He teaches courses on 20th century American history, the cold war, and American film history. He received his Ph.D. in American History from Rutgers University in New Jersey. His book, Edward Lansdale's Cold War, was published in 2005 by the University of Massachusetts Press. It charted the political and cultural world of an infamous CIA agent. He has also published articles on the Vietnam War and the CIA. He is currently writing on the various ways Americans have come to think (and worry and fantasize) about the CIA since its founding in 1947.