The Wreckage

American Jewish Historical Society
The Wreckage

Season 3: Open Up the Gates premieres September 3! Ahead of its release, catch up on all episodes of seasons one and two now. About Season 2: In 1938, as fascism continued to spread across Europe and Asia, the Dies Committee was formed to investigate “subversive activities” within the United States. The committee, headed by Texas Democrat Martin Dies, was tasked with targeting Nazi sympathizers, but soon shifted its primary focus to rooting out those they believed to have communist ties, and paved the way for a second American red scare. In this season of The Wreckage, we’ll go into the archives of the American Jewish Historical Society and hear from historians, political experts, and those who found themselves named “American subversives." Join host Rebecca Naomi Jones and special guests including Matthew Dallek, Thomas Doherty, Jelani Cobb, Martin J. Siegel, Larry Tye and more for a brand new story of The Wreckage. Jones is best known for her performances in the Broadway rock musicals Passing Strange, American Idiot, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch, as well as being the first woman of color to play Laurey in Oklahoma! on Broadway. She most recently starred in the hit musical Stereophonic.

See All
  1. The Committee

    EPISODE 1

    The Committee

    In 1938, as fascism continued to spread across Europe and Asia, the Dies Committee was formed to investigate “subversive activities” within the United States. The committee, headed by Texas Democrat Martin Dies, was tasked with targeting Nazi sympathizers, but soon shifted its primary focus to rooting out those they believed to have communist ties, and paved the way for a second American red scare. Narrated by Rebecca Naomi Jones and featuring Matthew Dallek, author of Birchers: How the John Birch Society Radicalized the American Right. Episode Image: American Nazi Party marches in support of HUAC. From the Abraham Shoenfeld Papers at AJHS, P-884 The Wreckage is made possible by funding from the Ford Foundation. Additional funding is provided through the American Jewish Education Program, generously supported by Sid and Ruth Lapidus.

    27 min
  2. The Unionists

    EPISODE 2

    The Unionists

    The film, television, and theater industries were represented by some of the largest unions in the United States, and in the late 1940s, with the full cooperation of Screen Actors Guild President Ronald Reagan, organizations like the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Values sought to root out what they deemed the communist threat in entertainment. Unions from other industries were also targeted, and a narrative that communist infiltration was the true root cause of contemporary labor conflicts was embraced by a number of American politicians. Narrated by Rebecca Naomi Jones and featuring Thomas Doherty, author of Show Trial: Hollywood, HUAC, and the Birth of the Blacklist.  Image: Strikers on the picket line at Warner Bros., in the early morning hours before violence broke out, October 5, 1945. Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images The Wreckage is made possible by funding from the Ford Foundation. Additional funding is provided through the American Jewish Education Program, generously supported by Sid and Ruth Lapidus.

    18 min
  3. The Hollywood Ten

    EPISODE 3

    The Hollywood Ten

    In November 1947, ten Hollywood writers and directors were cited for contempt of court for their refusal to testify before HUAC. Criminal charges were issued against the group that would become known as “the Hollywood Ten,” and the first systematic Hollywood blacklist had begun. Of the ten, six were Jewish - John Howard Lawson, Herbert Biberman, Alvah Bessie, Albert Maltz, Samuel Ornitz, and Lester Cole - as were many of the studio executives who voted to blacklist them. Narrated by Rebecca Naomi Jones and featuring Thomas Doherty, author of Show Trial: Hollywood, HUAC, and the Birth of the Blacklist. Image: Anticommunist group protests the release of "Exodus" in 1960, written by Hollywood Ten "unfriendly" Dalton Trumbo. From the Abraham Shoenfeld Papers at AJHS, P-884. The Wreckage is made possible by funding from the Ford Foundation. Additional funding is provided through the American Jewish Education Program, generously supported by Sid and Ruth Lapidus.

    21 min
  4. The Professors

    EPISODE 4

    The Professors

    College professors and other educators were among those targeted by anti-communists, but the search for Communist Party members in the U.S. education system began much earlier. The so-called “Red-ucators” were among the first deemed subversives, and Harvard University, City College of New York, and many other schools were rocked by hundreds of subpoenas, calling them to testify in front of special committees that were formed to weed out communists in education. Morris Schappes, an English professor in the CUNY system and member of the American Communist Party, was one of these educators, and became a prominent symbol of the quest to purge school systems of subversives. Narrated by Rebecca Naomi Jones and featuring Gemma R. Birnbaum, executive director of the American Jewish Historical Society. Image: May Day Labor Parade, New York College Teachers Union 1930's - 1940's. From the Morris U. Schappes Papers at AJHS, P-57. The Wreckage is made possible by funding from the Ford Foundation. Additional funding is provided through the American Jewish Education Program, generously supported by Sid and Ruth Lapidus.

    20 min
  5. The Defendants

    EPISODE 5

    The Defendants

    On April 5, 1951, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were sentenced to death under the Espionage Act of 1917. The couple was accused of spying for the Soviet Union and providing classified information about nuclear weapons, radar, sonar, and jet propulsion engines. The trial, which was presided over by Judge Irving Robert Kaufman, captured international attention. Narrated by Rebecca Naomi Jones and featuring Martin J. Siegel, author of Judgment and Mercy: The Turbulent Life and Times of the Judge Who Condemned the Rosenbergs. Image: Cover of brochure produced by the National Committee to Secure Justice for Morton Sobell. From the Committee to Free Morton Sobell Collection at AJHS, I-356. The Wreckage is made possible by funding from the Ford Foundation. Additional funding is provided through the American Jewish Education Program, generously supported by Sid and Ruth Lapidus.

