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Suez 1956: The Secret War That Broke British Power (481)
07/11/2026 | 54 mins.In 1956, Britain and France launched a secret war to bring down Egypt’s President Nasser. Instead, they exposed the limits of their own power.
When Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal, Britain and France secretly joined Israel in a plan to invade Egypt, seize the canal and destroy Nasser’s influence. On the battlefield, the operation was succeeding. Politically, it became a catastrophe.
This episode tells the dramatic story of the Suez Crisis: the secret Protocol of Sèvres, Israel’s invasion of Sinai, British and French attacks on Egypt, brutal fighting around Port Said, and the extraordinary pressure from President Eisenhower that forced the invasion to stop.
It’s a story of Cold War rivalry, collapsing empires, deception, nationalism and civilians caught in the fighting — and the moment Britain discovered that military power no longer guaranteed political power.
Curated episode extras https://coldwarconversations.com/episode481/
Listen to our episode "Hungary 1956: Twelve Days That Shook the Soviet Empire" here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode479
The fight to preserve Cold War history continues, and with a simple monthly donation, you will give me the ammunition to keep it alive. You’ll become part of our community, get ad-free episodes, a sought-after CWC coaster as a thank-you, and 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/
Support the project! https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/
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Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesLondon In Person Listener Meetup 12th Nov
06/11/2026 | 1 mins.Join me & fellow Cold War Conversations fans for our first London listener meetup in Islington on Thursday 12th November 2026.
We’ll be meeting at The Bull Pub, 100 Upper Street, Islington, from 6-9 pm. It would be great to see you there.
Follow this link https://coldwarconversations.com/meetup/ for more info, or email me at ian "at" coldwarconversations.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesMe and Honest John - The Nuclear Secret Rich Kept for 60 Years (480)
31/10/2026 | 1h 3 mins.At twenty-one, Rich was trusted with a nuclear-capable rocket—but forbidden to tell even his family what he did. Then one failed to launch, and he was ordered to approach it alone.
Drafted from Chicago into the US Army as the Vietnam War escalates, Rich is transformed from a civilian into a sergeant entrusted with a formidable Cold War weapon. He recalls training, gaining a secret clearance and discovering that the unguided Honest John rocket could carry a nuclear warhead more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb.
Rich also describes watching an entire neighbouring unit vanish overnight for Vietnam, concealing his secret work from his family and returning home to hostility rather than gratitude. Nearly six decades later, he reveals the fear, responsibility, and memories he kept silent and explains why Cold War veterans' stories must be preserved.
Rich's veterans website https://veteranvisitor.com/
Buy the book and support the podcast here https://link.amazon/B06BUgIlm
Curated episode extras https://coldwarconversations.com/episode480
Help me preserve Cold War history via a simple monthly donation.
You’ll join our community, get ad-free episodes, receive a sought-after CWC coaster as a thank-you, and bask in the warm glow of helping 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 tips 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
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Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesHungary 1956: Twelve Days That Shook the Soviet Empire (479)
23/10/2026 | 1hAt 5:20 on the morning of 4 November 1956, Hungarian Prime Minister Imre Nagy went on the radio with a desperate announcement: Soviet forces were attacking Budapest. Within hours, tanks and artillery would crush one of the most dramatic uprisings of the Cold War.
But how had a student demonstration just twelve days earlier grown into a national revolution that brought Hungary’s Stalinist regime to the brink of collapse?
In this episode, we follow the extraordinary story of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956: from political terror and secret police repression to the demonstrations of 23 October, street battles against Soviet tanks, workers’ councils, Imre Nagy’s remarkable return to power and Hungary’s attempt to break free from Moscow.
We also examine why the Kremlin briefly considered withdrawing its forces, why it changed its mind, and why the West watched as Soviet armour returned to Budapest.
For twelve extraordinary days, freedom suddenly seemed possible.
Curated episode extras https://coldwarconversations.com/episode479
Listen to our episode “A freedom fighter in the 1956 Hungarian Revolution” here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode159/
Help me preserve Cold War history via a simple monthly donation.
You’ll become part of our community, get ad-free episodes, receive a sought-after CWC coaster as a thank-you, and 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 tips 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
o BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/coldwarpod.bsky.social
o Threads https://www.threads.net/@coldwarconversations
o Twitter/X https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod
o Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/
o Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/
o Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations
Curated episode extras https://coldwarconversations.com/episode474
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesWhat did Jacqueline Kennedy privately believe about the JFK Assassination? (478)
16/10/2026 | 50 mins.What did Jacqueline Kennedy privately believe happened in Dallas on 22 November 1963?
In the second part of Peter Lamas’s extraordinary story, he recalls the trust he developed with the former First Lady while working as her personal hairstylist.
During preparations for an event marking the twenty-fifth anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Peter says Jackie spoke candidly about the shooting, her desperate movements across the presidential limousine and her fear that she might be killed next.
She also shared her doubts about the official account and her belief that Lee Harvey Oswald had not acted alone. Peter then recounts the controversial allegations he later heard from Marita Lorenz and others concerning the CIA, anti-Castro Cubans, organised crime and figures connected to Dallas.
These claims remain disputed, but together they offer a remarkable insight into the suspicions, trauma and unanswered questions that continued to surround Kennedy’s assassination decades later.
Buy the book and support the podcast here https://amzn.to/4xKDoGE
Curated episode extras https://coldwarconversations.com/episode478
Listen to our episode “The JFK Assassination: The human stories behind one of history’s most scrutinised events” here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode454/
Help me preserve Cold War history via a simple monthly donation,.
You’ll become part of our community, get ad-free episodes, receive a sought-after CWC coaster as a thank-you, and bask in thewarm 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 tips 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
o BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/coldwarpod.bsky.social
o Threads https://www.threads.net/@coldwarconversations
o Twitter/X https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod
o Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/
o Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/
o Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations
Curated episode extras https://coldwarconversations.com/episode474
Help me preserve Cold War
history via a simple monthly donation,
You’ll become part of our community, get ad-free
episodes, receive a sought-after CWC coaster as a thank-you, and 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 tips 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
o BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/coldwarpod.bsky.social
o Threads https://www.threads.net/@coldwarconversations
o Twitter/X https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod
o Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/
o Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/
o Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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About Cold War Conversations
"Listening to even one episode of "Cold War Conversations" will make this sprawling, potentially intimidating period of history feel vivid and compelling." The New York Times
Experience the Cold War like never before with Cold War Conversations — an award-winning podcast.
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.
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