Best Cold War International History Project Podcasts (2025)

1
Brazil stares down Trump and Bolsonaro 26:47

Play Pause

3m ago26:47

26:47

In a trial entering its final phase, former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro stands accused of attempting to stage a coup, leading an armed criminal organisation, and plotting to have the country’s current president and a Supreme Court justice killed. In response Bolsonaro ally U.S. President Donald Trump slapped Brazil with steep 50% tariffs and…

1
Robert Ivermee, "Glorious Failure: The Forgotten History of French Imperialism in India" (Oxford UP, 2025) 55:54

1h ago55:54

55:54

This is a powerful new account of a chapter in history that is crucial to understand, yet often overlooked. For 150 years, from the reign of Louis XIV to the downfall of Napoleon, France was an aggressive imperial power in South Asia, driven by the pursuit of greatness and riches. Through their East India company and state, the French established a…

1
The threat next door: How NATO’s newest members are preparing to defend against Russia (via The House) 46:39

1d ago46:39

46:39

NATO’s secretary general has warned Russia could launch an attack on the alliance within the next five years. Talk to NATO’s two newest members, Finland and Sweden, and they’ll tell you preparation involves a lot more than just boosting military spending. As Canada seeks to strengthen ties with both countries, what can we learn from our newest NATO…

1
David Bosco, "The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World's Oceans" (Oxford UP, 2021) 58:43

3d ago58:43

58:43

Oceanic Studies. An interdisciplinary podcast that examines the past, present, and future of ocean governance In 1609, the Dutch lawyer Hugo Grotius rejected the idea that even powerful rulers could own the oceans. "A ship sailing through the sea," he wrote, "leaves behind it no more legal right than it does a track." A philosophical and legal batt…

1
Olga Touloumi, "Assembly by Design: The United Nations and Its Global Interior" (U Minnesota Press, 2024) 58:05

3d ago58:05

58:05

For almost seven years after World War II, a small group of architects took on an exciting task: to imagine the spaces of global governance for a new political organization called the United Nations (UN). To create the iconic headquarters of the UN in New York City, these architects experimented with room layouts, media technologies, and design in …

1
Is the International Criminal Court’s future in peril? 28:15

3d ago28:15

28:15

Last week, the U.S. released another round of sanctions against officials at the International Criminal Court, including a Canadian judge. They’re the latest in a string of attacks from the Trump administration this year, after the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gall…

1
Thane Gustafson, "Perfect Storm: Russia's Failed Economic Opening, the Hurricane of War and Sanctions, and the Uncertain Future" (Oxford UP, 2025) 1:02:18

4d ago1:02:18

1:02:18

Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 brought a tragic close to a thirty-year period of history that began with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the reopening of Russia to the West after six decades of Soviet isolation. The opening lasted for three tumultuous decades and ended with a new closing, driven by the Ukrainian war, the imposition of We…

1
Trump, the Smithsonian, and the battle over U.S. history 32:18

4d ago32:18

32:18

American history has always been contested, but recent decisions by U.S. President Donald Trump to reshape the way it’s taught and remembered have put museums, schools, and memorials squarely in the crosshairs. Earlier this year, Trump passed an executive order that called for the removal of what he referred to as “divisive, race-centered ideology”…

1
Politics! Carney's report card, Poilievre's return 25:08

5d ago25:08

25:08

Prime Minister Mark Carney campaigned on big promises and bold action to save a country in crisis. It's now been more than 100 days since his cabinet was sworn in, but details and tangible results are still thin on the ground. How much of a runway does he have to start delivering on his promises on things like national infrastructure, housing, and …

1
Mark L. Haas, "The Geriatric Peace: Population Aging and the Decline of War" (Oxford UP, 2025) 52:20

6d ago52:20

52:20

The vast majority of the world's countries are experiencing a demographic revolution: dramatic, sustained, and likely irreversible population aging. States' median ages are steadily increasing as the number of people ages 65 and older skyrockets. Analysts and policymakers frequently decry population aging's domestic costs, especially likely slowing…

1
Young people can't find jobs. Is Canada's economy in trouble? 21:25

6d ago21:25

21:25

The unemployment rate for Canadians between 15 and 24 is at 15 percent, the highest it's been since 2010, not including the pandemic. Why can't young people find a job? And how do these numbers fit into the wider health of our economy at the moment? Economist and Atkinson Fellow on the Future of Workers Armine Yalnizyan is on the show to talk about…

1
Jérémy Filet, "The Jacobites and the Grand Tour: Educational Travel and Small-States' Diplomacy" (Manchester UP, 2025) 36:04

6d ago36:04

36:04

The Jacobites and the Grand Tour: Educational travel and small-states' diplomacy (Manchester University Press, 2025) by Dr. Jérémy Filet is the first monograph to fully examine the intersecting networks of Jacobites and travellers to the continent. In the book, Dr. Filet considers how small states used official diplomacy and deployed soft power - e…

1
Israel defies global outcry over Gaza City, West Bank 25:40

7d ago25:40

25:40

Airstrikes and tanks continued pounding the outskirts of Gaza City over the weekend, as Israel’s plans to seize the strip’s largest urban centre continued. A much bigger operation, widely condemned by the international community, could begin within days or weeks. This is all happening as the world’s leading authority on food crises is saying that G…

1
Gregory A. Daddis, "Faith and Fear: America's Relationship with War Since 1945" (Oxford UP, 2025) 57:58

8d ago57:58

57:58

In a groundbreaking reassessment of the long Cold War era, historian Gregory A. Daddis argues that ever since the Second World War's fateful conclusion, faith in and fear of war became central to Americans' thinking about the world around them. With war pervading nearly all aspects of American society, an interplay between blind faith and existenti…

1
Stephan Kieninger, "Securing Peace in Europe: Strobe Talbott, NATO, and Russia After the Cold War" (Columbia UP, 2025) 40:25

9d ago40:25

40:25

This deeply researched book offers new perspective on the NATO-Russia relationship through the eyes of Strobe Talbott, a deputy secretary of state for seven years under President Bill Clinton and the key US diplomatic broker for the former USSR. Stephan Kieninger traces the Clinton administration’s efforts to engage Russia and enlarge NATO at the s…

1
K. Ian Shin, "Imperial Stewards: Chinese Art and the Making of America's Pacific Century" (Stanford UP, 2025) 1:07:42

10d ago1:07:42

1:07:42

This episode, which is co-hosted with Delaney Chieyen Holton, features Dr. K. Ian Shin discussing his recently published book, Imperial Stewards: Chinese Art and the Making of America’s Pacific Century (Standford UP, 2025). Imperial Stewards argues that, beyond aesthetic taste and economics, geopolitics were critical to the United States’ transform…

1
Raymond Jonas, "Habsburgs on the Rio Grande: The Rise and Fall of the Second Mexican Empire" (Harvard UP, 2024) 1:05:12

10d ago1:05:12

1:05:12

For a few years in the middle of the nineteenth century, Mexico was ruled by an Austrian and defended by a French army. This often neglected story is more than just historical trivia - it's a way of understanding 19th century imperial politics, and global insurgencies today. In Habsburgs on the Rio Grande: The Rise and Fall of the Second Mexican Em…

1
Escape, immortality, AI: Silicon Valley's blueprint for the future 33:35

10d ago33:35

33:35

Elon Musk wants a million people living on Mars within 20 years. Jeff Bezos imagines a trillion humans in space, living in a constellation of space stations the size of major cities within a few generations. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, is preparing for a future where rogue AI could destroy civilization, and is stockpiling land, gas masks, and gold i…

1
How Christian Zionism became a key force in U.S. politics 38:59

11d ago38:59

38:59

Christian Zionism — the belief that the modern state of Israel fulfills biblical prophecy — has existed as a theological concept for well over a century. But in the past couple decades its political power and influence in the United States has surged, with many of Donald Trump's closest political allies among its adherents. Today we're taking a loo…

1
Are Canadian summers as we knew them over? 30:59

12d ago30:59

30:59

This summer is on track to being the second-worst wildfire season in Canadian history. It started earlier than usual with emergencies declared in the spring in Manitoba and Saskatchewan and is hitting locales that aren't typically fire-prone like Vancouver Island and Atlantic Canada. Meanwhile, fires from neighbouring provinces gave parts of southe…

