Episode
808 A Treacherous Secret Agent - How Literature Spoke Truth to Power During the Red Scare (with Marjorie Garber) | Arthur Miller on Writing "The Crucible"
- Podcast
- The History of Literature
- Published
- Jun 8, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3405
- Processing state
not_requested
Actions
POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-history-of-literature-743083/episodes/808-a-treacherous-secret-agent-how-literature-spoke-truth-to-power-during-the-red-scare-with-marjorie-garber-arthur-miller-on-writing-the-crucible/transcription-requests
Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-history-of-literature-743083/808-a-treacherous-secret-agent-how-literature-spoke-truth-to-power-during-the-red-scare-with-marjorie-garber-arthur-miller-on-writing-the-crucible.md
Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.
Summary
During the Cold War, hearings led by U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy soon turned into a witch hunt, as paranoia and political opportunism destroyed the careers (and lives) of actors, directors, singers, filmmakers, writers, and prominent scientists who were accused of disloyalty, subversion, and treason. But even as the accusers cited poems, plays, novels, and song lyrics to bolster their attack, literature mounted a counteroffensive, striking back at the powerful in what Marjorie Garber has termed "poetic revenge." In this episode, Jacke talks to Garber about her book A Treacherous Secret Agent: How Literature Spoke Truth to Power During the Red Scare about the long reach of authors like William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Kyd, John Donne, and others, whose works exposed the lies and hypocrisies of one of America's darkest periods. PLUS Jacke takes a look at Arthur Miller's late-in-life reflections on his own work of poetic revenge, the great anti-McCarthyist play The Crucible. The music in this episode is by Gabriel Ruiz-Bernal. Learn more at gabrielruizbernal.com. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices