Cold War Conversations - "vivid & compelling" The NY Times

Our interview today is in a different format. Cold war Conversations is working with the Imperial War Museum on a project called Voices of the Wall. We will be capturing personal testimonies of people’s experiences of the Cold War which will later become part of the podcast. Therefore, this episode is a composite of previous and unheard interviews of how people heard about the momentous opening of...

Our interview today is with Iain MacGregor, the author of a new book on Checkpoint Charlie. Weaving together personal testimonies, this book is described as a gripping narrative with vivid interviews with those on all sides whose lives were directly affected by that grim symbol of the East-West divide that poisoned Europe for almost half a century. BUY THE BOOK AND SUPPORT THE PODCAST HERE Now if...

In this episode, we continue Andrej’s story with his sometimes, harrowing memories of how he became a child refugee in West Germany.  Now if you like what your hearing then for the price of a couple of coffees a month you’ll be helping to cover the show’s increasing costs and keep us on the air, plus you get the sought after CWC coaster too. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ So b...

Dr Peter Johnston is the Head of Collections Research and Academic Access at the National Army Museum in London and the author of a lavishly illustrated military and social history of the British forces in Germany during the Cold War. BUY THE BOOK AND SUPPORT THE PODCAST HERE Now if you like the podcast you can help to support us for the price of a couple of coffees a month. You’ll be helping to c...

Andrej's father served with the Soviet Army in Germany. He grew up on a military base and shares his childhood memories as East Germany began to disintegrate. So would you like one of those Cold War Conversations coasters you keep hearing me talk about? Well it's easy, just sign up to https://www.patreon.com/coldwarpod and for the price of a couple of coffees a month you'll be helping to cover the...

Balint grew up in Hungary right next to the border with Austria. Part of his family escaped in 1956 and went to Australia. Balint’s grandfather survived 4 years in a Gulag camp. Would you like a CWC Coaster? It’s easy, sign up to Patreon and for the price of a couple of coffees a month you’ll be helping to cover the show’s increasing costs and keep us on the air, plus you get the sought after CWC...

As a restless and adventurous 18-year-old, Richard Humphreys joined the submarine service in 1985 and went on to serve aboard the nuclear deterrent for five years at the end of the Cold War. Now before we start his story as I’d like to tell you about some of our fans who are helping the podcast financially such as Liam Doyle, Sarah Ampolsk, Philippe Branco, Victor Osprey and Richard Orman. So how...

Mark Baker was a journalist in Vienna who covered Czechoslovakia during the 1980s. In a wide ranging conversations we discuss the events of 1989 with Mark providing some vivid accounts of his experiences and how events were viewed at the time. Now as I’m sure you know some of our fans who are helping the podcast financially, so if you’d like to join this select band? Then sign up to Patreon. For t...

In 1986 GDR student Antje met a British guy who was installing sewing machines in the hosiery companies in East Germany. Unusually he was given quite a bit of freedom to socialise locally and he eventually asked Antje to marry him. However, with her prospective husband being a citizen of the capitalist West the process was far from simple… Now talking of the Capitalist West I’m sure you know some...

As a 24-year-old Kieran Williams was in Moscow staying with Soviet friends when the 1991 Moscow Coup occurred. He is a Professor at Drake University in the United States and previously he taught for nine years at University College London's School of Slavonic and East European Studies, where he was an associate professor in politics as well as a frequent consultant to the UK Foreign Office. He is...

Col. William "Greg" Gregory served in the U.S. Army Air Corps and saw extensive combat over North Africa and Europe during World War 2. When the Air Force was created he continued his role as a pilot and eventually became part of the clandestine U-2 spy plane program, rising to the position of squadron commander. It was his squadron that flew many of the spy missions over Cuba during the Cuban Mis...

Today we have James taking the helm again with a fascinating chat with Bridget Kendall, the BBC's Moscow correspondent from 1989 to 1995 when she was witness to the power struggles in the Soviet Communist party as Mikhail Gorbachev tried to introduce reform. However…before we start I have to thank our fans who are helping the podcast financially. So how do you join this select band? Well sign up t...

