Cold War Conversations - "vivid & compelling" The NY Times
by Ian Sanders
Is this your podcast?On the show
From 30 epsHost
Recent guests
Recent episodes
What did Jacqueline Kennedy privately believe about the JFK Assassination? (478)
Oct 16, 2026
50m 31s
My Cuban Encounters with Hemingway, Batista, Che Guevara and Fidel Castro (477)
Oct 9, 2026
59m 32s
From Mao's Red Guard to conscription into the Chinese People's Liberation Army (476)
Oct 2, 2026
57m 28s
The Birth of Poland's Free Trade Union Solidarity (475)
Sep 25, 2026
1h 06m 27s
Growing Up Under Communism on Cold War Poland’s Baltic Coast (474)
Sep 18, 2026
1h 08m 13s
Insights from recent episode analysis
Audience Interest
Podcast Focus
Publishing Consistency
Platform Reach
Insights are generated by CastFox AI using publicly available data, episode content, and proprietary models.
Most discussed topics
Brands & references
Total monthly reach
Based on 1 signal.
Built from
By chart position
- 🇬🇧United Kingdom · History#811.7K to 9.1K
- 🇦🇺Australia · History#92677 to 3.6K
- 🇳🇱Netherlands · History#105223 to 1.2K
- 🇮🇩ID · History#108210 to 1.1K
- 🇮🇳India · History#181203 to 1.1K
- Per-Episode Audience
Est. listeners per new episode within ~30 days
4.2K to 22K🎙 ~2x weekly·474 episodes·Last published 3d ago - Monthly Reach
Unique listeners across all episodes (30 days)
8.4K to 45K🇺🇸71%🇬🇧12%🇦🇺5%+11 more - Active Followers
Loyal subscribers who consistently listen
4.6K to 25K
Market Insights
Platform Distribution
Reach across major podcast platforms, updated hourly
Total Followers
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—
Total Reviews
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* Data sourced directly from platform APIs and aggregated hourly across all major podcast directories.
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| Date | Episode | Topics | Guests | Brands | Places | Keywords | Sponsor | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10/16/26 |  What did Jacqueline Kennedy privately believe about the JFK Assassination? (478) | What did Jacqueline Kennedy privately believe happened in Dallas on 22 November 1963? In the second part of Peter Lamas’s extraordinary story, he recalls the trust he developed with the former First Lady while working as her personal hairstylist. During preparations for an event marking the twenty-fifth anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Peter says Jackie spoke candidly about the shooting, her desperate movements across the presidential limousine and her fear that she might be killed next. She also shared her doubts about the official account and her belief that Lee Harvey Oswald had not acted alone. Peter then recounts the controversial allegations he later heard from Marita Lorenz and others concerning the CIA, anti-Castro Cubans, organised crime and figures connected to Dallas. These claims remain disputed, but together they offer a remarkable insight into the suspicions, trauma and unanswered questions that continued to surround Kennedy’s assassination decades later. Buy the book and support the podcast here https://amzn.to/4xKDoGE Curated episode extras https://coldwarconversations.com/episode478 Listen to our episode “The JFK Assassination: The human stories behind one of history’s most scrutinised events” here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode454/ Help me preserve Cold War history via a simple monthly donation,. You’ll become part of our community, get ad-free episodes, receive a sought-after CWC coaster as a thank-you, and bask in thewarm glow of knowing you are helping to preserve Cold War history. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ If a monthly contribution is not your cup of tea, we also welcome one-off tips via the same link. Find the ideal gift for the Cold War enthusiast in your life! Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/store/ CONTINUE THE COLD WAR CONVERSATION o BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/coldwarpod.bsky.social o Threads https://www.threads.net/@coldwarconversations o Twitter/X https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod o Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/ o Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/ o Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations Curated episode extras https://coldwarconversations.com/episode474 Help me preserve Cold War history via a simple monthly donation, You’ll become part of our community, get ad-free episodes, receive a sought-after CWC coaster as a thank-you, and bask in the warm glow of knowing you are helping to preserve Cold War history. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ If a monthly contribution is not your cup of tea, we also welcome one-off tips via the same link. Find the ideal gift for the Cold War enthusiast in your life! Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/store/ CONTINUE THE COLD WAR CONVERSATION o BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/coldwarpod.bsky.social o Threads https://www.threads.net/@coldwarconversations o Twitter/X https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod o Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/ o Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/ o Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices | 50m 31s | ||||||
| 10/9/26 |  My Cuban Encounters with Hemingway, Batista, Che Guevara and Fidel Castro (477) | What happens when a Cuban teenager who has lost his homeland finds himself sitting across the lunch table from Fidel Castro? Peter Lamas recalls an extraordinary childhood in pre-revolutionary Havana and a life touched by history. He describes meeting Ernest Hemingway, Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista, Che Guevara and Fidel Castro. Political upheaval forced his family to flee Cuba, leaving everything behind. Beginning again in New York with little money and no English, Peter found kindness in unexpected places—before a remarkable invitation brought him face-to-face with Castro, the man he blamed for uprooting his family, in an unforgettable and deeply painful encounter. Buy the book and support the podcast here https://amzn.to/4xKDoGE Curated episode extras https://coldwarconversations.com/episode477 Help me preserve Cold War history via a simple monthly donation,. You’ll become part of our community, get ad-free episodes, receive a sought-after CWC coaster as a thank-you, and bask in thewarm glow of knowing you are helping to preserve Cold War history. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ If a monthly contribution is not your cup of tea, we also welcome one-off tips via the same link. Find the ideal gift for the Cold War enthusiast in your life! Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/store/ CONTINUE THE COLD WAR CONVERSATION o BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/coldwarpod.bsky.social o Threads https://www.threads.net/@coldwarconversations o Twitter/X https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod o Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/ o Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/ o Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices | 59m 32s | ||||||
| 10/2/26 |  From Mao's Red Guard to conscription into the Chinese People's Liberation Army (476) | At twelve years old, Bing became a Red Guard—and for a few intoxicating months, he felt invincible. Growing up in Mao’s Beijing, Bing was taught to worship Chairman Mao, recite the Little Red Book and attack the old order. But the Cultural Revolution soon turned against his own family. His parents were condemned & sent to labour in the countryside, his grandmother was driven from Beijing, and Bing was left to care for his nine-year-old sister after she suffered a devastating injury during a Red Guard raid. Later conscripted into the People’s Liberation Army, Bing endured brutal conditions in Manchuria while preparing for a possible Soviet invasion just twenty miles from the border. His extraordinary journey would eventually take him from an oilfield and a reopened Chinese university to America—where he fulfilled his grandmother’s dying wish by reuniting a family divided by the Chinese Civil War decades earlier. Curated episode extras https://coldwarconversations.com/episode476 Help me preserve Cold War history via a simple monthly donation, You’ll become part of our community, get ad-free episodes, receive a sought-after CWC coaster as a thank-you, and bask in the warm glow of knowing you are helping to preserve Cold War history. