How Radio Won the Cold War - DOCUMENTARY

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  • čas přidán 6. 03. 2020
  • Our historical documentary series on the history of the Cold War continues with a video on the Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty - two stations that influenced the Cold War and its results, playing an important role in the western propaganda
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    #ColdWar #RadioFreeEurope #Documentary

Komentáře • 355

  • @jordansmith1541
    @jordansmith1541 Před 4 lety +221

    My Grandfather was Ukrainien and would broadcast Bible readings and studies through Radio Monte-Carlo during the Cold War. When the Iron Curtain fell and he was able to go back to Ukraine, people would recognize his voice.

    • @Perktube1
      @Perktube1 Před 3 lety +13

      Love that story.

    • @theparadigm8149
      @theparadigm8149 Před 2 lety +3

      Wonderful! 🙏❤️
      God bless him!

    • @barron8006
      @barron8006 Před 2 lety +2

      Why couldn't broadcast union and workplace democracy?

    • @theparadigm8149
      @theparadigm8149 Před 2 lety +8

      @@barron8006
      Workplace-democracy is good and all, but NOTHING beats the Gospel of Christ, comrade! 🙏❤️

    • @barron8006
      @barron8006 Před 2 lety

      @@theparadigm8149 BUt your dad supported zionist capitalism, which undermines the family, demographically destroys Christian nations, and worships commerical consumerism.
      As an example, the CIA, today, would view your grand dad as a blanco suPremacist.

  • @martin128
    @martin128 Před 4 lety +179

    Northern Estonia was in a funny position in that Helsinki TV signal reached to Estonia, so we truly had a window into west.

    • @QuizmasterLaw
      @QuizmasterLaw Před 4 lety +9

      Berlin too.

    • @893160007
      @893160007 Před 3 lety +12

      I'm surprised they didn't manufacture TVs so that they could only be tuned to certain frequencies.

    • @Thaumazo83
      @Thaumazo83 Před 3 lety +10

      @Just me which made Albanians incredibly skilled in the Italian language (my native language). Every time I met an Albanian who had lived under Communist rule, I was shocked by how good their Italian was, and they explained to me that radio and TV from Apulia were the reason.

    • @yanitsvetanov1162
      @yanitsvetanov1162 Před 3 lety +17

      I was watching Yugoslavian TV channels and listening to radio stations in the NW part of Bulgaria. I know not quite Western, but Yugoslavia was slightly more open then Bulgaria at the time. They had western films on the TV, better show programs and entertainment, and sport (mostly football from Europe, but some other too). My location also allowed me to tune in to the Romanian broadcast and compare this 3 countries - theirs was the worst.
      My father was frequently listening to RFE (especially in the last years of the communism) and I vividly remember one evening he was listening some music on the radio and I was surprised and asked him why he is not listening RFE, and he said to me never again to even mention this especially outside the house! I was 10-11 years old, but clearly understood that what he was doing was dangerous and could have get him in serious troubles!

    • @N_0968
      @N_0968 Před 3 lety +3

      CircleofMadness And we had Radio Luxembourg.

  • @oslonorway547
    @oslonorway547 Před 4 lety +163

    I can solidly confirm 4:33 There is nothing more common in the Middle East, as shopkeepers who all have a radio in their shop where they keep up to date with what's going on in both their country and every country around them, as far down south as Sudan. Even.beggars on the streets can be found holding a walkman to their ears when it's news hour.

    • @csfelfoldi
      @csfelfoldi Před 4 lety +9

      In Hungary it's common to listen to radio while at work. The instruments are usually continuously on in common areas, diners, offices, monitoring rooms or labs.

    • @sydneyallen5788
      @sydneyallen5788 Před 3 lety

      How can you confirm that? I’m Arab. We have the latest iphone here...

    • @DerDop
      @DerDop Před 3 lety +1

      @@sydneyallen5788 here where?

    • @martinmendl1399
      @martinmendl1399 Před 2 lety +6

      @@sydneyallen5788 I guess it's a difference whether you're a regular guy sitting in Dubai or Doha or a poor-as-heck herder in Yemeni or Sudani countryside...

    • @atari2600b
      @atari2600b Před 2 lety +1

      I've seen central americans in the mission district in SF bust out the shortwave on the streets

  • @wasimshaikh1665
    @wasimshaikh1665 Před 4 lety +24

    VOA was part of daily diet for me as a child..I learned English listening VOA...

    • @zeo5009
      @zeo5009 Před 2 lety +1

      As an American I also use VOA to learn Chinese XD. Funny how that works

  • @gmilitaru
    @gmilitaru Před 4 lety +249

    I have a great moral debt to Radio Free Europe. At the time, I considered it propaganda, and in a way it was. However, they provided accurate news, and while not perfect they provided a much wider coverage of news and this is why I, and most likely most Romanians, listened to it. At the time, I could not appreciate the quality of its editorial team, which was remarkable, the quality of their standards (not BBC-high, but close), and their professional archive and documentation units. That was because censorship limited their access to domestic news and they were forced to fill up their airtime with a lot of opinion and with whatever correspondence and interviews with Romanians they could get their hands on. It was only after 1989, when they had direct contact with Romania that I could fully appreciate the breadth and the quality of the information and of its interpretation they provided. Heck they had supplied an alternative platform to anybody, from radical anti-communists to party dissidents, going through the domestic intelligentsia and the artistic world.
    By contrast, the domestic media had become almost worthless by the early 1980s. And Radio Moscow was comically bad and false. I would listen to it to make fun of their messages and their unmistakeable accents (the quality went up dramatically in the wake of the Moscow coup, when I suspect competent people wit ha bad cadre file where finally allowed on air). My standards for journalism were shaped by the BBC World Service of the 1980s (almost unimaginable these days) but it was the content of RFE that shaped my understanding of the political and cultural news on the Eastern Block.
    I am indebted to the journalists of the RFE, first and foremost those attacked and killed in their line of duty, Cornel Chiriac and Emil Georgescu , but also the literary critic Monica Lovinescu, and then the directors Noël Bernard and Vlad Georgescu, and all the others, including those who would abandon their professional ethics in the following years.

    • @Alhamod2007athotmail
      @Alhamod2007athotmail Před 4 lety +4

      I cried when Securitatea fell...

    • @fuck4317
      @fuck4317 Před 3 lety +10

      BBC is today equivalent to the Soviet Pravda with all the lies

    • @Perktube1
      @Perktube1 Před 3 lety +8

      Most American media is as bad as Soviet pravda was, heavily influenced by communist China and super rich establishment elites. So far I believe Fox News, newsmax, breitbart, and OAN remain true to truth and liberty and individualism.

    • @TheCat48488
      @TheCat48488 Před 3 lety +20

      @@Perktube1 sorry to say this, but you are very biased...

    • @jerrell1169
      @jerrell1169 Před 2 lety +14

      @@Perktube1 God this is top tier bait.

  • @ARO10-3
    @ARO10-3 Před rokem +4

    I was still a kid when my father was listening during the evenings Radio Europa Liberă...Emil Hurezeanu, Monica Lovinescu and all the people at the Romanian Section in Munich were keeping the hopes of romanians that the comunism in Romania will end one day. I was allowed to listen the RFE when I was only 17 y.o., but shortly after, the comunism in Romania ended in the blood bath in December 1989. It was a privilege for me to be admited in the kitchen to listen the RFE together with my parents.

  • @victorrain
    @victorrain Před 3 lety +71

    Did you see the interview where Larry Hagman was talking about how Romanians were walking up to him saying, “J.R. you have saved our country!”? It was when Ceasescu aired Dallas on national tv to show the depravity and greed of the West. But the people saw it and were like, “They have food!” It added a lot of fuel to the anti-government protests and the rest is history.

    • @alcarbo8613
      @alcarbo8613 Před 3 lety +4

      I heard Ceasescu airred Dallas becuase he really like the show, and was somehow convinced it was Communist

    • @BB-kt5eb
      @BB-kt5eb Před rokem

      @@alcarbo8613
      He thought people would see how dysfunctional the Ewings were with all their money and that it would reinforce communism.

  • @Jodonho
    @Jodonho Před 4 lety +55

    Jamming costs money. Broadcasting on one frequency is expensive enough. Blocking a whole range of frequencies is a splurge.

  • @nightviber2097
    @nightviber2097 Před 4 lety +51

    Radio : I am the one who destroys nations! But..Who are you ?
    Computer : I am you...but stronger

    • @maconp1119
      @maconp1119 Před 4 lety +13

      With the exception of the third world, where a 2 dollar radio is more available than the computer.

    • @TheMaster4534
      @TheMaster4534 Před 2 lety +1

      Smartphones: *are we a joke to you*

  • @charles1964
    @charles1964 Před 4 lety +9

    Still to this day whenever I hear The Drifters "On Broadway" I remember the Radio Free Europe PSA from 1971....

  • @hung-upear2659
    @hung-upear2659 Před 4 lety +66

    Next time talk about Finnish TV. For us Estonians it may have been even more important than radio. There has been made very good documentary about it in Estonian. It had some fun places, so it wouldn't be boring to watch

    • @varana
      @varana Před 4 lety +7

      Similarly with West German TV in East Germany. Being able to watch the actual TV programming due to there being (almost) no language barrier, was really important.

    • @joshuakehl5891
      @joshuakehl5891 Před 3 lety +1

      Can you provide a link to the documentary?

    • @xxxrrrxxxrrr
      @xxxrrrxxxrrr Před 3 lety +3

      @@joshuakehl5891 Your comment is old, but I´ll respond. I think he referred to "Disko ja tuumasõda". Which you might be able to see from this link (if it is not geolocked) jupiter.err.ee/924473/disko-ja-tuumasoda

    • @Asptuber
      @Asptuber Před rokem

      @@xxxrrrxxxrrr That one is now gone, but I think I found it on youtube:
      cp1CGNR86Zw
      (format should be /watch?v= and the string above)

  • @mr.normalguy69
    @mr.normalguy69 Před 4 lety +36

    Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty also has a CZcams channel. I just found them a while ago.

