The Berlin Airlift - Victories, Myths, and the Berlin Blockade (432)

The Berlin Airlift - Victories, Myths, and the Berlin Blockade (432)

The Berlin Blockade was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War when the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Western control. I speak with Joseph Pearson, the author of “The Airlift Victories, Myths, and the Berlin Blockade. This is not your standard military history. Drawing on first-hand interviews and untapped sources from both German and Anglo-American archives, Pearson interweaves personal tales into an extraordinary story: an American pilot crashing in Soviet territory; a Jewish photographer struggling to reconcile with the Germans; the 17,000 women who built Tegel Airport; Cambridge University actors performing in the ruins for British intelligence and Hollywood star Montgomery Clift filming at Tempelhof Airport. Through this deeply human lens, Pearson offers crucial historical insight into how lasting new battlelines were formed. The Berlin Airlift didn’t just supply a city; it wrote the playbook of the Cold War and continues to influence Western thinking and diplomacy with Russia to this day. Help me preserve Cold War history. ⁠⁠ 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. Related episodes: Veteran of the Cold War Berlin Airlift – the Candy Bomber ⁠https://coldwarconversations.com/episode56/⁠ A 98 Year Old USAF Veteran Remembers the Berlin Airlift ⁠https://coldwarconversations.com/episode417/⁠ A visit to Cold War base RAF Burtonwood ⁠https://coldwarconversations.com/episode74/⁠ Book Giveaway ⁠https://coldwarconversations.com/giveaway1/⁠ Episode Extras ⁠https://coldwarconversations.com/episode432/⁠ 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/X ⁠https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod⁠ Facebook ⁠https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/⁠ Instagram ⁠https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/⁠ Youtube ⁠https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episoder(449)

Eyewitness to the Prague Spring

Eyewitness to the Prague Spring

In 1968 today’s guest was 15 year old at the same school in Prague as Czech communist leader Alexander Dubček’s son. Jan Čulík provides a valuable eyewitness account of the heady days of the Prague Sp...

7 Jul 20181h 8min

Mark - A US Combat Engineer in Cold War West Germany (16)

Mark - A US Combat Engineer in Cold War West Germany (16)

Today we’re talking to Mark Valley, host of the Livedrop espionage podcast.   Mark served with the US army as a combat engineer in West Germany and later with the Berlin Brigade.   His story gives y...

30 Jun 20181h 26min

Sabine - An East German Childhood (15)

Sabine - An East German Childhood (15)

Today we speak to Sabine who was 13 when the Wall opened.   We hear about her childhood in East Germany and gain great insight into life at the time, the pressures on her family and her first steps in...

23 Jun 20181h 15min

The 1968 Prague Spring (14)

The 1968 Prague Spring (14)

In today’s episode we return to Czechoslovakia and one of the most iconic moments of the Cold War – The Prague Spring of 1968. We have with us Lani Seelinger of Socialism Realised which an excellent w...

16 Jun 201858min

A US soldier at Checkpoint Charlie when the Berlin Wall opened (13)

A US soldier at Checkpoint Charlie when the Berlin Wall opened (13)

Michael Rafferty was posted to Berlin in 1988. He served in the 287th Military Police Company at Checkpoint Charlie and was there through to the historic opening of the Berlin Wall and the removal of ...

9 Jun 20181h 16min

My Stasi file is as thick as a phone book (12)

My Stasi file is as thick as a phone book (12)

We’re chatting with Mark Reeder a musician and music producer who has been involved in the Berlin and international music scene since 1978, starting as Factory Records German representative from 1978-...

2 Jun 20181h 11min

Observing Cold War  Armageddon (11)

Observing Cold War Armageddon (11)

Today we’re covering a British Cold War civil defence unit called the Royal Observer Corps. We’re talking to Alistair McCann who has preserved a Royal Observer Corps monitoring post as a museum in Nor...

26 Mai 20181h 3min

1960s Road Trip Across the Soviet Union (10)

1960s Road Trip Across the Soviet Union (10)

Jeremy Poynton was a 16 year old school boy in 1968 when he embarked on a memorable trip by road from Leningrad to Odessa. He vividly describes a Soviet Union still struggling with poverty and a diver...

18 Mai 201853min

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