Cold War Conversations

I talk with the writers and editors of Terrorism in the Cold War a new two volume book that uses a wide range of case studies including Polish Military Intelligence and Its Secret Relationship with the Abu Nidal Organization and Gladio – Myth and Reality: The Origins and Function of Stay Behind in the Case of Post-war Austria.  The book sheds new light on the relations between state and terrorist actors, allowing for a fresh and much more insightful assessment of the contacts, dealings, agreements and collusion with terrorist organizations undertaken by state actors on both sides of the Iron Curtain. You will learn that these state-terrorism relationships were not only much more ambiguous than much of the older literature had suggested but are, in fact, crucial for the understanding of global political history in the Cold War era. If you are enjoying the podcast I could use some support to enable me to continue recording these incredible stories. If you become a monthly supporter via Patreon, you will get the

Emanuela Grama was born in the mid-1970s’ in a small provincial town in Eastern Romania. She provides us with a great insight into life in the Romanian provinces during the 1980s.  Emanuela lived in a small two-bedroom flat and tells of her parents working in a factory while her grandparents looked after her. Her father listened secretly to Radio Free Europe and collected stamps so he could legitimately write to people in the West. Her parents told her not to talk at school about what was said at home and to be very careful what she said to friends. Emanuela vividly recalls the day the revolution started in 1989, Emanuela was at home alone and she described the instant atmosphere of change and the weeks and months after.  We also hear about Emanuela’s book, Socialist Heritage: The Politics of Past and Place in Romania which traces the transformation of Bucharest’s Old Town district where under socialism, politicians and professionals used the district’s historic buildings to emphasize the city’s Romanian

Pete Curran served with BRIXMIS, the British Military Liaison Mission in East Germany. Their operation was established by a post-WWII Allied occupation forces' agreement, where British, US and French missions had relative freedom to travel and collect intelligence throughout East Germany from 1947 until 1990.  Pete’s story starts with details of his vetting interview, driver training, and his first tour in East Germany. We also hear of the intelligence scoops he was involved in and some of his close scrapes while evading both the Soviets and the Stasi including one with a Soviet helicopter. We also hear of the role of the driver in the three-man teams, the incredible camaraderie of the unit, as well as the pressure on their loved ones.  I know from my stats that a lot of you really enjoy the podcast. It is an absolute passion for me to save these stories from being forgotten and sharing them weekly for free for everyone to hear.  Whilst this is a passion, I am asking if each listener could make either a one-o

Frank Olson was an American bacteriologist, biological warfare scientist, and employee of the United States Army Biological Warfare Laboratories. In 1953 at a meeting in rural Maryland, he was covertly dosed with LSD by his boss Sidney Gottlieb, who was the head of the CIA's MKUltra mind control program. Nine days later, Olson plunged to his death from the window of the Hotel Statler. The U.S. government first described his death as a suicide, and then as misadventure, while others allege murder. The story was made into the Netflix film "Wormwood". I speak with Paul Vidich, the acclaimed author of The Coldest Warrior, An Honorable Man, The Good Assassin and The Mercenary. He is also the nephew of Frank Olson.   UK link to Paul Vidich Books US link to Paul Vidich Books This podcast relies on listener support to enable me to continue to capture these incredible stories and make them available for free. You can support my work and help to preserve Cold War history via one-off or monthly donations Just go to http

Squadron Leader John Robinson AFC (ret’d) was an RAF pilot who was tasked to fly into the mushroom clouds of nuclear bomb tests to capture samples at Operation Buffalo at Maralinga in 1956, and Operation Grapple, at Christmas Island in 1957.  He tells of his recruitment into RAF, initial training and his cloud sampling missions as well his experiences of watching the tests from as little as five miles away.  It is reckoned that over 22,000 British servicemen participated in the British and American nuclear tests and clean-ups between 1952-1965, along with scientists from the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment and civilians. The majority of men have passed away, and around a tenth of the men remain. I was honoured that the British Nuclear Test Veterans Association (BNVTA) invited me to their annual reunion and enabled me to capture some of their veterans’ stories.  I could really use your help to support my work and enable me to continue producing the podcast. If you become a monthly supporter, you will get