  • @old-moose
    @old-moose Před 4 lety +25

    This brought back memories. As a teenager I was very interested in listening to shortwave radio. I would record broadcasts on my faithful reel-to-reel tape recorder. Using the information gathered in reports for school. I remember the Prague spring and doing a current affairs report based on Radio Prague, V.O.A., B.B.C., and Radio Moscow broadcasts as I was writing it. I think that it was my only A+ in high school.

    • @N_0968
      @N_0968 Před 3 lety +1

      I’m fascinated by shortwave radio, especially when they broadcasted messages for the spies.

    • @old-moose
      @old-moose Před 3 lety +1

      @@N_0968 I can remember when I was in high school, listening to all he "national" SW radios stations: VOA, Moscow, London, etc.

  • @guywerry6614
    @guywerry6614 Před 4 lety +16

    Cool to hear the mention of the Hungarian uprising. As a kid (grades 3 to 7) I lived in a small Canadian town where our doctor and his wife had fled Hungary as part of the uprising.
    They had kids the same age as my younger brother and sister - they lived almost across the street and we played over there a great deal.
    The mother actually watched us kids when our mother was dying - to this day I can vividly remember this poor woman putting some sort of wonderful Hungarian casserole on the table for supper and us roast beef and potatoes Canadian kids just turning our noses up at it!

  • @ChenAnPin
    @ChenAnPin Před 4 lety +50

    As briefly mentioned, there was a somewhat similar operation by the Republic of CHina, based on the island of Taiwan, to have radio stations send messages directed at Occupied Communist China.
    One of my favorite stories of this was the singer Theresa Teng aka Deng Lijun who's songs were considered "too bourgeois" by the CCP yet she was well-loved by those across the strait that she became affectionately known as "Little Deng" (小鄧)since she had the same surname as then CCP leader Deng Xiaoping, and there was the saying that "Deng the leader ruled by day, but Deng the singer ruled by night."

    • @aquilarossa5191
      @aquilarossa5191 Před 4 lety +3

      Occupied China? Yeah right. Taiwan is not the 'real' China. It is a little US puppet island and behaves like a teenage brat that has run away from home. The 21st century is going to be China's finest I think. They are doing some amazing stuff with building all those mega infrastructure projects etc. They really know how to get stuff done. Standards of living have greatly increased too, as has literacy and life expectancy. They must be doing something right. There are things about it I would not want my country NZ to be like, but I also see the good stuff they do.

    • @lastresort3159
      @lastresort3159 Před 4 lety +9

      @@aquilarossa5191
      Be abused at home
      Run away
      yeah sounds about right. It's not like they are doing any worse than communist China is.
      "They must be doing something right"
      Yeah they embraced mixed economy and the capitalist model of production, opened up to the west and became the world's factory. Mao has been rolling in his grave since 1978 at this revisionism but ain't nothing he can do about it.

    • @mardasman428
      @mardasman428 Před 3 lety +4

      Considering that Taiwan back then was not actually a democracy, their impact on building democracy in mainland China was probably not very big long after Taiwan became democratic.

    • @kingjonstarkgeryan8573
      @kingjonstarkgeryan8573 Před 2 lety

      @@aquilarossa5191 found the stooge of the Communist party. I'm guess you got your 50 cents for that.
      Taiwan is the real China, they are the Republic of China that was founded in 1911 by Sun Yat-Sen after the fall of the Qing dynasty. The CCP are just some sad evil bastards that were so incompetent that they can't even make a functional carrier.

    • @aquilarossa5191
      @aquilarossa5191 Před 2 lety

      KMT and Sun's republic are not the same thing, especially after they got into bed with Uncle Sam who always wants something in return for his 'help'. Incompetent? Now you are getting silly.
      Stooge? I am English, Welsh, Scots, Irish and Italian. I live in NZ. CCP have no interest in little old me, let alone would pay me to post on their behalf, but you are welcome to keep wearing that tin foil hat. 50c? You can have it for free.

  • @filyapanzerman335
    @filyapanzerman335 Před 2 lety +8

    on the radio freedom Soviet citizens learned feminine sanitary pads are not a luxury, but a hygiene product available in normal countries of the world

    • @ReSSwend
      @ReSSwend Před rokem +1

      Not every Soviet citizen had a radio.
      Not every Soviet citizen knew how to tune banned frequencies
      And even fewer were not afraid to listen to forbidden frequencies for which you can go to jail.

  • @lonewanderer3603
    @lonewanderer3603 Před 4 lety +16

    There's still stations broadcasting on short wave. I have a Grundig shortwave receiver. Living in Washington state, I can pick up radio from Cuba.

  • @twoheart7813
    @twoheart7813 Před rokem +3

    Shortwave listening before the internet was awesome & as a hobbyist I did a lot of listening during the cold war. As a Ham operator I remember the Russian over the horizon radar called the woodpecker because it caused massive interference on the HF ham bands & sounded like a woodpecker. They even sold special radio filters to help.

