How did RL adapt to the political shifts of the 1970s, the rise of “détente” and the emergence of human rights as a key narrative affecting the relationship between Communist governments, the West, and the populations of the Soviet Union and Eastern bloc? This episode delves into the ways in which RL covered the world of dissidents, freedom of speech trials and underground literature in the Soviet Union, as well as telling you everything you’ve always wanted to know about the Helsinki Final Act of 1975, but were afraid to ask.

The Nuclear Accident in Chernobyl

The "Speaking to the Soviets" series focuses on Radio Liberty, an extraordinary United States-funded radio station that punched through the Iron Curtain to broadcast to listeners across the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Each episode in this six-part podcast mini-series focuses on a key event in the history of the Soviet Union, as described and discussed by Radio Liberty: from the death of Stalin through to the development of the space race, the emergence of détente and the signing of the Helsinki Accords, and the Chernobyl disaster and eventual collapse of the USSR. Using original broadcast material from the Blinken Open Society Archives’ Radio Liberty Collection, host Stephen Westlake analyses the content and form of these broadcasts to introduce listeners to the surprising and subtle ways in which this major American radio propaganda project was undertaken.This podcast series is part of the "Sound-Resound" research component of the "Sound Relations" project. The project is funded by the Central European University through its Intellectual Themes Initiative. The series was created with the support of the Blinken Open Society Archives.