Today we’re at the Wende Museum in Los Angeles at their Watching Socialism exhibition. Organized in collaboration with British-Slovenian media historian Sabina Mihelj and British cultural historian Susan Reid, this exhibition focuses on the impact of Cold War-era television programming in Eastern and Western Europe on private lives.  Now many of our fans are the proud owners of a Cold War Conversa...

Phil Logan served in the US Army from 1986-1991. He went through infantry school at Fort Benning, Georgia was sent to Germany and assigned to the ground defence force for the Pershing II tactical nuclear missiles. He describes in some detail defence tactics including against Special Forces, the Red Army Faction and anti-nuclear demonstrators. Phil was also there when the INF disarmament treaty was...

Richard Easton is the co-author of GPS Declassified which examines the development of GPS or Sat Nav as some of us call it now, from its secret, Cold War military roots. Roger Easton, Richard's father, assisted in laying the foundations for the GPS system. However, Roger Easton worked also on the early US space program and Richard vividly describes his childhood when his father was working on the...

Today we’re talking to Alison Lewis, a professor in German at the University of Melbourne. She is the author of several books, including one in German about love and gender in literature during Germany's reunification and a book in German about the Stasi's infiltration of the literary underground. We spoke to Alison in episode 71.  In this episode we talk about her latest collaboration a new book...

I’m here today at the RAF Burtonwood Heritage Centre, near Warrington in the UK. Based on what was once the largest and longest-running military airbase in Britain. The Heritage Centre was established to preserve and uphold the history of the men, women and activities that occurred here. Now many of our fans are the proud owners of a Cold War Conversations Coaster, a gift from me to thank them for...

We speak today with Alistair Coleman who joined BBC Monitoring as a technician in 1989, just in time for the Berlin Wall.  He was on a console night shift at Caversham, on the night of the coup against Soviet Leader Gorbachev in 1991 and describes that night as the highlight of his career at the time.  Thanks to Andrew Adolfson, Rick Mason, Mike Smith, Ade Bryant and Ole Bjørsvik, the latest membe...

In a world divided by the ideological struggles of the Cold War, the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement, more than one-fifth of the people on the planet paused to watch the live transmission of the Apollo 11 mission. To watch as humanity took a giant leap forward exactly 50 years ago. Now before we start a special thanks to our select band of supporters who are helping us financially for th...

In this episode we speak with Dr Alison Lewis is Professor of German in the School of Languages and Linguistics, The University of Melbourne, Australia. She is the a co-author of Cold War Spy Stories from Eastern Europe which is published in August 2019. Now several of our fans are the proud owners of a Cold War Conversations Coaster, a gift from me to thank them for helping the podcast financiall...

During the Cold War, six Dutch submarines secretly gathered intelligence about the Soviet Navy. Only a handful of people outside the Royal Netherlands Navy were aware of these operations, as they were not NATO operations.  Thanks to our latest financial supporters Victor Osprey, Joe Collins, Eric Telander and Andrew Tyler who are helping us financially for the price of a cup of coffee or two a mon...

We continue the story of Victor Grossman the US Army soldier who defected to East Germany. He tells us of his life in the GDR, his close friendship with Dean Reed “The Red Elvis”, of shortages, his views on Egon Krenz and his first trip back to the US in the 1990s. Thanks to our select band of supporters who are helping us financially for the price of a cup of coffee a month to cover our increasin...

We talk with Vince Houghton – Curator of the International Spy Museum who has just written a new book called “Nuking the Moon & Other Intelligence Schemes & Military Plots left on the Drawing Board" If you’d to send us a few quid to help me run the podcast click here. Thankyou so much to our latest Supporters Leaving reviews on Itunes also helps so thanks to our latest reviewers Cheeses Word 101,...

Todays episode is different, the interviewer is not me, but one of our listeners who contacted me to help produce content for the podcast. This gave me the idea for a new area of the podcast called “Cold War Contributions” where listeners can send in audio interviews for broadcast on the show. Email me at Ian@coldwarpod.com if you are interested. If you’d to send us a few quid to help me run the p...

Gareth Rubin is an author and journalist and today we’re talking to him about his latest novel, Liberation Square set in a Soviet occupied UK in the 1950s. Thanks to our select band of supporters who are helping us financially for the price of a cup of coffee a month to cover our increasing costs and keep us on the air. They are the proud owners of a CWC coaster- don’t you want one too? Just click...