It all started with a letter to Stalin in 1935. And when a Kremlin clerk opened it, there was a piece of shit inside.Was the turd an insult? A way of saying to Stalin, “You’re a shit. Here’s some shit”?Perhaps.But I ended Part One of a Gift

A Gift for Stalin, Part One: Dear Comrade Stalin

Mar 31st, 2023 39m 38s

It’s Sunday, October 13, 1935, and someone, we don’t know who mails a letter from the outskirts of Moscow. It’s addressed: “Kremlin. To Comrade Stalin.” It arrives a few days later.There was nothing odd about people writing Stalin. They wrot

Trailer: A Gift for Stalin

Mar 21st, 2023 2m 7s

It’s Sunday, October 13, 1935, and someone, we don’t know, who mails a letter. It’s addressed: “Kremlin. To Comrade Stalin.”Now, there was nothing odd about people writing Stalin. They wrote to him a lot.So, when Comrade Sentaretskaya, one of

Ep 6: Cold War Colored Glasses

Jul 5th, 2022 1h 2m

Teddy Goes to the USSR explored American tourism, KGB surveillance, consumerism, race, and daily life through Teddy Roe’s trip to the USSR. And many of Teddy’s observations were inevitably informed by the Cold War and American tropes. So, what

Ep 5: Teddy Meets the Soviet People

Jun 28th, 2022 58m 11s

American tourists expected few chances to meet Soviet people. You’d only see what Soviet officials wanted to show you. Touring the USSR, many assumed, was nothing more than a front row seat at a big show. And real Soviet life was hidden under l

Ep 4: Teddy Talks about Race

Jun 20th, 2022 59m 6s

Teddy had few “official” meetings in the USSR. A factory here. A collective farm there. Maybe a school or two. And there was one question Teddy’s hosts always asked: “Why are you still lynching Blacks?” American racism was a global issue during

Ep 3: Teddy Goes Shopping

Jun 13th, 2022 53m 57s

Like many Americans, Teddy judged the USSR through a consumer lens. What could Soviets buy? How much? And what was up with those long lines and shortages? Teddy wasn’t very impressed. Yet, the “standard of living race” was a front in the Cold W

Ep 2: Teddy Meets the KGB

Jun 6th, 2022 37m 23s

Teddy assumed the KGB would monitor his travels around the Soviet Union. In Kiev, Teddy discovers that someone went through his luggage. And half-century later he learns his suspicions were correct. The KGB wrote a report on him, complete with

Ep 1: Teddy Greets the USSR

May 30th, 2022 51m 15s

Teddy Roe took an extraordinary trip to the USSR in 1968. For three months, he travelled from one end of the USSR to the other. Most Americans at the time believed the USSR was their greatest enemy. Teddy was among tens of thousands who toured

Trailer 2: Teddy Goes to the USSR

May 16th, 2022 2m

Coming May 30!Teddy Goes to the USSR, a new six-part podcast series follows one such American, Teddy Roe, to shine light on Soviet tourism, police surveillance, consumerism, race, and everyday life through his extraordinary three-month trip to

Trailer: Teddy Goes to the USSR

May 8th, 2022 1m 42s

Coming May 30!Americans believed the Soviet Union was cut off from the West. Nothing went in. And very little came out. Yet, tens of thousands of Americans visited their Cold War rival annually. What did they find behind the Iron Curtain? Tedd

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