Summary: By Steve Sagarra Read by Shawn Robertson This week's historical fiction is a story about espionage and the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee by Steve Sagarra. To put us in the moment, I've included a poem by Jack Spicer called "Response to the Loyalty Oath." Those were dark times. There was both the real fear of communism and fear of the committees themselves. Affairs of the Union The year is 1952. Katarina Madin and her lawyer, Bill Ward, hurriedly walk into the United States Senate building. Entering a chamber through a set of wooden doors at the end of the hallway, the two take seats at the center table. Siting across from a governmental committee investigating domestic communism, the admousphere inside the room matches the winter chill of the Washington morning beyond the frosted windows. As the two confer over a few points, Senator Patrick McCarrran calls the proceedings to order. "Please take your seats. This committee will now come to order." After some shuffling of papers, calm spreads over the room. "Would you please state your name for the record," Senator McCarrran requests in a haggard, bureaucratic monotone. "My name is Katarina Madin." "And where were you born, Mrs. Madin?" "The Soviet Union, Moscow." Download this Episode to your computer! Right click (ctrl click for Mac) the link above the story title and select "save link as."
