From a 1964 stamp from Tanzania

Tanzania in the Cold War Crucible

After the US-Belgian assassination of the Congo’s first Prime Minister, leaders in Tanganyika and Zanzibar worried they would be given the same treatment.
Finland's President Sauli Niinisto (L) greets Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson as they are welcomed to the White House by U.S. President Joe Biden on May 19, 2022 in Washington, DC.

Neutrality: Not All It’s Cracked Up To Be

While Sweden has claimed a position of neutrality for more than two centuries, its policy of non-alignment was somewhat ambiguous during the Cold War.
Girl Scouts, 1951

How American Girl Scouts Shocked Mexico in the 1950s

At a retreat center called Our Cabaña, girls from all over the world became Cold War–era diplomats. American scouts had additional ideas.
Frank Kameny

The Lavender Scare

In 1950, the U.S. State Department fired 91 employees because they were homosexual or suspected of being homosexual.
An explosion on Earth

Understanding Planet-Wide Danger

The way Americans metabolized the global threat of nuclear war has had lasting effects on how we think about our newest global threat: climate change.
Interior of a drug store in the 1950s

Cold Warriors Tanked Big Pharma Regulation

Worried about the high price of prescription drugs, a senator proposed a bill that would have regulated Big Pharma -- back in the 1950s.
From an advertisement for a model kit tie in for the film The Silent Star, also released as First Spaceship on Venus

Socialist Sci-Fi Reimagined the Future

The 1960 East German film The Silent Star provided a significant cautionary tale for the Cold War era.
Pogo comic

The Most Controversial Comic Strip

In the 1950s, Walt Kelly's comic strip about a cute opossum named Pogo was syndicated by over 450 newspapers. It was also frequently censored.
Photograph: a promotional image of Robert Preston in "The Music Man" (1962)


Source: http://lantern.mediahist.org/catalog/boxofficeaprjun182boxo_0208

How a Beloved Musical Became a Cold War Weapon

The 1962 film The Music Man was seen as so all-American that some hoped it would help win the Cold War by transmitting American values abroad.
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How Consumerism Sold Democracy to Postwar Germany

After World War II, the United States was battling the Soviet Union for cultural influence. In divided Berlin, the tactics included lavish consumer goods exhibitions.