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Ray Bradbury's novel "Fahrenheit 451" presents a compelling vision of a future dystopia that remains relevant and authentic even today.
The suppression of intellectual freedom is key aspects that contribute to its authenticity. In the world of "Fahrenheit 451," intellectual freedom is severely restricted through the banning and burning of books. The government, fearing dissent and independent thought, enforces strict censorship. This reflects historical instances of book burnings and censorship, such as Nazi Germany's burning of books during the 1930s, making the novel's dystopia feel rooted in real-world concerns.
Also, the decline of critical thinking is a topic of authenticity. In Bradbury's dystopia, society is consumed by mindless entertainment and shallow distractions. People are constantly bombarded with fast-paced media, such as interactive television walls and seashell earpieces. The devaluation of critical thinking and intellectual pursuits mirrors concerns about the impact of technology and media saturation on contemporary society.
Something that I talk to my students about frequently in this novel relevant to our current society is the loss of connection and isolation. "Fahrenheit 451" portrays a society in which genuine human connections are scarce. People live isolated lives, lacking meaningful interactions. This theme resonates with the increasing prevalence of social isolation in the modern world, where digital communication often substitutes for genuine human contact.

These elements contribute to the authenticity of "Fahrenheit 451" as a future dystopia. Bradbury's insightful exploration of censorship, the decline of critical thinking, and the power of mass media reflect real-world concerns and cautionary tales from history. The novel serves as a reminder of the importance of intellectual freedom, critical inquiry, and the preservation of human connections in the face of oppressive forces.

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Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 Authentic Future Dystopia

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Dr. Gregory Berns, a professor of behavioral science, conducted several experiments for the purpose of answering an age-old question: Why do people follow the crowd? ABC's Primetime recreated two of these experiments using several unsuspecting people.

Skill Focus:

In this lesson, you’ll practice identifying an author’s central idea and how they support it. This means paying attention to the evidence and reasons they give for their idea. As you read, take note of the details that support the author’s central idea.

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Watch this video to help understand why we still ready this novel.

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Why should you read “Fahrenheit 451”? - Iseult Gillespie

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This is the document where students will find the questions are searching to find the answers of for the time period.

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This article and video go through why F451 is still relevant in our current society. What aspects of this novel do we see in our modern lives?

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The recent announcement that Ray Bradbury's magnum opus was being remade into sci-fi blockbuster managed to set the internet alight. Without a doubt, one of the greatest works of literature of the 20th Century Fahrenheit 451 remains one of the most prescient works today. Centring around the destructive idea of censorship, why does this remake of this film feel so relevant today?
It was written 65 years ago when at the time America was going through an incredible political paranoia. Wedged between a Cold War, Senator Joseph Mcarthy invested the power of the state to exercise an intellectual purge. He and his goons had been rounding up anyone who he thought shared links to communism and had their names blacklisted. Essentially exercising a control of information.

The idea that controlling the flow of information remains an idea more timely than ever. We live in a time when information can not only do an incredible amount of damage but controlling it remains equally as divisive. Whilst fake news has been portrayed as the evil baby of the internet. Fake news is nothing new. The manipulation by media across the world has been going on for decades, however, what is different is the arrival of tech companies which has created an accelerated vacuum allowing for all types of unvetted insanity.
In some ways, Fahrenheit 451 like George Orwell's 1984 has predicted the future, one where we have no control over our intellectual independence. Where we can't decipher what's real or not so we just accept it. Where the possibility of burning everything and starting again almost sounds like a good thing.

But Fahrenheit 451 remains a timely reminder that an attempt to gag or purge is effectively a threat to democracy everywhere. Do we want a world where books are outlawed, history is controlled and censored by those in power, and the media is a dangerous and omnipresent distraction?
The idea behind Fahrenheit 451 is that that the more you know the less the society can progress. By keeping everyone mediocre, brainwashed and entertained then you have a people you can mobilise. Ray Bradbury like all great artists simply reflected his time by writing a sci-fi novel that encapsulated a world where knowledge was portrayed as a bad thing where books were a stimulant for chaos.

