Today's guest is a fellow podcaster - Ian Sanders, who is the creator and host of the popular Cold War Conversations Podcast. A London native now living in Manchester, Ian divides time between the Manchester Museum, podcast projects for the Royal Army Museum and the Imperial War Museum, and his Cold War Conversations Podcast. With a lifelong interest in military history and the Cold War, Ian has turned what began as a small hobby into a New York Times-recommended podcast with over 6 million downloads! And the stories he can tell, and does tell - he's interviewed everyone from former spies to leading Cold War historians, so check out Cold War Conversations! Ian is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a founding member of the Cold War Network and the Impiarl War Museum War Conflict Subject Specialist Network. He's a busy guy, and we're glad he took time to chat with us. We'll talk growing up during the Cold War, 4-minute warning sirens, The Smiths, Cold War movies, the Isdal Woman, how to start a podcast, and much more! Enjoy!

Shoutout to Foster's Chip Shop in Manchester!

Rec.: 02/05/2026

Our guest today is Oklahoma State University Professor of History John M. Kinder. John is the Director of the American Studies Program at OK State and has published widely on veterans and disabilities, and, more recently, on zoos in wartime. His books include Paying With Their Bodies: American War and the Problem of the Disabled Veteran (University of Chicago Press), Service Denied: Marginalized Veterans in Modern American History (University of Massachusetts Press - co-edited with Friend-of-the-Pod Jason Higgins), and most recently World War Zoos: Humans and Other Animals in the Deadliest Conflict of the Modern Age (University of Chicago Press) - a fascinating account of what happened to zoos in wartime cities during the Second World War. He also has another co-edited volume (with Friend-of-the-Pod Jennifer Murray) coming out soon from the University of Nebraska Press titled They Are Dead, And Yet They Live: Civil War Memories in a Polarized America. Like all of our guests, John's got an interesting story - another "I was going to go to law school" turned historian experience; he was literally at Georgetown Law about to start classes when he saw the light!

Join us for a delightful chat - we'll talk Ellis "Old Folks" Kinder, The Smiths, Life Cereal, heart attacks, researching in zoo archives, vegan Soul food, and the animal escaped from the zoo you'd least like to encounter! Enjoy!

Rec.: 02/03/2026

We've got another good one for you - Today's guest is National Museums Scotland's military curator, Calum Robertson. Calum has one of the best jobs in the military history world there in Edinburgh. Born and raised near storied St. Andrews, Calum couldn't help but get interested in history at a young age. Calum studied history and archaeology at the University of Edinburgh, earned his PhD in Archaeological Heritage and Museums at Cambridge, and then fell into a full-time position at National Museums Scotland, filling in for a staff member on leave. His remit includes the National War Museum of Scotland at Edinburgh Castle, and you can imagine the artifacts he's seen that few others will ever see.

We really enjoyed our chat with Calum - we'll talk bagpipes, the Melrose Pig, Robert Burns, Irn Bru, Dundee Pistols, Brighde Chaimbeul, and, oh yeah, working at the National Museum of Scotland. Enjoy!

Thanks to CruFro on SampleFocus.com for the pipes MP3!

Rec.: 01/29/2026