PODCAST

A COLD WAR

Cameron Reilly & Ray Harris

A NSFW, detailed and funny long-form podcast about The Cold War.

history

All Episodes

40:19

Cold War #257 - Operation Oompa-Loompa

A COLD WAR ·

2024/03/05

In 1951, the British were planning to invade Iran to re-take control of the country’s oil assets. Meanwhile, there were Nazis on the streets of London.

54:17

Cold War #256 - DIVORCE

A COLD WAR ·

2024/02/19

The British PM sends a fascist Catholic member of the British elite, Sir Richard Stokes, to talk to Moss the Boss. Mossadegh says he wants a divorce. As he’s leaving Iran, Harriman meets with the Shah and “suggests” it might be time for Mossadegh to go.

70:54

Cold War #255 - Harriman The Harasser

A COLD WAR ·

2024/02/03

Truman sent Harriman to Iran to try to bring about a diplomatic resolution to the tensions with Britain. It did not go well.

69:35

Cold War #254 - The Epic Showdown (Operation Ajax...

A COLD WAR ·

2024/01/19

Mossadegh started to take over the AIOC offices and appointed a French-educated engineer as the managing director of the new National Iranian Oil Company. The AOIC refused to allow Iran to transport their oil in British tankers. It turns into an epic showdown. The British started planning to have Mossadegh removed from power. Meanwhile the United States got more and more involved.

57:32

Cold War #253- The Good Americans (Operation Ajax...

A COLD WAR ·

2024/01/06

In the middle of the 20th century, Iranians really liked Americans, mostly due to the fact that their experiences with them (up until that time) had been mostly positive, unlike the British and the Russians. And the Americans were, in 1951, still trying to convince the British to play fair with the Iranians. If only that attitude has lasted.

41:27

Cold War #252 - Mossa-Mania (Operation Ajax part X)

A COLD WAR ·

2023/12/14

After the assassination of Razmara, Mossadegh’s oil committee voted unanimously to nationalise the AIOC. Iran went crazy for Mossadegh. It was Mossa-Mania. The British were furious and tried to appoint a new Prime Minister, the latest in the line of “guys they were sure could get the job done”. It backfired. Massively.

53:27

CW #251 - Fedayeen

A COLD WAR ·

2023/12/01

The increasing tensions in Iran, driven in part by British imperialism, leads to the formation of a religious terror group called Fedayeen-i-Islam, the first of its kind.

58:21

Cold War #250 - The National Front

A COLD WAR ·

2023/12/01

In 1949 the Iranian Majlis put forward a bill to revoke the British oil concession. This, combined with worker riots in Abadan, prompted the British to take action. Meanwhile, Mossadegh forms a new political party, The National Front, and General Ali Razmara, who had been one of General Schwarzkopf's most trusted officers, is made PM at the “suggestion” of the British.

54:08

Cold War #249 - Mossadegh vs The Shah

A COLD WAR ·

2023/12/01

When Reza makes himself Shah, Mossadegh is livid. He refuses to agree to it. Then he turns down multiple senior positions in the Shah's cabinet. He ends up retiring from public life at age 45, gets imprisoned, and tries to commit suicide. He returns when the Shah is forced to abdicate, but an attempted assassination on the new Shah makes the political situation in Iran even worse. And a flamboyant American soldier arrives to help build a brutal paramilitary police force - General H. Norman

47:18

Cold War 248 - Iranian Kryptonite

A COLD WAR ·

2023/10/20

Mossadegh had two non-negotiables that drove his political game. First, he was a die-hard believer in the rule of law, which put him on a collision course with autocrats like Reza Shah. Second, he was all about Iranian self-rule, making him Public Enemy No. 1 for the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. He wasn't just against them; he was their kryptonite.

55:21

Cold War #247 - Black Gold & Betrayal: The Untold...

A COLD WAR ·

2023/10/06

Dive into the turbulent history of oil in Iran, where George Reynolds, a self-taught geologist funded by Aussie entrepreneur William Knox D’Arcy, battled smallpox, bandits, and desert heat to uncover the largest oil field ever found. Reynolds' discovery catapulted Iran into the global energy arena, but not without exploitation and strife. D'Arcy and the Scots invested heavily in what became the Anglo-Persian Oil Company—later BP—creating a colonial empire in Abadan that funneled wealth away from

52:42

Cold War #246 - Reza Shah

A COLD WAR ·

2023/09/18

We’re talking about Reza Shah, a soldier who rose to power from a humble background, pulled of a British-engineered coup, and effectively ruled Iran from 1921 - 1941.

81:21

CW 245 - The Strangling of Persia

A COLD WAR ·

2023/09/04

Iran's first attempt at democracy ended when the British and the Russians decided amongst themselves to divide up Iran in 1907 and supported the new Shah's desire to crush the parliament. But the Iranians fought on, exiled the Shah and replaced him with his 11 year old son. Then they hired an American banker to clean up corruption. The British and Russians didn't like that, so they had him thrown out as well.

73:29

#244 - Operation Ajax (II)

A COLD WAR ·

2023/08/17

The Shah continued selling the family jewels to the British and Russians, including the entire Iranian tobacco industry. He was eventually assassinated and replaced by his son, who had learned nothing. In 1901 he sold William Knox D'Arcy the entire Iranian oil industry. This shaped all of subsequent Iranian history.

66:19

Cold War 243 - Operation Ajax (I)

A COLD WAR ·

2023/08/04

In this episode, we delve into the history of Iran, focusing on the US's role in ending democratic rule in 1953 and installing Mohammad Reza Shah's dictatorship, a fact well-known in Iran but only admitted by the US in the 90s. This event led to the Islamic Revolution of 1979, headed by Ayatollah Khomeini, and fueled anti-Western sentiments across the Middle East. We discuss the significant figure of Mohammad Mossadegh, and the history of Iran under the Qajar shahs, the stagnation and foreign

63:36

Cold War #242 - Psychological Warfare

A COLD WAR ·

2023/07/21

The trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and the concept of psychological warfare. The Rosenberg trial, which began in March 1951, was a sensational case involving accusations of espionage for the Soviet Union. The couple, tried alongside fellow Communist Morton Sobell, were defended by Manny and Alexander Bloch. The trial involved key testimonies, including that of David Greenglass, Ethel's brother, who admitted to passing on atomic information. The Rosenbergs were found guilty and sentenced to

51:53

CW 241 - The Rosenberg Trial

A COLD WAR ·

2023/07/07

We continue the shocking story of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, charged with conspiracy to commit espionage from 1944 to 1950. The US government sought the death penalty and engaged in questionable tactics during the trial, while public debate grew over the extreme sentencing. We discuss the role of Roy Cohn, Donald Trump’s future mentor and lawyer, the unethical conduct of judge Irving R. Kaufman, and the damaging testimony of David Greenglass, which falsely implicated his sister, Ethel.

66:58

Cold War 240 - The H Bomb (part 2)

A COLD WAR ·

2023/06/21

55:46

Cold War 239 - The H Bomb

A COLD WAR ·

2023/06/10

59:23

Cold War #238 - The "Pumpkin Papers"

A COLD WAR ·

2023/06/06

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