Hello and welcome to this day in esoteric political history from Radiotopia.

My name is Jody Avergan.

This day February 1st, 1990, the end of the Cold War is accelerating on the backs of

quarter pounders and special sauce.

The very first McDonald's opened in Moscow on this day with lines stretching around the

block and the arrival of the most American of brands into the heart of the Soviet Empire.

This was of course just a few months after the Berlin Wall fell.

The Soviet Union under Gorbachev was softening its economic policies.

This was a big, big moment, both for diplomacy and for Soviet taste buds.

So here to discuss, as are Nicole Hammer of Columbia and Kelly Carter Jackson of Wellesley.

Hello there.

Hello Jody.

Hey there.

So one thing that strikes me with this story is it's 14 years of negotiations to get to this moment.

I mean, you know, this is diplomacy of its own kind.

The US and, you know, is engaged in the Cold War War McDonald's is plugging away in its own sort of a battle as well

I mean how much should we think of the fact that it took that long as really a kind of like

political process in a sense.

Oh, well, it's absolutely a political process because it's not just about opening a McDonald's

restaurant. It's about what McDonald's

symbolizes. If there is one pure symbol of American consumer capitalism,

McDonald's is kind of it as that those golden arches as a sign of America's soft power and it's

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