is Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Pardee School of Boston University, where his research focuses on U.S. foreign policy, grand strategy and international security. Previously, he served as Assistant Professor at the Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University. He has published in International Security, Foreign Affairs, the Washington Quarterly, and other venues.

Follow Josh on Twitter - https://twitter.com/shifrinson

Use code 09POD to save 30% on his new book when you order directly from Cornell University Press:
http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/?GCOI=80140107997660

1869, Ep. 52 with Josh Shifrinson, author of Rising Titans, Falling Giants

Lawrence Peskin, a history professor at Morgan State University in Baltimore, is in Tangier to research the life of James Simpson, America’s first consul to Morocco (1797-1820).  He is doing so as part of a larger book project that traces the development of the Early National American community in the Mediterranean region by studying the lives and networks of three consuls.  In addition to Simpson, he is studying Robert Montgomery of Alicante, Spain and Thomas Appleton of Livorno, Italy.
In addition to the many sources in the library at TALIM, he has benefitted from the opportunity to be able to walk around Tangier and understand the local geography.  In doing so he has struggled to identify the remains of the 18th and early 19th century town and, particularly, the various consular houses in which members of the roughly 150-member European community resided.
In the pod cast and in a more detailed blog post (http://legation.ipower.com/blog/?p=2085,) he discusses his efforts to find the location of the first American consular house (before the current American Legation) and Simpson’s country villa, “Mount Washington.”

Further Reading:
Luella J. Hall, The United States and Morocco 1776-1956 (NJ, 1971)
Frank Lambert, The Barbary Wars: American Independence in the Atlantic World (NY, 2005)
Richard B. Parker, Uncle Sam in Barbary (Florida, 2004)
Priscilla H. and Richard S. Roberts, Thomas Barclay (1728-1793):Consul in France, Diplomat in Barbary (PA 2008)

Lawrence Peskin: James Simpson: The First American Consul to Tangier

History lectures by Samuel Biagetti, a historian (and antique dealer) with a Phd in early American history; my dissertation was on Freemasonry in the 1700s. I focus on the historical myths and distortions, from "the Middle Ages" to "Race," that people use to rationalize the world in which we live.   More info at www.historiansplaining.com

Please see my Patreon page, https://www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632, if you want to keep the lectures coming, and to hear the patron-only materials.

Podcast series from Cornell University Press. Changing the world one book at a time.

A research/cultural center located in the Old American Legation in the medina of Tangier, Morocco

A new public events series from the Consortium for History of Science, Technology and Medicine brings historical perspective to contemporary issues and concerns.

In the public forums, historians and other specialists speak about culturally relevant topics in front of a live audience at Consortium member institutions. Forum subjects range from medical consumerism to public trust in science and technology. Videos of these events are also available at chstm.org.

In podcast episodes, authors of new books in the history of science, technology, and medicine respond to questions from readers with a wide variety of backgrounds and expertise. These conversations illuminate the utility and relevance of the past in light of current events.

Popular tracks tagged #Diplomatic History