1
Is Trump any closer to ending the war in Ukraine? 24:51

13d ago24:51

24:51

Over the last few days, US President Donald Trump has hosted a series of high-stakes talks to further the effort to end the war in Ukraine. First, on Friday, there was the summit in Alaska — Russian president Vladimir Putin’s first time in the US in nearly 20 years. Then on Monday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky arrived at the White House f…

1
Paul Thomas Chamberlin, "Scorched Earth: A Global History of World War II" (Basic Books, 2025) 1:04:46

13d ago1:04:46

1:04:46

In popular memory, the Second World War was an unalloyed victory for freedom over totalitarianism, marking the demise of the age of empires and the triumph of an American-led democratic order. In Scorched Earth: A Global History of World War II (Basic Books, 2025), historian Paul Thomas Chamberlin opens a longer and wider aperture on World War II a…

1
Reid B. C. Pauly, "The Art of Coercion: Credible Threats and the Assurance Dilemma" (Cornell UP, 2025) 59:34

13d ago59:34

59:34

Strong states are surprisingly bad at coercion. History shows they prevail only a third of the time. Dr. Pauly argues that coercion often fails because targets fear punishment even if they comply. In this "damned if you do, damned if you don't" scenario, targets have little reason to obey. The Art of Coercion: Credible Threats and the Assurance Dil…

1
What the Air Canada strike is really about 27:02

14d ago27:02

27:02

It was a chaotic weekend for anyone flying with Air Canada. The airline canceled hundreds of flights after 10,000 flight attendants walked off the job. Less than 12 hours later, federal jobs minister Patty Hajdu had ordered them back to work — but the union took the unusual step of defying that order and continuing the strike. The main sticking poi…

1
Mary Bridges on US Bankers Abroad and the Making of a Global Superpower 1:08:10

14d ago1:08:10

1:08:10

Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks with Mary Bridges, Ernest May Fellow in History and Policy at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, about her book, Dollars and Dominion: US Bankers and the Making of a Superpower. Dollars and Dominion takes an infrastructural view of ba…

1
Georgiy Kasianov et al., "From 'the Ukraine' to Ukraine: A Contemporary History, 1991-2021" (Ibidem Press, 2021) 51:05

16d ago51:05

51:05

In 2021, Ukraine celebrates its thirty-year independence anniversary. During this relatively short period of time—when considered in historical terms—Ukraine underwent a number of drastic changes that have so far shaped the country’s domestic and international environments. From “the Ukraine” to Ukraine: A Contemporary History, 1991-2021 (Ibidem Pr…

1
Can Carney move fast enough on affordable housing? 27:42

17d ago27:42

27:42

This week, Canada's housing department released a document with more details on the Liberal government's plans to scale up affordable housing in the country. It's now seeking feedback from the public about it. Back in March, Prime Minister Carney vowed that his government would double the number of homes built annually in Canada to nearly half a mi…

1
The killing of Gaza’s journalists 34:31

18d ago34:31

34:31

Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has become the deadliest conflict for journalists in recent history. Among those killed was Anas Al-Sharif — one of the last remaining reporters in Northern Gaza, and one of the most recognizable media voices in the strip. In July, the Committee to Protect Journalists said that the public smear campaign against hi…

1
Why has Trump taken over D.C.? 26:13

19d ago26:13

26:13

National Guard troops descended on Washington D.C. after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed on Monday to take back the nation's capital and clear the streets of what he calls "crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor". It comes after the President spent the better part of the last week taking aim at D.C.'s leadership, homeless population and how crime t…

1
Michael Jabara Carley, "Stalin's Great Game: War and Neutrality, 1939-1941" (U Toronto Press, 2025) 1:29:19

20d ago1:29:19

1:29:19

The period from September 1939 to early 1942 was crucial for Soviet foreign policy and coincided with the early stages of the Second World War, including the Great Patriotic War. In Stalin's Great Game, Michael Jabara Carley unpacks the complexities of Soviet diplomacy during this time, addressing key issues such as the Soviet-Finnish Winter War, S…

1
Cannabis megastores stoke tensions in Oka Crisis First Nation 29:15

20d ago29:15

29:15

35 years ago, the Kanien'kehá:ka of Kanehsatà:ke squared off with the Canadian army to defend their territory, culminating an armed standoff now known as the Oka Crisis, or the Siege of Kanehsatà:ke. Now, some community members worry that same territory is being threatened by an out-of-control boom of unregulated cannabis megastores with alleged co…

