Twenty-five years ago this autumn, the world watched in amazement as events in Eastern Europe transformed the planet. Socialist states that had looked a permanent fixture on the map of Europe disintegrated, often with little resistance. And the Berlin Wall—that most iconic symbol of the Cold War—came tumbling down in November. The sense of possibility and astonishment were palpable: the world could change in the blink of an eye if only we tried.

But where are we now, twenty-five years later? Why should 1989 matter to us now? On this edition of History Talk, hosts Patrick Potyondy and Leticia Wiggins welcome historians Nicholas Breyfogle and Theodora Dragostinova and Slavic Studies Professor Angela Brintlinger as they consider these questions and more as we remember the year that changed it all.

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Posted October 2014