Banned books, shocking art & the birth of the culture wars

Speaker 10:00

Recently, cybersecurity researchers discovered a striking computer virus seemingly related to the conflict between the US and Iran over Iran's nuclear program. Everything about this thing screams special. A cunning cyber weapon meant to gaslight nuclear scientists. Listen to Planet Money on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Terry Gross· Host0:23

This is Fresh Air. I'm Terry Gross. The culture war never seems to end. My guest, Isaac Butler, takes us through part of its history in his new book, The Perfect Moment: God, Sex, Art, and the Birth of America's Culture Wars. Butler says the conflict had a transformative effect on him because at the same time the culture wars hurtled toward their climax, art saved his life. His new book begins in 1974 in West Virginia with the banning of many books in a county's new school curricula with the power of the Christian right behind the ban. They were also behind the attacks on Martin Scorsese's film, The Last Temptation of Christ, and the taboo-breaking artwork of Robert Mapplethorpe and David Wojnarowicz, who were accused of creating pornography, and Andres Serrano, who was accused of creating blasphemous art. The story continues with attacks on the NEA's federal funding for the arts. Isaac Butler is the author of the previous books, The World Only Spins Forward, about the play Angels in America, and