Gillian – A US Student at the opening of the Berlin Wall

  Gillian Cox visited the GDR as a student in October 1989 just before the Wall came down. In this episode you will hear her eyewitness of account of what she saw ion that momentous night of 9th November 1989. Before we start the episode I wanted to thanks everyone who is supporting the podcast … Read more

The Opening of the Berlin Wall

Our interview today is in a different format. Cold war Conversations is working with the Imperial War Museum on a project called Voices of the Wall. We will be capturing personal testimonies of people’s experiences of the Cold War which will later become part of the podcast. Therefore, this episode is a composite of previous … Read more

The Berlin Wall – Frederick Taylor

James spoke with Fred Taylor, a historian who has written several books on Germany, about his book ’The Berlin Wall 1961 – 1989’ which will shortly be reprinted to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the fall of The Wall.  James and Fred spoke about the origins of The Wall and the division of Germany and … Read more

British Forces in Germany: The Lived Experience 1945-2019

Dr Peter Johnston is the Head of Collections Research and Academic Access at the National Army Museum in London and the author of a lavishly illustrated military and social history of the British forces in Germany during the Cold War. < Now if you like the podcast you can help to support us  for the ... Read more

Alastair Witnesses the Wende

Alastair took up a teaching post in Halle, East Germany in August 1989 and continued to work in Halle for the next 9 years, seeing the unravelling of the GDR first hand. Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyListen on Google PodcastsBecome a Patron! He arrived just in time to see the early protests and the … Read more

Life on a Polaris Nuclear Missile Submarine

As a restless and adventurous 18-year-old, Richard Humphreys joined the submarine service in 1985 and went on to serve aboard the nuclear deterrent for five years at the end of the Cold War. Buy the book here and support the podcast. Now before we start his story as I’d like to tell you about some … Read more

A Cold War UK/GDR Romance

    In 1986 GDR student Antje met a British guy who was installing sewing machines in of the hosiery companies in East Germany. Unusually he was given quite a bit of freedom to socialise locally and he eventually asked Antje to marry him. However, with her prospective husband being a citizen of the capitalist … Read more

Eyewitness to the 1991 Soviet Coup

As a 24 year old Kieran Williams was in Moscow staying with Soviet friends when the 1991 Moscow Coup occurred. He is a Professor at Drake University in the United States and previously he taught for nine years at University College London’s School of Slavonic and East European Studies, where he was an associate professor … Read more

Bridget Kendall – Cold War BBC Moscow Correspondent 1989 – 1995

  Today we have James taking the helm again with a fascinating chat with Bridget Kendall, the BBC’s Moscow correspondent from 1989 to 1995 when she was witness to the power struggles in the Soviet Communist party as Mikhail Gorbachev tried to introduce reform. However…before we start I have to thank our fans who are … Read more