Catherine Bishop will be in conversation with Emily Gallagher on her latest book The World We Want: The New York Herald Tribune World Youth Forum and the Cold War Teenager / Australian Scholarly Publishing.

About the Book

What happens when you handpick 30 smart, articulate teenagers from across the globe and bring them to New York for 3 months during the Cold War?

They lived with American families, attended American schools, and participated in forums in person and on television, discussing Middle East conflicts, South African apartheid, the Vietnam war, American civil rights, and women’s place around the world.

Lauded as the voices of youth and hope, they jammed with Pete Seeger, chatted with US Presidents, were star-struck by Harry Belafonte and Ingrid Bergman, took inspiration from Noam Chomsky, and had tea with Eleanor Roosevelt. Many delegates later had significant roles in politics, academia, and international affairs.

The Herald Tribune World Youth Forum was both an idealistic attempt to create a better, more peaceful postwar world and an exercise in Cold War soft power diplomacy.

Using over 200 oral history interviews, archives and memorabilia scattered across the globe, and the fabulous surviving footage of the 1950s televised debates (now viral on YouTube), award-winning historian Catherine Bishop brings to life the story of the Forum and its impact on young delegates.

For some it was simply a pleasant interlude. For others, it changed their world completely.

About Catherine Bishop

Dr Catherine Bishop is an Honorary Research Fellow at Macquarie University and an award-winning historian and writer living in the Blue Mountains in Australia. Her books include Minding Her Own Business: Colonial Businesswomen in Sydney, Women Mean Business: Colonial Businesswomen in New Zealand, and Too Much Cabbage and Jesus Christ: Australia’s ‘Mission Girl’ Annie Lock.

About Emily Gallagher

Emily Gallagher is an Australian historian and research editor in the National Centre of Biography. She initially trained as a teacher before completing her PhD in Australian History at the ANU, where she now works for the Australian Dictionary of Biography. Emily is currently working on a history of Australian childhood for La Trobe University Press.

About the Event

Books will be available for purchase and signing at the event.
Registration is required for this event.
Accessible parking spaces directly below the Harry Hartog ANU Bookshop are available should you require them. Kambri ANU / Parking
If you do not feel well, please refrain from attending this event.
Disability Access available - please ask in-store.

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