Susan - An American teaching English in East Germany (130)

Susan Morrison is Professor of English at Texas State University. In the late 1980’s she taught in Rostock in the former GDR and then lived in West Berlin but frequently crossed back into the East to teach and meet friends. In this episode we talk to her about her experiences and her impression of the two Germanys in 1989. During her time in Rostock, Susan got in trouble with the authorities over bulletin board known as ‘The Wall’; the way she was censured by senior academics in the GDR sheds a valuable light on how people lived within the strict system of control by using humour and compromise. Susan talks about finding the humanity in the GDR and how, as she watched the wall fall in 1989, that she wondered if unification would truly benefit all Germans. Susan also retrieved her personal Stasi File and talks about how they tracked and monitored her during her time in the GDR and the assumptions that they made (not always successfully!). 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/ James our co-host is the interviewer as we welcome Susan 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 here. https://coldwarconversations.com/episode130/ 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. Radio GDR If you are interested in East Germany we can highly recommend our friends over at Radio GDR. 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 Susan Morrison's first encounter with the East German 2:43 Susan's journey as a graduate student in East Germany 6:49 Susan's role as the editor of the wall newspaper and potential conflict with GDR authorities 11:09 The repercussions of posting a controversial article and the aftermath 14:31 Susan's complex feelings about her time in East Germany 18:08 Susan's discovery of her Stasi file and its references to the controversy 26:01 Susan's extended stay in Berlin and her travels to East Germany 34:35 Susan's experience living in West Berlin during the fall of the wall 46:21 Being detained at the border and misinterpretations by the East German government 56:53 The night the Berlin Wall came down and meeting with Angela after the fall 1:09:31 Feminist scholars' perspective on the change and the story of the Stasi car 1:20:05 Closing conversation with Susan Morrison and Ian Sanders wraps up the episode. Chapters powered by PodcastAI✨ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices