The award-winning podcast preserving the stories of the Cold War before they are lost…subscribe for free. Produced by Ian Sanders FRHistS
In the sleepy suburb of Ruislip in London during the late 1950s, life was anything but exciting for Gay, a 15-year-old girl. Little did she know, her mundane existence was about to be shattered by a shocking revelation that would turn her world upside down. Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on YouTubeBecome a Patron! … Read more
The Spycatcher affair remains one of the most intriguing moments in the history of British intelligence and a pivotal point in the public’s relationship with the murky world of espionage and security. Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on YouTubeBecome a Patron! It lifted the lid on alleged Soviet infiltration of British services and … Read more
Thomas Maier an investigative journalist is our guide to the shadowy world of organized crime and espionage where shares insights from his extensive research and writing, including his latest book and drama documentary “Mafia Spies,” which explores the unlikely alliance between the CIA and the mafia in their attempts to assassinate Fidel Castro. Listen … Read more
Luca Trenta is an associate professor at Swansea University and has recently authored The President’s Kill List: Assassination and US Foreign Policy Since 1945. We dig in detail into the contents of the book delving into the history of Cold War CIA operations including instances of electoral interference and assassination. Listen on Apple PodcastsListen … Read more
The Jodrell Bank observatory in Cheshire in the UK played a significant secret role during the Cold War. It was established in 1945 by Bernard Lovell, a radio astronomer at the university, to investigate cosmic rays after his work on radar in the Second World War. Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on Google PodcastsBecome … Read more
This is the second part of my chat with Thomas who worked in a secret East German radio monitoring base. Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on Google PodcastsBecome a Patron! He describes how a BRIXMIS or another MLM vehicle had once got into the base and what the NVA would told about MLM capabilities. … Read more
Tim served in the USAF and the NSA from 1975 to 1988. This included stints at US Air Force Electronic Warfare Center at Kelly AFB, Texas and at RAF Chicksands, in the UK working on SIGINT collection of USS, Warsaw Pact, and other targets. He also served as part of the Cryptologic Support Group, … Read more
Born in 1968 in East Germany Thomas had a “normal socialist” but happy childhood in a small town near Dresden. His family was viewed as exotic at that time as his mother had Hungarian citizenship which allowed her to travel to West Berlin. Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on Google PodcastsBecome a Patron! He … Read more
Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on Google PodcastsBecome a Patron! Maura McCormick was posted to Berlin as a Signals Intelligence voice interceptor (Russian). Her workplace was the Teufelsberg U.S. listening station, aka Field Station Berlin. Maura shares her early impressions of Berlin and working at the Tberg. She talks about her impressions of the … Read more
You might remember listening to short wave radio during the Cold War and coming across weird transmissions of metallic voices reciting random groups of numbers through the ether. These are number stations, shortwave radio stations characterised by broadcasts of formatted numbers, which were being sent to spies operating in foreign countries. Number stations were used … Read more