When organizing for better wages became “communist.”
When striking for safety meant you were un-American.
This episode traces how the Red Scare wasn’t just about spies or politicians—it was a full-blown campaign to brand working people as enemies of the state. From the FBI surveillance of union organizers to the blacklistings of teachers, steelworkers, and screenwriters, we follow how Cold War paranoia was weaponized to silence labor. The hammer and sickle weren’t just painted on enemies abroad—they were stamped on the backs of workers at home.
Further Reading:
Schrecker, Ellen. Many Are the Crimes: McCarthyism in America. Princeton University Press, 1998.
A comprehensive dive into the people and institutions crushed by the Red Scare.
Zinn, Howard. Postwar America: 1945–1971. Beacon Press, 1973.
Zinn documents the labor resistance that persisted in the shadow of McCarthyism.
Caute, David. The Great Fear: The Anti-Communist Purge Under Truman and Eisenhower. Simon & Schuster, 1978.
A detailed account of how anti-communism was deployed against working people.
Kelley, Robin D.G. Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists During the Great Depression. University of North Carolina Press, 1990.
A powerful look at the intersection of labor, race, and red-baiting in the South.
Fried, Richard M. Nightmare in Red: The McCarthy Era in Perspective. Oxford University Press, 1990.
An accessible overview of the McCarthy era's broader impact on culture and labor.
National Archives. Records of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)
https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/233.html
