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PODCAST

Cold War Conversations Podcast

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

history documentary

All Episodes

59:30

An evening with Kim Philby (186)

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2021/07/06

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

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49:00

Behind enemy lines in East Germany with a US Military...

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2021/07/02

We return to the 2nd part of Tom Favia’s story with the US Military Liaison Mission which the Soviet Union permitted to operate in East Germany, ostensibly for monitoring and furthering better relationships between the Soviet and Western occupation forces. The British & French also had missions as did the Soviets in West Germany. Part 1 is here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode183/ As you would expect there are some incredible incidents that Tom shares with us including one with a drunk

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61:49

Ethel Rosenberg (184)

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2021/06/25

Ethel Rosenberg is a controversial figure and generates polarising views varying from an innocent mother caught up in Cold War hysteria to a willing and ruthless accomplice to her husband’s Cold War espionage betraying secrets to the Soviets. Anne Sebba’s new book “Ethel Rosenberg – A Cold War tragedy” (“An American tragedy” in the US) provides a more nuanced view of Ethel that is not just about innocence and guilt but of a talented singer and mother of two children, betrayed by her family and the

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65:52

Behind enemy lines in East Germany with a US Military...

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2021/06/18

Tom Favia served with the USMLM, The US Military Liaison Mission which the Soviet Union permitted to operate in East Germany at the end of World War 2 for monitoring and furthering better relationships between the Soviet and Western occupation forces. The British & French also had missions in East Germany and the Soviets has theirs in West Germany. Tom tells the amazing story of his recruitment from being an art student to being deployed “behind enemy lines” in East Germany. He also describes his

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65:55

Ralph - A prisoner in an East German jail (182)

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2021/06/11

This is the third and final part of Ralph Hänel’s story of his life in East Germany. In this episode, we hear his time in the Stasi prison in Cottbus which with its dark red brick façade was often referred to as the ‘Red Misery’. It’s a chilling insight into Stasi prison conditions and the brutality that the political prisoners endured from the other inmates and the guards. We also hear about Ralph’s eventual release and of some strange experiences he has in reunited Germany Again I am honoured and

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63:40

Ralph - Arrested and interrogated by the Stasi (181)

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2021/06/04

In this second part of Ralph Hänel’s story of his life in East Germany. We hear of Ralph’s arrest by the Stasi and subsequent interrogation for 10 months. Ralph describes in some detail the arrest and his early days of imprisonment. He also details the techniques used to try and make him break and the pressure the Stasi also put on his mother. It’s an incredible insight into the workings of the Stasi from someone who was there and I am honoured that Ralph shared this story with us. We also hear

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73:04

Checkmate in Berlin: The Cold War Showdown that...

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2021/05/28

We speak with author Giles Milton about his new book Checkmate in Berlin: The Cold War Showdown that Shaped the Modern World. In 1945 at the end of World War 2 the Soviet Red Army captured Berlin. For the next four years, a handful of charismatic but flawed individuals – British, American and Soviet – fought an intensely personal battle over the future of Germany, Europe and the entire free world. Checkmate in Berlin tells this exhilarating, high-stakes tale of grit, skullduggery, and raw power

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46:18

Bonus - The state funeral of Josef Stalin (179)

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2021/05/25

This episode is sponsored by MUBI, a curated streaming service with an ever-changing collection of hand-picked cinema. From new directors to award-winners. From everywhere on earth. Beautiful, interesting, incredible films — with a new one added every single day. Right now on MUBI, you can watch STATE FUNERAL, an astonishing archival vision of the Soviet Union in the days after Joseph Stalin’s death. The film is followed by a Q&A with director Sergei Loznitsa in conversation with Pietro Marcello

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89:46

Spy who was left out in the Cold: The Secret History...

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2021/05/21

We speak with author Tim Tate about his new book the Spy who was left out in the Cold: The Secret History of Agent Goleniewski Michal Goleniewski remains one of the most important, yet least known and most misunderstood spies of the Cold War. Even his death is shrouded in mystery and he has been written out of the history of Cold War espionage - until now. Tim Tate draws on a wealth of previously unpublished primary source documents to tell the dramatic true story of the best spy the west ever lost

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88:29

Ralph - DJing and Kung Fu in East Germany (177)

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2021/05/14

Ralph Hänel tells some unique, strange and funny short stories about childhood and youth in East Germany. We talk about the experiences of his parents in the closing stages of World War 2, his schooling, and how he became a DJ, winning a trip to the Soviet Union. Ralph is a great raconteur with virtually endless stories about his life in East Germany. Hear how he saw Fidel Castro, met the first German astronaut in space and had a girlfriend, whose father was in the people’s police or was it the

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58:32

Irish Army peacekeeping in the Lebanon (176)

