A COLD WAR

In this episode, Cameron and Ray continue the story of Fidel Castro’s early years, charting his transformation from a fiery young activist entangled with street gangs into a determined reformer and aspiring politician. They explore how Castro navigated gang violence in Havana, his involvement with the nonviolent September 30th movement, his bold courtroom defenses, and his law practice dedicated t...

Cameron and Ray pick up Fidel Castro’s story in 1948 as he returns from Colombia in the wake of the Bogotazo riots. We follow Castro through his early 20s as he campaigns for Eduardo Chibás, clashes with Havana police over accusations of corruption, and narrowly escapes being framed for murder. The conversation dives into the student-led bus fare protests—linked to shady U.S. business deals—that p...

Cameron and Ray pick up Fidel Castro’s story in 1948 as he returns from Colombia in the wake of the Bogotazo riots. We follow Castro through his early 20s as he campaigns for Eduardo Chibás, clashes with Havana police over accusations of corruption, and narrowly escapes being framed for murder. The conversation dives into the student-led bus fare protests—linked to shady U.S. business deals—that p...

In this episode, Cam and Ray kick off their deep dive into the life and legend of Fidel Castro. Picking up from the Batista coup of 1952, they trace Fidel’s early years—born illegitimate on his father’s sugar plantation, educated by Jesuits, and shaped by political violence. We follow Fidel through elite boarding schools, law school radicalisation, and his early attempts to overthrow regimes acros...

In this episode, Cam and Ray kick off their deep dive into the life and legend of Fidel Castro. Picking up from the Batista coup of 1952, they trace Fidel’s early years—born illegitimate on his father’s sugar plantation, educated by Jesuits, and shaped by political violence. We follow Fidel through elite boarding schools, law school radicalisation, and his early attempts to overthrow regimes acros...

In this raucous and revelatory episode of The Cold War Podcast, Cameron and Ray finally reach the man of the hour: Fulgencio Batista. From humble military stenographer to kingmaker of a chaotic Cuba, Batista’s rise is traced through coups, constitutions, and crushing dissent. Cameron performs a blistering freestyle rap tribute to Ray (“Ray Bear Has No Hair”), then the duo dive into Batista’s reign...

In this raucous and revelatory episode of The Cold War Podcast, Cameron and Ray finally reach the man of the hour: Fulgencio Batista. From humble military stenographer to kingmaker of a chaotic Cuba, Batista’s rise is traced through coups, constitutions, and crushing dissent. Cameron performs a blistering freestyle rap tribute to Ray (“Ray Bear Has No Hair”), then the duo dive into Batista’s reign...

In this episode of the Cold War podcast, Cam and Ray continue their wild ride through Cuban history, focusing on the rise and fall of Gerardo “Macho Man” Machado, the proto-strongman president who turned Cuba into a playground for rich tourists—and a pressure cooker for everyone else. From political repression and violent union crackdowns to communist organizing and student uprisings, this chapter...

In this episode of the Cold War podcast, Cam and Ray continue their wild ride through Cuban history, focusing on the rise and fall of Gerardo “Macho Man” Machado, the proto-strongman president who turned Cuba into a playground for rich tourists—and a pressure cooker for everyone else. From political repression and violent union crackdowns to communist organizing and student uprisings, this chapter...

In this wild episode, Cam and Ray kick things off with a “Cam-hole” into the politics and economics of Cuba in the early 20th century. From rigged elections to sugar-fueled financial collapses, and from macho presidents to the American colonization of Cuba’s economy, it’s a vivid portrait of how imperialism, tourism, and opportunistic strongmen shaped the island nation. Expect dead bankers, disco...

In this episode, Cam and Ray pick up the story of post-independence Cuba as it slides from colonialism into an economic and racial stranglehold orchestrated by the United States. They trace the rise and fall of early Cuban presidents like José Miguel Gómez and Mario García Menocal, highlighting the rampant corruption, U.S.-controlled infrastructure, and systematic exclusion of Black Cubans from po...

In this episode, Cameron opens with a wild midnight ER visit that turns into a rumination on aging, mortality, and kung fu-induced hypochondria. Once the chest pains are out of the way, we pick up where we left off on Cuba’s “independence” after the Spanish-American War - President Tomás Estrada Palma, the illusion of Cuban self-rule under the Platt Amendment, and the classic U.S. playbook of indi...

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...