Shaping Shadows: The Early Life of a Power Figure

J. Edgar Hoover was a controversial figure who served as the director of the FBI for nearly five decades. In this episode, we explore his life and legacy with Beverly Gage, a professor of 20th-century U.S. history and author of the Bancroft Prize-winning biography "G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century."

We discuss

• The context in which Hoover developed his anti-communist worldview, and how this shaped his approach to law enforcement.
• The deportation of anarchists to Bolshevik Russia.
• Similarities between Hoover and Xi Jinping.
• The role of FBI informants, including one who met with Mao Zedong.

Outro music: G-Man Hoover by Van Dyke Parks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E566LbON5QA

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