Red Reporter - Covert Correspondent for Cold War East Germany - Part 1 (47)

Cold War Conversations - "vivid & compelling" The NY Times

Ian Sanders

History, Documentary, Society & Culture

4.8 • 865 Ratings

🗓️ 2 February 2019

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today we speak to John Green. John Green grew up in Coventry in a communist family. After abandoning a zoology degree course after his second year at Bristol University, he switched to Drama. In 1964 he made the adventurous move to the German Democratic Republic to study film at the National Film School in Babelsberg, near Potsdam. He was the sole British student in the country. Returning to his native Britain in 1968, he became television correspondent for the GDR and spent 22 years reporting from around the world. Because the GDR, particularly at the height of the Cold War, was not officially recognised as an independent state, he and his colleagues were obliged to work anonymously and quasi-clandestinely in order to obtain the footage they needed. We start with John telling us about this early life in Coventry. Don't forget to check out our show notes here. https://coldwarconversations.com/episode47/ The second part of this interview is here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode58/ Support the project! https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ 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 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.
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0:44.6	Do make sure you follow us in your podcast app or join our emailing list at Cold Warconversations.com.
0:53.6	In this episode, we speak to John Green.
0:57.6	John Green grew up in Coventry, and in 1964, he made the adventurous move to the German
1:04.3	Democratic Republic to study film at the National Film School in Barbersburg, near Pakistan.
1:10.4	He was the sole British student in Barblesburg, near Afghanistan.
1:13.1	He was the sole British student in the country.
1:16.9	Returning to his native Britain in 1968,
1:19.9	he became television correspondent for the GDR and spent 22 years reporting from around the world.
1:24.6	Before we start, I'd like to thank our latest Patrions, including Clive
1:29.9	Watling, Michael Robert and Tom Williams. Patrions are supporters of the podcast who donate
1:37.1	monthly and get access to some exclusive extras. And every donation keeps us broadcasting
1:43.4	and expanding the show. Just go to our website at cold warconversations.com and click on the support the podcast menu option. Now, back to today's episode. We start with John telling us about his early life in Coventry.
2:03.3	John, welcome to Cold War Conversations.
2:05.9	Thank you.
2:06.9	Delighted to have you on.
2:10.6	Well, I'd be meaning to read the book for some time.
2:13.1	And then when I got in contact with you, I had the impetus to read it in full. And a fascinating story
	...

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