Retracing the Iron Curtain: A 3,000-Mile Journey Through the End and Afterlife of the Cold War (133)

Tim Phillips travelled the route of the former Iron Curtain from deep inside the arctic circle to the meeting point in Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey. On his journey, he explored both the surviving traces of the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall. The people he meets bear vivid witness to a time of change. There are some who now look on the Cold War with nostalgia and affection, but many more who still despise it unable to forgive the hard and sometimes lost decades that their families, friends, and nations had to endure. Strikingly a large and increasing proportion of these populations no longer has any personal recollection of this defining 20th Century conflict. They were still too young or not even born when the curtain and the wall came down. Buy Tim's book here and support CWC https://amzn.to/3Ud9Mir If you are enjoying the podcast please leave a written review in Apple podcasts or share us on social media. By telling your friends you can really help us grow the number of listeners. If you can spare it I’m asking listeners to contribute at least $3 USD per month to help keep us on the air (larger amounts are welcome too) plus you can get a sought after CWC coaster as a monthly financial supporter of the podcast and you bask in the warm glow of knowing you helping preserve Cold War history. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ Back to today’s episode, we welcome Tim to our Cold War conversation… There’s further information on this episode in our show notes, which can also be found as a link in your podcast app. https://coldwarconversations.com/episode133/ If you can’t wait for next week’s episode do visit our Facebook discussion group where guests and listeners continue the Cold War Conversation. Just search Cold War Conversations in Facebook. Thank you very much for listening. It is really appreciated – goodbye. Support the project! https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/ Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations 0:00 Introduction and anecdotes from Tim Phillips 2:06 Call for listener support and introduction to Tim Phillips' story 4:45 Discussion on NATO countries bordering the Soviet Union 17:24 The concept of Finlandisation and Finnish neutrality during the Cold War 27:10 Soviet occupation of Bornholm 34:51 Journey from the Baltic to Marienborn 38:47 The transformation of the border area into a nature reserve post-Cold War 44:55 The role of the church in the East German dissident movement 51:15 Exploring the border in the Czech Republic and Slovakia 1:00:31 The British naval incident near the island of Corfu 1:05:53 Turning the trip into a book 1:08:10 Cold War Conversations Coasters and donations Chapters powered by PodcastAI✨ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices