A COLD WAR

Like he had before Tehran, FDR refused the idea of an Anglo-American bloc when he and Churchill met briefly in Malta before the conference. He's trying hard to avoid putting Stalin on the defensive. Because he knows that in the game of wartime diplomacy, the player with the most troops on the ground had the loudest voice. HOW TO LISTEN If you're already a subscriber, you can listen to the full sho...

Following the Spanish-American War, the U.S. Occupation Government of Cuba forced elections. They tried to engineer Cuba into voting to become one of the United States - instead the Cuban people chose independence. So the U.S. introduced the Platt Amendment, aimed at long term control over Cuba's military and economy while declaring them to be a sovereign nation. Learn more about your ad choices....

We look at the complexities surrounding America's occupation of Cuba at the dawn of the 20th century - General Leonard Wood’s appointment as governor, his controversial educational and economic reforms favoring American interests, and the racial tensions arising from imported labor practices. We look at America's strategic objectives behind colonial expansion, comparisons to Britain's occupation t...

Towards the end of 1899, a new American governor was appointed in Cuba - General Leonard Wood, the recent commander of the Rough Riders along with Teddy Roosevelt. He set up thousands of free schools and introduced economic reforms - which caused a massive wave of dispossession and bankruptcy and enabled an American land grab.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So, it's 1898, the Spanish have evacuated the island of Cuba after 400 years of rule, and the United States have taken their place. They ran Cuba as a military dictatorship. General Brooke, the first U.S. governor of the island, said, "There is not a sensible man who thinks we can leave for a long time."  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the U.S. troops landed in Cuba, it changed the nature of the war. The old racism returned. Of course, when the war was over in July, the U.S. had no intention of letting the Cuban people have their independence. As the commander of US forces in Cuba said: "Why, these people are no more fit for self-government than gunpowder is for hell." In the fight for freedom, lives had been lost and the c...

So in January of 1898, the Cubans were on the verge of victory in their battle for independence against Spain. And while the US government was happy to see Spain out of the picture, they had no intention of allowing Cuba to be independent. Since the days of Jefferson back in the 1790s, almost every presidential administration in Washington had imagined Cuba would eventually be US territory. The ne...

In this episode we introduce one of Cuba's greatest heroes - José Martí. Castro frequently referred to Martí as the “intellectual author” of the Cuban revolution. He fought to free Cuba from Spain and to protect it from the hungry ambitions of the United States. Meanwhile, the creation of "Yellow Journalism" invented the modern American propaganda playbook - how to convince the country to go to wa...

It's finally time to talk about the Cuban Revolution. But of course before we can do that story justice, we need to explain some back story. Everything needs to be understood in context. Let's go back in time to when Spain still had its American colonies.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some people have said 1983 was the most dangerous year in human history. On four separate occasions, the U.S.A. and the USSR nearly ended up in a hot nuclear war. Soviet leaders apparently became deeply worried that the US was preparing to launch a surprise nuclear attack on the USSR under the cover of a NATO exercise titled ‘Able Archer.’ Brian J. Morra is a former U.S. intelligence officer and a...

Today we interview Andrea Balis & Elizabeth Levy, co-authors of the book "Witch Hunt: The Cold War, Joe McCarthy, and the Red Scare", a cutting-edge look into a pivotal moment in US history: McCarthy's infamous "witch hunt" for communists during the 1950's Red Scare. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The reasons the CIA got involved in Tibet are complicated. But they seem to have had nothing to do really with protecting the Dalai Lama or any sort of ideological belief in Tibetan independence. It had more to do with weakening China once it became a communist country. The covert goal of the United States National Security Council was to "Discredit the prestige and ideology of International Commu...

For nearly two decades, the CIA ran a covert operation designed to train Tibetan insurgents and gather intelligence about the Chinese, while smuggling weapons and money into Tibet, pushing Tibetan supporters of the Dalai Lama to launch violent uprisings, and using "black propaganda" to spread lies about Chinese atrocities in the region. But the U.S. never supported Tibetan independence. They were...

During the 1950s, social unrest rocked Tibet, partly because of power struggles at the top level of the government and partly because the poor masses wanted a revolution like the one in China. Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama actually began to support the idea of Marxism.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There's nothing hotter than Tibetan-on-Tibetan violence, especially when it's the two top government officials having a civil war over the new Dalai Lama, as happened in Tibet in 1947. But don't let anyone ever tell you that making a child the head of a religion and government isn't a sensational idea. It's NEVER gone badly. EVER. And did you know that the Dalai Lama was responsible for the first...

In 1904, the British sent an army into Tibet to secure it for Britain. It resulted in a massacre when the British opened fire with their new Maxim machine guns on Tibetans holding spears. The Dalai Lama was forced to flee the country. Over the next few decades, Tibet was oppressed by the British and China (also controlled by Britain, especially after the "Boxer Rebellion") who sent in "the Butcher...

We all know that Tibet and China have a history, and that the U.S.A. is always in the middle of it. But you may not know that The United States recognizes Tibet to be part of the People’s Republic of China or that the UK and the U.S.A. have spent over a century trying to wrest control over Tibet away from China. This is part one of that story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/a...

The CIA's second attempt at a coup succeeds. Mossadegh is driven into hiding and General Zahedi declares himself the new leader of the country. The CIA celebrates wth champagne. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's the middle of 1953, and the CIA is ready to execute their coup against the democratically elected government of Iran. The plan? Spend a bucket load of money hiring thugs to cause riots in the streets. Blame it on Mossadegh and then bribe a corrupt member of the Iranian military to go and arrest him. Unfortunately for the CIA, it didn't go to plan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megap...

In early 1953, Churchill initiated a plan with the CIA to overthrow Iranian Prime Minister Mossadegh, involving key figures like General Sahedi and the Rashidian brothers. Aided by disinformation campaigns, the Shah fled Iran, stirring public outcry. Despite initial resistance from Eisenhower, pressure from the Dulles brothers and ongoing chaos in Iran convinced him to approve the coup. The CIA al...

Ever wondered why the heads of MI6 are called "M"? Well they aren't. They are called “C”. It all started with Sir Mansfield Smith-Cumming, who signed his docs with a green “C.” This guy was a true legend—a retired Navy man who became the spymaster extraordinaire, famous for his love of gadgets and high-speed Rolls-Royce drives. His dramatic life included cutting off his own foot after a car crash...

The election of Eisenhower as U.S. President in Nov 1952 gave the British a new hope that the country might now support their plans to overthrow the Iranian government. Even before Ike took office, they sent Monty Woodhouse, the former chief of MI6 in Tehran, to Washington to start working with the Dulles brothers, soon to be the guys running the U.S.'s overt and covert foreign policy.  Learn more...

Mossadegh is more popular than ever. But that isn't going to stop the British from conspiring against him. They decide that next time they try to bring down his government, they will need to find a way to get the mob on their side. Key to their future plans will be General Zahedi and the CIA's Kermit Roosevelt.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In July of 1952, eight months after he got back from Washington, and in the middle of fighting Anglo-Iranian in the World Court, Mossadegh paid a visit to the Shah and asked him to relinquish control over the army. The Shah refused. So Mossadegh resigned. The British and the Shah were ecstatic and appointed a new puppet PM who announced a new order - the British would be back in control over the o...

As Mossadegh wins the hearts and minds of Americans and the world, the British re-elect Churchill who considers Mossadegh "an elderly lunatic bent on wrecking his country and handing it over to the communists." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices