

Cold War Conversations
Ian Sanders
Experience the Cold War like never before with Cold War Conversations — an award-winning podcast recommended by The New York Times.Each week, host Ian Sanders brings you raw, firsthand accounts from the people who lived through one of history’s most tense and transformative eras — soldiers, spies, civilians, and more.These aren’t stories from textbooks. They’re unfiltered voices from the frontlines of history — emotional, gripping, and deeply human.This is Cold War history, told from the inside out.We cover subjects such as spies, spying, the Iron Curtain, nuclear weapons, warfare, tanks, jet aircraft, fighters, bombers, transport aircraft, aviation, culture, and politics.We also cover personalities such as Fidel Castro, JFK, Ronald Reagan, Nikita Khrushchev, Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov, Mikhail Gorbachev, Konstantin Chernenko, Margaret Thatcher, John F. Kennedy, Josef Stalin, Richard Nixon, Lech Walesa, General Jaruzelski, Nicolae Ceaușescu.Other subjects include Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Romania, Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin, West Berlin, East Berlin, Cuban missile Crisis, Berlin Airlift, Bay of Pigs, SALT, Perestroika, Space Race, superpower, USSR, Soviet Union, DDR, GDR, East Germany, SDI, Vietnam War, Korean War, Solidarność, Fall of the Wall, Berliner Mauer, Trabant, Communist, Capitalist, Able Archer, KGB, Stasi, STB, SB, Securitate, CIA, NSA, MI5, MI6, Berlin Wall, escape, defection, Cuba, Albania, football, sport, Bulgaria, Soviet Union, Poland, China, Taiwan, Austria, West Germany, Solidarity, espionage, HUMINT, SIGINT, OSINT, IMINT, GEOINT, RAF, USAF, British Army, US Army, Red Army, Soviet Army, Afghanistan, NVA, East German Army, KAL007, T-72, T-64, Chieftain, M60The podcast is for military veterans, school teachers, university lecturers, students and those interested in Cold War history, museums, bunkers, weapons, AFVs, wargamers, planes, A Level, GCSE students studying Superpower Relations and the Cold War.
Episodes
Mentioned books

May 26, 2018 • 1h 4min
Observing Cold War Armageddon (11)
Today we’re covering a British Cold War civil defence unit called the Royal Observer Corps.We’re talking to Alistair McCann who has preserved a Royal Observer Corps monitoring post as a museum in Northern Ireland.We talk about the museum, the difficulties of the Northern Ireland Royal Observer Corps during “The Troubles” and what the reality would have been for these men and women should the Cold War have turned hot. I hope you find our conversation as interesting as I did. We welcome Alistair McCann.Support the project! https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ColdWarPodFacebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

May 18, 2018 • 53min
1960s Road Trip Across the Soviet Union (10)
Jeremy Poynton was a 16 year old school boy in 1968 when he embarked on a memorable trip by road from Leningrad to Odessa.He vividly describes a Soviet Union still struggling with poverty and a diverse range of peoples from city dwellers to remote Chechen villagers.It’s a unique story as Jeremy details his experiences and the sights of a 1960s Soviet Union just as the Prague Spring was being suppressed.I hope you enjoy our chat as much as I did, we welcome Jeremy Poynton.Support the project! https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ColdWarPodFacebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

May 12, 2018 • 1h 18min
Cloak & Dagger in Cold War Prague (9)
Mark Baker is an independent journalist and travel writer who’s lived in Central Europe for more than two decades. I heartily recommend his travel website www.markbakerprague.com which is an eclectic mix of stories about his adopted hometown of Prague and stories from when Central Europe was the “Eastern bloc” and he was a full-time journalist trying his best to cover it. Mark tells an intriguing and compelling story and I urge you to listen right to the end. I hope you enjoy our chat and I welcome Mark Baker. (the drawing is by Stewart K Moore and is a representation of Mark’s Czechoslovak fixer during the 1980s) Support the project! https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ColdWarPodFacebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

May 7, 2018 • 1h 11min
Warsaw Pact Armoured Fighting Vehicles (8)
Welcome to Episode 8 of Cold War Conversations where we talk about the armoured fighting vehicles of the Warsaw Pact. Russell Phillips has written several books on Warsaw Pact military equipment and our conversation is an interesting exchange covering the evolution in design, tactics and the deployment of Warsaw Pact armoured forces should the Cold War have turned hot. It also covers a slightly off topic conversation about saunas and swimming pools in Soviet submarines and Frankie Goes to Hollywood! Support the project! https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ColdWarPodFacebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

May 5, 2018 • 1h 3min
Interview with Stasi Child author - David Young (7)
We speak with David Young who has written the Stasi Child - Karin Müller series of crime thrillers set in East Germany in the mid 1970s.Support the project! https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ColdWarPodFacebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Apr 28, 2018 • 1h 35min
The 1953 Cold War East German Uprising with Dr Richard Millington (6)
We talk about the relatively little known Uprising of 1953 in East Germany. A lot of focus justifiably is on the fall of the Berlin Wall, but it can be argued that the Uprising of 1953 sowed the seeds for the eventual demise of the GDR.We chat with Dr Richard Millington who has studied the Uprising and shares with us some fascinating research including eyewitness accounts and details from the Stasi files of the period. Support the project! https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ColdWarPodFacebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Apr 20, 2018 • 35min
Espionage, East Germany and Berlin with Spybrary host Shane Whaley - Part 2 (5)
Welcome to episode 5 which is part 2 of our Cold War Conversation with Shane Whaley of Spybrary . Show notes at coldwarconversations.com/episode5/ We talked for some time ,so I have split this interview into two parts. I hope you find this second half as interesting as I did – settle in for a wide ranging and hopefully interesting conversation with my good friend Shane Whaley. Support the project! https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ColdWarPodFacebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Apr 18, 2018 • 57min
Espionage, East Germany and Berlin with Spybrary host Shane Whaley - Part 1 (4)
Welcome to episode 4 (part 1) of Cold War Conversations. Today we’re talking about Cold War espionage, East Germany and Berlin with Spybrary host, Shane Whaley. Shane runs the Spybrary podcast at spybrary.com. Their goal is to encourage people to read new spy novels, revisit an old espionage classic and discuss them with our community of like minded spy fans. It’s great fun if you like spy books I highly recommend his podcast. Settle in for a wide ranging and hopefully interesting conversation with my good friend Shane Whaley. We could have gone on for hours and indeed we did, so I have split this interview into two parts Support the project! https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ColdWarPodFacebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Apr 7, 2018 • 1h 11min
The Strange World of East German Football (3)
Football historian Craig McCracken discusses the strange world of East German football, including the nefarious activities of Stasi Chief Erich Mielke, the only competitive game between GDR and West Germany in the 1974 World Cup, player defections, and a suspicious death of a former GDR player in West Germany. They also explore the manipulation of football for political purposes, doping in East German athletics, referee corruption, the rise of BFC Dynamo, and Cold War intrigue in women's rights.

Apr 1, 2018 • 41min
Berlin during the 1960s and 70s and Signals Intelligence (2)
Welcome to the first full episode of Cold War Conversations where we start with a fascinating eyewitness account of Berlin during the Cold War. Michael lived in Berlin as a child of US Airforce personnel in the 1960s and 70s and then subsequently joined the US Airforce himself and worked in Signals Intelligence during the 1980s. In a wide-ranging chat, we talked about life for American families and their kids in Berlin during the 1960s and 70s as well as his time in signals intelligence in Berlin in the 1980s. We also talked about the Stasi spy in Michael’s unit, Kennedy’s visit to Berlin, Baader Meinhof attacks on US Forces, and much more.Our guest’s unit was described by the Commander in Chief US Airforce Europe as “his eyes and ears to the East.” See the show notes with lots of extra information at coldwarconversations.comThe fight to preserve Cold War history continues and via a simple monthly donation, you will give me the ammunition to continue to preserve Cold War history. You’ll become part of our community, get ad-free episodes, and get a sought-after CWC coaster as a thank you and you’ll bask in the warm glow of knowing you are helping to preserve Cold War history.Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/If a monthly contribution is not your cup of tea, we welcome one-off donations via the same link. Find the ideal gift for the Cold War enthusiast in your life! Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/store/Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ColdWarPodInstagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversationsLove history? Check out Into History at this link https://intohistory.com/coldwarpod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices


