Coming in From the Cold: Untold Stories from the Cold War

Today, J. Edgar Hoover is remembered as a power-hungry, corrupt and prejudiced man, obsessed with an imagined threat of domestic communists. But during his life, he was widely respected and admired as the man responsible for building the FBI into a premier law enforcement agency.

In the final episode of Coming in from the Cold Bill sits down with Beverly Gage, author of “G- Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century,” to discuss the complicated legacy of Hoover.

Further Reading

G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/529289/g-man-by-beverly-gage

The Documentary: The People vs. J. Edgar Hoover: https://www.wnyc.org/story/documentary-people-vs-j-edgar-hoover

The FBI: https://youtu.be/zu7Gj1uUIs0

“FBI Records: The Vault/COINTELPRO/White Hate Groups: https://vault.fbi.gov/cointel-pro/White%20Hate%20Groups

Jim Fleming is the Charles A. Dana Professor of Science, Technology, and Society at Colby College and a research associate at the Smithsonian Institution. He has earned degrees in astronomy (B.S. Penn State University), atmospheric science (M.S. Colorado State University) and history (Ph.D. Princeton University).

Professor Jim Fleming's website.

“Fixing the Sky: The Checkered History of Climate Engineering”

In 2017, reports of the mysterious “Havana Syndrome” dominated the news. American diplomats around the world reported experiencing a variety of symptoms including hearing a sudden loud noise, pain in one or both ears, feeling of pressure or vibrations in the head, tinnitus, visual problems, vertigo, nausea and cognitive difficulties.

There is no consensus among American Intelligence agencies as to the cause of Havana Syndrome, but one theory is that directed microwave weapons could be responsible. While this might sound like science fiction, this story has a Cold War parallel, the Moscow Signal.

In today’s episode Peter Kornbluh and Bill Burr, from the National Security Archives, join Bill to tell the story of the Moscow Signal and how the story parallels the Havana Syndrome.

Further Reading

The National Security Achieves: The Moscow Signals Declassified Microwave Mysteries: Projects PANDORA and BIZARRE

The National Security Achieves: The Moscow Signals Declassified Microwave Diplomacy

The National Security Achieves: The Moscow Signals Declassified: Irradiating Richard Nixon

The dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki is seen by most as the ultimate display of man’s capacity to destroy. While the destructive power of nuclear weapons cannot be denied, there was another weapon used in the Pacific campaign which was responsible for even more civilian death, Napalm.

In this episode, Bob Neer, author of “Napalm an American Biography,” joins Bill to discuss the history of Napalm and its complicated role in U.S. Military history.

Bob Neer’s Website: https://www.bobneer.com/publications/napalm

“'Napalm Girl': An Iconic Image Of War Turns 40,” NPR, June 3, 2012,  https://www.npr.org/2012/06/03/154234617/napalm-girl-an-iconic-image-of-war-turns-40

“Remembering the Halabja Massacre,” Voice of America, March 15, 2018: https://editorials.voa.gov/a/remembering-halabja-massacre/4298678.html

Bombing of Civilians and Civilian Targets by the Air Force,” Human Rights Watch, July 24, 1990: https://www.hrw.org/reports/archives/africa/ETHIOPIA907.htm

The Cuban Missile Crisis is widely considered to be the closest the world has come to nuclear war. But while that crisis played out in public view, there was another close call that happened in the shadows.

In this episode the story of Able Archer 83.

Brian Morra is the author of “The Able Archers.” He has spent his career in intelligence and national security beginning with his time as a decorated Air Force Intelligence officer and through his many years as a senior executive in the aerospace and defense industry.

Lt. Cdr. Steven Wills served for 20 years as an active-duty U.S. Navy officer, he served on a variety of small and medium surface combatants, including an assignment as the executive officer of a mine countermeasures ship.

Further Reading

Brian J. Morra, The Able Archers (Virginia Beach, VA: Köehler Books, 2022), https://www.koehlerbooks.com/book/the-able-archers/

Bernd Schaefer, Nate Jones, and Benjamin B. Fischer, “Forecasting Nuclear War,” Wilson Center, Cold War International History Project https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/forecasting-nuclear-war

Zach Dorfman, “The Congressman Who Created His Own Deep State. Really.” Politico, December 2, 2018, https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/12/02/larry-mcdonald-communists-deep-state-222726/.