"By keeping everyone mediocre, brainwashed and entertained then you have a people you can mobilise."

We now have a President of the Free World Donald J. Trump attempting to resuscitate this idea, followed by a type of demagoguery not seen since the 1930s. His 1,628 false or misleading claims over 298 days in power and counting has made the world all the more anxious. His intention is that you should just listen to him only, hence controlling the conversation and creating a moral panic.
His cabinet insists on controlling the flow of information and handing out fake news awards to the most trusted newspapers on Earth such as The New York Times and the Washington Post; this has left institutions like the media battered and bruised. This insistence on creating chaos out of fact and fiction reminds us of Adam Curtis's portrayal of one the key leading figures in Vladimir Putin's cabinet, Vladislav Surkov. It's all part of the political theatre.

The remake of this film reminds us that everything we read and hear has the ability to steer us into an ideology. We must think for ourselves, we must exercise independent thought and always question authority. Do we want a society where our whims and desires are dictated by the powers that be without even realising it?

In the trailer you can see Michael Shannon, telling cadet fireman Guy Montag (Michael B. Jordan) about the dangers of books and why they have to be burned. "News, facts, memoirs, internet of old - burn it."
Maybe some of the information out there needs to be burned, maybe we need to choke the air out of these information channels clogged with fabrication. Do we need to adjudicate what is fake or real for the masses? It's an extremely tricky question.
What remains true is that art will always be the greatest and truest reflection of the times we're living in. Originally Ray Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451 out of concern for the erosion of faith in literature and the arts. 65 years later, this concern remains as vital today as it did back then.
This column was written by founding editor Ari Stein

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Op-Ed: Why Fahrenheit 451 is More Relevant Now Than Ever

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The recent announcement that Ray Bradbury's magnum opus was being remade into sci-fi blockbuster managed to set the internet alight. Without a doubt, one of the greatest works of literature of the 20th Century Fahrenheit 451 remains one of the most prescient works today.

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The goal of this project was to apply the censorship found in Fahrenheit 451 to other situations present in different areas of “the real world”. The students, after doing so, would then create a video of images and their voice, discussing themes of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and how it’s used in other areas outside of the book. The purpose is to have students use analysis in literature and applying it in different areas as well as to do so in a different way other than through writing. By using the video software, they are changing the way that traditional classroom settings are used.

"Fahrenheit 451" explores the theme of censorship and its consequences in a dystopian society. In the novel, books are banned and burned by the government in an effort to control and manipulate the population.
The first topic to look into in relation to identify the theme is: suppression of knowledge. In the world of "Fahrenheit 451," books are seen as dangerous because they challenge the status quo and encourage critical thinking. The government seeks to suppress knowledge and ideas to maintain control over the population. This reflects the broader idea that censorship is often driven by a desire to control information and limit independent thought.
Another important topic is the role of technology. In the novel, technology, such as large-scale televisions and earpiece radios, plays a significant role in distracting and manipulating individuals. It serves as a tool for the government to maintain control and prevent critical thinking. This highlights the idea that censorship can take various forms, including the manipulation of information through technology.

The exploration of censorship in "Fahrenheit 451" raises important questions about the role of information, the power of literature, and the importance of free expression. It serves as a cautionary tale, warning against the dangers of a society that suppresses knowledge and discourages critical thinking.

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Allusions in Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" 

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Allusions in Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" 

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"Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury is rich with literary allusions that contribute to the overall themes and messages of the novel.
From the beginning, there is an allusion to "Dover Beach" by Matthew Arnold: "And the sea of the burning text rolled on," alludes to Arnold's depiction of a world losing its faith and descending into chaos. This sets the tone for the dystopian society depicted in the novel.
There is also an allusion to "Robinson Crusoe" by Daniel Defoe. One of the main characters in the novel, who juxtaposes Montag's wife or the "norm" of the society, Clarisse McClellan, is reminiscent of the character Friday from "Robinson Crusoe." Just as Friday serves as a reminder of the natural, uncorrupted world, Clarisse represents the free-thinking, curious individual in a society that suppresses intellectual exploration.
There is another allusion to "Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare: Bradbury references Shakespeare's play to highlight the dangers of censorship and the suppression of knowledge. Captain Beatty quotes the line, "There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats, for I am armed so strong in honesty that they pass by me as an idle wind." There is another quote in which Faber, Montag's almost mentor, mentions that, "Remember Caesar, thou art mortal" to remind him that he should be more careful.

