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

When most of us think of radio stations we think of pop music and drive-time DJs. But those with shortwaves radios can access a whole other world of broadcasts, including police scanners, satellite signals and the mysterious “numbers stations.” These stations occasionally broadcast a bizarre string of numbers before going silent.

To learn more about these “number stations,” what purpose they serve and how they were employed during the Cold War, Bill welcomes historian Māris Goldmanis and Dave Broyles director of CNA’s Special Activities & Intelligence Program.

Māris Goldmanis is a historian, co-founder and editor of numbers-stations.com/ and an avid numbers stations researcher.

Dave Broyles is the director of CNA's Special Activities & Intelligence Program. He specializes in cyber operations and special operations, as well as experimentation and innovation in the Department of Defense. Dave is also the co-host of the CNA podcast AI with AI. 

Episode 27 of Coming in from the Cold covered the history of fallout shelters and civil defense in Cold War America, now our team had a chance to experience one firsthand. Producer John Stimpson joins Bill for a guided tour of the Tudor Place fallout shelter.

Special thanks to Mark Hudson, Executive Director of Tudor Place, for providing the tour and making this episode possible.   

Follow the link below to follow along with a photo album of the tour. 

https://www.facebook.com/CNA.org/photos/pcb.4914270435261905/4914233311932284/

In this episode, Ralph Espach and Ken Gause join bill to discuss the weird world of Soviet and American experiments with parapsychology, during the Cold War.

At the CIA Headquarters in Langley Virginia, stands the Wall of Honor. Here CIA operatives who have died in the line of duty are memorialized. The first star on that wall belongs to Douglas Mackiernan.

On this episode of Coming in From the Cold, Robin Shwetzer a retired DIA analyst, and Nicholas Dujmovic a retired CIA analyst join Bill to discuss the story of Douglas Mackiernan and the effort to repatriate his remains.

Robin Shwetzer served as an analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency for 25 years, where she worked on a variety of issues including Weapons of Mass Destruction, Underground facilities, and geopolitical analysis. She is an expert in designing tailored analytic methods to solve difficult intelligence problems, and developed and instructed intelligence research and analysis courses for government and universities. Robin retired from DIA earlier this year and spends much of her time researching to support POW/MIA recovery efforts.

Nicholas Dujmovic is a 26-year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency, where he served as an analyst, manager, editor of the President's Daily Brief, and deputy chief of the Agency's History Staff.  Prior to his CIA career, he served 14 years in the U.S. Coast Guard.  He retired from government service in 2016 to create a program in intelligence studies at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

On behalf of Robin Schwetzer this episode is dedicated to the Mackiernan family. If you are interested in learning more about repatriation efforts like the ones discussed in this episode, please visit the National League of POW/MIA Families, a nonprofit, 501[c][3] tax-exempt, humanitarian organization (https://www.pow-miafamilies.org/)

Very few people know the name Robert Komer, but he played a key role in shaping America’s national security policy during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations.

In this episode Coming in From the Cold, Dr. Frank Jones author of the book Blowtorch: Robert Komer, Vietnam, and American Cold War Strategy. Join Bill and friend of the show Steve Wills to tell the story of Robert Komer.

Frank Leith Jones is a professor of security studies in the Department of National Security and Strategy at the US Army War College, Carlisle, PA. He is the author of Blowtorch: Robert Komer, Vietnam, and American Cold War Strategy. His latest book is Sam Nunn: Statesman of the Nuclear Age.

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

When most American’s think of terrorism in New York City, they think of September 11, 2001. However, there is an entire untold history of terrorism in the city dating back decades. On today’s episode of CIFTC, Bill sits down with David Viola professor of criminology at John Jay College, who tells the story of terrorism in New York, during the long 1960s.

David C. Viola Jr., Ph.D., is an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. He received his Ph.D. in history from the City University of New York Graduate Center. In addition to his teaching and scholarship, Viola is a documentary filmmaker and an intelligence officer in the US Navy Reserves.

Further Reading

David C. Viola Jr., “Terrorism and the Response to Terrorism in New York City During the Long Sixties,” Ph.D. diss., The Graduate Center, City University of New York, 2017, https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2955&context=gc_etds

The story of Sen. Joseph McCarthy targeting alleged Communists working for the federal government is part of every American history textbook, but his persecution of LGBTQ people is not as widely known.

In this episode, we are exploring the Lavender Scare. CNA analyst Kyle Penner and David Johnson author of, "The Lavender Scare: The Cold War Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government," join Bill for this discussion.

Kyle Penner is a Research Analyst in CNA's Undersea Warfare Program and one of the leaders of the employee resource group Pride at CNA.

David Johnson is a professor of history at the University of South Florida.

Paul Saunders and Alex Powell join Bill to discuss the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, and how world powers continue to make the same mistakes.

Click here to visit our website and learn more about the participants.  

On this episode of Coming in From the Cold, CNA analysts Josh Tallis and Steve Wills join Bill. They discuss Steve’s new book, “Strategy Shelved: The Collapse of Cold War Naval Strategic Planning.”

“Strategy Shelved: The Collapse of Cold War Naval Strategic Planning,” by Steve Wills: https://www.usni.org/press/books/strategy-shelved

“The War for Muddy Waters: Pirates, Terrorists, Traffickers and Maritime Insecurity,” by Josh Tallis: https://www.usni.org/press/books/war-muddy-waters

This month on Coming in From the Cold, returning guest Ken Gause and Kevin Pollpeter join Bill to discuss the Pentagon’s report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena.

Click here to visit our website and learn more about the participants.