  • @kisstune
    @kisstune Před rokem +1

    As a kid I barely remember it and forgot all about it but I got a private tour of Radio Free Europe in Munich right around the wall fell.

  • @bennett8535
    @bennett8535 Před 2 lety +7

    I was part of a group of anthropologists in Kenya in the early 80s. Every morning we listened to Radio Moscow because they had a great Jazz Hour. Once the Jazz stopped and the news began, we turn to a different station.

  • @gregcampwriter
    @gregcampwriter Před 3 lety +12

    Radio Moscow was one of the stations I listened for on my shortwave radio as I grew up in North Carolina in the 80s. That was a way for me to get a different perspective in the pre-Internet days.

    • @Bloo0969
      @Bloo0969 Před rokem

      So how did listening to the Soviets do for you? Sort of like listening to a Democrat news conference or watching their allies in the corporate fascist media of today who are dedicated to the fall of this country.

    • @gregcampwriter
      @gregcampwriter Před rokem +2

      @@Bloo0969 That, and many other choices, gave me the wisdom to see that 1) the Democratic Party isn't fascist, 2) corporate media wants to make money, and 3) the right wing is divorced from reality.

  • @yourstruly4817
    @yourstruly4817 Před 4 lety +53

    But later Video killed the Radio Star on MTV and MTV was killed by CZcams and iTunes

  • @makeromaniagreatagain9697
    @makeromaniagreatagain9697 Před 4 lety +31

    My grandpa used to listen to this radio with his family in the basement. It was the only truth source during communism.

    • @gmilitaru
      @gmilitaru Před 4 lety +11

      In our block of flats for trustworthy comrades (not nomenklatura, but the levels below: design engineers, managers, professors, junior embassy staff, etc.) I could hear the RFE jingles through the walls and through the ceiling from all our neighbours (soundproofing was terrible). In fact, a lot of the neighbourly conversations would be about the news from RFE.

    • @makeromaniagreatagain9697
      @makeromaniagreatagain9697 Před 4 lety +6

      @Random I guess you just don't know what communist news sounded like. It was propaganda and lies 24/7. The only time you could hope for some truth was when you read about sports. Are you living in the West by any chance?

    • @gmilitaru
      @gmilitaru Před 4 lety

      @@makeromaniagreatagain9697 "Communist news". It's a joke, right?
      More seriously, there were hardly any lies in the international news (except for the insgnificant ones about the greatness and wisdom of the leadership), but there was a lot censorship and a lot of "grim realities of the world of the capital" were completely taken out of context.
      People would start reading the papers "Jewish-style", from the last page (international news) to the previous one (sports and possibly "human touch") and went on to the ads if the paper had any. Hardly anybody would read the first page (of four to six) other than during political meetings (for "political information", "political education", or various organisation meetings), about once per week.

  • @stischer47
    @stischer47 Před 3 lety +9

    Those of us old enough even remember the "marvel" of AM broadcasts. There were many nights when I was a lad in the 50s when we would vacation on the Texas Gulf coast around Corpus Christi listening to stations from Chicago.

    • @christianehmling5080
      @christianehmling5080 Před 2 lety +1

      I grew up North of Houston and had a old World Band radio, I would listen to all sorts of AM shows with that thing from all over the world. Well, mainly the english ones lol

    • @stischer47
      @stischer47 Před 2 lety +2

      @@plhebel1 I don't remember the stations but what I do remember is lying in bed in the dark, on a screen porch (no A/C), listening to the waves crash about 100 feet away, while listening to music and news from Chicago. It was as if I was listening to another world.

    • @morewi
      @morewi Před 2 lety

      @@stischer47 was it 890 wls

  • @someoneelse7629
    @someoneelse7629 Před 3 lety +7

    As a swede, growing up during the cold war, having blast shelter drills in school and listening to shortwawe at nights, this was intresting, but not new to me.
    As good as the western radio stations was, the eastern ones sent out better goodiebags if you sent them a listening report, the commies sent parcels with flags, pins, calenders and even sometimes t-shirts, the western stations just sent a QSL card.
    The ting was, once you were in the communists books, they kept track of you even if you were just a kid, I got stuff sent to me even after moving a couple of times after sending them my report.
    I also had some illegal contacts on CB radio with russians and Baltc states, no doubt they risked more then I did.

  • @oldesertguy9616
    @oldesertguy9616 Před 4 lety +10

    I just wanted to thank you for creating this channel. I have always been a big WWII and WWI fan but to hear about events that happened in my lifetime is just amazing. A lot of this was just something we took for granted, without considering all of the effort that went on behind the scenes. In 1998 I went to training at the FBI Academy in Quantico. One of my classmates was a Russian police officer, who I listened to as he and the local FBI agent band played "Back in the USSR." I remember remarking that 20 years before the Marine Corps had been training me on how to fight Soviet Bloc troops, which would have included my classmate. That moment was surreal to me. I guess it's similar to the feeling WWII vets got when we joined with Germany and Japan in military exercises.

  • @zeero62
    @zeero62 Před 2 lety +5

    He said Communist broadcasts were a "curiosity" to Western listeners. Fairly true. I received the North American Service of Radio Moscow loud and clear in Northen California. As a kid, it was weird hearing them bad mouth my country, and overselling how great the USSR was. I once was able to tune in Radio Havana; they were having an essay contest. It was something like "write how the revolution has positively impacted your life" or some crap like that. First prize was a free trip to and tour of Havana. Like sure, I was going to do some sort of homework like that!

  • @Pandzikizlasu80
    @Pandzikizlasu80 Před 3 lety +4

    Radio definitively won with TV. You can't work, housekeep, or drive watching TV or VOD, but radio becomes the main information platform today. Internet is a newspaper TV and video stores replacement, in case of radio it is just another "frequency" - AM FM internet. We should more appreciate it.

  • @Inkling777
    @Inkling777 Před 3 lety +4

    Others did their part. In 1978, I visited KJNP, a 50,000 watt Christian radio just outside Fairbanks, Alaska. During the day time, they broadcast in all directions to cover much of northern Alaska. At night, when the signals carried much further, the FCC required them to use a directional antenna aimed away from Canada to avoid interfering with stations there. The result was programming in Russian and directed toward Siberian Christians in the early morning of the next day.

  • @cernejr
    @cernejr Před 4 lety +3

    The radio broadcasts gave us information, but also hope and companionship. Few days without my radio and the weight of loneliness and isolation was crushing.

  • @littlebeartarot7692
    @littlebeartarot7692 Před 3 lety +1

    I really can’t get enough of these videos. Amazing job!

  • @640amthemix
    @640amthemix Před 2 lety +5

    Even though Shortwave popularity has waned in developed countries, it is still an important tool to flow information in and out of third world regions where the free press are being suppressed. And there is still a variety of content to listen to even today.

    • @CMCSS-to3to
      @CMCSS-to3to Před 2 lety +1

      Can't block the airwaves

    • @raybans4980
      @raybans4980 Před 2 lety +3

      Internet has its many advantages, BUT shortwave radio crosses borders easily and those who listen are >anonymous

    • @CMCSS-to3to
      @CMCSS-to3to Před 2 lety +1

      @@raybans4980 I heard the youtuber review brah actually does shows on shortwave radio

    • @640amthemix
      @640amthemix Před 2 lety

      @@CMCSS-to3to yes he does and his show came to mind when I spoke of content still on shortwave.

    • @640amthemix
      @640amthemix Před 2 lety +1

      And events today in Europe show it can still play a role in Major Industrialized nations in time of emergency

  • @julez2106
    @julez2106 Před 3 lety

    I really love your narration and the quality of this content in general, thank you so much for this high quality :)

  • @brokenbridge6316
    @brokenbridge6316 Před 4 lety +3

    This was a nice video. I've heard of Radio Liberty a few times before but never knew any of the details of this radio station. Now I do. My compliments to those who made this video a reality.

  • @thewrongguy1
    @thewrongguy1 Před 4 lety

    I love your channel, interesting information with emotional music adding gravity to the subject matter. Great stuff.

  • @richardsimms251
    @richardsimms251 Před 2 lety +2

    Extremely educational and very well prepared. Now I find history so interesting. Thank you. RS. Canada

  • @colinhudson3867
    @colinhudson3867 Před 4 lety

    Thank you for sharing, and producing this amazing channel

  • @matthewlee8667
    @matthewlee8667 Před 4 lety +18

    Glasnost killed the Soviet Star

    • @FlymanMS
      @FlymanMS Před 4 lety +1

      Gorbachev, with a little strawberry on his forehead.

    • @cucumber623
      @cucumber623 Před 3 lety +2

      @Polish Hero Witold Pilecki solidarity was the straw that broke the camels back, after that the republics fell one by one

  • @vengeflly
    @vengeflly Před 4 lety +37

    Give Coca-Cola the credit

  • @toitoitoy
    @toitoitoy Před 4 lety +32

    *"War never Ends"* - Those radio-stations are still online

    • @2112jonr
      @2112jonr Před 4 lety +1

      They need to be. We have a Communist sympathiser in the White House.

    • @brandanb9735
      @brandanb9735 Před 4 lety +12

      @@2112jonr Are you time traveller from 2009?

    • @Schmidty1
      @Schmidty1 Před 4 lety +3

      @@2112jonr ??? Wtf are you talking about. I don't think you know the definition of communism. No actual communist government exists in the world today. Dictatorships and oligarchies are not communism btw.

    • @maconp1119
      @maconp1119 Před 4 lety +4

      2112jonr. You are a complete and utter idiot. Are you even aware of the meaning of “Communism”? If you are aware, then the definition does not fit our current president as well as it fit the previous “Obammunist”.

    • @whathell6t
      @whathell6t Před 4 lety

      @@maconp1119
      Actually! He was referring to the deep-state personnel.

  • @gojo76
    @gojo76 Před 4 lety +6

    Love this channel , love the Cold War documentaries , keep up the good work

  • @b1646717
    @b1646717 Před 3 lety

    The video was great, I learned quite a bit. I read the comments and am still learning. I had no idea how important this was to so many people.

