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Podcast · 68 episodes

Cold War Conversations

by Ian Sanders · English

"Listening to even one episode of "Cold War Conversations" will make this sprawling, potentially intimidating period of history feel vivid and compelling." The New York Times Experience the Cold War like never before with Cold War Conversations — an award-winning podcast. 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.

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The Birth of Poland's Free Trade Union Solidarity (475)Bogdan Marcewski recounts how Poland’s Solidarity movement began in the Gdansk Lenin shipyard in August 1980, how martial law reshaped resistance in 1981, and how he later escaped conscription and…25 Sep 2026 · 1 h 6 min · 23 chapters
Growing Up Under Communism on Cold War Poland’s Baltic Coast (474)Bogdan Marcewski recounts growing up in Slupsk on Poland’s Baltic coast under communist rule, shaped by shortages, censorship, forced conformity, and everyday “grey market” barter, culminating in his…18 Sep 2026 · 1 h 8 min · 20 chapters
If the Soviets Invaded : Sweden's Secret Underground Resistance Plan (473)Sweden’s Cold War “stay-behind” resistance plan (Metro), built for a possible Soviet invasion.11 Sep 2026 · 47 min · 12 chapters
Bandit Country - The IRA and South Armagh (472)South Armagh during the Troubles—how the Provisional IRA’s South Armagh Brigade operated as an unusually autonomous, border-driven insurgency against British forces, using local intelligence, dead…4 Sep 2026 · 1 h 8 min · 22 chapters
A Czech Border Guard’s Daring Escape to the West (471)Yeezy (Yeezy) Bartacek, a 1975 Czechoslovak border guard, plans and executes a self-directed escape from the Iron Curtain into Austria, then survives threats in a refugee camp.28 Aug 2026 · 1 h 24 min · 19 chapters
Twenty-Six Years Apart: A Family Reunited Behind the Iron Curtain (470)A Polish family’s 26-year separation caused by WWII, Stalin’s labor camp system, and postwar communist Poland—followed by their daughters’ account of the 1966 reunion trip behind the Iron Curtain,…21 Aug 2026 · 55 min · 23 chapters
Announcing Cold War Conversations History ToursAnnouncement for “Cold War Conversations” history tours, exploring hosting a Cold War history tour via a specialist tour company.19 Aug 2026 · 1 min · 1 chapter
Between Two Air Forces: From East German Officer to German Captain (469)Roland, a former East German Air Force (NVA) officer, recounts the day the Berlin Wall opened, his screening and demotion during German reunification, and how he rebuilt his career in the Bundeswehr…14 Aug 2026 · 50 min · 20 chapters
MiGs, Helicopters and Ideology: Life as an East German Air Force Officer (468)Roland, an East German Air Force officer, describes training and life in the NVA focused on MiG fighters and MI-8 helicopters, where technical work, weapons handling, and socialist ideology were…7 Aug 2026 · 45 min · 15 chapters
Growing Up Grey: Childhood in Cold War Romania (467)Childhood in late-1980s Ceausescu Romania, as experienced by a girl in Sigishwara/Transylvania; how shortages, fear, surveillance, and propaganda shaped daily life, while imagination and color…31 Jul 2026 · 42 min · 19 chapters
Defection, Spies and the Shadow of Georgi Markov (466)Ognyan “Oggie” Boitsev recounts his 1986 defection from communist Bulgaria, asylum in the UK, and later BBC World Service work in the Bulgarian section—set against the lingering shadow of Georgi…24 Jul 2026 · 42 min · 13 chapters
My Father - The Enemy of the People: A Bulgarian Family’s Cold War Story (465)Ogi Boyd’s personal Cold War Bulgaria story, centered on his father’s 1948 internment as an “enemy of the people,” family surveillance, and how Ogi navigated communist schooling while secretly…17 Jul 2026 · 59 min · 21 chapters
Face to Face with the Srebrenica War Criminals (464)Richard Linton recounts a Cold War-to-Bosnia career spanning Soviet-era study, British Army service (including Gulf War mobilization), humanitarian work, filmmaking, and UN war-crimes…10 Jul 2026 · 1 h 13 min · 27 chapters
Inside a Cold War USAF Fighter Squadron (463)Life inside USAF F-16 tactical squadron operations at Hahn Air Base in West Germany during the late Cold War, including NATO nuclear readiness, squadron culture, and the transition to Operation…3 Jul 2026 · 1 h 10 min · 21 chapters
The Cambridge Five - new files reveal untold stories (462)The Cambridge Five—Kim Philby, Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess, Anthony Blunt, and John Cairncross—are re-examined using newly released MI5 files and other archives.26 Jun 2026 · 1 h 6 min · 30 chapters
Malta & West Germany - Memories of an RAF Childhood Abroad (461)Mark Thompson recounts his childhood as an RAF “brat” during the Cold War, focusing on three postings: Malta (RAF Luca), Lincolnshire UK (RAF Waddington, Vulcan bombers), and West Germany (RAF…19 Jun 2026 · 1 h 6 min · 26 chapters
Cold War Football: A History in Ten Matches (460)A History in Ten Matches explores how soccer was used to support democracies, strengthen dictatorships, and win influence during the Cold War—while also showing how matches sometimes brought enemies…12 Jun 2026 · 53 min · 20 chapters
CIA and MI6 Covert Action in Communist Albania at the Dawn of the Cold War (459)A June 1949 US–UK covert action plan to overthrow Albania’s communist government under Enver Hoxha, using exiled dissidents for subversion, intelligence collection, paramilitary activity, and…5 Jun 2026 · 1 h 7 min · 27 chapters
On the edge of war: A V-Force pilot during the Cuban Missile Crisis (458)Tony Dobbie, a former RAF V-Force (Victor) bomber pilot, recounts Cold War flying training and nuclear-alert readiness, focusing on the Cuban Missile Crisis “Black Saturday” (DEFCON 2) and a…29 May 2026 · 1 h 18 min · 28 chapters
Conscripted to a West German Nuclear Missile Unit (457)West German conscription and service in the Luftwaffe’s Pershing nuclear missile units, including how Pershing missiles were operated with U.S.22 May 2026 · 1 h 13 min · 26 chapters
Fakers: A Top-Secret Tale of Phantoms and Forgeries on the Cold War Disinformation Front Line (456)Cold War British covert propaganda, focusing on the Foreign Office’s Information Research Department (IRD) and its “fakes and forgeries” black-ops wing, revealed in a 2010s declassification of about…15 May 2026 · 54 min · 14 chapters
30 Miles from the North Korean Border - A US Military Childhood (455)A first-person account of growing up as a U.S. military child in South Korea about 30 miles from the North Korean border in the 1970s, focusing on fear from DMZ incidents and the day-to-day life on…8 May 2026 · 47 min · 20 chapters
The JFK Assassination: The human narratives behind one of history's most scrutinised events (454)Martin Fitzgerald’s book The Umbrella Man and Other Stories reframes the JFK assassination by focusing on the ordinary people in Dealey Plaza who “opted out” of the main motorcade viewing area on…1 May 2026 · 1 h 25 min · 22 chapters
Chornobyl: Anatomy of a Catastrophe (453)The April 26, 1986 Chornobyl disaster, traced from the Reactor 4 control room through Pripyat’s delayed evacuation, Moscow’s information management, and the later “liquidators” cleanup, emphasizing…24 Apr 2026 · 1 h 14 min · 20 chapters