What Happened with the CIA and The Paris Review?

(theparisreview.org)

51 points | by benbreen 9 hours ago ago

9 comments

  • Jun8 2 hours ago ago

    Whoa! I knew that CIA funded Abstract Expressionist Art (https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20161004-was-modern-art-...) to underline American individualism and mental superiority over Soviet Russia (some say that's why "modern art" sucks, but see this excellent writeup: https://www.reddit.com/r/badhistory/comments/ifnq9v/the_cia_...). However, involvement in Paris Review boggles my mind because, I love that magazine.

    • Atlas667 24 minutes ago ago

      They didn't just establish abstract expressionist art, they crafted a whole culture around art and the humanities. They won over the western bias. Aesthetics, depth, reason and humanity in the west was defined through the lens of the CIA. It was done so well it still resonates.

      Dr. Gabriel Rockhill does excellent work expounding on this in his discussion "The Intellectual World War: Class Struggle in Theory". He studied in France under Derrida, Iragray, Badiou, Foucaultians, and other prominent thinkers and came to realize the connections himself.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q521mBZ7ThU

      It's kind of a long lecture, but absolutely mind blowing.

    • coldtea an hour ago ago

      >to underline American individualism

      "So individual that it's manipulated by a state agency!"

      That really showed them those commies manipulated by their state agencies, ...oh wait!

  • rdtsc 3 hours ago ago

    On the relationship of CIA and the media there is always the 1977 classic https://www.carlbernstein.com/the-cia-and-the-media-rolling-...

    An interesting tidbit I found, somewhat related:

    > Employees of so‑called CIA “proprietaries.” During the past twenty‑five years, the Agency has secretly bankrolled numerous foreign press services, periodicals and newspapers—both English and foreign language—which provided excellent cover for CIA operatives. One such publication was the Rome Daily American, forty percent of which was owned by the CIA until the 1970s. The Daily American went out of business this year,