Beat, Blacklist, Paint by Number

Studio 360

We visit Paint by Number at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. Kurt Andersen and cultural historian Ann Douglas look at America in the 1950s, when the Beats redefined poetry and prose, and the House un-American Activities Committee asked artists and writers to name names. Sara Fishko explores the political and artistic conflicts in the creation the classic American musical West Side Story. And Kurt talks with Daniel Mark Epstein, who has written a biography of Nat King Cole, about the singer’s short-lived 1950s television show.

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