Cold War Conversations - "vivid & compelling" The NY Times artwork

History · Ian Sanders

Cold War Conversations - "vivid & compelling" The NY Times

by Ian Sanders

"Listening to even one episode of "Cold War Conversations" will make this sprawling, potentially intimidating period of history feel vivid and compelling." The New York Times Experience the Cold War like never before with Cold War Conversations — an award-winning podcast. Each week, host Ian Sanders brings you raw, firsthand accounts from the people who lived through one of history’s most tense and transformative eras — soldiers, spies, civilians, and more. These aren’t stories from textbooks. They’re unfiltered voices from the frontlines of history — emotional, gripping, and deeply human. This is Cold War history, told from the inside out. We cover subjects such as spies, spying, the Iron Curtain, nuclear weapons, warfare, tanks, jet aircraft, fighters, bombers, transport aircraft, aviation, culture, and politics. We also cover personalities such as Fidel Castro, JFK, Ronald Reagan, Nikita Khrushchev, Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov, Mikhail Gorbachev, Konstantin Chernenko, Margaret Thatcher, John F. Kennedy, Josef Stalin, Richard Nixon, Lech Walesa, General Jaruzelski, Nicolae Ceaușescu. Other subjects include Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Romania, Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin, West Berlin, East Berlin, Cuban missile Crisis, Berlin Airlift, Bay of Pigs, SALT, Perestroika, Space Race, superpower, USSR, Soviet Union, DDR, GDR, East Germany, SDI, Vietnam War, Korean War, Solidarność, Fall of the Wall, Berliner Mauer, Trabant, Communist, Capitalist, Able Archer, KGB, Stasi, STB, SB, Securitate, CIA, NSA, MI5, MI6, Berlin Wall, escape, defection, Cuba, Albania, football, sport, Bulgaria, Soviet Union, Poland, China, Taiwan, Austria, West Germany, Solidarity, espionage, HUMINT, SIGINT, OSINT, IMINT, GEOINT, RAF, USAF, British Army, US Army, Red Army, Soviet Army, Afghanistan, NVA, East German Army, KAL007, T-72, T-64, Chieftain, M60 The podcast is for military veterans, school teachers, university lecturers, students and those interested in Cold War history, museums, bunkers, weapons, AFVs, wargamers, planes, A Level, GCSE students studying Superpower Relations and the Cold War.

Chart trend

Position in the History chart (US), last 90 days.

#20
all-time peak
3
days in the top 50 since Nov 2024

Latest episodes

Showing 20 · updated from the feed

Bandit Country - The IRA and South Armagh (472)

During the Cold War, British soldiers fought a Provisional IRA insurgency in Northern Ireland. Probably the toughest location was South Armagh, where they had to travel b

Sep 4
1 h 07 min

A Czech Border Guard’s Daring Escape to the West (471)

What happens when the man guarding the Iron Curtain decides to escape through it himself? In 1975, Jiří Barteček was a Czechoslovak border guard, trained to track fugiti

Aug 29
1 h 23 min

Twenty-Six Years Apart: A Family Reunited Behind the Iron Curtain (470)

For twenty-six years, war, exile and the Iron Curtain kept one Polish family apart. Torn from his homeland and sent into Stalin’s labour camp system, Aleksander Jablonski

Aug 21
54 min

Announcing Cold War Conversations History Tours

I’m delighted to tell you about  Cold War Conversations History Tours I'm exploring the idea of hosting a Cold War history tour via a specialist tour company, and I'd li

Aug 19
1 min

Between Two Air Forces: From East German Officer to German Captain (469)

After German reunification, former East German Air Force officer Roland faced an extraordinary transformation: joining the military alliance he had once been trained to f

Aug 14
50 min

MiGs, Helicopters and Ideology: Life as an East German Air Force Officer (468)

What did it mean to train as an officer in the East German Air Force, where technical skill, military discipline and socialist ideology were inseparable? Roland recalls

Aug 7
44 min

Growing Up Grey: Childhood in Cold War Romania (467)

Romania in the 1980s was a country of empty shops, power cuts, rationing and fear—but for one little girl it was also home. In this episode, author Oana Aristide shares t

Jul 31
42 min

Defection, Spies and the Shadow of Georgi Markov (466)

In 1986, Oggy Boytchev made a split-second decision that would change his life forever. Sent to Egypt by a Bulgarian shipping company, he seized an unexpected opportunity

