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Twilight at the World of Tomorrow

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

James Mauro discusses the 1939 World’s Fair, which took place at an important turning point for America—the window of time between the Great Depression and World War II. His book Twilight at the World of Tomorrow: Genius, Madness, Murder, and the 1939 World's Fair on the Brink of War describes how the fair began to symbolize the transformation from acute optimism to fear and dread. The novel tells the story of four men struggling against the impending global violence as the World’s Fair was taking place.

Guests:

James Mauro

Comments [3]

Jefferson Ridley from Providence, RI

Isaacson's biography discusses Einstein's socialism extensively (at least 21 pages referenced in the index on socialism, and an entire section of the book on Einstein's socialism) and he has a full discussion of his essay "Why Socialism." For "Hugh Sansom" to say that Isaacson "deliberately excluded" discussion of Einstein's socialism shows that Sansom is either "deliberately" lying or is rather stupid.

Aug. 25 2010 10:51 PM
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Einstein certainly was a socialist (to his credit, in my opinion). He makes this transparently clear in his writings. It is a fact deliberately excluded by narrow-minded hagiographers like Walter Isaacson (who pointedly omits mention of this in his biography).

As James Mauro noted, Einstein was also a pacificist.

To the same kind of idiots that we now see opposing a downtown Islamic center, a pacifist socialist was an untouchable.

Aug. 24 2010 12:59 PM
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reuven

A. Einstein wrote "Why Socialism" he was a Marxist scholar.

Aug. 24 2010 12:58 PM
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