Dec 31st, 2008 · On New Year's Day, Cuba celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the "Triumphant Revolution" which brought Fidel Castro and his guerrilla movement to power. The celebration comes as Cuba faces its worst economic problems since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Nov 15th, 2008 · Growing up during the Reagan era, Jason Eskenazi heard so much about "The Evil Empire" that when the Berlin Wall came down, he had to go visit it. He ended up spending more than a decade photographing life in the former Soviet Union.
Sep 15th, 2008 · Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed in 1953, after a controversial trial in which they were found guilty of handing nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union. Now, newly released jury transcripts suggest that Ethel Rosenberg may have been convicted on perjured prosecution testimony.
Sep 3rd, 2008 · The recent conflict between Russia and Georgia highlighted the fierce nationalism prevalent in Russia at the moment. A new sense of pride in their country, after the turmoil that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union, can be found among almost all Russians — regardless of age, education and economic status.
Aug 4th, 2008 · The Nobel Prize-winning author whose books chronicled the horrors of the Soviet gulag system has died of heart failure. Alexander Solzhenitsyn was 89. NPR's Anne Garrels talks with Steve Inskeep about a rare interview she had with Solzhenitsyn just after he was expelled from the Soviet Union in the 1970s.
Jun 6th, 2008 · Some Afghan-watchers worry that the West is repeating mistakes that the Soviet Union made in the 1980s when it sent troops there to prop up a communist regime. Among other issues, they say it is focusing too much on a military approach and not enough on reconstruction.
Apr 7th, 2008 · A tiny government agency you may never have heard of turns 50 this week. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency was set up after the Soviet Union beat the U.S. into space with Sputnik. Its mission was to prevent "technological surprise." It is most famous for creating the blueprint for the Internet.
Mar 2nd, 2008 · The Soviet Union is long since defunct, but The Economist's former Moscow Bureau Chief Edward Lucas says Russia poses a threat to the United States. Host Liane Hansen talks with Lucas about the relationship between the countries and his new book The New Cold War.