Soviet Union

Cold War Football: A History in Ten Matches

  Listen on Apple PodcassListen on SpotifyListen on YouTubeListen on Amazon MusicListen on OvercastListen on Pocket CastsListen on Podcast AddictBecome a Patron! The Cold War was a huge battle for hearts and minds — a true “people’s war.” But where did the “people’s game” fit into it? In their new book, Cold War Football: A … Read more

Chornobyl: Anatomy of a Catastrophe

40 years ago, at 1:23 a.m. on April 26, 1986, a routine safety test inside Reactor Four at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant spiralled into the worst nuclear disaster in history. Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on YouTubeListen on Amazon MusicListen on OvercastListen on Pocket CastsListen on Podcast AddictBecome a Patron! This episode traces … Read more

Soviet – Afghan War, Mujahideen Resistance: The Brutal Fight for Zhawar

  Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on YouTubeListen on Amazon MusicListen on OvercastListen on Pocket CastsListen on Podcast AddictBecome a Patron! We embark on a journey through the tumultuous history of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, a conflict that would shape the geopolitical landscape for decades. Our guest, historian and writer Michael G. Stroud, … Read more

An officer in The Internal Troops of the Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs

  Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on YouTubeListen on Amazon MusicListen on OvercastListen on Pocket CastsListen on Podcast AddictBecome a Patron! Ihor describes his time serving as a Ukrainian officer in the Soviet Union’s Ministry of Interior troops. After volunteering to serve in the military, he quickly found himself travelling from Lviv to Lithuania … Read more

Growing up in Soviet Ukraine in the 1960s and 70s

  Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on YouTubeListen on Amazon MusicListen on OvercastListen on Pocket CastsListen on Podcast AddictBecome a Patron!  Ihor grew up in Ukraine during the Soviet era. His story begins in November 1958, amid the complex historical backdrop of a city that has witnessed the ebb and flow of empires. With … Read more

Chasing Rogue Nukes after the Fall of the Soviet Union

Susan Miller continues the story of her CIA career, recalling a harrowing experience of the 1991 US embassy fire in Moscow, and the unexpected humanity displayed by a KGB officer who helped save lives during the crisis.Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on YouTubeListen on Amazon MusicListen on Podcast AddictBecome a Patron! Susan Miller continues … Read more

Dead Drops and Disguises – A Female CIA Officer in 1980s Moscow

I explore the remarkable journey of Susan Miller, a former CIA operations officer who transitioned from a quiet childhood in California to the thrilling world of espionage. Growing up in Sunnyvale and Santa Rosa, she was surrounded by the tech industry, with her father working for Hewlett-Packard. However, her aspirations led her to California Polytechnic … Read more

The Berlin Airlift – Victories, Myths, and the Berlin Blockade

Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on YouTubeListen on Amazon MusicListen on Podcast AddictBecome a Patron! The Berlin Blockade was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War when the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies’ railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Western control. I speak with … Read more

The KGB defector who saved MI5 and changed the Cold War

Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on YouTubeListen on Amazon MusicListen on Podcast AddictBecome a Patron! ​Oleg Lyalin, was a KGB officer whose actions would provide British intelligence with pivotal information during the Cold War. I speak with Richard Kerbaj,  the author of a new book, ‘The Defector. The untold story of the KGB agent … Read more