Berlin

Checkmate in Berlin: The Cold War Showdown that Shaped the Modern World

  In 1945 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 … Read more

Confrontation at the Stößensee

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 … Read more

The Happy Traitor – The Life of Soviet Spy George Blake

I talk with acclaimed author and journalist Simon Kuper, has written The Happy Traitor, the story of British spy and Soviet Union double agent George Blake, the last major British traitor of the Cold War. A deeply human read, wonderfully written, on the foibles of a fascinating, flawed, treacherous and sort of likeable character.’ Philippe … Read more

The Last British Commandant in West Berlin Part 2

Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on Google Podcasts This is the 2nd part of our conversation with Major General Sir Robert Corbett, KCVO, CB who was the last Commandant of the British Sector in Berlin. We join as I ask what were the British Army’s plans in the event of a Warsaw Pact invasion … Read more

The Last British Commandant in West Berlin Part 1

Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on Google Podcasts Major General Sir Robert Corbett, KCVO, CB was the last Commandant of the British Sector in Berlin. We start his story with the description of his first experience of Berlin as a young Army captain commanding a military train across East Germany into West Berlin just … Read more

Experiencing the Cold War via virtual reality

How can we go beyond the films, books, and photos to learn more about the Cold War?  Films are certainly evocative and certainly inform but how can we go beyond that and immerse ourselves to see what it felt like to be there. The two technologies of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality may allow us … Read more

An American teaching English in East Germany

Susan Morrison is Professor of English at Texas State University.  In the late 1980’s she taught in Rostock in the former GDR and then lived in West Berlin but frequently crossed back into the East to teach and meet friends.  In this episode we talk to her about her experiences and her impression of the … Read more

Life as a British Soldier in West Berlin

  Anthony enlisted in the British Army in 1987 and after 9 months he was posted to West Berlin. He tells the story of life as a Private in Berlin from the drinking (and the fighting) to the urban warfare training in Ruhleben & Dough Boy City. We also hear of the reality of knowing … Read more

Serving in the British Army Intelligence Corps during the 1960s & 70s

Harry served as a soldier in the Intelligence Corps in Germany in the 1960s and 1970s. His role was that of an Intelligence and Security Operator, focused on the identification of foreign and other malign activities which might undermine the effectiveness of the UK’s military presence in the country. Accordingly, he had the experience of … Read more