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The other day, I was telling my journalism class about the old radio show, I Was a Communist for the FBI. This program juiced up the adventures of Matthew Cvetic, an undercover agent who infiltrated the Communist Party headquarters in western Pennsylvania sixty years ago.

Cvetic surfaced in the early 1950's, right as the House Un-American Activities Committee hearings axed hundreds of writers and journalists for lefty sympathies. In the fallout, this bizarre FBI agent landed a book, radio, and movie deal about his exaggerated adventures.

His life story produced over 70 radio episodes, reminding us of a time when popular culture swallowed a laughable amount of dangerous stereotypes. The Internet Archive has collected the series, including my favorite: "I Can't Sleep."

In this episode, both the Russian and FBI agents bug our spy's room--everybody struggling to eavesdrop on Cvetic's sleeptalking jags. The scene where Cvetic crawls around in his communist bunk-mate's bed groping for a "toggle switch" on a bulky tape recorder is a classic moment in American paranoia.

Why do I bring this up now? History has turned Hoover and McCarthy into punchlines for their overzealous work. But at the time, they controlled the livelihoods of countless journalists and writers.  How will history treat the current administration?

Last week New York Times reporter James Risen was subpoenaed to reveal his national security sources and possibly breach the confidential bond between reporter and source. It will affect how writers and journalists work for the next century.

Check it out:

"Times spokeswoman Catherine Mathis said the paper 'strongly supports Mr. Risen and deplores what seems to be a growing trend of government leak investigations focusing on journalists, particularly in the national security area.'"