  • @alfajuj
    @alfajuj Před 11 měsíci

    This is brilliant stuff! I had a short wave radio in the 1970's and used to listen to their programming.

  • @ChevyBM
    @ChevyBM Před 3 lety +1

    I really like your videos! Subscribed :)

  • @johnecoapollo7
    @johnecoapollo7 Před rokem +2

    The most wholesome and arguably, most effective CIA initiative

  • @matiasd5216
    @matiasd5216 Před 11 měsíci

    The topic in this video was fascinating!!!

  • @carbo73
    @carbo73 Před 3 lety +1

    huge antennas for Radio Liberty were built here in Catalonia, in the Costa Brava (Platja de Pals). They were demolished just a few years ago, and now the place is part of a nature reserve, as it's use preserved a strench of coast from the overbuilding of hotels, as most of the rest of the Costa Brava

  • @Luvluna19
    @Luvluna19 Před 4 měsíci

    Thank you this was very helpful for my upcoming exam

  • @nathanphillips3251
    @nathanphillips3251 Před 4 lety +8

    I got into Shortwave radio a bit around 2008. I tuned into the numbers stations and silent broadcasts out of Russia, Cuban propaganda detailing daily updates on a fictitious war with the US, a Chinese station in English covering the Beijing Olympics, and a Romanian station discussing the crisis in Ukraine. Also Africa had a good amount of local shortwave and medium wave local stations, probably still do.

  • @kevinb9327
    @kevinb9327 Před 3 lety

    I really enjoy your channel. You're knowledgeable and authoritative in the vids. I miss my favorite genre of literature, Cold War spying. May John LeCarre live forever!

  • @FlymanMS
    @FlymanMS Před 4 lety +6

    It was mostly appreciated because it was something different and against the line of party.

  • @ericknutson8679
    @ericknutson8679 Před 3 lety +3

    Thanks now I can't get the R.E.M. song out of my head

  • @w8lvradio
    @w8lvradio Před 3 lety +1

    I so enjoy all the "props" that you have there in the room with you, and I wish that you could explain some of them. Please visit the VOA museum near Cincinnati if you are in this neck of the woods. All the Best! 73 DE W8LV BILL

  • @borntoclimb7116
    @borntoclimb7116 Před rokem

    Very interesting Video

  • @mirusse
    @mirusse Před 4 lety +10

    Radio
    Mein Radio
    Ich lass' mich in den Äther saugen
    Meine Ohren werden Augen

  • @realadex9655
    @realadex9655 Před 4 lety +1

    Information is surely powerful

  • @inspecthergadget4503
    @inspecthergadget4503 Před 3 lety +3

    In Vietnam, whenever there are unrests and protests against chinese agression, or the chinese roaming in the South China Sea; the Internet will suddenly become very slow, laggy and make it impossible to search the news. Kind of intentional like the Soviet with the radio trick during tensions with the West.

    • @abandonedchannel281
      @abandonedchannel281 Před 3 lety

      The Chinese are screwing with the Vietnamese? Also isn’t the Vietnamese on bad terms with China, especially after the Sino invasion of the 79.

    • @shellshockedgerman3947
      @shellshockedgerman3947 Před 2 lety +1

      @@abandonedchannel281 1 year late, but the Chinese have been screwing with their neighbors.

  • @briansmith9439
    @briansmith9439 Před 4 lety +16

    Great episode. Reminded me of reading about the CIA's covert operation that targetted the citizens of Western Europe rather than those behind the Iron Curtain, They funded the publication of what appeared to be, to the reader, cultural magazines that were 'local' in origin, i.e. within a specific European country. The targetted countries were the Western European ones - West Germany, Portugal, Austria, Italy, Spain, France, and the Netherlands are the ones I recall. These 'cultural' magazines printed articles that promoted democracy over communism with the actual writers being hidden behind an alter ego - an Italian, French, or Spanish 'author' with enough status to draw in readers or in cases where the writer truly was an Italian, French, etc author, the articles were vetted by the CIA who altered the article as they saw fit before they could be published. For writers in these countries it posed a dilemma - get in step with the program and see 'your' articles in print or don't get published. The CIA published in almost every Western European country beginning in the late 1940s, increased through the 1950s, peaked in the early t0 mid-1960s, and dwindled through the 1970s. Several of today's popular magazines began as propaganda tools of the CIA whose funding for these vehicles only ended in the 1980s. I think some of the titles remain in print today though the links to the CIA were cut decades ago (as the story is told now - who knows what will be told in 50 years).

    • @jurisprudens
      @jurisprudens Před 3 lety +6

      Any specific examples of such journals? ;)
      I also wonder if they published about the advantages of democracy in Portugal and Spain?

  • @scoutgamer9448
    @scoutgamer9448 Před 4 lety +16

    Btw, were the Soviets proud of the MiG 15's performance in Korea or thought that the Americans had better jets??

    • @Legitpenguins99
      @Legitpenguins99 Před 4 lety +13

      Hard to say. The MiG was absolutely cutting edge at the time but soldiers/pilots always seem to have a "the grass is greener on the other side" attitude about their equipment

    • @csfelfoldi
      @csfelfoldi Před 4 lety +7

      Up until the MiG-29 Russian planes were preferred in the eastern block to their American counterparts even well into the late 90's, partly due to Russia offering upgrades to MiG planes in exchange for less reparations (they had to pay to former Warsaw pact countries). The Sukhoi line of planes never really took root though.

    • @vguyver2
      @vguyver2 Před 4 lety +3

      @@csfelfoldi Eventually they did fall behind in some areas. One of the issues was the USSR had little access to things like aluminum. The embargo of raw materials meant that they either could only buy limited numbers of smuggled material they could not manufacture.
      When the US was developing faster and more powerful aircraft Midway through the cold war, they had to take more and more drastic designs to make up for deficiencies. It was revealed for example that Belenko's MiG-25 was a giant airplay that can go at Mach 3.2 but was not maneuverable, had short range, would destroy it's engines past Mach 2.5, and was still running on vacuum tubes. The American Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird turned out to be a far superior aircraft.
      Example:

    • @abandonedchannel281
      @abandonedchannel281 Před 3 lety +2

      V Guyver MiG 25 were not suppose to be a fighter, it was a dedicated interceptor

  • @chrissilva661
    @chrissilva661 Před 3 lety +1

    A sample broadcast would have been fitting.

  • @karoltakisobie6638
    @karoltakisobie6638 Před 4 lety +33

    Radio Luxemburg was pretty cool. More music,less talking.

  • @Aeyekay0
    @Aeyekay0 Před 4 lety +3

    Interesting to think how important and powerful the radio was before the internet and before tv

    • @Bloo0969
      @Bloo0969 Před rokem

      Radio is still important and powerful. I listen to it every day.

  • @insertname7032
    @insertname7032 Před 4 lety +2

    Hey Can you please let us know the songs you use in your video?

  • @Daruliable
    @Daruliable Před 4 lety

    nice video

  • @truedreams1
    @truedreams1 Před 4 lety

    The audio seems to be a bit out of sync. His hand movements drew attention to it, and his lip movements confirmed it. Common on CZcams and easy to ignore usually but the slight delay of the hands makes it hard to ignore.

  • @BB-kt5eb
    @BB-kt5eb Před rokem

    Will you do a segment on the East German economy and living standards. I’d really like to see one about this for the other satellite nations too like Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria as well.

  • @robertbrodie5183
    @robertbrodie5183 Před 4 lety +1

    Consider covering the cold war affect on spandau prison in berlin as well as the soviet war monument that was located in west berlin (and why the west berliners said his hand cant raise)

  • @davidp.7620
    @davidp.7620 Před 3 lety

    Came for the geopolitics. Stayed for the background music. It's awesome! Where can I listen to it?

  • @BichaelStevens
    @BichaelStevens Před 2 lety +1

    A middle aged taxi driver told me how he and a neighbor made ham radios and tiny antennas

  • @richardque4952
    @richardque4952 Před 2 lety +1

    Rock music broadcast by radio liberty was one of the factor that bring dowm the berlin wall.

  • @Mrgunsngear
    @Mrgunsngear Před 2 lety

    Thanks

  • @ProperLogicalDebate
    @ProperLogicalDebate Před 4 lety

    Getting technical, could the authorities try to find the Intermediate Frequency if it leaked back out of the antenna?

  • @oh_poor_damaged_mepatrick1529

    Funny that you mentioned Cecil B demille at around 10 minutes but not one of the clips shows Cecil B demille

  • @oldesertguy9616
    @oldesertguy9616 Před 4 lety +2

    It's weird how different the world is today. I still have trouble grasping there is no East Germany, and I remember when Radio Free Europe was a normal thing.

  • @naruciakk
    @naruciakk Před 2 lety +2

    My dad really liked the BBC and Radio Free Europe, it was forbidden to listen to, but mostly nobody cared

  • @frankknudsen842
    @frankknudsen842 Před rokem

    Forgive me if I'm off. I'm new to this channel. An episode on MAD would b fantastic

  • @A_10_PaAng_111
    @A_10_PaAng_111 Před 4 lety +2

    16:25 They most certainly did promise. Theres nothing to debate. Especially in Hungary even to this day with those that lived through it.

  • @marvwatkins7029
    @marvwatkins7029 Před 2 lety +3

    Thank you RFE: taxpayers' money actually well spent.

  • @user-eq5we2iw7l
    @user-eq5we2iw7l Před 4 lety

    damn the music is inspiring

  • @brianfleury1084
    @brianfleury1084 Před rokem

    I was hoping to see some of the public service announcements that were broadcast in the late 1950s, early 1960s advertising for contributions to RFE. One I remember in particular (I was 9 years-old in 1963) had a family huddled around a radio when Soviet police break down the door and take a long-handled ax to the radio set. I have yet to find one on CZcams. Plus, something else broadcast at the time and somewhat unrelated, there were the commercials aired in January reminding citizens that all aliens must register with the federal government every January first or whatever. Those were creepier than the tags on pillows that warned prosecution to anyone who removed them.

