Teddy Goes to the USSR

Apr 10 2023 234

Teddy Goes to the USSR Podcast artwork

Americans believed the Soviet Union was cut off from the West. Nothing went in. And very little came out. Yet, tens of thousands of Americans visited their Cold War rival annually. What did they find behind the Iron Curtain? Teddy Goes to the USSR, a new six-part podcast series follows one such American, Teddy Roe, to shine light on Soviet tourism, police surveillance, consumerism, race, and everyday life through his extraordinary three-month trip to the Soviet Union in 1968.

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A Gift for Stalin, Part Two: The Accursed Share

Apr 10 2023 53 mins

It all started with a letter to Stalin in 1935. And when a Kremlin clerk opened it, there was a piece of shit inside. Was the turd an insult? A way of saying to Stalin, “You’re a shit. Here’s some shit”? Perhaps. But I ended Part One of a Gift for Stalin on a different note: that the turd addressed to Stalin was no slight at all. It was, in fact, a gift. A little brown pres

A Gift for Stalin, Part One: Dear Comrade Stalin

Mar 31 2023 39 mins

It’s Sunday, October 13, 1935, and someone, we don’t know who mails a letter from the outskirts of Moscow. It’s addressed: “Kremlin. To Comrade Stalin.” It arrives a few days later. There was nothing odd about people writing Stalin. They wrote to him a lot. To plead for help. To give advice. To complain. To denounce. And to threaten. The letters could be incredibly pers

Trailer: A Gift for Stalin

Mar 20 2023 2 mins

It’s Sunday, October 13, 1935, and someone, we don’t know, who mails a letter. It’s addressed: “Kremlin. To Comrade Stalin.” Now, there was nothing odd about people writing Stalin. They wrote to him a lot. So, when Comrade Sentaretskaya, one of the secretaries sorting Stalin’s mail, got to this letter, she had no reason to worry . . . . that is until she opened it. Just

Ep 6: Cold War Colored Glasses

Jul 05 2022 62 mins

Teddy Goes to the USSR explored American tourism, KGB surveillance, consumerism, race, and daily life through Teddy Roe’s trip to the USSR. And many of Teddy’s observations were inevitably informed by the Cold War and American tropes. So, what to make of Teddy’s journey and what it says about Soviet life? In this final episode, TGU host Sean Guillory and historian Leah Goldma

Ep 5: Teddy Meets the Soviet People

Jun 28 2022 58 mins

American tourists expected few chances to meet Soviet people. You’d only see what Soviet officials wanted to show you. Touring the USSR, many assumed, was nothing more than a front row seat at a big show. And real Soviet life was hidden under layers upon layers of propaganda. So, if you wanted to see the truth of Soviet life—avoid officials and seek out “regular people.” Te

Ep 4: Teddy Talks about Race

Jun 20 2022 59 mins

Teddy had few “official” meetings in the USSR. A factory here. A collective farm there. Maybe a school or two. And there was one question Teddy’s hosts always asked: “Why are you still lynching Blacks?” American racism was a global issue during the Cold War. And pointing to it was a strike at America’s Achilles heel. Soviet media devoted a lot of time to the Civil Right

Ep 3: Teddy Goes Shopping

Jun 13 2022 53 mins

Like many Americans, Teddy judged the USSR through a consumer lens. What could Soviets buy? How much? And what was up with those long lines and shortages? Teddy wasn’t very impressed. Yet, the “standard of living race” was a front in the Cold War like any other. And Soviet communism was losing. But things were never so simple. By the late 1960s, Soviet people were consuming m

Ep 2: Teddy Meets the KGB

Jun 06 2022 37 mins

Teddy assumed the KGB would monitor his travels around the Soviet Union. In Kiev, Teddy discovers that someone went through his luggage. And half-century later he learns his suspicions were correct. The KGB wrote a report on him, complete with excerpts from his diary. What was in this report? What did the KGB hope to learn from Teddy? And what was this vast network for keeping tabs

Ep 1: Teddy Greets the USSR

May 30 2022 51 mins

Teddy Roe took an extraordinary trip to the USSR in 1968. For three months, he travelled from one end of the USSR to the other. Most Americans at the time believed the USSR was their greatest enemy. Teddy was among tens of thousands who toured the Soviet Union. Why did Americans want to travel there? Why did the Soviets want them to come? What just what was the tourist experience l

Trailer 2: Teddy Goes to the USSR

May 16 2022 2 mins

Coming May 30! Teddy Goes to the USSR, a new six-part podcast series follows one such American, Teddy Roe, to shine light on Soviet tourism, police surveillance, consumerism, race, and everyday life through his extraordinary three-month trip to the Soviet Union in 1968.