Episode 118: Joseph Horowitz on the Art-Freedom Nexus

American Purpose's Bookstack

Does the ability to produce great art depend upon living in a free country? For a time the rhetoric emanating from the United States—including from President John F. Kennedy himself—suggested it did. Classical music expert Joseph Horowitz delves into the sources of this Cold War-era hyperbole in his new book, The Propaganda of Freedom: JFK, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, and the Cultural Cold War. He joins host Richard Aldous to discuss Soviet-era cultural achievements, cultural diplomacy, and more.