A COLD WAR

During the rest of Day Two of Yalta they discuss how much Germany should pay in reparations and how many Germans should go to Russia as slave labour. On Day Three, the talk turns to FDR's passion project - The United Nations. We go into some detail about the early vision for the UN, the men behind it, the concerns the Big Three had about how it would impact on their own plans for global and region...

As the Yalta conference now turns to whether or not France should have a role in the occupation of Germany, the Allied Control Commission and the UN Security Council, we thought it was a good time to do a quick bio on France's post-WWII leader, Charles de Gaulle, aka "The Big Asparagus Stalk", aka "Chucky D". A HOW TO LISTEN If you're already a subscriber, you can listen to the full show in the pl...

We're finally back! Sorry about the long wait. On day two of the Yalta Conference Franky wanted to discuss the role of France in the German occupation. Joey hijacked the agenda to demand agreement on dismemberment. And Winny just sucked his thumb because no-one cared what he thought about anything. PS ignore the episode number I think it is when we recorded the show. I was wrong. Very, very wrong....

Part four (!!!) of our "quick" biography on Fidel Castro, using the New York Times' obituary, breaking it down, line by line, to uncover the propaganda. And we're making these Castro episodes free to guests. This is absolutely the last part, we promise! HOW TO LISTEN If you're already a subscriber, you can listen to the full show in the player below or subscribe through iTunes or any podcast playe...

Part three (!!!) of our "quick" biography on Fidel Castro, using the New York Times' obituary, breaking it down, line by line, to uncover the propaganda. And we're making these Castro episodes free to guests. And yes - there is a part four! But it's the last part, we promise! HOW TO LISTEN If you're already a subscriber, you can listen to the full show in the player below or subscribe through iTun...

Part two of our "quick" biography on Fidel Castro, using the New York Times' obituary, breaking it down, line by line, to uncover the propaganda. And we're making these Castro episodes free to guests. HOW TO LISTEN If you're already a subscriber, you can listen to the full show in the player below or subscribe through iTunes or any podcast player. If you haven't heard any of the series and want to...

With the recent death of Fidel Castro, we decided to take a quick detour from our linear narrative to jump ahead in time and talk about one of the major figures, not only of the Cold War, but of the 20th century. A hero to many, reviled by just as many, his death brought on a new spate of Western media coverage. After reading much of it, we just had to provide our own perspective. We decided to ta...

We FINALLY start talking about day one of the Yalta conference, explaining the key cast of characters – and a lemon tree. HOW TO LISTEN If you're already a subscriber, you can listen to the full show in the player below or subscribe through iTunes or any podcast player. If you haven't heard any of the series and want to know if you'll like it before you sign up, you can listen to the first six epi...

Today we have another special guest - Pulitzer Prize-winning author, the Laurence D. Belfer Professor of International Affairs at the John F. Kennedy School of Government and Professor of History in the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences - Prof Fredrik Logevall. He's also the co-author of America's Cold War: The Politics of Insecurity (co-authored with Campbell Craig, who we had on in episode 20...

This is the third and final of our episodes about the Cambridge Five! This week - Donald Maclean. After being recruited at Cambridge, he started working for the Foreign Office assigned to the division that looked after the League of Nations. Over the next few years, 45 boxes of documents were photographed and sent to Moscow. He rose to become the First Secretary at the British Embassy in Washingto...

This is the second of our episodes about the Cambridge Five! This week - Guy Burgess. Where the others were highly self-controlled and shunned public scrutiny, he was wildly flamboyant, openly homosexual and often embroiled in scandal because of his drunken behaviour. He had the ability to charm anyone he sought out, including Churchill, and attracted an astonishing array of contacts, as well as l...

This is the first of two episodes about the Cambridge Five! This week - Kim Philby, arguably the most effective spy in the history of spying. The man running British operations against the Russians in the early years of the Cold War was actually working for the Russians himself. And there was every possibility that had it not been for one mistake, Philby would have gone on to become CSS, Chief of...