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ If a monthly contribution is not your cup of tea, we also welcome one-off tips via the same link. Find the ideal gift for the Cold War enthusiast in your life! Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/store/ CONTINUE THE COLD WAR CONVERSATION o BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/coldwarpod.bsky.social o Threads https://www.threads.net/@coldwarconversations o Twitter/X https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod o Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/ o Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/ o Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices | 57m 28s | ||||||
| 9/25/26 |  The Birth of Poland's Free Trade Union Solidarity (475) | One morning in August 1980, the noise of 10,000 shipyard workers suddenly stopped. Something extraordinary was happening. As a young shipbuilding student, Bogdan finds himself inside Gdańsk’s Lenin Shipyard as workers down tools and the movement that will become Solidarity begins to take shape. What follows is a remarkable journey through the final decade of communist Poland. Bogdan recalls student occupation strikes, the shock of martial law, encounters with riot police, and his unconventional escape from military conscription by becoming a teacher. He describes his first intoxicating glimpse of the West in Vienna and West Berlin, where two worlds exist just metres apart across the Berlin Wall. Then, in the summer of 1989, Bogdan and his wife board a flight for Canada with borrowed money, a few possessions and no certainty about what comes next. This is a deeply personal story of resistance, freedom and starting again. Buy the book and support the podcast here https://amzn.to/4y3dlLC Curated episode extras https://coldwarconversations.com/episode475 Bogdan's website & other book purchase options https://www.bogdanmarzewski.com/book Help me preserve Cold War history via a simple monthly donation, You’ll become part of our community, get ad-free episodes, receive a sought-after CWC coaster as a thank-you, and bask in the warm glow of knowing you are helping to preserve Cold War history. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ If a monthly contribution is not your cup of tea, we also welcome one-off tips via the same link. Find the ideal gift for the Cold War enthusiast in your life! Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/store/ CONTINUE THE COLD WAR CONVERSATION o BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/coldwarpod.bsky.social o Threads https://www.threads.net/@coldwarconversations o Twitter/X https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod o Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/ o Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/ o Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices | 1h 06m 27s | ||||||
| 9/18/26 |  Growing Up Under Communism on Cold War Poland’s Baltic Coast (474) | Bogdan was born just a month before the Berlin Wall went up—and left communist Poland a month before it came down. In between lay a childhood shaped by shortages, censorship, compulsory conformity and a growing determination to escape. Raised in Słupsk, a formerly German city near the Baltic coast, Bogdan remembers crowded post-war housing, Saturday school, packed Catholic churches and a world where bananas, meat and even bicycles depended on contacts and barter. His family carried deeper scars: wartime forced labour, a father shot while fleeing captivity, and an uncle whose unexpected return from Britain reunited relatives separated for decades. Yet everyday life also brought football, music lessons, Western films and quiet mockery of a system few truly believed. Convinced that shipbuilding offered a route abroad, Bogdan entered university—and found himself at the Gdańsk shipyard in August 1980, just as Lech Wałęsa and Solidarity changed Poland forever before his eyes. Buy the book and support the podcast here https://amzn.to/4y3dlLC Curated episode extras https://coldwarconversations.com/episode474 Bogdan's website & other book purchase options https://www.bogdanmarzewski.com/book Help me preserve Cold War history via a simple monthly donation, You’ll become part of our community, get ad-free episodes, receive a sought-after CWC coaster as a thank-you, and bask in the warm glow of knowing you are helping to preserve Cold War history. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ If a monthly contribution is not your cup of tea, we also welcome one-off tips via the same link. Find the ideal gift for the Cold War enthusiast in your life! Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/store/ CONTINUE THE COLD WAR CONVERSATION o BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/coldwarpod.bsky.social o Threads https://www.threads.net/@coldwarconversations o Twitter/X https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod o Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/ o Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/ o Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices | 1h 08m 13s | ||||||
| 9/11/26 |  If the Soviets Invaded : Sweden's Secret Underground Resistance Plan (473) | For decades, ordinary Swedes secretly prepared for the day Soviet forces might occupy their country. Farmers, factory workers, gamekeepers and travelling salesmen were recruited into a clandestine resistance network, trained to operate radios, use dead drops, scout escape routes and, if necessary, sabotage an invading army. Historian Johan Wennström joins me to reveal the extraordinary story behind Sweden’s Stay Behind organisation. He explains why officially neutral Sweden quietly collaborated with MI6, the CIA and NATO, how the organisation preserved its secrecy, and why the royal family and government might have fled to Britain. We hear of mysterious Sunday walks, ammunition delivered to railway stations, aerial “elk surveys” concealing reconnaissance missions and the cyanide capsules for use if an operative was captured. It is a gripping account of patriotism, secrecy and sacrifice—and of hundreds of volunteers who carried the burden of a war that, thankfully, never came to Sweden. Buy the book and support the podcast here https://amzn.to/4gJADz2 Curated episode extras https://coldwarconversations.com/episode473/ Swedish Fighter pilot episode https://coldwarconversations.com/episode386/ Help me preserve Cold War history via a simple monthly donation, You’ll become part of our community, get ad-free episodes, receive a sought-after CWC coaster as a thank-you, and bask in the warm glow of knowing you are helping to preserve Cold War history. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ If a monthly contribution is not your cup of tea, we also welcome one-off tips via the same link. Find the ideal gift for the Cold War enthusiast in your life! Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/store/ CONTINUE THE COLD WAR CONVERSATION o BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/coldwarpod.bsky.social o Threads https://www.threads.net/@coldwarconversations o Twitter/X https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod o Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/ o Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/ o Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices | 47m 01s | ||||||
| 9/4/26 | IRASouth Armagh+4 | Toby Harnden | Provisional IRABritish Army+3 | South ArmaghNorthern Ireland | IRASouth Armagh+6 | — | 1h 07m 59s | ||
| 8/29/26 | escapeIron Curtain+5 | Jiří Barteček | — | CzechoslovakiaAustria+1 | Czech border guardescape+5 | — | 1h 23m 34s | ||
| 8/21/26 | family reunionCold War+4 | daughters of Aleksander Jablonski | Leek Polish Connection | PolandBritain+2 | Iron CurtainPolish family+7 | — | 54m 33s | ||
| 8/19/26 | Cold War historyhistory tours+3 | — | Cold War ConversationsChase History Tours | — | Cold Warhistory tours+3 | — | 0m 51s | ||
| 8/14/26 | German reunificationmilitary transformation+5 | Roland | BundeswehrMilitärhistorisches Museum der Bundeswehr+1 | — | East German militaryBundeswehr integration+6 | — | 50m 03s | ||
| 8/7/26 | East German Air Forcemilitary training+5 | Roland | Nationale VolksarmeeBundeswehr+2 | — | MiG fightersMi-8 helicopters+6 | — | 44m 38s | ||
| 7/31/26 | childhoodCold War+4 | Oana Aristide | The NY TimesAstronaut | Romania | Cold War Romaniachildhood experiences+5 | — | 42m 03s | ||
| 7/24/26 | defectionespionage+4 | Oggy Boytchev | BBC World ServiceBulgarian shipping company+1 | — | defectionspies+7 | — | 41m 35s | ||
