S1E1: Not All Fun and WarGames

A former Hollywood actor and a former Chairman of the KGB walk into a bar and... blow the whole thing up? In 1983, the decision to launch nukes lay in the hands of two men: Ronald Wilson Reagan and Yuri Andropov. Let's talk about how their teeny tiny… inferiority complexes set ...

Tension mounts as Reagan's aggression deepens Andropov's paranoia. Surely, an attack from the West is imminent! Meet Oleg Gordievsky and Rainier Rupp, two spies whose loyalties aren't what they seem. These super secret agents scour the earth for signs of impending doom, but th ...

During the height of the Cold War, both the US and the USSR constantly ran drills in anticipation of a possible nuclear conflict. While the Gregg family of Mars Bluff, South Carolina knew the Cold War was in full swing, they had no idea that they would become the first American f ...  Show more

On this episode of Our American Stories, Jeremy Saucier of the Strong Museum of Play shares the long, and surprising, history of pinball--from its origins in French parlor games, to its prohibition, and then to its emergence as the immersive and popular game that it is today; The ...  Show more

What is the United States to do when direct conflict with the Soviet Union promises almost certain annihilation? They turned to proxy wars and psychological warfare with the threat of nuclear weapons keeping both countries in check. Ever wondered how an atom bomb works? We’ll ...

For a womanizing Soviet spy, wartime Tokyo is both playground and prison. Surrounded by the enemy, he's got to keep his wits about him - and with an increasingly paranoid leader in the Kremlin, the line between friend and foe is thin indeed. Daisy Ridley joins author Owen Matthew ...  Show more