    23 min
  6. The Army

    EPISODE 6

    The Army

    In the spring of 1954, the blustering anticommunist crusader, Senator Joseph McCarthy, set his sights on a new target: the United States Army, alleging Communist infiltration of the Army Signal Corps lab at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey - the same lab where Julius Rosenberg had once worked. In turn, the Army accused McCarthy of using his position to pressure them into giving preferential treatment to his former aide, G. David Schine. The hearings, which were televised live on ABC and the DuMont network, and watched by an estimated 80 million people, unveiled to the nation the true cost of McCarthy’s crusade. Narrated by Rebecca Naomi Jones and featuring Larry Tye, author of Demagogue: The Life and Long Shadow of Senator Joseph McCarthy. Image: Joseph McCarthy and Roy Cohn, Library of Congress. The Wreckage is made possible by funding from the Ford Foundation. Additional funding is provided through the American Jewish Education Program, generously supported by Sid and Ruth Lapidus.

    28 min
  7. The Activists

    EPISODE 7

    The Activists

    By 1957, Joseph McCarthy was dead and HUAC’s power and influence was on the decline, with former President Harry Truman calling it “the most un-American thing in the country today.” Increasingly, organizations and individuals alike began to speak out against the committee, but rather than back down, committee members escalated their targeting of activist groups and individuals, with particular emphasis on Civil Rights leaders. As the Red Scare continued unabated, prominent Jewish and Black activists found themselves subjected to a new level of interrogation and scrutiny. Narrated by Rebecca Naomi Jones and featuring Dr. Jelani Cobb, Dean of Columbia Journalism School and scholar of the Cold War. Image: Bayard Rustin and James Baldwin at the Montgomery March, 1965. From the American Jewish Congress records at the American Jewish Historical Society, I-77. The Wreckage is made possible by funding from the Ford Foundation. Additional funding is provided through the American Jewish Education Program, generously supported by Sid and Ruth Lapidus.

    28 min
  8. The Yippies

    EPISODE 8

    The Yippies

    HUAC’s continued targeting of activists spread to Jewish Americans and others at the forefront of the anti-Vietnam War movement. In 1967 - a year that would become one of the deadliest for U.S. military casualties as more than 11,000 American soldiers perished - counterculture activists Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin were among those subpoenaed. In response, Hoffman and Rubin were openly defiant, and their highly visible antics, which included arriving dressed in outrageous costumes and waving toy guns, helped to further erode the public’s trust in the committee. Narrated by Rebecca Naomi Jones and featuring Gemma R. Birnbaum, executive director of the American Jewish Historical Society. Episode Image: Yippie activists Abbie Hoffman (left) and Jerry Rubin arrive at the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) hearing October 1, 1968 investigating the clashes at the 1968 Democratic Convention. Photograph by Joseph Silverman. The image is courtesy of the D.C. Public Library Washington Star Collection © Washington Post. The Wreckage is made possible by funding from the Ford Foundation. Additional funding is provided through the American Jewish Education Program, generously supported by Sid and Ruth Lapidus.

    29 min

  9. EPISODE 9

    The Termination: Bonus Episode

    During this bonus episode, taped live at the Angelika Film Center in downtown Manhattan in a send-up to the Hollywood Ten, writer and critic Julie Salamon returns to The Wreckage to host New York Times editor/reporter and historian Clay Risen and AJHS executive director Gemma R. Birnbaum. Risen’s new book, Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism, and the Making of Modern America, provided an excellent framework for the discussion. Our deep appreciation to Rebecca Naomi Jones, who has once again brought life to the archives this season, and with her immense talent and empathetic storytelling, took our listeners on a riveting journey through one of the most tumultuous times in US history.  Additional thanks to Matthew Dallek, Thomas Doherty, Martin J. Siegel, Larry Tye, Jelani Cobb, Clay Risen, and Julie Salamon for being part of our season. The Wreckage is made possible by funding from the Ford Foundation. Additional funding is provided through the American Jewish Education Program, generously supported by Sid and Ruth Lapidus.

    1 hr
See All Season 2 (9)

5
out of 5
43 Ratings

About

Season 3: Open Up the Gates premieres September 3! Ahead of its release, catch up on all episodes of seasons one and two now. About Season 2: In 1938, as fascism continued to spread across Europe and Asia, the Dies Committee was formed to investigate “subversive activities” within the United States. The committee, headed by Texas Democrat Martin Dies, was tasked with targeting Nazi sympathizers, but soon shifted its primary focus to rooting out those they believed to have communist ties, and paved the way for a second American red scare. In this season of The Wreckage, we’ll go into the archives of the American Jewish Historical Society and hear from historians, political experts, and those who found themselves named “American subversives." Join host Rebecca Naomi Jones and special guests including Matthew Dallek, Thomas Doherty, Jelani Cobb, Martin J. Siegel, Larry Tye and more for a brand new story of The Wreckage. Jones is best known for her performances in the Broadway rock musicals Passing Strange, American Idiot, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch, as well as being the first woman of color to play Laurey in Oklahoma! on Broadway. She most recently starred in the hit musical Stereophonic.

Information

  • Creator
    American Jewish Historical Society
  • Episodes
    18
  • Seasons
    2
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2024-2025 American Jewish Historical Society
  • Show Website
    The Wreckage

You Might Also Like

To listen to explicit episodes, sign in.

Stay up to date with this show

Sign in or sign up to follow shows, save episodes, and get the latest updates.
Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

Asia Pacific

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

The United States and Canada