In this episode of the Cold War podcast, Cam and Ray continue their wild ride through Cuban history, focusing on the rise and fall of Gerardo “Macho Man” Machado, the proto-strongman president who turned Cuba into a playground for rich tourists—and a pressure cooker for everyone else. From political repression and violent union crackdowns to communist organizing and student uprisings, this chapter sets the stage for Cuba’s eventual revolution. Along the way, we meet fascinating figures like Julio Antonio Mella (the OG Castro prototype), discuss the communist roots of Cuban resistance, and learn how America played both arsonist and firefighter in the region. Plus: cigars, lesbians, and martinis. You’re welcome.

The British PM sends a fascist Catholic member of the British elite, Sir Richard Stokes, to talk to Moss the Boss. Mossadegh says he wants a divorce. As he’s leaving Iran, Harriman meets with the Shah and “suggests” it might be time for Mossadegh to go.

After The Peel Commission recommending moving hundreds of thousands of Palestinians off their land by force, the Arab Revolt re-emerged with hundreds of terrorist attacks during 1937-38 against the British and Jews – and even against Arab collaborators. The British cracked down and deported many of their leaders. Irgun, the Jewish militant group, met this threat with their own terrorism. Hitler used the situation to score propaganda points against the Jews and the British.

Today we have another special guest – Pulitzer Prize-winning author, the Laurence D. Belfer Professor of International Affairs at the John F. Kennedy School of Government and Professor of History in the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences – Prof Fredrik Logevall. He’s also the co-author of America’s Cold War: The Politics of Insecurity (co-authored with Campbell Craig, who we had on in episode 20).

Things in Palestine really started to heat up in 1908 – the year of The Young Turk Revolution. It was around this time that the violence between the Jews and the Arabs started to escalate beyond what was mostly localised troubles over property rights. And it took on a nationalist feel. The Jews started to arm themselves. The governor of Jerusalem, Azmi Bey, wrote: “We are not xenophobes; we welcome all strangers. We are not anti-Semites; we value the economic superiority of the Jews. But no nation, no government could open its arms to groups … aiming to take Palestine from us.”

In 1915, Britain and France sat down to work out who was going to control what in the Middle East after the war – what became known as the Sykes-Picot Agreement. By 1917, when the Allies were bogged down on the Western Front, Britain issued the Balfour Declaration. They hoped it would bring the American Jews to their cause, would help bring the United States into the war and keep Russia involved – and would stop the Jews from allying themselves with Ze Germans.

In this episode, Cameron and Ray delve into the complex internal and external power struggles facing Fidel Castro in the late 1950s as he attempts to consolidate his leadership over the anti-Batista movement. The discussion highlights the stark divide between Castro’s rural guerrilla army—influenced by the increasingly Marxist leanings of Raul Castro and Che Guevara—and the urban resistance led by Frank País, who sought middle-class and American support. The hosts explore the “draconian” discipline maintained within the rebel ranks, including the summary execution of spies, and the elimination of rival revolutionary groups like the Directorio Revolucionario after their failed 1957 assassination attempt on Batista. The episode concludes with Castro’s calculated rejection of the “Miami Pact,” a move designed to prevent the old political elite from co-opting the revolution and to ensure that his guerrilla forces remain the ultimate authority in a post-Batista Cuba.

In this episode, Cam and Ray kick off their deep dive into the life and legend of Fidel Castro. Picking up from the Batista coup of 1952, they trace Fidel’s early years—born illegitimate on his father’s sugar plantation, educated by Jesuits, and shaped by political violence. We follow Fidel through elite boarding schools, law school radicalisation, and his early attempts to overthrow regimes across Latin America. From jumping ship with a machine gun to surviving student death threats, Castro emerges as a man driven by revolutionary ideals, a hunger for justice, and an almost messianic sense of destiny. Along the way, we encounter Perón, Guevara, Trujillo, and Gabriel García Márquez—and we get a glimpse of the revolutionary vanguard that would eventually upend Cuba forever.

