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The art and politics of the 50's TV western "Have Gun-Will Travel" is explored in a new book

  For a long time, in most parts of the world, people saw Americans as cowboys. Mainly because that'?s how we saw ourselves. From 1955 to 1964, adult Westerns made up as much as 25% of all prime-time television. Wagon Train, Maverick, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, and dozens of other programs painted the rough justice of the American West. At least the popular version of it. In her new book, Art and Politics in Have Gun-Will Travel: The 1950s Television Western as Ethical Drama, local author Kate Spencer explores what could be considered the most intellectually sophisticated and politically liberal of the Westerns. She joins us to discuss Have Gun-Will Travel and the show'?s approach to portraying the American cowboy.