The Overlooked Role of Soul Stein

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This chapter discusses the omission of Soul Stein in James Campbell's Baldwin biography and explores his relationship with James Baldwin. It delves into the letters exchanged between Soul Stein and Baldwin, revealing Stein's motives and his role as the executive director for the Congress for Cultural Freedom. The chapter also touches on the CIA's involvement in funding cultural fronts through foundations.

In the 1950s the CIA weaponized culture to capture hearts and minds in Europe and Africa. We meet three writers (Richard Wright, Kenneth Tynan, and Dwight Macdonald) who got caught up in this battle both as collaborators and targets between the years of 1956 - 1960. We also meet a propagandist responsible for the CIA’s cinematic version of 1984 (Operation Big Brother) and “books that don’t smack of propaganda” aimed at European Intellectuals - including James Baldwin’s Notes of a Native Son.

Shownotes: Françoise Vergès is the author of A decolonial Feminism, James Campbell is the author of Paris Interzone and Talking at the Gates, Jelena Ćulibrk writes on IRD and Newsreels, Tony Shaw writes on British Cinema and the Cold War,

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