1
Edward Luce, "Zbig: The Life of Zbigniew Brzezinski, America's Great Power Prophet" (Simon and Schuster, 2025) 43:25

21d ago43:25

43:25

Zbigniew Brzezinski was a key architect of the Soviet Union’s demise, which ended the Cold War. A child of Warsaw—the heart of central Europe’s bloodlands—Brzezinski turned his fierce resentment at his homeland’s razing by Nazi Germany and the Red Army into a lifelong quest for liberty. Born the year that Joseph Stalin consolidated power, and dying…

1
The Canadian army's long history of extremism 30:59

21d ago30:59

30:59

Last month, RCMP charged four people for their alleged involvement in a plot to forcibly take land north of Quebec city in what Mounties called an incident of "ideologically motivated violent extremism". Three of the men were denied bail last week. The accused, they charged, had planned to create an anti-government militia, but even more startling:…

1
Rita Kiki Edozie and Moses Khisa, "Africa's New Global Politics: Regionalism in International Relations" (Lynne Rienner, 2022) 1:55:57

23d ago1:55:57

1:55:57

The African Union's threat to lead African states' mass withdrawal from the International Criminal Court in 2008 marked just one of many encounters that demonstrate African leaders' growing confidence and activism in international relations. Rita Kiki Edozie and Moses Khisa explore the myriad ways in which the continent’s diplomatic engagement and …

1
Grace C. Huang, "Chiang Kai-Shek's Politics of Shame: Leadership, Legacy, and National Identity in China" (Harvard UP, 2021) 47:09

24d ago47:09

47:09

Once a powerful figure who reversed the disintegration of China and steered the country to Allied victory in World War II, Chiang Kai-shek fled into exile following his 1949 defeat in the Chinese civil war. As attention pivoted to Mao Zedong’s communist experiment, Chiang was relegated to the dustbin of history. In Chiang Kai-shek’s Politics of Sha…

1
Jonathan Fisher and Nina Wilén, "African Peacekeeping" (Cambridge UP, 2022) 53:56

23d ago53:56

53:56

In African Peacekeeping (Cambridge University Press, 2022), Dr. Jonathan Fisher and Dr. Nina Wilén explore the story of Africa's contemporary history and politics through the lens of peacekeeping. This concise and accessible book, based on over a decade of research across ten countries, focuses not on peacekeeping in Africa but, rather, peacekeepin…

1
Megan Brown, "The Seventh Member State: Algeria, France, and the European Community" (Harvard UP, 2022) 1:04:55

23d ago1:04:55

1:04:55

In The Seventh Member State: Algeria, France, and the European Community (Harvard University Press, 2022), Dr. Megan Brown details the surprising story of how Algeria joined and then left the postwar European Economic Community and what its past inclusion means for extracontinental membership in today’s European Union. On their face, the mid-1950s …

1
Alan McPherson, "Ghosts of Sheridan Circle: How a Washington Assassination Brought Pinochet's Terror State to Justice" (UNC Press, 2019) 1:08:42

24d ago1:08:42

1:08:42

On September 21, 1976, a car bomb exploded in Washington DC, killing a former Chilean diplomat named Orlando Letelier and his American colleague Ronni Moffitt. The assassination was a cruel and brazen attempt by the Chilean government to silence a critic of the Pinochet regime. And it proved to be a major strategic error––Pinochet himself used the …

1
Can the Bad Bunny effect save Puerto Rico? 29:00

24d ago29:00

29:00

Bad Bunny, one of the most-streamed artists on the planet, is in the middle of his 30-concert residency in San Juan, Puerto Rico titled No me Querio Ir de Aqui, or "I don't want to leave here". Much like his latest album Debí Tirar Más Fotos, it is both a celebration of Puerto Rican culture and heritage but also a statement against the political an…

1
Politics! Poilievre's crucial byelection, Carney's tariff tightrope 27:15

25d ago27:15

27:15

Alberta's Battle River-Crowfoot is about as safe a riding as Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre could hope for as a place to regain a seat in the House of Commons in a byelection later this month. But he's facing pushback from some locals who feel they're being used as a means to an end by someone who won't represent their interests in Ottawa. Th…

