191 Items Tagged

Cold War

Area 51, Aliens, and the Truth (It's Out There)

A national security historian explains what's really going on at the infamous Nevada site.

Christopher Nichols October 23, 2023

Skørping, Denmark

REGAN Vest

Deep in the forest of northern Denmark, this secret underground bunker was built at the height of the Cold War.

An example fallout shelter from a 1957 government guidebook, stocked with "a 14-day shelter food supply which may be stored indefinitely, a battery-operated radio, auxiliary light sources, a two-week supply of water, and first aid, sanitary and other miscellaneous supplies and equipment."

What Would You Eat in a Cold War Fallout Shelter?

Nuclear war readiness meant stocking the pantry and recipes for canned ham salad.

Andrew Coletti October 6, 2023

NATO Troposcatter Station IDGZ

Bagolino, Italy

NATO Troposcatter Station IDGZ

This abandoned IDGZ station was one of 49 troposcatter stations in the NATO ACE High network.

Anchorage, Alaska

Nike Site Summit

Tour a Cold War-era U.S. military missile launch site in Anchorage.

Podcast: Spaces for Spies

Where real-world American espionage comes to life.

The Podcast Team July 25, 2023

Iron Horse grows pinot noir and chardonnay grapes.

At the White House, Toasts Call For Russian River Valley Wine

It's sparkling and comes from Sonoma.

Noah Lederman June 15, 2023

Podcast: The Greenbrier

This fallout shelter beneath a West Virginia resort was a state secret until 1992.

The Podcast Team June 13, 2023

Palmdale, California

Blackbird Airpark

See four top-secret US spy aircraft of the Cold War era, including the legendary SR-71 Blackbird and the A-12 Oxcart.

Podcast: Theatricum Botanicum

In the trees, an artistic refuge from the heights of the Cold War.

The Podcast Team May 17, 2023

<em>Le Défenseur du temps</em>—<em>The Defender of Time</em>—has been reinstalled in the Quartier de l'Horloge in Paris. Throughout the day, the metal swordsman marks the passage of time by fighting off a dragon, a rooster, and a crab.

Wonder Is Everywhere: The Defender of Time, a Plan to Bomb the Moon, and More From Around the Web

Get a peek into what we’re obsessed with right now.

April White May 12, 2023

One of the earliest works of botanical horror, written by H.G. Wells in 1894, featured a fictional orchid with a taste for human blood.

What Stories of Scary Plants and Other Botanical Horrors Say About Us

From bloodthirsty orchids to body-snatching pods, fictional flora are often symbols of societal fears.

Kate Golembiewski May 4, 2023

One of the 2.000 mummified ram heads found in the Temple of Ramses II, in the historical city of Abydos, Egypt.

Wonder Is Everywhere: 2,000 Ram Skulls, a Cold War Mystery, and More From Around the Web

Get a peek into what we’re obsessed with right now.

April White April 14, 2023

Calumet Air Force Station

Mohawk, Michigan

Calumet Air Force Station

One of the few Cold War-era bases with many of its original structures still standing.

Cher Ami, a black checker pigeon, earned his fame carrying messages for the American military during World War I. The pigeons recruited by the CIA during the Cold War were trained to undertake more clandestine tasks.

When the CIA Spied on American Citizens—Using Pigeons

The seemingly birdbrained Cold War experiment is still partially classified.

Steven Ewin January 11, 2023

Tirana, Albania

House of Leaves

A museum dedicated to secret surveillance.

Söderto Fortress.

Söderto, Sweden

Söderto Fortress

This makeshift concrete bunker is an unusual reminder of the Cold War.

Domed towers with the torre in the middle.

Loriga, Portugal

Torre da Estrela

This tower once served as a radar station during the Cold War.