Fifty years ago, the House Un-American Activities Committee launched its notorious hunt for Communists. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the lasting legacy of the Blacklist -- and the life od Whittaker Chambers, the man who brought down Alger Hiss. Also, the battle over Communism in Europe.

SEGMENT 1:

Pat McGilligan is the co-author (with Paul Buhle) of "Tender Comrades: A Backstory of the Hollywood Blacklist." He tells Judith Strasser that the Red Scare in Hollywood grew out of early efforts to unionize the movie industry and made it impossible to produce socially conscious films. Also, Sam Tanenhaus is the biographer of Whittaker Chambers. He tells Jim Fleming that Chambers was a spy for the Soviets until they allied with Nazi Germany; and that his colleagues at Time Magazine greatly admired his writing.

SEGMENT 2:

Olivier Todd has written a new biography of French novelist and intellectual Albert Camus. Todd tells Steve Paulson about the importance of Camus' Algerian origins; his bitter public quarrel with Jean Paul Sartre; and his lifelong devotion to the politics of the Left.

SEGMENT 3:

Historian Donald Sassoon is the author of "One Hundred Years of Socialism." He tells Steve Paulson that socialism requires healthy capitalism to fund its goals and that the short term goals of the socialist parties have been best achieved in non-socialist capitalist democracies.

Distribution dates:

• week of 01/11/98 - hour 1