Cold War Conversations - "vivid & compelling" The NY Times
Ian Sanders
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S34E459 CIA and MI6 Covert Action in Communist Albania at the Dawn of the Cold War (459)
In June 1949, the US and British governments secretly agreed to mount a joint covert action operation to overthrow the communist government in Albania. The top-secret plan would use exiled dissidents…
S34E458 On the edge of war: A V-Force pilot during the Cuban Missile Crisis (458)
I had the honour of speaking with Tony Dobbie, a former RAF V- Force bomber pilot who joined the RAF in 1960. Tony shares amazing anecdotes from his training, including his experiences flying jets…
S34E457 Conscripted to a West German Nuclear Missile Unit (457)
Kris is a former conscript in the West German Bundeswehr during the Cold War. He shares his experiences from the moment he received his conscription notice at 17, ultimately joining the Luftwaffe,…
S34E456 Fakers: A Top-Secret Tale of Phantoms and Forgeries on the Cold War Disinformation Front Line (456)
I delve into the fascinating world of Cold War propaganda with historian Rory Cormac, author of a new book “Fakers - 'A Top Secret Tale of Phantoms and Forgeries on the Disinformation Front Line'.…
S34E455 30 Miles from the North Korean Border - A US Military Childhood (455)
Flynn describes life as a US military child just 30 miles from the North Korean Border during the 1970s. The political landscape of the time was tumultuous, marked by significant events such as the…
S34E454 The JFK Assassination: The human narratives behind one of history's most scrutinised events (454)
Dallas, 22 November 1963. The main event is supposed to be on the appropriately named Main Street. News footage shows office workers leaning out of windows, peering at the motorcade through a…
S34E453 Chornobyl: Anatomy of a Catastrophe (453)
40 years ago at 1:23 a.m. on April 26, 1986, a routine safety test inside Reactor Four at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant spiralled into the worst nuclear disaster in history. This episode traces…
S34E452 From East Berlin to West Ireland (452)
Juli begins by recounting her early years in East Berlin, a time marked by the tragic loss of her father. Drafted into the army just days before her birth, her father continually deserted to see his…
S34E451 Guarding the Wire at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (451)
Chris was a US Marine assigned to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a sprawling US base on the Communist island of Cuba. Chris describes the guard duty along the fence line, where the proximity to the Cuban…
S33E450 Soviet - Afghan War, Mujahideen Resistance: The Brutal Fight for Zhawar (450)
In this episode, historian and writer Michael G. Stroud explores how decades of political instability drew the Soviet Union into Afghanistan in 1979—and why the intervention quickly spiralled into a…
S33E449 Former MI5 & MI6 Legal Director Looks Back at His Time in Cold War Berlin (449)
Former Legal Director MI5 & MI6, David Bickford, takes us behind the scenes of one of the most unusual and precarious postings of the Cold War. Arriving in Berlin in 1979, the city is still…
S33E448 An officer in The Internal Troops of the Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs (448)
Ihor reflects on his time serving as an officer in the Soviet Union’s Ministry of Interior troops. After volunteering for military service, he found himself travelling from Lviv to Lithuania to begin…
S33E447 Growing up in Soviet Ukraine in the 1960s and 70s (447)
Born in Lviv in Ukraine, in 1958, Ihor grew up in a city where borders shifted, but memories endured. In this episode, he recalls a childhood shaped by silence, censorship, and family stories that…
S33E446 Secret Warriors - British Submarines during the Cold War (446)
During the Cold War, some of the most dangerous encounters between East and West took place far beneath the ocean’s surface. I speak with historian Dr. Paul Brown, author of Secret Warriors: British…
S33E445 American MiG Pilot: Inside the Top Secret USAF "Red Eagles" MiG Squadron Part 2 (445)
Lt Col Rob “Z-Man” Zettel is the author of American MiG Pilot - Inside the Top Secret USAF “Red Eagles. He tells the Red Eagles story for the first time through the experiences of a pilot who flew…
S33E444 High School Student to the Top Secret USAF Red Eagles Soviet MIG Squadron Part 1 (444)
Rob “Z-Man” Zettel is the author of American MiG Pilot - Inside the Top Secret USAF “Red Eagles. In part one of a two-part episode, he reveals how he made it into this top-secret US operation that…
S33E443 The Moscow Playbook: How Russia Used, Abused, and Transformed Sports in the Hunt for Power (443)
I speak with Bruce Berglund, the author of The Moscow Playbook: How Russia Used, Abused, and Transformed Sports in the Hunt for Power, which is a fascinating journey through the world of Soviet…
S33E440 Chasing Rogue Nukes after the Fall of the Soviet Union (442)
Susan Miller continues the story of her CIA career, recalling a harrowing experience of the 1991 US embassy fire in Moscow, and the unexpected humanity displayed by a KGB officer who helped save…
S33E441 Dead Drops and Disguises - A Female CIA Officer in 1980s Moscow (441)
I explore the remarkable journey of a CIA operations officer who transitioned from a quiet childhood in California to the thrilling world of espionage. What began as a joke application to the CIA…
S32E440 Cold War British Army "stay behinds" - Live at the Imperial War Museum London (440)
This special episode was recorded in front of a live audience at the Imperial War Museum London, in October 2025. I speak with Colin Ferguson, a veteran from the British Army‘s covert Special…
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Cold War Conversations - "vivid & compelling" The NY Times has published 459 episodes since March 2018, covering topics in Documentary, History.
Cold War Conversations - "vivid & compelling" The NY Times is currently highly active with new episodes weekly. Average episode length is 1h 2m.
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