News
Martin Tytell – 1913-2008
On the day after the 91-year-old co-defendant of the Rosenbergs finally admitted that he was, like them, a spy, comes word of the death of the 94-year-old typewriter expert who was dragooned into service for the appeal lodged by Alger Hiss' defense team. Hiss' appeal...
The Last Shoe Finally Drops
Not all old men forget. Morton Sobell, one of the three defendants in the Rosenberg case, is now 91 and living in the Bronx. And he has just admitted, in an interview with Sam Roberts of The New York Times, that he was, in fact, guilty as charged: a Soviet spy...
Palin, Roosevelt, and American Originals
The rollout of Sarah Palin as the Republican vice presidential nominee appears to be morphing into a full-fledged juggernaut. Democratic strategists, not to mention their nominees, continue to scratch their heads while trying to play the familiar political games of...
9/11/08
The Story That He’s Sticking With
The Wall Street Journal today editorializes about Senator Obama's reticence regarding his time at Columbia University. Although he has, as someone or other recently pointed out, written two autobiographical books, he has paid scant attention to the years spent on...
OK — My Bad — But I Get To Keep My Job
“I really don’t believe making mistakes means you have to give up your career,” Representative Charles B. Rangel said at a news conference in Washington on Wednesday. Already dealing with the backdraft from several other scandals, eternal Harlem Congressman and...
A Conversation with Khrushchev
I had a conversation recently with Sergei Khrushchev, son of the late former Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, as part of my work with the Smithsonian-affiliated Cold War Museum. Mr. Khrushchev is a member of the museum’s advisory board. Our discussion was...
“Nixon In Hollywood” On WNYC Tomorrow
Tomorrow at noon EST, the Leonard Lopate show at WNYC radio (93.9 FM or 820 AM in the New York area, also streamed live at www.wnyc.org and downloadable via podcasts soon after broadcast) will air a segment on the subject "Nixon In Hollywood." The films to be...
Nixonland Nitpick 9
This one is less about a factual error than an unwarranted inference. On page 602, Nixonland discusses RN's speech to the nation on economic policy: "He then named the desperado they would slay together, with a hint of anti-Semitic code: 'We must protect the dollar...
The New Two Americas And The Edwards Zone
Yesterday brought some news that was surely welcome in Democratic circles. When last heard from, former senator and 2004 vice-presidential candidate John Edwards was ready to visit the campuses of America, starting next Monday at Hofstra University, and continuing to...