History and Public Policy Program

Co-hosts Pieter Biersteker and Kian Byrne sit down with Professor Sergey Radchenko to gain some insight into the Soviet view of the Korean War. Professor Radchenko outlines some interesting archives to explore and discusses the future of the field of international history.

Esteemed historian Samuel Wells joins co-hosts Pieter Biersteker and Kian Byrne to discuss the broader context of the Korean War and how US President Harry Truman made the decision to involve the US in the conflict. According to Dr. Wells, much of our understanding of the Korean War today is due to the opening of the former Soviet archives in the early 1990s.

In the first episode of International History Declassified, co-hosts Pieter Biersteker and Kian Byrne speak with Dr. Charles Kraus of the History and Public Policy Program about the origins of the Korean War and the Chinese perspective. Dr. Kraus explains the role of Mao Zedong in the decision to invade South Korea, and how Chinese see the war today.

In our final episode, the Sport in the Cold War podcast digs into Cold War broadcasting. A. Ross Johnson, former director of Radio Free Europe, discusses sport journalism under the iron curtain and the broadcasting efforts of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Episode notes: http://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/resource/sport-in-the-cold-war/episode-40-cold-war-broadcasting

The call for an international boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics created divisions in Britain between Margaret Thatcher's government, which supported the US boycott, and British athletes, who resented being asked to sacrifice their Olympics. Episode notes: http://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/resource/sport-in-the-cold-war/episode-39-britain-and-the-1980-olympics-boycott

At the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics, fourteen-year-old Romanian Nadia Comăneci became the first gymnast ever to be awarded a "Perfect 10." Nadia went on to earn five additional perfect 10s during the Montreal Olympics and three gold medals, catapulting her to international stardom and into the midst of Romania's international Cold War tensions.

Episode notes: http://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/resource/sport-in-the-cold-war/episode-38-romania-s-perfect-10-gymnast

Emil Zátopek was one of the greatest long-distance runners of all time and a hero in his homeland of Czechoslovakia. Zátopek also participated in politics and was a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, although he was expelled after he participated in protests during the Prague Spring in 1968. Oldrich Tuma discusses the complications and contradictions of Zátopek’s life, as well as the role of sport in Czechoslovakia.

Episode notes: http://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/resource/sport-in-the-cold-war/episode-37-emil-zatopek

In the 1980s, the People's Republic of China returned to the Olympics after more than a twenty year absence. Susan Brownell explains how international politics affected China's participation in global sport, as well as her personal experiences as an athlete in China. Episode notes: http://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/resource/sport-in-the-cold-war/episode-36-china-s-return-to-the-olympics

The occupation and division of Germany following WWII created huge disruptions in the country's sport culture. Athletes were considered "diplomats in a tracksuit" and their victories and defeats highly politicized. Dr. Jutta Braun speaks about the lengths the East German regime went to in order to win and to maintain control over its athletes. Episode notes: http://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/resource/sport-in-the-cold-war/episode-35-sport-in-divided-germany

In 1976, twenty-five African countries boycotted the Montreal Olympics to protest the participation of New Zealand, whose rugby team toured South Africa that same summer. Episode notes: http://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/resource/sport-in-the-cold-war/episode-34-the-forgotten-african-olympic-boycott