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Intellectuals Then and Now

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In 1952, the "Partisan Review," one of America's oldest and most respected literary and cultural journals, asked American intellectuals to assess the effects of political and cultural changes due to events following WWII, such as the rise of communism, the Cold War, and America's emerging economic superiority. Earlier this month and 50 years after the 1952 conference, the Partisan Review journal held another conference titled "Our Country, Our Culture" to assess yet again how the past 50 years have affected the American society and its relationship to the rest of the world at large.

On this week's show, we presented the first of a number of excerpts from the talks given at the "Our Country, Our Culture" conference. We heard from author and social critic Norman Podhoretz and professor Sanford Pinsker, an educator who writes widely about American literature and culture. They talked about how intellectuals and writers over the past 50 years have laid the groundwork for political and social movements, and made contributions to public debates and awareness over various issues.

This program aired on May 26, 2002.

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