Why the Cold War still matters - the superpower standoff

This four part radio documentary series examines the end of the Cold War, and considers why and how it ended in 1989 with the fall of the Berlin Wall. It combines interviews with experts, oral history, and academic expertise.Episode 1, the Superpower Standoff, examines the traditional story of the Cold War: the face-off between two superpowers. How did the world come to be divided into East and West? How did nuclear competition intensify? The 1980s, often seen as the second Cold War because a of considerable ratcheting up of tensions, experienced a remarkable shift from very serious nuclear crises and rhetoric to significant arms reductions.