In this episode, we are taking a look back at the series so far and looking ahead to where it's going in the future.

John Stimpson is the producer of Coming in From the Cold and a member of CNA’s Office of Communications.

Lt. Cdr. Steven Wills served for 20 years as an active-duty U.S. Navy officer, he served on a variety of small and medium surface combatants, including an assignment as the executive officer of a mine countermeasures ship.

From the beginning of the Cold War, a network of U.S. conservatives dreamed of an international anti-communist revolution. Rather than overthrowing communist regimes directly, they instead pinned their hopes on armed groups who could topple communist states from within.

In this episode, we explore the ideology of anticommunist internationalism and how it connects to today’s American far-right.  

Kyle Burke is an assistant professor of history at Hartwick College. He is the author of “Revolutionaries for the Right: Anticommunist Internationalism and Paramilitary Warfare in the Cold War”

Dawn Thomas is the Co-Director of CNA’s Center for Emergency Management and Operations.

50 years ago, the Watergate scandal rocked American politics. The break-in and subsequent cover-up by the Nixon administration led to the only presidential resignation in American history and defines political scandal to this day.

 In this episode of Coming in From the Cold: Michael Dobbs, author of “King Richard: Nixon and Watergate--An American Tragedy,” joins Bill to discuss President Nixon, the Watergate scandal, and its impact 50 years later.

Michael Dobbs’ biography: https://www.michaeldobbsbooks.com/michael.html

 In 1983, the United States along with Caribbean partner nations invaded the island nation of Grenada. The goals of the operation outlined by the Reagan administration were to protect American citizens on the island, forestall further chaos, and restore the rule of law and order on the island of Grenada. While broadly successful in objectives, the operation was criticized by both U.S. and allied officials.

In this episode of Coming in From the Cold, Alex Powell and Steve Wills join Bill, to discuss operation Urgent Fury, and its impact on military reform and special operations forces.

Additional Resources

U.S. Department of State (DOS) and U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), “Joint Overview of Operation Urgent Fury,” May 1, 1985, https://web.archive.org/web/20130713000815/http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/International_security_affairs/grenada/181.pdf.

DOS, “Lessons of Grenada,” February 1986, http://insidethecoldwar.org/sites/default/files/documents/Lessons%20of%20Grenada%20February%201986.pdf.

Richard C. Thornton, “Grenada: Preemptive Strike,” Journal of Military and Strategic Studies, Fall and Winter 2008/9, Vol. 11, Issues 1 and 2.

Ronald H. Cole, Operation Urgent Fury: The Planning and Execution of Joint Operations in Grenada, 12 October – 2 November 1983 (Washington, DC: DOD, 1997).

Danny Shaw, “Grenada: 38 Years after a Triple Assassination, the Short-Lived Revolution still Inspires,” Council on Hemispheric Affairs, October 25, 2021, https://www.coha.org/grenada-38-years-after-a-triple-assassination-the-short-lived-revolution-still-inspires/.

Lindsay A. O’Rourke, Covert Regime Change: America’s Secret Cold War (Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 2018).

Photos from Grenada: https://www.facebook.com/CNA.org/photos/pcb.5159786507376962/5159699957385617/

On April 26, 1986, reactor No.4 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded, triggering one of the worst man-made disasters in human history. Today, Chernobyl is back in the news as the site of one of the first battles in the Russia-Ukraine War.

In this episode of Coming in From the Cold, Steve Wills sits down with Michael Kofman and Mary Chesnut, from CNA’s Russia Studies program. They discuss the impact that the Chernobyl accident had on the Ukrainian people, and the strategic value of the site today.  

*Listener note: this episode was recorded on March 24, 2022, before reports emerged that Russian troops stationed in Chernobyl developed “acute radiation sickness.”

Michael Kofman is the director of CNA’s Russia Studies Program. He is an expert in Russian armed forces, military thought, capabilities, and strategy. Mr. Kofman is also a Senior Editor at War on the Rocks, where he regularly authors articles on strategy, the Russian military and Russian decision-making.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KofmanMichael

Mary Chesnut is an associate research analyst with CNA’s Russia Studies Program. Prior to joining CNA, she was the program manager of the Nuclear Security Working Group a non-partisan organization at George Washington University.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/nuke_nerd