By the time the Big Three finally met again after Tehran, it was February 1945, the US had re-taken the Phillipines. But the they were still a long way from Japan. And in Europe, they were all facing fierce crystal-meth fuelled German resistance. Plus we have Pomeranian dogs, golden fleece, a Greek revolutionary, a Jew who is burned at the stake, and the introduction to the Cambridge Five! Learn m...

Today we go back to 1898 and discuss The Philippine–American War, sometimes referred to as "The First Vietnam". Trust us - it's relevant to our story. Why did the United States invade the Philippines in 1898? And why did 200,000 Filipinos have to die as a result? And why did the US occupy it for the next 50 years? Listen and find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professor Campbell Craig is the Professor of International Relations at Cardiff University. He has held senior fellowships at Yale University, the Norwegian Nobel Institute, the European University Institute, and, most recently, at the Institute for Advanced Studies at the University of Bristol, and has given invited lectures at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, Chicago, Columbia, Cambridge, Sc...

- A month after the opening of the second front, the Roosevelt administration organized a conference on postwar economic planning in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, at which American officials set up institutions designed to open up free trade around the world and to promote industrial development in former European colonies. - It was a gathering of 730 delegates from all 44 Allied nations to regula...

Roosevelt and Churchill had their first war summit meeting in Casablanca in January 1943. The first Big Three conference was held in Tehran, Iran in November 1943. It turned out to be the most important summit of the war. In four days of meetings, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin debated the second-front question and hashed out the basic outline of a postwar European order. HOW TO LISTEN If you ar...

We start in August 1942. Churchill is still in Moscow, getting down with Uncle Joe. Stalin accuses the British of being a bunch of pussies, too scared to fight the big bad Nazis. To try to break up the UK/USA/USSR love nest, the Nazis dig up 3000 dead bodies of Polish generals (Katyn massacre) and lay the blame on the Soviets who deny it (but their fingers are crossed behind their backs). And Stal...

Our guest today is Dr Peter Ellyard, a futurist, strategist, speaker and author living in Melbourne, Australia. He is known for his unique perspectives on global trends and emerging global markets. He talks to us about the role that "planetism" and the rising global middle class has on the future of the species and preventing future global wars. You can read more about Peter here or order his book...

In June 1941, the UK, USA and USSR slowly started to come together to defeat Germany and Japan. The Grand Alliance is often called the "Strange Alliance" because it united the world's greatest capitalist state, the greatest communist state and the greatest colonial power. HOW TO LISTEN If you aren’t already a subscriber, you’ll need to join thousands of other Cold War Heroes and register to listen...

In this episode we talk about the non-aggression pact signed between Nazi Germany and the USSR in 1939, known as the Ribbentrop - Molotov Pact, and then how Hitler decided to terminate it in 1941 when he launched a surprise invasion on the USSR, known as "Operation Barbarossa". We also talk a little of the history of Poland, The Munich Agreement, and Stalin's fondness for a good tune. HOW TO LISTE...

Today's episode starts off with part 4 of our series on economics, where we look at the role of the media, and then launches into Stalin's "Great Terror". And we finish answering a question from a listener about Brexit. HOW TO LISTEN If you aren’t already a subscriber, you’ll need to join thousands of other Cold War Heroes and register to listen to our premium episodes. Learn more about your ad ch...

Our first guest on the Cold War series is Doug La Follette, Secretary of State of Wisconsin! Here's some background. - Doug is the Secretary of State of Wisconsin a position to which he was first elected in 1974! - And he’s been the SoS pretty much ever since then, with a short break for a few years in the late 70s. - Doug’s a member of the La Follette political dynasty. - He has a Bachelor of Art...

Part 3 of our three-part series on economics and war, where we drill down into the various ways companies profiteer from war and how it stimulates the economy via “Military Keynesianism”. On the suggestion of my wise friend Tony Kynaston, we're making this episode available to non-subscribers, because the subject we're talking about is that important. To summarise the last three episodes, here are...

Part 2 of our three-part series on economics and war. Still talking about trade and access to foreign markets. We look at the CIA's overthrow of the Iranian government in 1953, the Marshall Plan and the Open Door policy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices