Letters across the Iron Curtain - Unseen Cold War Correspondence between Soviet and American Women (385)

Cold War Conversations

Ian Sanders

Society & Culture, Documentary, History

4.8 • 758 Ratings

🗓️ 25 January 2025

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the tense years of the early Cold War, American and Soviet women conducted a remarkable pen-pal correspondence that enabled them to see each other as friends rather than enemies. In a compelling new perspective on the early Cold War, prizewinning historian Alexis Peri’s new book “Dear Unknown Friend” explores the correspondence between American and Soviet women beginning in the last years of World War II and continuing into the 1950s. Previously unexamined, the women’s letters movingly demonstrate the power of the personal, as the pen pals engaged in a “diplomacy of the heart” that led them to question why their countries were so divided. Buy the book here https://uk.bookshop.org/a/1549/9780674987586 Episode extras here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode385/ The fight to preserve Cold War history continues and via a simple monthly donation, you will give me the ammunition to continue to preserve Cold War history. You’ll become part of our community, get ad-free episodes, and get a sought-after CWC coaster as a thank you and you’ll bask in the warm glow of knowing you are helping to preserve Cold War history. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ If a monthly contribution is not your cup of tea, we welcome one-off donations via the same link. Find the ideal gift for the Cold War enthusiast in your life! Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/store/ Follow us on BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/coldwarpod.bsky.social Follow us on Threads https://www.threads.net/@coldwarconversations Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/ Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations Love history? Join Intohistory https://intohistory.com/coldwarpod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Cold War Conversations, the home of real stories of the Cold War.
0:06.2	This episode is brought to you by Sun Express Airlines.
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0:35.6	Reading about these family tragedies, I did feel remarkably connected to them because I felt so
0:41.3	devastated finding out about those losses. This is Cold War Conversations. If you're new here,
0:51.0	you've come to the right place to listen to first-hand Cold War
0:54.7	history accounts.
0:56.9	Do make sure you follow us in your podcast app so that you don't miss out on future episodes.
1:02.8	In the tense years of the early Cold War, American and Soviet women conducted remarkable
1:08.2	penpal correspondents that enabled them to see each other as friends rather than enemies.
1:13.6	In a compelling new perspective on the early Cold War, prize-winning historian Alexis Perry's new book,
1:20.6	Dear Unknown Friend, explores correspondence between American and Soviet women, begun in the last years of World War
1:28.3	2 and continuing into the 1950s. The women's letters movingly demonstrate the power of the
1:35.3	personal. I'm delighted to welcome Alexis Perry to our Cold War conversation.
1:41.3	Well I came by the topic quite by accident, but I had been working a lot on
1:45.9	the Second World War, and I did a first book about the siege of Leningrad. And I was very excited
1:52.3	to write a second book that would be about the rebuilding of the Soviet Union primarily by Soviet
1:58.3	women, since Soviet women and German POWs were the two major able-bodied
	...

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