In the Soviet Union, the death of Stalin brings hope for more peaceful times. His successor Nikita Khrushchev brings a more jovial face to the Soviet dictatorship, and he tries to revamp the country's image by hosting a huge party for the World's youth. But he shows his true colours with the hard-handed repression of reform in Hungary. The Americans overthrow a communist regime in Guatemala, though the communist regime in question is a total fabrication of American PR genius Edward Bernays and the CIA. Next, the modern American kitchen becomes a powerful propaganda weapon as Khrushchev and Nixon face off at the 1959 American trade exhibition in Moscow. The battle for black civil rights in America gives the Soviets a powerful propaganda weapon, especially in Africa where the superpowers fight for influence in the era of decolonization and independence. The launch of Sputnik is one of the greatest propaganda coups for the Soviets, and extends the field of battle into space. The American president ups the ante : he wants to go to the moon. Both sides develop weapons of mass annihilation. The US government launches propaganda campaigns to reassure people that a nuclear attack can be survived and that the atomic bomb may not be so scary, but with the sudden construction of the Berlin Wall and then the Cuban Missile crisis, the world seems on the brink of nuclear war.

From the Curio.ca streaming audio-visual collection.