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(They were just as suspicious of us)

For all the saber rattling and threats and accusations during the Cold War period, there were times, especially in the late 1950s, where signs of thaw in relations were starting to become noticed.

One was the great cultural exchange that went on between the U.S. and the Soviet Union in the late 1950s. We got the Bolshoi Ballet and they got Louis Armstrong. Our pianist (Van Cliburn) won the prestigious Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow. Soviet cinema was being seen on a regular basis in art house movie theaters around the country.

And so the barriers started to come down, a little bit - but not for long. In December of 1957, CBS Radio, in what was hailed as a milestone, not only in broadcasting, but in East-West communications, hosted a program from their Radio Beat series. The program dealt with Education and the perceptions both the Russians and the Americans had towards each other.

Dwight Cook (CBS News): “We believe in the broadcast that you’re about to hear, that one of the rare firsts of this year, is coming about. Because for the first time, as far as we know, in the history of radio you’re going to hear an actual, unrehearsed discussion between a group of educators sitting in a studio in Moscow Russia and another group of educators sitting around a table with me here in CBS New York. Our discussion is going to be on the purpose of Education.”

All very polite and non-confrontational - no dissidents commandeering the microphone shouting about Gulags. Three leading educators from the U.S. sitting around asking questions of three leading educators from the Soviet Union - and vice versa. What it did was establish the idea that neither of the two super powers really knew anything about each other.

It was short lived however. When the U2 Spyplane scandal surfaced in 1960, what little thaw there had been froze solid and stayed that way for a very long time before resuming.

But in the late 1950s there was that window of opportunity.

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(In 1957 they were concerned we were turning into a nation of dummies. 52 years later - thay wur rite!)

In 1957 the big concern on the part of educators was the fact that Americans were reading less, understanding less, and the numbers were growing.

As part of its weekend series New World in 1957, a panel of educators from University of Chicago discussed the problem and wondered what was the future going to be like.

Dean Lester Asheim (University of Chicago Library School): “We are not so much interested in whether people actually sit in front of printed symbols and interpret what they mean, because if they can get the same ideas and the same mental stimulation, the same recreation and fun for that matter from other devices, that ought to be all right with us. I think the thing we really are concerned with is that there are particular values that can be gained from reading which are now being lost, and that we think these values are important.”

I cannot imagine what that same panel would have to say in 2009.

However, if you're reading this, you're doing a lot better than the vast majority. Comforting . . . no?

And that's why . . . . .

Ignorance will get you in nothing but trouble.

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(Cuarteto D'Aida - Cancion Cubano at its best)

A taste of something recorded in Havana on March 31, 1957 - the legendary Cuarteto D'Aida with an orchestra arranged and led by the equally legendary Arturo "Chico" O'Farrill.

This is a whole world of music not a lot of people (at least here in the U.S.) have checked out, or even been exposed to. Thanks to films like Buena Vista Social Club, awareness of this rich vein of musical culture has finally come back into light. Sadly, it's been hidden away for too many years. Blame the Cuban revolution in 1959, blame the U.S. embargo, blame lots of things. Fact is - it's great music and it's gone unnoticed for a very long time. But lots of it, like this track, Profecia, have been sitting in the vaults at RCA and other U.S. labels and haven't been reissued since they first came out. RCA had studios in Havana and recorded a lot of these groups, as did many other labels. Fortunately, much of it is being reissued and discovered and is slowly becoming available.

So if this track appeals - there's a lot more where that came from.

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("The Olive Has Been Talking . . . ")

It seems wiretapping has been a popular subject in legal circles for quite some time, if this special edition of Meet The Press from November 17, 1957 is any indication. This roundtable discussion features New York State Supreme Court Justice Miles McDonald, District Attorney of Richmond County New York John Braisted and the infamous Roy Cohn on the subject of the use or misuse of the Fifth Amendment and the use and misuse of wiretaps.

All interesting stuff, considering it's 1957 and the world seemed much simpler then . . .or not.