1
Inside OpenAI’s zealous pursuit of AI dominance 32:42

26d ago32:42

32:42

Later this month, OpenAI is expected to release the latest version of ChatGPT – the groundbreaking AI chatbot that became the fastest growing app in history when it was launched in 2022. When Sam Altman first pitched an ambitious plan to develop artificial intelligence, he likened it to another world changing, potentially world destroying endeavor:…

1
Zack Cooper, "Tides of Fortune: The Rise and Decline of Great Militaries" (Yale UP, 2025) 40:18

27d ago40:18

40:18

An ambitious look at how the twentieth century's great powers devised their military strategies and what their implications mean for military competition between the United States and China. How will the United States and China evolve militarily in the years ahead? Many experts believe the answer to this question is largely unknowable. But Zack Coo…

1
Why some young Israelis refuse to fight in Gaza 22:22

27d ago22:22

22:22

Since Oct. 7, according to Gaza’s health ministry, over 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military campaign against Hamas. Recently, the ministry also began reporting a new kind of toll: deaths by starvation. 180 people, including 93 children, are now reported to have died from hunger. This comes after months of Israeli restrictions …

1
Cold calls from one of the most horrific serial killers in Canadian history 32:43

28d ago32:43

32:43

What does a reporter do when they receive a cold call from one of the most horrific serial killers in Canadian history? The killer: Clifford Olson, who murdered at least eleven children in the 1980s. The reporter: Arlene Bynon, who recorded her jailhouse calls with Olson for years. Alongside legendary journalist Peter Worthington, Arlene spent hund…

1
Giles Tremlett, "The International Brigades: Fascism, Freedom and the Spanish Civil War" (Bloomsbury, 2021) 53:27

29d ago53:27

53:27

When civil war broke out in Spain in 1936, tens of thousands of young men and women from across the world flocked there to fight against the Nationalist uprising. Though their history has been told before, Giles Tremlett’s The International Brigades: Fascism, Freedom and the Spanish Civil War (Bloomsbury, 2021) draws upon previously unavailable mat…

1
Dan Reiter, "Untied Hands: How States Avoid the Wrong Wars" (Cambridge UP, 2025) 43:57

1M ago43:57

43:57

How do states advance their national security interests? Conventional wisdom holds that states must court the risk of catastrophic war by “tying their hands” to credibly protect their interests. Dan Reiter overturns this perspective with the compelling argument that states craft flexible foreign policies to avoid unwanted wars. Through a comprehens…

1
Sarah E. K. Smith, "Trading on Art: Cultural Diplomacy and Free Trade in North America" (UBC Press, 2025) 34:00

1M ago34:00

34:00

hat is the relationship between culture and trade? In Trading on Art: Cultural Diplomacy and Free Trade in North America Sarah E. K. Smith, an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at Western University and the Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Art, Culture and Global Relations, examines the history of cultural relatio…

1
Will Canada recognize Palestinian statehood? 27:48

1M ago27:48

27:48

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced plans to officially recognize Palestinian statehood in September — if certain criteria are met — marking a radical departure on Canada’s position in the region. Evan Dyer is a reporter with the CBC’s parliamentary bureau. He joins the show for a discussion about this landmark moment in Canadian fore…

1
Sasha D. Pack, "The Deepest Border: The Strait of Gibraltar and the Making of the Hispano-African Border" (Stanford UP, 2019) 1:00:54

1M ago1:00:54

1:00:54

In his new book, The Deepest Border: The Strait of Gibraltar and the Making of the Hispano-African Border(Stanford, 2019), Sasha D. Pack considers the Strait of Gibraltar as an untamed in-between space—from “shatter zone” to borderland. Far from the centers of authority of contending empires, the North African and Southern Iberian coast was a place…

1
Can the UK child-proof the internet? 24:49

1M ago24:49

24:49

Late last week, the UK government implemented a new set of rules from its Online Safety Act to keep children away from quote, “harmful and age-inappropriate content”. Companies ranging from pornography websites, social media platforms, and large search engines will need to comply by building guardrails that would prevent children from accessing por…