In this episode, we delve into the history of Iran, focusing on the US’s role in ending democratic rule in 1953 and installing Mohammad Reza Shah’s dictatorship, a fact well-known in Iran but only admitted by the US in the 90s. This event led to the Islamic Revolution of 1979, headed by Ayatollah Khomeini, and fueled anti-Western sentiments across the Middle East. We discuss the significant figure of Mohammad Mossadegh, and the history of Iran under the Qajar shahs, the stagnation and foreign exploitation during this period, and the controversial Reuter concession of 1872, which was a significant surrender of Iran’s industrial resources to foreign control, but was quickly cancelled due to widespread opposition.

As the Yalta conference now turns to whether or not France should have a role in the occupation of Germany, the Allied Control Commission and the UN Security Council, we thought it was a good time to do a quick bio on France’s post-WWII leader, Charles de Gaulle, aka “The Big Asparagus Stalk”, aka “Chucky D”.

In this episode of Cold War, Cameron and Ray dig into the aftermath of Batista’s March 1952 coup in Cuba and how it shaped Fidel Castro’s early strategies. The conversation explores Castro’s proclamation denouncing the coup, his first failed attempts to rally the public, and why the Cuban people weren’t yet ready for revolution. We see how Castro pivoted from politics to pamphlets, protests, lawsuits, and eventually the realization that only a professional revolutionary force could succeed. Along the way, the hosts connect Batista’s propaganda playbook with U.S. media bias, draw parallels to Iran’s 1953 coup, and reflect on the timeless tactics of seizing power. They also detour into the Mob’s growing influence in Havana and the darker history of honeypot operations linking Epstein, Maxwell, and intelligence agencies.

With the recent death of Fidel Castro, we decided to take a quick detour from our linear narrative to jump ahead in time and talk about one of the major figures, not only of the Cold War, but of the 20th century. A hero to many, reviled by just as many, his death brought on a new spate of Western media coverage. After reading much of it, we just had to provide our own perspective. We decided to tackle the subject by taking one of the major media obituaries, by the New York Times, and break it down, line by line, to uncover the propaganda. And we’re making this episode free to guests.

In this episode, Cameron and Ray continue the story of Fidel Castro’s early years, charting his transformation from a fiery young activist entangled with street gangs into a determined reformer and aspiring politician. They explore how Castro navigated gang violence in Havana, his involvement with the nonviolent September 30th movement, his bold courtroom defenses, and his law practice dedicated to the poor. The episode also covers his growing disillusionment with Cuba’s political parties, his clashes with President Prío’s corruption, his unlikely meeting with Batista, and his relentless drive to clean up his reputation and pursue political power. Along the way, Cam and Ray weave in colorful anecdotes, wry humor, and comparisons to figures from Rome and Napoleon to highlight the revolutionary forces shaping Castro’s trajectory.

In this episode, Cameron and Ray pick up the Cuban Revolution story at its most fragile moment: Fidel Castro has just landed in eastern Cuba with 82 men, most of them dead, scattered, or captured within days. Batista’s regime confidently declares Castro dead, the international press runs with it, and the revolution appears finished before it has begun. But history, as usual, has other plans. From hiding under sugarcane leaves to scraping together a band of 19 survivors in the Sierra Maestra, Castro learns guerrilla warfare the hard way. The episode traces his first small victories, the brutal countermeasures of the Batista regime, and the human cost borne by peasants caught in between. The story then pivots to one of the most consequential acts of propaganda in Cold War history: Castro’s calculated courtship of the international press. Through Herbert Matthews’ risky journey into the mountains and his front-page New York Times reporting, the world learns that Fidel Castro is very much alive, organised, and growing. This episode explores how myth, media, theatre, and violence intertwine at the birth of a revolution—and how a handful of men with rifles, cigars, and a journalist changed global perceptions overnight.