While the podcast does have a lot of good details, it constantly misses the mark. This is most evident when it comes to topics outside of the U.S.

Episodes are specific and nuanced topics that are difficult to find in a podcast. I’m no professional but so much mispronunciation is a turnoff. I could do without the editorial.

Thanks for all the great episodes. I learned a lot.

Overall I think he does a decent job in his goal - that is to explain the Cold War without pushing his politics/thoughts through the explanation. However, I can’t give it a good review because he’s incorrect in his pronunciation for a lot words, specifically Czechoslovakia. I’m probably just nitpicking, but when a country’s name is mispronounced 5x in the course of a few minutes, it’s kind of embarrassing. If you’re going into something with the spoken word, please make sure you can pronounce them correctly beforehand. I’m only on episode 39 so maybe he eventually corrects it, but I must’ve heard “Czesoslovakia” 100x by now.

My 1st listen was on the movie Devotion and I must say the host fell flat on his face. He seems to have the habit that lots of young people have these day which is to say ummm ever other word. Also his research on the author of the book was lackluster at best and did not know the it was written from lots of interviews with Jessie Brown’s wingman and Jessie Brown’s wife. Had he read the book he would have realized that the movie was nothing like the book. The movie sucked because it made Jessie Brown look like an angry Black man and in reality he was nothing like that. It also painted the marines as raving racists and in the book that could not be further from the truth. You had one chance at a listener and you lost this listener with not knowing the subject mater you were talking about.

Remember Historically the US has done the same as Russia Many a young man was given the option of prison or Military And a lot of troubled young Americans became heroes on the battlefield Then went on to become great leaders, industrialists, writers and other great things From WW1 to Vietnam the military turned trouble youth into great heroes

I’m sorry to say that the solid research and information is badly undercut by poor writing and oratory. Lots of stumbles, mispronunciations and plain lackluster prose keep this from being a much stronger podcast. Worth checking out for those who want to learn more about the period, but I find the presentation distracts from the content.

Haven’t heard one bad episode

I love this podcast, but the only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars is the sound quality. Get that mic dialed in! Lots of clipping makes the voice audio harsh.

I have an undergraduate history degree concentrating in World War I, World War II and the Cold War. I find the hosts facts to be accurate and well organized. However, the pronunciation of Slavic and Magyar names is so atrocious it’s distracting from the commentary. The host needs to solicit some coaching on the names. You don’t have to understand the language to be able to pronounce.

Love the historical perspectives. Would love to hear your thoughts on the current conflict in Ukraine.

This is what podcasting ought to be: really informative posts made by a history obsessive. Some complain about the fact that the host is a historian making a podcast, not a “professional entertainer”—but it’s this inspired amateurism (in the best sense of the word) that makes this show compelling. The posts on the Vietnam war and Hungary 1956 are especially good.

Great history lesson here! A lot of background I had not heard about before.

I've just listened to the first 3 eps and am so excited to hear more. I love that the info is delivered in lecture-form, rather than the casual-conversation form that's so popular among podcasters, which I find really hard to follow.

Hate it but it is TRASH 🤮

Whoever is in charge of the research on this channel does a good job. However the readers seem to be cold reading the wholes papers, not knowing how to pronounce anything and stutter/ pause too often to make it a laid back listen. Learn how to cut out parts or learn how to pronounce easy things like Czechoslovakia to make the podcast way better

This is a super informative and interesting podcast on many facets of Cold War history. Nothing fancy and no professional production studio but that’s part of what makes it great. Just pure great content if you like history.

