Raisin' my lonely dental floss in the Cold War

In the notorious “cultural war,” during which the C.I.A. Covertly supported – and the State Department and American museums and foundations overtly funded – the dissemination of American art, books, literary and intellectual journalism, dance, theatre, and music, the one product that can plausibly be argued to have made a difference in the eventual overthrow of Communism was rock and roll. Bill Haley and Frank Zappa(click here) likely did more to inspire the dissidents in Eastern Europe than Jackson Pollock or the writers at “Partisan Review.” - Louis Menand, "Bloc Heads," review, New Yorker, 11/12/12