We hear of Joanna's heartbreak when her visa is refused, preventing her from marrying Yuri. However, using an ingenious method she manages an emotional reunion and eventual marriage as the Soviet Union begins to dissolve. Details of the book giveaway are here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode200/ Part one is here and part 2 here  Joanna’s book, Red Wave written with her singer/songwriter daughter, Madison, includes Stingray’s extensive collection of photographs, artworks, and interviews with the musicians. Buy the book and support the podcast here UK listeners https://amzn.to/3rwItSz US listeners https://amzn.to/3zyvbHX If you are enjoying the podcasts I’m asking for donations to support my work and enable me to continue producing the podcast. If you become a monthly supporter via Patreon, you will get the sought after CWC coaster as a thank you and bask in the warm glow of knowing you are helping to preserve Cold War history. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ If a financial contr

Joanna is questioned by the KGB and the FBI, falls in love with Yuri and starts to smuggle the bands' music out of the Soviet Union to produce the album. Details of the book giveaway are here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode199/ Part one is here and part 3 here Joanna’s book, Red Wave written with her singer/songwriter daughter, Madison, includes Stingray’s extensive collection of photographs, artworks, and interviews with the musicians. Buy the book and support the podcast here UK listeners https://amzn.to/3rwItSz US listeners https://amzn.to/3zyvbHX If you are enjoying the podcasts I’m asking for donations to support my work and enable me to continue producing the podcast. If you become a monthly supporter via Patreon, you will get the sought after CWC coaster as a thank you and bask in the warm glow of knowing you are helping to preserve Cold War history. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ If a financial contribution is not your cup of tea, then you can still help us by leaving

Joanna Stingray was only 23 years old when she first set foot in the USSR and started meeting now-legendary musicians and artists of the Soviet underground. By 1985, she was writing and recording with them, and smuggling their music to the West in order to produce the groundbreaking album Red Wave: 4 Underground Bands from the USSR.  This is her testimony of youthful fortitude and rebellion, her love story, and proof of the power of music and youth culture over stagnancy and oppression.  Details of the book giveaway are here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode198/ Part 2 is here and part 3 here Joanna’s book, Red Wave written with her singer/songwriter daughter, Madison, includes Stingray’s extensive collection of photographs, artworks, and interviews with the musicians.  Buy the book and support the podcast here UK listeners https://amzn.to/3rwItSz US listeners https://amzn.to/3zyvbHX If you are enjoying the podcasts I’m asking for donations to support my work and enable me to continue producing the p

Over the past, nearly two decades, the Stuck in the 80s podcast has emerged as the go-to for all aspects of 1980s nostalgia from a North American point of view. And, much like Cold War Conversations, Stuck in the 80s is an award-winning podcast. Recognizing that decade’s popular culture was heavily influenced by the Cold War, co-host Peter Ryan organized a discussion with its curators, Steve Spears and Brad Williams. Key topics that are covered include some of the most important songs, films, television programs of the 80s that were Cold War oriented, some of which may surprise listeners. Also discussed are the key personalities of the 1980s Cold War period, from both sides of the Iron Curtain. This special edition of Cold War Conversations will also features a playlist on Spotify, featuring many of the songs discussed during this lively episode. We thank Brad and Steve for the chance to organize a cross-podcast discussion today and encourage listeners to visit their website sit80s.com to learn more about the

I speak with Aden Magee who operated as the commander of a highly specialized Counterintelligence (CI) unit in West Germany during the last decade of the Cold War. We talk about his book The Cold War Wilderness of Mirrors - Counterintelligence and the U.S. and Soviet Military Liaison Missions 1947–1990. This is a rare book that details some never-before documented accounts of the Soviet Military Liaison Mission (SMLM) in West Germany and the U.S. Military Liaison Mission (USMLM) in East Germany and shows how they were microcosms of the Cold War strategic intelligence and counterintelligence landscape.  I also discuss with Aden how the book shows the impact of CIA Director James Angleton’s legacy which restricted counterintelligence operations long after his departure.  Buy the book and help support the podcast. UK listeners buy here US listeners buy here What do you think the podcast is worth to you?  Single or monthly donations really help keep the podcast on the air. Just go to https://coldwarconversation