A pretty good podcast if you’re familiar with the subject. Delves into some more niche topics which I appreciate. Would recommend if you’re already interested in the Cold War but if not I’d seek out other resources first. The quality of writing, diction and delivery (also editing) could be improved and repeating verbatim a few phrases between episodes (the two episodes on India-Pakistan in particular) was a little grating but I’m sure this will (and has) improved. I do kind of take issue with the “objective” approach to history (spitting out facts) taken by the creator for two main reasons 1) Its not super engaging (names and dates approach to history) and at times the writing suffers for it. 2) it’s kind of pointless in my opinion. By examine history through multiple varied lenses (and yes even agendas) we get a better understanding than by simply absorbing facts. It just doesn’t address a lot of underlying causes. I would compare this podcast to the Revolutions podcast on that point which I think does a good job. Also this has been commented on before (although in a bad faith way so I hope mine isn’t interpreted the same way as I’m trying to make a good faith constructive criticism) but characterizing the USSR as not racist in contrast to the US does kind of ignore a long history of ethnic expulsion and even genocides (the holodomor for example) as well as the long history of antisemtism in the ussr and Warsaw Pact (ie the virtual purge of polish Jews in 1968 which although not ussr was not dissimilar to things there and could not have gone on without their support.) again I think the creator is right there was no segregation and the ussr was officially anti racist (in the same way the us is today which is to say in theory but not necessarily in practice) but I would encourage the creator to revisit the topic of ethnic tension and racism in the Soviet Union in the future not least because it played a highly significant role in Cold War politics (the refuseniks and the Russian aliyah) and post Cold War conflicts (nagorno karabakh etc). Overall tho this is a solid podcast and worth a listen if you have prior knowledge of the subject, especially to episodes on more niche topics that are undercovered otherwise. I also hope the creator recognizes I’m trying to offer constructive advice and at least cobsiders it going forward (despite its hasty and rambling form.) Would recommend and looking forward to future refinement and improvement. 4/5 stars

I've been trying to follow world events that are currently happening in Latin America and Russia, and I realized that I didn't have a good grasp of the history of geopolitical politics. The Cold War is complicated and hard to find an entry point for if you're not a history buff. This podcast breaks things down so that you can understand each country's perspective. Really valuable and interesting work. Thank you so much for making this!!!

the editorializing is just trash and the podcast is gargling the c*** of power. this podcast could be a cia op based on the ideological framing. propaganda.

Why so many episodes about racism? 1-2 ok I guess. I’ll start listening to the show again once the race episodes are over and back to the Cold War. Been about 3 months or so since I last listened. That’s too bad.

Good podcast, but only giving three stars. For half a year now the wokeism had just turned me off from this podcast and others too. Get back to the meat of the matter and quit trying to appease the woke crowd. It ain’t helping your rating.

I do bot understand the negative comments, either some people who had to listen to this for their history class or some people who are really negative have left negative reviews, don’t give up on this podcast I really enjoy.

Nice pod, but if you can’t get the little things right...

If you’re looking to listen to a bunch of 10th grade term papers this is the podcast for you.

A good many of these reviews are brutal! Maybe I’m the idiot here, but I just don’t understand the complaints. What others see as annoying, I see as organic. This podcast isn’t perfect, and I’ve only just started listening, but it’s a good show so far.

Solid, balanced and well-researched content. Podcast is not over-edited or over-produced as many podcasts are. Lacks flash, but that won’t be an issue for people who really want to learn.

Great podcast, very well researched and thorough. I really appreciate the focus on decolonization, and the amount of time devoted to setting up context for the events of the Cold War itself. I found this after listening to Mike Duncan’s podcast on revolutions, and it’s been the perfect way to get a broad view of events between the political upheavals in Europe following the enlightenment and our current day

Just listened the episode of Tibet. The reader was keep messing up with the pronunciation the entire episode. I was particularly annoyed that he was keep pronouncing Lhasa wrong. If he wants to talk about history of Tibet and China, I think he should at least pronounce the capital of tibet correctly for the respect for the culture and people.

Great podcast but presented with a subtle liberal slant. only other complaint is that a lot of information is repeated verbatim. For example, the Stalin episode contains some of the same info, regurgitated word for word, as the Communist Ideology episode.

I thought this was very well done and informative, some people complain about the pronunciation but it doesn't bother me, it's a free podcast (plus the names are from all over the world, give him a break!) Well done sir, I will be listening this in its entirety.

I like the idea of this podcast, but the host needs to be a lot more careful about details and things like pronunciation. For example, last night he mispronounced Hiss as Hess scores of times. Makes listening a real chore.

The material contained in this podcast is excellent, but it could really use some work as far as the delivery. It often feels like the presenter is reading from a script without putting much feeling into it. He also has issues with proununciation. For example, he constantly pronounces Czechoslovakia as "chessoslovakia," and this drives me a bit crazy. But the content is good, if drawn out. There is certainly no lack of detail. I have been listening to this one and Dr. DJ Kinney's Cold War Vault for several months now. Dr. Kinney's presentation is much better, but this one tends to delve a bit deeper. I recommend both.

