1940s-1950s

Full text Monologues are below table of contents.

Oliver Smith: He joins the arts commune in Brooklyn Heights that includes W.H. Auden, Gypsy Rose Lee, Benjamin Britten, Carson McCullers, Salvador Dali, and Paul Bowles.

Alfred Loomis: The Wall Street tycoon dedicates his secret lab to winning World War II.

Propaganda: George Stevens Jr., the son of a director, reviews the results of five top Hollywood directors who are drafted to produce documentaries to inspire the G.I.'s in World War II.

George and Hedy: During World War II, the US Navy refuses to believe composer George Antheil and actress Hedy Lamarr have actually invented a device that will revolutionize torpedo guidance.

My Little Dog Fala: Franklin D. Roosevelt makes his fourth run for the Presidency.

Harold Norse: The poet is at the heart of the NYC gay literary community from 1937 to 1954.

Bill Mauldin: The cartoonist goes up against General Patton, John Huston, and Joe McCarthy.

Preston Sturges: The rise and fall of Hollywood's Golden Boy.

Robert Oppenheimer: The boss of the development of the atomic bomb opposes building a hydrogen bomb.

Henry Luce: Mary Bancroft, a witty liberal gadfly, enjoys sparring with the publisher of Time-Life-Fortune.

The Ben Hecht Show: The American reporter, playwright, and screenwriter turns to Palestinian politics and is blacklisted.

Norman Lloyd: The actor talks about his work with Eva Le Gallienne, Orson Welles, Jean Renoir, Alfred Hitchcock, Charlie Chaplin, and on "St. Elsewhere."

Alger Hiss: He defends himself against Whittaker Chambers and Richard Nixon on the charge of being a Soviet spy.

Salka Viertel: She mothers many famous emigres in Hollywood during World War II but afterwards runs afoul of the House UnAmerican Affairs Committee.

Dashiell Hammett on the Pinkertons: A former "Pinkerton operative" investigates the history of the agency.

Margaret Sanger: In the 1950s, the birth-control advocate fights for adoption of "the pill."

Jack the Dripper: Jackson Pollack paints one of his famous drip paintings as Tony Smith narrates the story of his life.