Ron Knight served in the Royal Marines on HMS Belfast during the Korean War of 1950-53. He was a gunner and describes the shore bombardments and how his gun was used in anti-aircraft defence. We also hear Ron describe life aboard the Belfast during this period Ron also served with the Royal Marine Commando during the Malayan Emergency which was a guerrilla war fought in the Federation of Malaya between Communist pro-independence fighters against the armed forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth between 1948 and 1960. He shares details of the dangers of jungle warfare including from their own air force!  I’m asking listeners to support my work and enable me to continue producing the podcast. If you become a monthly supporter via Patreon, you will get the sought after CWC coaster as a thank you and bask in the warm glow of knowing you are helping to preserve Cold War history. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ If a financial contribution is not your cup of tea, you can still help us by le

Igor Gouzenko exposed Soviet intelligence's efforts to steal nuclear secrets as well as the technique of planting sleeper agents. The "Gouzenko Affair" is often credited as a triggering event of the Cold War, with historian Jack Granatstein stating it was "the beginning of the Cold War for public opinion" and journalist Robert Fulford writing he was "absolutely certain the Cold War began in Ottawa". I talk with Andrew Kavchak the author of Remembering Gouzenko: The Struggle to Honour a Cold War Hero and Evy Wilson, the daughter of Igor and Svetlana Gouzenko.  If you are enjoying the podcast, you can show your support via a monthly donation of $4, £3 or €3 via Patreon, plus you will get the sought after CWC coaster as a thank you and bask in the warm glow of knowing you are helping to preserve Cold War history.  Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ If a financial contribution is not your cup of tea, then you can still help us by leaving written reviews wherever you listen to us as well as sharin

Rick Shreve was a USAF F111 pilot based at RAF Lakenheath in the UK. We hear about his early USAF career as a fighter pilot, then we move onto his transfer to the F111 and how he was trained to carry out nuclear as well as conventional missions against the Warsaw Pact forces in Europe. He describes his low-level training missions to attack targets in the Soviet Union and East Germany and recalls a near-fatal incident amongst the Scottish lochs. Rick was also part of one of the crews that flew on Operation El Dorado Canyon, the operation to bomb Libya in April 1986 in retaliation for the West Berlin discotheque bombing ten days earlier. Rick gives you a frank view of his role in the USAF and his approach to the huge responsibilities he carried. In his later career, he flew civil airliners with Pan-Am and recalls how he was astonished to fly over the Warsaw Pact airfield he had been tasked to attack in the event of war… If you have listened this far, I know you are enjoying the podcasts so I’m asking for donati

This week it's the 60th anniversary of the flight of Gherman Titov on Vostok 2. The forgotten 2nd cosmonaut overshadowed by the exploits of his friend Yuri Gagarin. Titov’s 25.3 hours and 17 orbits flight was much more ambitious than Gagarin’s and more dangerous. It was also a very political flight, intending to distract the world from the building of the Berlin Wall a number of days later.  However, there’s more to Titov than his flight, he was different character to most of the Soviet cosmonauts with a love of pre-Soviet literary classics and enjoying his own company. He was also one of the most colourful characters of the Soviet space program leading a wild life back on Earth with various car crashes and scrapes.  I’m sure regular listeners will be pleased to hear we have Stephen Walker back, the author of Beyond: The Astonishing Story of the First Human to Leave Our Planet and Journey into Space. Do check out our previous episode on Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space here https://coldwarconversations

Evan McGilvray has written a number of books on Poland as well as biographies. He is well versed in Poland and Polish society and away from the usual locations of Krakow and Warsaw. Evan first visited Poland in 1986, 5 years after the declaration of martial law which triggered the suppression of the free trade union Solidarity in December 1981. He visited some friends he had made via correspondence, who lived in the city of Łódź. He provides us with a great insight away from the intelligentsia as his friends were workers. We hear in some detail how the communist party was perceived, life as a worker, as well as views on Lech Walesa and Solidarity. In the 1990s Evan interviewed General Jaruzelski, who as First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party (aka the communist party) gave the martial law order in 1981 and remained head of state until 1989.  Extra info, and videos are here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode191/ If you are enjoying the podcast please tell your friends you can really help us g

