The Stasi Poetry Circle (223)

The Stasi Poetry Circle (223)

In 1982 the East German Ministry for State Security is hunting for creative new weapons in the war against the class enemy – and their solution is stranger than fiction. Rather than guns, tanks, or bombs, the Stasi develop a programme to fight capitalism through rhyme and verse, winning the culture war through poetry – and the result is the most bizarre book club in history. I speak with Philip Oltermann the author of The Stasi Poetry Circle. Philip has used unseen archival material and exclusive interviews with surviving members to tell the incredible hidden story of a unique experiment: weaponising poetry for politics. Now if you think there is a vast army of research assistants, audio engineers and producers putting together this podcast you’d be wrong. This podcast relies on your support to enable me to continue to capture these incredible stories and make them available to everyone for free. If you’d like to help to preserve Cold War history and enable me to continue to produce this podcast you can via one off or monthly donations. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ for more details. Do join our facebook discussion group where the cold war conversation continues between episodes. Just search Cold War Conversations in Facebook. I am delighted to welcome Philip Oltermann to our Cold War conversation… Book giveaway and further information here. https://coldwarconversations.com/episode223/ 0:00 Introduction with Philip Oltermann 6:09 Discussion on GDR's policies towards arts and culture 13:22 The Stasi's involvement with writing circles and their shift in approach 21:01 Role of poetry and culture as a weapon in the Cold War 28:37 The story of Annegret Gollin and Stasi's fear of subversive literature 34:57 Stasi's recruitment process and the impact on Annegret Gollin. 39:03 Introduction to Alexander Ruika, a talented poet and spy 44:27 Discussion on the fear of nuclear war in the 1980s 49:39 Introduction to Uwe Berger, the teacher of the Stasi poetry circle 57:43 The decline of the GDR and impact on the writing circle 1:02:13 Book giveaway announcement 1:03:12 Acknowledgement of the podcast's patrons and promotion of the Facebook group 1:06:03 Closing remarks and promotion of the podcast's store Table of contents powered by PodcastAI✨ 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episoder(448)

Eileen - A British student living in Cold War East Germany (32)

Eileen - A British student living in Cold War East Germany (32)

Today we speak with Eileen Ford-Price who was British student in the GDR in the 1980s in Rostock. Before we start I’d like to thank all our Patreon who donate monthly to support the podcast further an...

20 Okt 201840min

The Korean War in Britain (31)

The Korean War in Britain (31)

We speak with Doctor Grace Huxford, author of the Korean War in Britain – Citizenship, Selfhood and Forgetting.  The Korean War was known as the “forgotten war”, but it is key in understanding the ear...

12 Okt 201858min

Leaving your family to go off to a nuclear war (30)

Leaving your family to go off to a nuclear war (30)

Dave Arnold was the Chief Observer at a Royal Observer Corps nuclear monitoring post. I made a fascinating visit with Dave to the Rushton Spencer Royal Observer Corps nuclear monitoring post in Staff...

6 Okt 201858min

Cold War Living History Event - The Soviet Threat (29)

Cold War Living History Event - The Soviet Threat (29)

This episode takes place at a Living History event in and around the Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker museum in deepest Cheshire in the UK. I can heartily recommend visiting the Hack Green Bunker and ...

29 Sep 201854min

Cold War USAF pilot Buz Carpenter talks Vietnam recon, Skunkworks and more

Cold War USAF pilot Buz Carpenter talks Vietnam recon, Skunkworks and more

USAF pilot Buz Carpenter talks about about flying reconnaissance over Vietnam, the Skunkworks where secret USAF projects were developed, his time commanding Ramstein airbase at the end of the Cold War...

21 Sep 201845min

Flying the Cold War Blackbird SR71 Spyplane (27)

Flying the Cold War Blackbird SR71 Spyplane (27)

Today we are talking about the SR71 Blackbird spy plane. Only 32 Blackbirds were ever made, and they were in service from 1964-1998. The great defensive ability of the plane was its high speed and alt...

15 Sep 201854min

My father was the leader of the Soviet Union - Part 2 (26)

My father was the leader of the Soviet Union - Part 2 (26)

This is part 2 of my conversation with Professor Sergei Khrushchev the son of Nikita Khrushchev who led the Soviet Union 1953 to 1964. Before we start I would again like to thank all those who are sup...

7 Sep 201832min

My father was the leader of the Soviet Union - Part 1 (25)

My father was the leader of the Soviet Union - Part 1 (25)

In part 1 of this interview we talk about Professor Khrushchev’s early years, his relationship with his father, his father’s rise to power, the 1956 Hungarian Uprising as well the first international ...

2 Sep 201839min

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