If you could change a single moment in history, what would you choose to change and why? This question has inspired an entire genre of fiction that explores worlds in which significant historical events had a dramatically different outcome. In this episode of Warming Up to the Cold War, we're discussing the merits of alternate history and using the…

Welcome back to Warming Up to the Cold War! This episode is all about the pyramid schemes that took over Albania in the mid-1990s and whose collapse resulted in anarchy throughout the nation. While pyramid schemes became a trend across the post-Communist bloc, they were able to reach full saturation in Albania due to the lack of trust in the federa…

How many ships does it take to block the Suez Canal? The answer depends on the year and the size of the ship. The Ever Given recently captured the world's attention when it hit the bank of the Canal in March 2021 and completely blocked the width of the waterway for a week. However, in 1956, it took 51 ships and boats for the Egyptians to make the S…

Welcome back! This week we're talking about Volkstrauertag or 'German National Day of Mourning' at the Fort Custer National Cemetery in Michigan. The 1953 memorial service honoring German POWs side-by-side with their American counterparts was the first remembrance of any Axis POWs, which shone a national spotlight on the cemetery and the surroundin…

This week's episode takes us back to 1980 and the American-led boycott of the Moscow Summer Games. Join Shelby in learning about the State Department's secret weapon in African diplomacy - none other than boxing legend Muhammad Ali! As we'll find out, this idea sounded great on paper but was mostly unsuccessful, with only 2 of the 5 African nations…

Happy New Year! The first episode of 2021 takes a bird's eye view of nuclear power in France. Shelby is joined by her sister Shanyn, who is taking college-level French courses, to share her insights on the practical and cultural reasons for France's heavy use of nuclear energy. They cover the beginnings of the nuclear energy commission to the conte…

This episode looks at the numerous attempts at prohibition in Russia (paying special attention to Gorbachev's "semi-prohibition" in the 1980s) and compares them with America's infamous prohibition in the 1920s. While this episode doesn't strictly adhere to the Cold War Era, there are a lot of fun anecdotes from both Cold War superpowers and insight…

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a satelloon!? In this episode, Shelby talks about the Echo I and II satellite balloons (aka satelloons) and why an orbiting satellite got more public attention in 1960 than space shuttle launches have gotten in recent decades. Also discussed is Shelby's internship at the Northfield Historical Society and her work wit…

The first episode of Warming Up to the Cold War focuses on the legendary treasure at the bottom of the Stolpsee lake in Germany as well as two notable, but ultimately unsuccessful attempts to recover the submerged items. From a notorious conman to local folklore about the night the mysterious treasure was sunk, this story is more complicated than i…