On November 18, 1965, U.S. Navy pilot Willie Sharp ejected from his F-8 fighter after being hit while positioned over a target in North Vietnam. With a cloud layer beneath him, he did not know if he was over land-where he would most certainly be captured or killed by the North Vietnamese or over the Gulf of Tonkin. As he ejected, both navy and air force aircraft were already heading toward him to help.  Thanks to Dennis DeFreitas and his Youtube video of Willie’s shootdown available here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md9oNlLYEr8 Co-host James Chilcott speaks with former military flight test engineer Eileen A. Bjorkman, who has written “Unforgotten in the Gulf of Tonkin A Story of the U.S. Military's Commitment to Leave No One Behind” The book includes nail-biting descriptions of air combat, flight, and rescue as Bjorkman places Willie Sharp's story in the larger context of the U.S. military's bedrock credo-No Man Left Behind-and calls attention to the more than eighty thousand Americans still missing from c

The French Forces in Berlin were the units of the French Armed Forces stationed from 1945 until the end of the Cold War-era in West Berlin according to the agreements of the Yalta Conference and Potsdam Conference.  The troops were the French counterparts to the United States' Berlin Brigade and the United Kingdom's Berlin Infantry Brigade in the city.  Philippe was stationed in Berlin from 1972 to 1973 with the French army for his military service. He did not volunteer and was not too happy at first, but started enjoying life outside of the “Quartier Napoleon” as it was called, near the Tegel airport. His role was in Signals intelligence and during the day he listened to FM radio transmissions of the East German Army as well as the Soviets (GFSA).  If you are enjoying the podcast, you can help me to keep producing these episodes by a small monthly donation via Patreon, plus you will get the sought after CWC coaster as a thank you and bask in the warm glow of knowing you are helping to preserve Cold War histo

We continue Drea Hahn’s story with her family’s escape to Austria and the realities of being a refugee.  In 1986, under the pretext of a “ski trip” to Yugoslavia Drea’s family escaped to Austria. We hear about the sadness of being unable to tell anyone they were leaving and how her relatives were summoned to the police station to be detained for questioning. They didn’t communicate with anyone at “home” until 1989 or 1990 because it was too dangerous. Once, in Austria, there was no certainty that that Drea’s family wouldn’t be handed back to Czechoslovakia as Austria was neutral and the government was keen to stay on good terms with their neighbours. Drea’s family were in Austria for about 2 years living in a single room with a shared bathroom. We hear from her about the challenges of life as a child refugee in rural Austria. In 1988 permission was granted to emigrate to the US and we hear of their elation when they arrive. Extra info, photos and videos are here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode188 If

Drea Hahn was born in Czechoslovakia in 1980 in Teplice. Her mother was a secretary and her father was an engineer but refused to join the communist party and this was a source of tension in Drea’s family.  She was partly raised by her grandparents and her grandmother shared stories about growing up in “the Protectorate”, the name given to the area of Czechoslovakia occupied by the Germans in World War 2.  Drea tells of a typical Czech childhood – her school friends, fond memories of school trips, and summers at their chata (country house). A more sinister side of life was getting in trouble for being a chatty kid and being cautioned with the phrase “walls have ears”. Extra info, and videos are here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode187/ If you are enjoying the podcast please leave a written review in Apple podcasts or share us on social media. By telling your friends you can really help us grow the number of listeners. Now I need help to continue to track down these unknown stories of the Cold war and

Ben Brown is the writer of A Splinter of Ice, a play that portrays the meeting in Moscow in 1987 of one of the greatest novelists of the 20th century, Graham Greene and his old MI6 boss, Kim Philby, one of Britain's most notorious spies... and a traitor.  Graham Greene never divulged any details of the meeting and Ben’s play imagines what might have been. We discuss the play, as well as how Philby and Greene’s lives intertwined.  It’s a story of two men catching up on old times, but with a new world order breaking around them how much did the writer of The Third Man know about Philby's secret life as a spy? Did Philby betray his friend as well as his country..?  A trailer and other videos are available in our episode notes here www.coldwarconversations.com/episode186/ If you have listened this far, I know you are enjoying the podcasts so I’m asking for one-off or monthly donations to support my work and enable me to continue producing the podcast. If you become a monthly supporter, you will get the sought