Welcome to Cold War Conversations, the home of real stories of the Cold War.

The phrase, history is human, was coined by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian David McCulloch.

He says, history is about life. It isn't just about dates and quotations from obscure

treaties and the like. It's about people. And that's exactly what Cold War conversations

is about. Now, I discovered this phrase listening to the History Daily podcast, presented and

narrated by Lindsay Graham.

This podcast takes you back in time to explore a momentous moment that happened on this day

in history. It uses fully immersive sound design, original music and a compelling narrative

style. I really enjoy it and I'm sure you will too. So I am sharing two short Cold War episodes on this bonus episode.

If you think you'd enjoy the History Daily podcast,

then you can follow the links in the episode notes

or search for History Daily podcast wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Music History Daily podcast wherever you listen to your podcasts. It's shortly before dawn on December 2nd, 1956. A rickety yacht struggles through the choppy waters off the southwest coast of Cuba.

Battered by a rough week at sea, the vessel is barely afloat, creaking beneath the weight of its cargo.

Men in green military fatigues crowd the deck, their faces pallid with sea sickness.

There are 82 men in total hacked tightly onto a 50-foot yacht built to accommodate no more than two dozen.

Conditions on board are hellish.

The men are starving, thirsty, and exhausted.

Above all, they're beginning to doubt their leader, a 30-year-old lawyer with a patchy black beard and intense,

mournful eyes. He squats at the prow of the yacht, scanning the darkness for signs of land.

This lawyer and his armed revolutionaries are on their way to Cuba to overthrow a corrupt

military general named Fulgencio Batista, who seized the reins of power in Cuba

...