These few examples of the literary allusions in "Fahrenheit 451" to help to deepen the themes of the novel, such as the importance of literature, the dangers of censorship, and the impact of technology on society. Each allusion serves as a literary reference that adds layers of meaning to the story and invites readers to reflect on the broader context in which the novel is situated.

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Use this website to learn about the author of F451, Ray Bradbury.

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Ray Bradbury
1920 - Forever

'We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.'

Ray Bradbury inspired generations of readers and viewers to dream, think, and create. His childhood was spent in the Midwestern small town of Waukegan, Illinois, and he mastered his craft in Los Angeles, where he forged a special creative bond with the city and its many cultures, raised his family, and drew as feverishly as he wrote. (The doodles throughout this website are just a mere sampling.) Yet Bradbury always maintained strong ties to his small-town upbringing. He often told the story of an encounter with a carnival magician, Mr. Electrico, who reached out to the twelve-year-old Bradbury, touched him with his energy-charged sword, and commanded, "Live forever!" Bradbury said, "I decided that was the greatest idea I had ever heard. I started writing every day. I never stopped." And the literary landscape-as well as the broader American cultural landscape, from Hollywood to NASA-would never be the same again.

During a career that spanned seventy-plus years, he wrote more than 400 short stories and nearly fifty books across a variety of genres. He also penned numerous poems, essays, plays, operas, teleplays, and screenplays, making him one of the most productive and admired writers of our time, as well as one of the most widely translated in the world.

His enduring novels, novelized story cycles, and story collections include The Martian Chronicles (1950), The Illustrated Man (1951), The Golden Apples of the Sun (1953), Fahrenheit 451 (1953), The October Country (1955), Dandelion Wine (1957), A Medicine for Melancholy (1959), and Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962).

Bradbury's many subsequent books include the children's fantasy The Halloween Tree (1972); the detective novel trilogy Death Is a Lonely Business (1985), A Graveyard for Lunatics (1990), and Let's All Kill Constance! (2003); an essay collection on creativity, Zen in the Art of Writing (1989); a roman-à-clef based on his work in Ireland with John Huston, entitled Green Shadows, White Whale (1992); the supernatural novel From the Dust Returned (2001); the poetry collection They Have Not Seen the Stars (2001); the nostalgic sequel to Dandelion Wine, Farewell Summer (2006); and nine short story collections written during the final five decades of his life. In addition, 200 of his short stories were published in two story collections, The Stories of Ray Bradbury (1980) and Bradbury Stories (2003). Further, his stories earned individual honors in two O. Henry Prize anthologies and four Best American Short Stories volumes, and continue to appear in hundreds of textbooks for new generations of readers.

When Bradbury used his gift as a master visual storyteller to venture into film and television, millions more discovered his work. He wrote the screenplay for John Huston's classic 1956 film adaptation of Moby Dick, was nominated for a 1962 Academy Award, and won an Emmy for his teleplay of The Halloween Tree in 1993. The Ray Bradbury Theater, a TV series for which he adapted sixty-five of his stories, also earned several awards, and more of his stories were adapted for Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. On the big screen, many feature films were based on his work, including It Came from Outer Space (1953), The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953), Fahrenheit 451 (1966 and 2018), The Illustrated Man (1969), Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983), The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit (1998), and A Sound of Thunder (2005).