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2021/05/07

Adrian Jones was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Irish Army in 1983. As a 23 year old officer he served in the United Nations Peacekeeping Force UNIFIL in Southern Lebanon from 1987 to 1988. The Irish battalion consisted of 580 personnel which were rotated every six months, plus almost 100 others in UNIFIL headquarters and the Force Mobile Reserve. In all, 30,000 Irish soldiers served in Lebanon over 23 years. The Irish troops in Lebanon were initially intended to supervise the withdrawal of the

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51:19

Codename Hero - Soviet double agent Oleg Penkovsky (175)

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2021/04/30

In August 1960, a Soviet colonel called Oleg Penkovsky contacted the West to offer to work as a 'soldier warrior for the free world. MI6 and the CIA ran Penkovsky jointly, in an operation that ran through the showdown over Berlin and the Cuban Missile Crisis. He provided crucial intelligence, including photographs of rocket manuals that helped Kennedy end the Cuba crisis and avert a war. Codenamed HERO, Penkovsky is widely seen as the most important spy of the Cold War, and the CIA-MI6 operation,

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85:01

Korean war veteran & prisoner of war (174)

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2021/04/23

70 years ago today would have been the middle of a desperate battle by outnumbered British forces at the battle of the Imjin River in Korea. The Korean War was among the most destructive conflicts of the modern era, and one of the few times when the Cold War turned hot. There were approximately 3 million war fatalities and a larger proportional civilian death toll than World War II or the Vietnam War. Tommy Clough is one of the last survivors of the battle of the Imjin River and was just 19 when the

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53:46

A journalist in apartheid South Africa (173)

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2021/04/16

John Matisonn is a South African journalist who grew up in the suburbs in Johannesburg. In 1979 he was sentenced to jail for refusing to reveal his news sources. Matisonn describes life as a journalist in apartheid South Africa as well as his meetings with some of the key South African personalities of that period. He met with several South African Prime leaders including John Vorster, PW Botha and FW de Klerk who eventually oversaw the end of white majority rule. Also included are details of

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76:01

Yuri Gagarin - The first human in space (172)

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2021/04/09

9.07 a.m., April 12, 1961. A top-secret rocket site in the USSR. A young Russian sits inside a tiny capsule on top of the Soviet Union’s most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile and blasts into the skies. His name is Yuri Gagarin. And he is about to make history. We speak with Stephen Walker author of “Beyond” a new book that tells the thrilling story behind that epic flight on its sixtieth anniversary. Drawing on extensive original research and the vivid testimonies of eyewitnesses, many

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46:06

Confrontation at the Stößensee (171)

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2021/04/02

In April 1966, a state-of-the-art Soviet aircraft, the Yak-28P crashed into the British Sector of West Berlin. This intelligence gift to the Allied forces resulted in a tense confrontation with the Soviet forces We speak with historian Bernd von Kostka of the Allied Museum in Berlin-Dahlem who has researched this story for his upcoming book Capital of Spies: Intelligence agencies in Berlin during the Cold War which he co-authors with Sven Felix Kellerhoff. The book will be published in October in

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64:55

A 22 year old Briton working in East Germany (170)

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2021/03/27

We speak with Chris Summers who as a 22 year old was sent by his employers to East Germany in a Ford Escort to install British factory machinery. He provides us with interesting insights into life in the provinces of the GDR. Long term listeners of the podcast will recognise one of Chris’s colleagues was Tim, husband of Antje who was our guest in episode 82 “A Cold War Romance” available here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode82/ Chris was also sent to Poland, the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia

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41:39

Bonus - Soviet Tours (169)

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2021/03/24

Soviet Tours is a Berlin-based tour operator focussed on off-the-beaten-path destinations across the globe. Their core area, as the name suggests, lies mainly in and around the former USSR. From the mystic forests of Central Siberia to the austere peaks of the High Caucasus, from the scorching deserts of the Soviet Stans to the windswept steppes of Southern Russia. We talk with the founder of Soviet Tours Gianluca Pardelli. He is a Berlin-based photojournalist, adventurer and travel author who is

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86:27

Commanding a Cold War Royal Navy Polaris Nuclear...

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2021/03/20

Our conversation with Rob Forsyth continues when he became Executive Officer - and in command on occasions - of HMS Repulse, a Polaris nuclear missile submarine. We hear in detail the challenges of command on these boats, their launch procedures and the conversations Rob had with his captain about the circumstances when they might refuse to launch the missiles. Rob tells of many fascinating incidents including a very close encounter with the Malin Head AGI, a notorious Soviet Spy trawler. We also

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68:51

Cold War Royal Navy Diesel Submarine officer during...

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2021/03/13

Commander Rob Forsyth joined submarines in1961. By March 1962 as a young officer, he joined HMS Auriga a 1945 vintage diesel submarine. Within 7 months the 22-year-old was loading live torpedoes and preparing for a war mission during the tense days of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Robs tell of many fascinating incidents in his career including under-ice operations and an incident where Rob's captain made an error that almost resulted in the total loss of submarine and crew. He also details what it was

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446 results

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