Jul 24
41 min

My Father - The Enemy of the People: A Bulgarian Family’s Cold War Story (465)

Oggy Boytchev is a former BBC journalist with more than three decades of experience reporting from conflict zones across the Middle East, the Balkans and the former Sovie

Jul 17
59 min

Face to Face with the Srebrenica War Criminals (464)

Richard Lyntton’s life has taken him from Cold War Moscow to the deserts of the Gulf War and the shattered streets of Sarajevo. In this powerful episode, he recalls stu

Jul 10
1 h 12 min

Inside a Cold War USAF Fighter Squadron (463)

Step behind the wire of one of NATO’s most elite tactical fighter squadrons—the 10th Tactical Fighter Squadron—during the tense final years of the Cold War and into Opera

Jul 3
1 h 09 min

The Cambridge Five - new files reveal untold stories (462)

Antonia Senior’s new book, "Stalin’s Apostles", challenges what you may have believed about the Cambridge Five, a group of British citizens who spied for the Soviet Union

Jun 26
1 h 05 min

Malta & West Germany - Memories of an RAF Childhood Abroad (461)

Mark Thompson shares his captivating journey as the child of Royal Air Force personnel during the Cold War. From the moment his parents met in Singapore to their adventur

Jun 19
1 h 05 min

Cold War Football: A History in Ten Matches (460)

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 Histo

Jun 12
52 min

CIA and MI6 Covert Action in Communist Albania at the Dawn of the Cold War (459)

In June 1949, the US and British governments secretly agreed to mount a joint covert action operation to overthrow the communist government in Albania. The top-secret pla

Jun 5
1 h 06 min

On the edge of war: A V-Force pilot during the Cuban Missile Crisis (458)

I had the honour of speaking with Tony Dobbie, a former RAF V- Force bomber pilot who joined the RAF in 1960. Tony shares amazing anecdotes from his training, including

May 29
1 h 18 min

Conscripted to a West German Nuclear Missile Unit (457)

Kris is a former conscript in the West German Bundeswehr during the Cold War. He shares his experiences from the moment he received his conscription notice at 17, ultimat

May 22
1 h 13 min

Fakers: A Top-Secret Tale of Phantoms and Forgeries on the Cold War Disinformation Front Line (456)

I delve into the fascinating world of Cold War propaganda with historian Rory Cormac, author of a new book “Fakers - 'A Top Secret Tale of Phantoms and Forgeries on the D

May 15
53 min

30 Miles from the North Korean Border - A US Military Childhood (455)

Flynn describes life as a US military child just 30 miles from the North Korean Border during the 1970s. The political landscape of the time was tumultuous, marked by s

May 8
47 min

The JFK Assassination: The human narratives behind one of history's most scrutinised events (454)

Dallas, 22 November 1963. The main event is supposed to be on the appropriately named Main Street. News footage shows office workers leaning out of windows, peering at th

May 1
1 h 24 min

Chart positions

Where Cold War Conversations - "vivid & compelling" The NY Times ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Sep 6, 2026).

#163 ▲ 21 History US

What listeners say

A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.

Absolutely fantastic content covering a wide range of Cold War historical topics, especially surrounding military affairs and espionage, but also covering cultural issues. Really wonderful.

longrun26.2 · Jan 2025

Cold War Conversations with Ian and his varied guests is a delight to dive into. Since finding this podcast Ive been listening to at least two episodes every day. Its an absolute pleasure hearing all the first hand accounts and experiences that are within this show. Thank you, Ian, for putting this together. To many more!

Dataruin · Oct 2024

One of my favorite podcasts. Found it absolutely by chance. Last episode I listened to was about the Afghan- Soviet war. My father fought in it, he never talked about his life so listening to that episode brought me so much insight. The stories you guys tell are truly captivating. Each episode is better than the next. Thank you so much!

ntokmakova · Sep 2024

Everything Cold War is covered. In detail and gives a great insight into Cold War politics, equipment used and people. If you have any interest in modern history this is a must listen. Interviews with the people that where actually there. Can’t get better intelligence and knowledge than from the horses mouth

Davesdogmax · Aug 2024

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Here you find the Apple Podcasts chart positions of Cold War Conversations - "vivid & compelling" The NY Times, its latest episodes to listen to directly, and reviews from listeners. Rankings are updated daily for the United States.

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