| 7/17/26 | Cold WarBulgarian history+4 | Oggy Boytchev | BBCThe Istanbul Connection | BulgariaMiddle East+2 | Cold WarBulgaria+6 | — | 59m 01s | ||
| 7/10/26 | war crimesBosnia+5 | Richard Lyntton | The HagueCrown Deception | BosniaCold War Moscow+3 | Srebrenicawar criminals+7 | — | 1h 12m 42s | ||
| 7/3/26 | Cold Warmilitary history+4 | Michael Makatura | US Air ForceThe Fightin’ Tenth | Hahn Air BaseWest Germany+1 | Cold Warfighter squadron+6 | — | 1h 09m 57s | ||
| 6/26/26 | Cambridge Fiveespionage+4 | Antonia Senior | MI5Soviet Union+2 | — | Cambridge Fiveespionage+6 | — | 1h 05m 31s | ||
| 6/19/26 | RAF childhoodmilitary life+4 | Mark Thompson | Royal Air Force | MaltaGermany+4 | Royal Air ForceCold War+7 | — | 1h 05m 40s | ||
| 6/12/26 | Cold Warfootball+4 | Tony ShawAlan McDougall | Cold War ConversationsThe NY Times | — | Cold Warfootball history+7 | — | 52m 51s | ||
| 6/5/26 | covert actionCold War+5 | Stephen Long | CIAMI6+1 | Albania | CIAMI6+6 | — | 1h 06m 53s | ||
| 5/29/26 | Cuban Missile CrisisRAF V-Force+4 | Tony Dobbie | Suki, Me & World War 3RAF+1 | High Wycombe | V-Forcebomber pilot+6 | — | 1h 18m 06s | ||
| 5/22/26 | military serviceCold War+5 | Kris | BundeswehrLuftwaffe+3 | — | Cold WarBundeswehr+8 | — | 1h 13m 24s | ||
| 5/15/26 | Cold War propagandadisinformation+4 | Rory Cormac | Information Research DepartmentBritish Foreign Office+2 | Egypt | Cold Warpropaganda+8 | — | 53m 33s | ||
| 5/8/26 | US military childhoodNorth Korean border+4 | Flynn | — | North KoreaKorea | US militaryNorth Korea+5 | — | 47m 00s | ||
| 5/1/26 | JFK Assassinationmemory+3 | Martin Fitzgerald | The Umbrella Man and Other Stories | Dallas | JFKassassination+5 | — | 1h 24m 31s | ||
| 4/24/26 | nuclear disasterChornobyl+4 | — | Chornobyl | PripyatMoscow | Chornobylnuclear disaster+5 | — | 1h 13m 32s | ||
| 4/17/26 | personal narrativeCold War+5 | Juli | — | East BerlinWest Ireland+1 | East BerlinBerlin Wall+7 | — | 1h 34m 09s | ||
| 4/10/26 | military lifeGuantanamo Bay+4 | Chris | US Marine | Guantanamo Bay, CubaCuba | Guantanamo BayUS Marine+5 | SurfsharkCOLDWARDEAL | 1h 08m 57s | ||
| 4/3/26 | Soviet-Afghan WarMujahideen Resistance+3 | Michael G. Stroud | Soviet Union | AfghanistanZhawar+1 | Soviet-Afghan WarMujahideen+5 | Surfshark VPNCOLDWARDEAL | 1h 00m 36s | ||
| 3/28/26 | Cold WarBerlin+4 | David Bickford | MI5MI6 | BerlinEast Germany+1 | Cold WarBerlin+7 | — | 1h 17m 47s | ||
| 3/21/26 | Soviet militaryinternal troops+3 | Ihor | Soviet Ministry of Internal AffairsBBC | LvivLithuania | Soviet Unionmilitary service+3 | Surfshark VPNCOLDWARDEAL | 48m 51s | ||
| 3/14/26 | Soviet historyUkrainian culture+3 | Ihor | Moscow | LvivUkraine | Soviet Ukrainechildhood+5 | Surfshark VPNCOLDWARDEAL | 49m 16s | ||
| 3/7/26 | Cold Warsubmarines+3 | Dr. Paul Brown | Royal NavySecret Warriors: British Submarines during the Cold War | MurmanskBarents Sea+2 | British submarinesCold War espionage+3 | Surfshark VPNCOLDWARDEAL | 1h 15m 25s | ||
| 2/28/26 | military historyaviation+3 | Lt Col Rob “Z-Man” Zettel | USAFUS Navy+2 | USA | Red EaglesMiG pilot+3 | SurfsharkCOLDWARDEAL | 48m 20s | ||
| 2/21/26 | aviationmilitary history+3 | Rob Zettel | USAFUSAF Reserve Officer Training Corps+2 | — | Red EaglesUSAF+5 | SurfsharkCOLDWARDEAL | 50m 11s | ||
Showing 36 of 474
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Chart history for Cold War Conversations - "vivid & compelling" The NY Times
Peaked at #77 in Finland, currently #77 in Finland.
| Market | Genre | Peak | Current | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finland | — | #77 | #77 | — |
| United Kingdom | — | #81 | #81 | — |
| Ireland | — | #84 | #84 | — |
| CL | — | #86 | #86 | — |
| Norway | — | #87 | #87 | — |
| Australia | — | #92 | #92 | — |
| HU | — | #94 | #94 | — |
| Netherlands | — | #105 | #105 | — |
| South Africa | — | #105 | #105 | — |
| SA | — | #107 | #107 | — |
| ID | — | #108 | #108 | — |
| IS | — | #117 | #117 | — |
| GR | — | #125 | #125 | — |
| Sweden | — | #144 | #144 | — |
| Japan | — | #153 | #153 | — |
| New Zealand | — | #160 | #160 | — |
| Denmark | — | #165 | #165 | — |
| PT | — | #169 | #169 | — |
| HK | — | #178 | #178 | — |
| India | — | #181 | #181 | — |
Chart Positions
22 placements across 22 markets.
Chart Positions
22 placements across 22 markets.