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The Jefferson Exchange

Waging Cold War With Culture

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Martha Graham receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Pres. Gerald Ford, 1976.
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration

The story may be getting lost in all the Covid-19 news, but the Trump Administration has been replacing high-ranking officials in the US Government's media programs (like Voice of America) with conservative loyalists.

The VOA was once a centerpiece of American propaganda during the Cold War, but often took a soft-sell approach to promoting American interests by focusing on American cultural production, like jazz, rock 'n' roll and the arts in general.

You can read about it in the book Martha Graham's Cold War, by Victoria Phillips. This new history of the Cold War focuses on efforts to promote America behind the Iron Curtain.

The author visits with an overview.

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The Jefferson Exchange is Jefferson Public Radio's daily news program focused on issues, people and events across Southern Oregon and Northern California. Angela Decker is the program's senior producer, Charlie Zimmermann is the assistant producer, and Geoffrey Riley hosts the show.