Cold War Conversations
By Ian Sanders
Experience the Cold War like never before through award-winning, real-life stories told by those who lived it.
Each week, we bring you firsthand accounts from soldiers, spies, civilians, and more, capturing the full spectrum of Cold War experiences.
Host Ian Sanders takes you beyond the history books, delivering raw, personal stories where every breath, pause, and emotion adds depth to understanding this pivotal era.
This is Cold War history, told from the inside.
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, M60
The podcast is for military veterans, school teachers, university lecturers, students and those interested in Cold War history, museums, bunkers, weapons, AFVs, wargaming, planes, A Level, GCSE students
Each week, we bring you firsthand accounts from soldiers, spies, civilians, and more, capturing the full spectrum of Cold War experiences.
Host Ian Sanders takes you beyond the history books, delivering raw, personal stories where every breath, pause, and emotion adds depth to understanding this pivotal era.
This is Cold War history, told from the inside.
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, M60
The podcast is for military veterans, school teachers, university lecturers, students and those interested in Cold War history, museums, bunkers, weapons, AFVs, wargaming, planes, A Level, GCSE students
Latest episode
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Under Fire: A Journalist's Story of the 1989 Romanian Revolution (380)
Mark embarks on a perilous journey to Bucharest, navigating roadblocks and dodging bullets to report on the revolution -
Foes to Friends: Cold War British and East German Tank crew together in conversation (379)
Join our East-West tank crew reunion that offers a rare glimpse into the lives of those who served on opposite sides of the Iron Curtain. -
From Vulcan Bases to Communist Bucharest: A Tale of Cold War Intrigue (378)
Ron navigates the intricacies of its society and shares stories of friendships forged under the watchful eyes of the Securitate, Romania's feared secret police. -
Surveillance and shortages: A British teacher in 1960s Cold War Communist Romania (377)
Ron Mackay shares his fascinating experiences as he navigated life and teaching in a communist country. -
Mission Iran: Special Forces Berlin & Operation Eagle Claw, JTF 1-79 (376)
Few operations in Cold War history capture the imagination quite like Operation Eagle Claw. I have the privilege of welcoming back James Stejkal, a Special Forces veteran, to delve into the intricacies of this audacious mission. -
Den of Spies: The October Surprise - A Covert Cold War Operation (375)
A journey through the tumultuous events of 1980, exploring the covert operation known as the “October Surprise” that allegedly influenced the outcome of the U.S. presidential election. -
Surrounded and captured in the Korean War (374)
Tommy Clough is one of the last surviving of the battle of the Imjin River and was just 19 when the Gloucestershire Regiment were cut off by more than 10,000 Chinese troops in 1951 -
Interview with an East German Border Guard (373)
Dietmar Schultke was a member of the Grenztruppen, the East German Border Guards and delve into the life of those responsible for preventing escapes over the Berlin Wall and the East German Border. -
From Vulcan to Gannet: A Cold War career in the Royal Air Force
Former Vulcan pilot shares his extraordinary career. -
Doorsteps of Hell - a US Marine platoon commander in the Vietnam War (371)
An honest, unembellished account of fighting and surviving in the mud-sucking rice paddies and leech infested jungles of Vietnam.