Great host who really knows his stuff and great narration. This podcast is never dull or uninteresting.

A very well done look at a vital period of recent history whose lessons are already being forgotten by most and are subject to revisionist history by far too many. The creators do a terrific job of presenting information objectively. Great level of detail. Holistic approach adds overall context not usually seen in classroom instruction which allows for deeper understanding. Keeps getting better.

I love this podcast. I love the information. I love you guys for producing it and I truly appreciate the work you put in. I love the detail. I love the introductory music. I love the stories. This is wonderful, but I have to say that it sounds like this dude is reading. He’s reading too fast. What’s the rush? Slow down. Make it sound more conversational. Add some sound effects and additional musical effect. It’s not a big deal if you have to add more episodes or part two’s or three’s. Great podcast though. Thank you for this. I’m a huge fan.

I’m only on episode 2- but the pauses area bit long and frequent. Hopefully they change

Found this podcast after listening to the "History of Rome" podcast. Does an excellent job of going into obscure topics and diving deep into things that are relevant today. Others have complained that the narrator's affect is flat ... honestly I prefer that and find it an easy listen. I honestly don't care if he reads off the page as long as it is original work (which it is) and weaves a good narrative (which it does). Keep it up!

Movie review 6 was very interesting. I haven’t seen it but your review spared me from watching the gory battles scenes. I liked your comparisons to Saving Private Ryan. American movies generally have fairy tale endings as korea movies end with trauma. I was enjoying episode 59 until the recording got sooo scratchy, hope you can redo it so I can listen again. All in all I am enjoying listening to history...so different then when I attended school

Wish I had know about this a few years ago when it started. I’ve been binge listening for the last few months now to catch up. Very informative on a subject that doesn’t get much popular coverage. Depth of research is fantastic. Can’t recommend enough to history fans.

Gets waist deep into the history of the Cold War. I like the long format. Only complaint is that sometimes audio quality is lacking.

The content is well researched and organized, moving clearly from one subject to another to create a vast yet detailed view of these decades of world history. The host sometimes stumbles over words and sentences, but this improves quickly as he gets more recording under his belt. And it can be forgiven as he assembles and orders a large quantity of dense information and he does it for free. If you are really looking to learn about the world of the Cold War, this is your best option.

Generally well researched and well structured but the narrator is a terrible speaker. On episode 15 so maybe it improves but learn basic pronunciation, do a practice read.....something. It’s like they took a good text book and found a random person on the street who is totally ignorant of the subject and complex English. Improve narration and I’d give a 5 star.

Mr. Hogue is to be commended for trying to take on such a weighty topic, especially for free! However, his constant mispronunciation of the simplest of names wears on my nerves. There are also at least three glaring factual errors that I have encountered in the first 15 episodes. Please do your research or stay in your lane. One example: The episode on the 1948 election gives misinformation on the structural make-up and delegate allocation process of the GOP in 2016.

My high school us history classes didn’t cover the Cold War in depth. In my opinion, this podcast improves in its quality over time from the first episode to most recent.

The podcaster should practice reading his text before delivery. Instead of apologizing in advance for mispronunciations, he should look them up in advance. There are online dictionaries with audio that model the correct pronunciation. These delivery faults distract from solid, well-thought-our content.

As many have said before: please please please read your material before recording. Also, if you happen to stumble, edit it out! I am so torn on this podcast: on one hand this is the best content I could find on CW. But production quality is the lowest I’ve ever seen, and absolutely kills the value of material. I just been listening the episode on British empire, and I had to stop cause with so many stutters I just can’t follow the story.

This podcast is one of the best history ones out there, especially with its subject matter. However, after a full 4 months of just doing movie reviews the first history episode has god awful sound problems. I’m nearly at the point of unsubscribing.

This podcast is well researched and well presented. I especially enjoy the diversity in topics. The CW is usually associated with nukes and spies so the breadth of topics and information is appreciated. Looking forward to new episodes.

Love this show Very well researched