American MiG Pilot: Inside the Top Secret USAF "Red Eagles" MiG Squadron Part 2 (445)
2026-02-28 | 48 min.
Lt Col Rob “Z-Man” Zettel is the author of American MiG Pilot - Inside the Top Secret USAF “Red Eagles. He tells the Red Eagles story for the first time through the experiences of a pilot who flew Soviet MiGs to their maximum performance in simulated combat engagements, often several times a day, against some of the very best fighter pilots hand-picked from the ranks of the USAF, US Navy and US Marine Corps.
With controls labelled in Russian and the only spare parts being the ones they could salvage, the pilots who climbed into the MiGs - the Red Eagles - accepted all of the risks associated with operating these aircraft.
Rob’s vivid accounts of training engagements put the reader right in the cockpit as he describes what it was like to be there day in and day out at one of the most access-restricted airfields in the entire USAF, flying MiGs.
In part two of our story, we join him for his first interview for the Red Eagles.
Buy the book here and support the podcast
Episode extras here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode445
Go to https://surfshark.com/coldwardeal or use code COLDWARDEAL at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN!
Help me preserve Cold War history via a simple monthly donation,
You’ll become part of our community, get ad-free episodes, and receive a sought-after CWC coaster as a thank-you, and you’ll 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 donations via the same link.
Find the ideal gift for the Cold War enthusiast in your life! Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/store/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
High School Student to the Top Secret USAF Red Eagles Soviet MIG Squadron Part 1 (444)
2026-02-21 | 50 min.
Rob “Z-Man” Zettel is the author of American MiG Pilot - Inside the Top Secret USAF “Red Eagles. In part one of a two-part episode, he reveals how he made it into this top-secret US operation that wouldn't feel out of place in 'Top Gun'.
From a high school student with no aviation background, Rob discovered he had a natural aptitude for flying via the USAF Reserve Officer Training Corps. He then joined the USAF, progressing to an Aggressor Squadron where his unit replicated enemy tactics, techniques, and procedures.
Rob shares anecdotes of training, close calls in the air, and the intense journey through pilot training. He provides a vivid account of training engagements that puts you right in the cockpit.
Buy the book here and support the podcast
Episode extras here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode444
Go to https://surfshark.com/coldwardeal or use code COLDWARDEAL at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN!
Help me preserve Cold War history via a simple monthly donation,
You’ll become part of our community, get ad-free episodes, and receive a sought-after CWC coaster as a thank-you, and you’ll 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 donations via the same link.
Find the ideal gift for the Cold War enthusiast in your life! Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/store/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Moscow Playbook: How Russia Used, Abused, and Transformed Sports in the Hunt for Power (443)
2026-02-14 | 1 h 1 min.
I speak with Bruce Berglund, the author of The Moscow Playbook: How Russia Used, Abused, and Transformed Sports in the Hunt for Power, which is a fascinating journey through the world of Soviet sports and its intricate ties to politics as a means of soft power and national pride.
We learn how the Soviets achieved strategic advantage through women's sports, the abuse of amateur status, the controversial topic of doping and how sports science revolutionised the performance of athletes.
Listeners will also hear about the iconic "Miracle on Ice" ice hockey game in 1980, where the U.S. amateur team defeated the seasoned Soviet professionals, and how this event was perceived on both sides of the Cold War divide.
Buy the book here and support the podcast
Episode extras here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode443
Go to https://surfshark.com/coldwardeal or use code COLDWARDEAL at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN!
Help me preserve Cold War history via a simple monthly donation,
You’ll become part of our community, get ad-free episodes, and get a sought-after CWC coaster as a thank you and you’ll 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 donations via the same link.
Find the ideal gift for the Cold War enthusiast in your life! Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/store/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chasing Rogue Nukes after the Fall of the Soviet Union (442)
2026-02-07 | 52 min.
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. Episode one is here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode441/
In Poland, a KGB walk-in claims to have microfiche containing the names of every spy the KGB was running overseas.
And as CIA Chief in Vilnius, Susan is confronted by another KGB walk-in with a box of weapons-grade uranium
Listen to part one here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode441/
Help me preserve Cold War history via a simple monthly donation,
You’ll become part of our community, get ad-free episodes, and get a sought-after CWC coaster as a thank you and you’ll 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 donations 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
Follow us on BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/coldwarpod.bsky.social
Follow us on Threads https://www.threads.net/@coldwarconversations
Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Dead Drops and Disguises - A Female CIA Officer in 1980s Moscow (441)
2026-01-31 | 49 min.
I explore the remarkable journey of a CIA operations officer who transitioned from a quiet childhood in California to the thrilling world of espionage.
What began as a joke application to the CIA turned into a life-changing opportunity.
The episode delves into her rigorous training, including paramilitary courses that prepared her for the realities of fieldwork and thrilling stories from her time in Moscow during the late 1980s.
Susan also gives tradecraft insights on surveillance techniques and the unique challenges faced by women in intelligence roles during that era.
Part two here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode442
Help me preserve Cold War history via a simple monthly donation,
You’ll become part of our community, get ad-free episodes, and get a sought-after CWC coaster as a thank you and you’ll 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 donations 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
Follow us on BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/coldwarpod.bsky.social
Follow us on Threads https://www.threads.net/@coldwarconversations
Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod
Experience the Cold War like never before with Cold War Conversations — an award-winning podcast recommended by The New York Times.
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.
Sverige