Soviet Union
The womanising Russian spy who helped rescue MI5
The incredible tale of Oleg Lyalin, a KGB officer based in London in the 1970s who turned defector for rather untraditional reasons Audio
Max Hastings: Today's lessons from the Cuban Missile Crisis
60 years ago, the Cuban Missile Crisis was deepening. Following the discovery of Soviet nuclear warheads in Cuba there was a 13-day stand-off, and the world was bracing itself for war between the… Audio
Gorbachev 'holds an important place' in world history - Ardern
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has joined other world leaders in paying tribute to the late Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union.
Mikhail Gorbachev Dead at 91
The final leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev - a pivotal figure in ending the Cold War - has died aged 91 after a long illness. Joining Worldwatch is Otago University associate professor… Audio
Why time has always been against us
In his new book, About Time: A History of Civilization in Twelve Clocks, time expert and historian David Rooney paints a horological history of human civilisation, told through twelve world-changing… Audio
How Russia is dying from within
Since the late 1960s, Russia has been dying from the inside due to a birth rate that is too low and a death rate that is too high, says demographer Paul Morland. Audio
How the Holocaust had its roots in eastern European pogroms
The eyes of the world may be on Ukraine right now, but Dr Jeffrey Veidlinger has focused on a largely forgotten period of history that once captured international attention there too. At the end of… Audio
'This could be the worst refugee crisis since WW2'
Veteran war correspondent Mike Eckel talked to us from the original front lines in Donbas, last week from Kiev as the Russians attacked, and now he's back in Prague. He's with us for an update on the… Audio
Soviet Jazz
Nick explores the often-hidden world of Soviet jazz, from the 1930s to the 1980s. Artists include Yakov Skomorovsky, the Allegro Jazz Ensemble, and the Uzbek jazz fusion ensemble Sato. Audio
Chernobyl’s culture of secrecy trumped safety and hastened the end of the Soviet Union
Serhii Plokhy argues that the catastrophe at Chernobyl was a nuclear disaster waiting to happen. He talks to Toby Manhire. Audio
Broken Arrow: How the U.S. Navy Lost a Nuclear Bomb
Jim Winchester is a Kiwi aviation writer based in London. He's just published a new book which for the first time tells the full story of a one-megaton thermonuclear bomb lost at sea - Broken Arrow -… Audio
Professor Michael Neiberg - America and the First World War
1917 was an extraordinary year that shaped 20th century history, and has had a profound effect upon the lives we lead today, in the 21st century. In 1917, revolution in Russia took that country out of… Audio
‘The wind of change is something you never forget’
Amnesty International’s Anna Neistat discusses being five-months pregnant as bombs dropped in Syria, torture on Nauru and growing up behind the Iron Curtain. Video, Audio
Chris Moller: houses and designs
Kim Hill talks to Wellington architect and urbanist Chris Moller, who is the presenter of the television programme Grand Designs New Zealand which is just starting its second series. Audio
What the Secret Policemen Saw
With access into the Lithuanian KGB Collection in the Hoover Archives (and other Soviet Archives), Mark Harrison reveals the practices of KGB counterintelligence during the Cold War. Professor of… Audio
Greg Hopkinson: money and monks
Entrepreneur turned modern-day monk who tells his story in the memoir Boundless: a Wayward Entrepreneur's Search For Peace. Audio
