There are kind of two questions in your comment so let me paraphrase and address them separately. Why would the USGov want to support a show like Sesame Street

There are kind of two questions in your comment so let me paraphrase and address them separately. Why would the USGov want to support a show like Sesame Street, with its left-wing perspectives of collectivism/socialism/etc? First, I would point out that while elements of "the government" are involved, this is not necessarily a government project per se that we are talking about. The Ford Foundation and Carnegie Corporation are private entities, but ones which exert a lot of influence including over the government in various ways. In the specific example of Sesame Street, I think that espousing ostensibly left-wing viewpoints can still work to their advantage if it allows them to smuggle in other concepts which blunt any sort of revolutionary thinking. Hence, you had early season episodes which were about making peace with urban decay -- the cracks in your walls as imaginary friends, for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y0ffj__R4g&feature=youtu.be https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y0ffj__R4g&feature=youtu.be "Official opposition narrative": https://wikispooks.com/wiki/Official_opposition_narrative https://wikispooks.com/wiki/Official_opposition_narrative Was Cooney a witting agent of the state/ruling-class or was she genuine but useful to them? It's very difficult or impossible to tell really. Generally, the way things like the Congress of Cultural Freedom worked was by first filtering for artists with a particular voice or perspective, and then subtly promoting certain perspectives, themes, and techniques for them to use in their artwork. This allowed the application of a great deal of leverage over the cultural scene without going to people and explicitly saying "we want you to make art for the CIA" (although I'm sure there were also more than a few witting agents).