The President

...

... From the home of the codebreakers and the birthplace of modern computing, this is the Bletchley Park podcast.

Welcome to the April 2026 episode of the Bletchley Park podcast

Focus on Josh Cooper

Thriving in the world of wartime

code breaking took more than just smarts and skill.

Tact, diplomacy and organisational talent were needed to achieve results and navigate the fractious politics of the intelligence community.

In these circumstances, even the most shining of light could be overshadowed by events.

The achievements of outstanding talents could be almost lost to history,

as the subject of this month's podcast proves.

In this episode, the second in our Focus On series about remarkable figures in wartime code breaking,

we're joined by Research Officer Dr Thomas Cheatham.

He brings a personal insight into the career of Josh Cooper, the head of Bletchley Park's

Air Section.

Cooper was an intelligence pioneer, the legacy of whose tireless wartime work has been eclipsed

by his eccentric personality.

Our thanks go to Dr. Ben Thompson for voicing our historical documents.

For our second episode in this sub-series, focus on, Tom has picked a subject that you have a special fondness for, I think would be a good way of saying it, wouldn't it?

Yeah, I think it's fair to say I'm not going to approach this one in an entirely impartial manner because we're talking about a man who I have a great deal of admiration for and I think deserves to be a lot more prominent than he is.

We've mentioned him countless times over the years, but only in passing, really, haven't we?

Yeah, if you read about Bletchley Park, he's somebody who will come up in passing, as you say,

...