Historic Insights: "Witnessing history firsthand is an unparalleled experience, according to those who lived it"
In Manchester, history enthusiast Ian Sanders hosts the popular podcast "Cold War Conversations" since 2018. The podcast, which releases a new episode every week, has reached an impressive milestone of 342 episodes and boasts approximately 100,000 listeners per month.
Sanders' fascination with the Cold War was sparked during family holidays to Iron Curtain-era Poland and Prague in the 1980s. A trip to Berlin to watch REM in concert in June 1989 further solidified his interest. The podcast's goal is to record peoples' stories before they are lost, aiming to present a wide and broad perspective of the Cold War experience.
The podcast features first-hand accounts of people who lived through the Cold War era. Notable guests include a 98-year-old pilot from Idaho who had an idea for the Berlin Airlift, Nikita Khrushchev's son, and a British deputy chief of mission who went to bed on the night the Berlin Wall came down.
Sanders's podcast interviews are incorporated into university history modules in Britain. Approximately 20% of the episodes on the podcast feature women's stories, providing a balanced and inclusive narrative.
Sanders attributes the increase in listener numbers to a combination of interest in the Cold War roots of the Ukraine conflict and a sense of nostalgia. The 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Russia led to an additional surge in listener numbers, as people sought to understand the Cold War roots of that conflict.
Sanders pretends to be an East Berliner during a trip to East Berlin, picking up a copy of Neues Deutschland that was sitting on the seat of an S-Bahn. He also includes accounts of everyday life in divided Berlin, such as those from Sabine, who crossed OberbaumbruΜcke from East to West as a teenager, and Samy, a West Berliner, who remembers the Reichstag as an old ruin on the edge of a park.
Sanders views oral history as important for the emotions and feelings of what it was like to be there, rather than focusing solely on accuracy. He finds emotional impact in the stories shared on his podcast, with many interviewees sharing stories they have never told before. The podcast has surpassed four million total downloads, making it a valuable resource for those interested in the Cold War era.
