A paranoid senator, a terrified nation, and the birth of modern political censorship. This is the chilling story of how McCarthyism came to haunt America.
WATCH VIDEO: In this episode of Figures of Speech, we examine Joseph McCarthy — the senator who built his career on explosive accusations, including the claim that communists had infiltrated the U.S. government.
McCarthyism turned suspicion into punishment. It chilled speech, damaged careers, and made dissent look like disloyalty. The lesson still matters: Free societies cannot survive when accusation replaces evidence.