During the Space Age, Bradbury emerged as a leading futurist through his stories, books, articles, and lectures. His ideas transcended the boundaries of fiction and became the real-life dreams of astronomers, astronauts, planetary scientists, and mainstream readers of all ages. Few individuals in the world have received as many Space-Age recognitions as Bradbury. In his honor, the Apollo 15 crew named a moon crater "Dandelion," an asteroid was designated "9766 Bradbury," rocks on Mars were named "The Martian Chronicles" by the Spirit and Opportunity Mars Exploration Rover scientific teams, and the Phoenix Mars Lander carried a digital copy of The Martian Chronicles aboard when it traveled to the high northern latitudes of Mars. Valles Marineris, one of the deepest chasms of the Martian Grand Canyon, has been unofficially renamed the "Bradbury Abyss" by his fans.

Many accolades have been bestowed on Bradbury, including the World Fantasy Award for Lifetime Achievement, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Grand Master Award, and the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement. Among his most distinguished honors are the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, received in 2000, followed by the National Medal of Arts from President George W. Bush in 2004, and the Commandeur of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French government in 2007, a year that also saw Bradbury receive a Pulitzer Prize citation, recognizing his "prolific and deeply influential" career.

"I have never listened to anyone who criticized my taste in space travel, sideshows or gorillas. When this occurs, I pack up my dinosaurs and leave the room."
- R.B.

From Ray Bradbury's Pulitzer Prize Special Citation, 2007

'Ray Bradbury is one of those rare individuals whose writing has changed the way people think. His more than five hundred published works-short stories, novels, plays, screenplays, television scripts, and verse-exemplify the American imagination at its most creative. Once read, his words are never forgotten. His best-known and most beloved books, The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, Fahrenheit 451, and Something Wicked This Way Comes, are masterworks that readers carry with them over a lifetime. His timeless, constant appeal to audiences young and old has proven him to be one of the truly classic authors of the 20th century-and the 21st.'

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Ray Bradbury1920 - Forever 'We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.' Ray Bradbury inspired generations of readers and viewers to dream, think, and create.

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What is censorship? Who gets to decide what information is censored and for whom? How is that power yielded?

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The term "censorship" comes from The Latin, censere "to give as one's opinion, to assess." The Roman censors were magistrates who took the census count and served as assessors and inspectors of morals and conduct.

In contrast to that straightforward definition from Roman times, contemporary usage offers no agreed-upon definition of the term or when to use it. Indeed, even whether the word itself applies to a given controversy in the arts is often vigorously contested.

Here are excerpts of definitions of "censorship" from U.S. organizations and publications with varying views. They are not intended as any composite mega-definition of the term, only as indications of the variety of approaches to this concept.

Censor: One who supervises conduct and morals: as a) an official who examines materials (as publications or films) for objectionable matter;b) an official (as in time of war) who reads communications (as letters) and deletes material considered harmful to the interests of his organization. Censorship: The institution, system or practice of censoring; the actions or practices of censors; esp : censorial control exercised repressively.
--Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
Censorship: The use of the state and other legal or official means to restrict speech.
-- Culture Wars, Documents from the Recent Controversies in the Arts, edited by Richard Boltons

In general, censorship of books is a supervision of the press in order to prevent any abuse of it. In this sense, every lawful authority, whose duty it is to protect its subjects from the ravages of a pernicious press, has the right of exercising censorship of books.
-- The Catholic Encyclopedia (a publication of the Catholic Church)

What Is Censorship? Censorship is the suppression of ideas and information that certain persons -- individuals, groups or government officials -- find objectionable or dangerous. It is no more complicated than someone saying, "Don't let anyone read this book, or buy that magazine, or view that film, because I object to it!" Censors try to use the power of the state to impose their view of what is truthful and appropriate, or offensive and objectionable, on everyone else. Censors pressure public institutions, like libraries, to suppress and remove from public access information they judge inappropriate or dangerous, so that no one else has the chance to read or view the material and make up their own minds about it. The censor wants to prejudge materials for everyone.

For the ALA, technically censorship means the "The Removal of material from open access by government authority." The ALA also distinguishes various levels of incidents in respect to materials in a library which may or may not lead to censorship: Inquiry, Expression of Concern, Complaint, Attack, and Censorship.
--The American Library Association

The word "censorship" means "prior restraint" of First Amendment rights by government.
--Morality in Media (Morality in Media is "a national, not-for-profit, interfaith organization established in 1962 to combat obscenity and uphold decency standards in the media.")

Censorship
1. The denial of freedom of speech or freedom of the press.
2. The review of books, movies, etc., to prohibit publication and distribution, usually for reasons of morality or state security.
-- Oran's Dictionary of Law

Censorship: official restriction of any expression believed to threaten the political, social, or moral order.
-- Encyclopedia.Com

Censorship - the prevention of publication, transmission, or exhibition of material considered undesirable for the general public to possess or be exposed to.(
-- Fast Times' Political Dictionary Fast Times is "a nonpartisan publication on contemporary world affairs & media with no political, ideological, or religious affiliation of any kind.")

Censorship: the cyclical suppression, banning, expurgation, or editing by an individual, institution, group or government that enforce or influence its decision against members of the public -- of any written or pictorial materials which that individual, institution, group or government deems obscene and "utterly" without redeeming social value," as determined by "contemporary community standards."
--Chuck Stone, Professor of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of North Carolina

Censorship is a word of many meanings. In its broadest sense it refers to suppression of information, ideas, or artistic expression by anyone, whether government officials, church authorities, private pressure groups, or speakers, writers, and artists themselves. It may take place at any point in time, whether before an utterance occurs, prior to its widespread circulation, or by punishment of communicators after dissemination of their messages, so as to deter others from like expression. In its narrower, more legalistic sense, censorship means only the prevention by official government action of the circulation of messages already produced. Thus writers who "censor" themselves before putting words on paper, for fear of failing to sell their work, are not engaging in censorship in this narrower sense, nor are those who boycott sponsors of disliked television shows.
-- Academic American Encyclopedia

Censorship: supervision and control of the information and ideas circulated within a society. In modern times, censorship refers to the examination of media including books, periodicals, plays, motion pictures, and television and radio programs for the purpose of altering or suppressing parts thought to be offensive. The offensive material may be considered immoral or obscene, heretical or blasphemous, seditious or treasonable, or injurious to the national security.
-- Encarta Encyclopedia

Do you have an definition of "censorship"? How does it compare with these?

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Culture Shock: Who Decides? How and Why?: Definitions of Censorship

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The term "censorship" comes from The Latin, censere "to give as one's opinion, to assess." The Roman censors were magistrates who took the census count and served as assessors and inspectors of morals and conduct. In contrast to that straightforward definition from Roman times, contemporary usage offers no agreed-upon definition of the term or when to use it.

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Read this article to find why books are banned, what books are banned the most, and form an opinion on the relevance of these bannings.

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The American Library Association promotes the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one's opinions even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular, and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those viewpoints to all who wish to read them. The following is a list of frequently asked questions on banned and challenged books:

What is the difference between a challenge or banning?

A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others. Due to the commitment of librarians, teachers, parents, students and other concerned citizens, most challenges are unsuccessful and most materials are retained in the school curriculum or library collection.

Why are books challenged?

Books usually are challenged with the best intentions-to protect others, frequently children, from difficult ideas and information.

Censorship can be subtle, almost imperceptible, as well as blatant and overt, but, nonetheless, harmful. As John Stuart Mill wrote in On Liberty: "If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind. Were an opinion a personal possession of no value except to the owner; if to be obstructed in the enjoyment of it were simply a private injury, it would make some difference whether the injury was inflicted only on a few persons or on many. But the peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error."

Often challenges are motivated by a desire to protect children from "inappropriate" sexual content or "offensive" language. The following were the top three reasons cited for challenging materials as reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom:

1. the material was considered to be "sexually explicit"

2. the material contained "offensive language"

3. the materials was "unsuited to any age group"

Although this is a commendable motivation, Access to Library Resources and Services for Minors, an interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights (ALA's basic policy concerning access to information) states that, "Librarians and governing bodies should maintain that parents-and only parents-have the right and the responsibility to restrict the access of their children-and only their children-to library resources." Censorship by librarians of constitutionally protected speech, whether for protection or for any other reason, violates the First Amendment.

As Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., in Texas v. Johnson, said most eloquently: "If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable."

If we are to continue to protect our First Amendment, we would do well to keep in mind these words of Noam Chomsky: "If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all."

Or these words of Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, in The One Un-American Act: "Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us."

Who challenges books?

Throughout history, more and different kinds of people and groups of all persuasions than you might first suppose, who, for all sorts of reasons, have attempted-and continue to attempt-to suppress anything that conflicts with or anyone who disagrees with their own beliefs.

In his book Free Speech for Me-But Not for Thee: How the American Left and Right Relentlessly Censor Each Other, Nat Hentoff writes that "the lust to suppress can come from any direction." He quotes Phil Kerby, a former editor of the Los Angeles Times, as saying, "Censorship is the strongest drive in human nature; sex is a weak second."

According to our infographics, parents challenge materials more often than any other group.

Does ALA ban books?

No. The ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) receives reports from libraries, schools, and the media on attempts to ban books in communities across the country. We compile lists of challenged books in order to inform the public about censorship efforts that affect libraries and schools. The ALA condemns censorship and works to ensure free access to information. For more information on ALA's efforts to raise awareness of censorship and promote the freedom to read, please explore Banned Books Week.

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The American Library Association promotes the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one's opinions even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular, and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those viewpoints to all who wish to read them.

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Where were book burnings established? For what purpose?

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Book burning is the ritual destruction by fire of books or other written materials. The Nazi burning of books in May 1933 is perhaps the most famous in history. Learn more.

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How is McCarthyism relevant to F451? Book burnings? Censorship? How is it relevant to Bradbury and the warnings in his novel?

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Throughout the 1940s and 1950s America was overwhelmed with concerns about the threat of communism growing in Eastern Europe and China. Capitalizing on those concerns, a young Senator named Joseph McCarthy made a public accusation that more than two hundred "card-carrying" communists had infiltrated the United States government. Though eventually his accusations were proven to be untrue, and he was censured by the Senate for unbecoming conduct, his zealous campaigning ushered in one of the most repressive times in 20th-century American politics.

While the House Un-American Activities Committee had been formed in 1938 as an anti-Communist organ, McCarthy's accusations heightened the political tensions of the times. Known as McCarthyism, the paranoid hunt for infiltrators was notoriously difficult on writers and entertainers, many of whom were labeled communist sympathizers and were unable to continue working. Some had their passports taken away, while others were jailed for refusing to give the names of other communists. The trials, which were well publicized, could often destroy a career with a single unsubstantiated accusation. Among those well-known artists accused of communist sympathies or called before the committee were Dashiell Hammett, Waldo Salt, Lillian Hellman, Lena Horne, Paul Robeson, Elia Kazan, Arthur Miller, Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, Charlie Chaplin and Group Theatre members Clifford Odets, Elia Kazan, and Stella Adler. In all, three hundred and twenty artists were blacklisted, and for many of them this meant the end of exceptional and promising careers.

During this time there were few in the press willing to stand up against McCarthy and the anti-Communist machine. Among those few were comedian Mort Sahl, and journalist Edward R. Murrow, whose strong criticisms of McCarthy are often cited as playing an important role in his eventual removal from power. By 1954, the fervor had died down and many actors and writers were able to return to work. Though relatively short, these proceedings remain one of the most shameful moments in modern U.S. history.

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Arthur Miller ~ McCarthyism | American Masters | PBS

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Learn about how Senator Joseph McCarthy's paranoid hunt for communist infiltrators was notoriously difficult on writers and entertainers.

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Matthew Brashears, a Cornell University sociologist, surveyed more than 2,000 adults and concluded that, despite the emergence of online social networks, the number of truly close friends people cite has dropped.

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