  • @sandervr10
    @sandervr10 Před 2 lety

    As always I learned something

  • @hanzup4117
    @hanzup4117 Před 4 lety

    Hello, I'm sorry but I can't find an email connected to this channel. Do you chaps need a part-time volunteer researcher? I've got a lot of free time for the foreseeable future.

  • @jeffrosenberg8456
    @jeffrosenberg8456 Před 2 lety

    Any idea how to send an email to the host here?

  • @deildegast
    @deildegast Před rokem

    During gorbachev RFE got a longer leash by the soviets? That's a strange wording. Anyone having the leash controls the direction ?

  • @rzpogi
    @rzpogi Před 3 lety +1

    Since we're on the topic of radio, the next topic should number stations. Popular during the cold war and used by both sides, they are primarily used by governments to aid their spies. They still exist today but less common.

  • @JMLawson80
    @JMLawson80 Před 4 lety

    If this interests you, visit the VOA museum in West Chester Ohio.

  • @IndependenceCityMotoring
    @IndependenceCityMotoring Před 2 lety +3

    We need a version of this today for Chinese citizens to learn the truth about the CCP.

    • @ChristopherSobieniak
      @ChristopherSobieniak Před rokem +1

      Taiwan has this, supposedly it broadcasts to the mainland on shortwave.
      en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Taiwan_International

    • @ReSSwend
      @ReSSwend Před rokem

      This is inefficient because China is a mono-ethnic country. And the USSR was a multi-ethnic garbage dump. Radio Liberty has always played an inter-ethnic "card".

  • @c.w.johnsonjr6374
    @c.w.johnsonjr6374 Před 2 lety

    Soviet Agent: Hey, American, I jammed your radio.
    CIA Agent: Hey, Russian, I jammed your mom.
    *Atomic Mic Drop*

  • @fitzspike
    @fitzspike Před 2 lety +1

    We couldn't get these interesting broadcasts in the U.S. due to limits put on CIA funding by Congress. I have heard that a lot of great US music was broadcast on these stations especially Jazz.

  • @stephen9869
    @stephen9869 Před 4 lety +4

    Great video guys! Many thanks.... this has given me further ideas for a book I'm writing...
    P.S:
    In 2015, information emerged that Russia may be developing a new nuclear torpedo, up to 100 megatons, the Status-6 Ocean Multipurpose System code named "Kanyon" by Pentagon officials.
    This weapon is designed to create a tsunami wave up to 500m tall that will radioactively contaminate a wide area on an enemy coast with cobalt-60, and to be immune to anti-missile defence systems such as laser weapons and railguns that might disable an ICBM
    Sleep well everybody 😉 ☢️ ⚛️

  • @rtsgod
    @rtsgod Před 4 lety

    What if the BBC broadcast at 89.3 AM couldn't the Soviets broadcast at the same frequency to essentially garble the signal (have competing audio on the same frequency)? Did the west change frequency at random to prevent this?

  • @brianoreilly3001
    @brianoreilly3001 Před 3 lety +1

    Can The Cold War do a Question- answer such as in (the Great War) (Out of the trenches )

  • @Grathom15
    @Grathom15 Před 4 lety +9

    cold war never ended.

  • @richardque4952
    @richardque4952 Před rokem

    According to a defector.late leonid brezhnev also listen to RFE.

  • @wdizard
    @wdizard Před 4 lety

    Exerting soft power via radio is harder and riskier than it looks from this video essay. Clumsy lies backfire. Accurate reporting sways highly-educated, shrewd opinion leaders. Willis Conover's politics-free VOA jazz broadcasts probably had more impact. than all the news programs combined.

  • @tbj1972
    @tbj1972 Před 4 lety

    Great video, but lower the music. 🎉

  • @seangurevich5077
    @seangurevich5077 Před 4 lety

    Informative video! Well done! I just have one thing to say that personally, I found a bit odd.
    Your way of talking sounds really robotic and not real, It's like listening to a teacher, maybe changing a bit the way of talking might make viewers feel a bit more comfort and interested.

  • @pauldiamond9219
    @pauldiamond9219 Před 2 lety +1

    At night I used to listen that days top stories on "world news", first on Radio Moscow (hilarious to listen for all the political buzz words like "bourgeoisie" and "capitalists"), then I would listen to VOA, which was no less funny as it was so militantly pro-American, then I would end with BBC World News, to find out what really happened that day.

  • @janjasiewicz9851
    @janjasiewicz9851 Před 5 měsíci

    Both my parents worked for RFE in Munich - and my godfather was the director of the Polish section of RFE. My first job was at RFE distributing mail. It was, in large part, congressionally funded. I don't think you a say the East Block made a "valiant" effort - considering they enslaved their populace.

  • @carkawalakhatulistiwa
    @carkawalakhatulistiwa Před 2 lety +1

    4:50 internet is after cold war