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Last year marked the 75th anniversary of the Hiss-Chambers espionage case, which gripped America in 1948 and still provokes controversy. Take a deep factual dive into the story of two brilliant, fascinating men, sensational Congressional hearings, spy documents hidden in a dumbwaiter shaft and a pumpkin, the trial of the century, and the launch of Richard Nixon’s career. Comments and politely phrased corrections or criticism are welcome by the writer and narrator, at john_berresford@comcast.net.

 

 

May 31, 2023

Photo: http://www.spartacus-educational.com

Now comes the witness who, in my opinion, dooms Alger Hiss.  He gives expert testimony supporting Chambers’ claim that the typed spy documents were passed to him by Alger Hiss after Mrs. Hiss typed them on the Hiss home typewriter.  Lloyd Paul Stryker did not ask this...


May 24, 2023

Robert Stripling & Richard Nixon 

Everyone always asks about the topic of this Podcast #21: “What was in the secret State Department documents?”  These are the 126 pages that Chambers introduced as the last documents that Hiss gave him.  State Department men authenticated them as copies (or summaries or excerpts) of...


May 17, 2023

Lloyd Paul Stryker, Hiss's Defense Atty (Digital Commons)

Whittaker Chambers, and then his wife Esther, testify in court.  Both their direct testimonies were rocky due to Stryker’s objections and Judge Kaufman’s rulings.  Their cross-examinations by Stryker were brutal. Chambers sat there and passively took blow...


May 10, 2023

Pic: Prosecutor Thomas Murphy  

In this Podcast, I deliver, in my best courtroom voice, short versions of Prosecutor Murphy’s down-to-earth opening statement for the government and Lloyd Paul Stryker’s incandescent overture for the Hiss defense.  See which one you think is more impressive — Murphy’s calm,...


May 3, 2023

Federal Courthouse, NY, 1938

This is a short podcast to acquaint you with the actors about to come on stage in the drama of Alger Hiss and Whittaker Chambers. They are the government Prosecutor Thomas Murphy, Hiss’s principal defense lawyer Lloyd Paul Stryker, Judge Samuel Kaufman, and the jury.
 
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