Espionage

Betrayal in Berlin

Steve Vogel is a veteran journalist who reported for the Washington Post for more than two decades. He is also the author of Betrayal in Berlin a new book that tells the story of one of the West’s greatest espionage operations of the Cold War. Now I’m sure you are enjoying your weekly dose of … Read more

Cuban Missile Crisis U2 Squadron Commander

      Col. William “Greg” Gregory served in the U.S. Army Air Corps and saw extensive combat over North Africa and Europe during World War 2. When the Air Force was created he continued his role as a pilot and eventually became part of the clandestine U-2 spy plane program, rising to the position … Read more

75 – Cold War Spy Stories from Eastern Europe

Today we’re talking to  Alison Lewis, a professor in German at the University of Melbourne. She is the author of several books, including one in German about love and gender in literature during Germany’s reunification and a book in German about the Stasi’s infiltration of the literary underground. We spoke to Alison in episode 71. … Read more

27 – Flying the SR-71 Spy Plane

  Welcome to Episode 27 of Cold war conversations. Today we are talking about the SR71 Blackbird spy plane of which only 32 were ever made. The great defensive ability of the plane was its high speed and altitude. Standard evasive action was just to accelerate, which made it almost invulnerable to the attack technologies … Read more

23- Gary Powers & the 1960 U2 Incident

      Welcome to episode 23 of Cold War Conversations. Today’s episode is the first in a new partnership we have formed with the Cold War Museum. We speak with Gary Powers Junior. His father piloted the U2 spy plane shot down over the Soviet Union. Powers’ U-2 was shot down on May 1, … Read more

21 – BRIXMIS, British defence of Berlin, and Rudolf Hess

  Welcome to episode 21 of Cold War Conversations Today we’re talking to Nigel Dunkley MBE a former Royal Scots Dragoon Guard, performed intelligence gathering duties in the former East Germany with BRIXMIS during the Cold War. BRIXMIS ( British Commanders’-in-Chief Mission to the Soviet Forces in Germany) was an intelligence organisation worked throughout the Cold … Read more

Episode 12 – “My Stasi file is as thick as a phone book”

Welcome to Episode 12 of Cold War Conversations. Today’s guest is someone I’ve been trying to speak to for some time as his story is a particularly fascinating one. We’re chatting with Mark Reeder a musician and music producer who has been involved in the Berlin and international music scene since 1978, starting as Factory Records … Read more

Episode 2 – Berlin during the Cold War and Signals Intelligence

Welcome to Episode 2 of Cold War Conversations where we start with a fascinating eyewitness account of Berlin during the Cold War. Michael K Ferris  lived in Berlin as a child of US Airforce personnel in the 1960s and 70s and then subsequently joined the US Airforce himself and worked in Signals Intelligence during the … Read more