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The Cold War’s Afterlife, Part 2

On this episode of American Prestige, more of our conversation with Penny Von Eschen.

Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison

April 9, 2024

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at a press conference following the EU-Russia summit on November 11, 2002, in Brussels, Belgium.(Paul O’Driscoll / Getty Images)

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The Cold War’s Afterlife, Pt. 2 w/ Penny Von Eschen | American Prestige
byThe Nation Magazine

On this episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek again chat with Penny Von Eschen, William R. Kennan Jr. professor of American studies and professor of history at UVA, about her book Paradoxes of Nostalgia: Cold War Triumphalism and Global Disorder since 1989. This second part of the conversation picks up with Cold War nostalgia in American pop culture, the 90s search for a new “bad guy” in places like DPRK/North Korea and the Balkans, the “kitschification” of the Cold War, ways this nostalgia manifested throughout the War on Terror, how U.S.-Russia relations were reshaped in the 1990s and 2000s, and the influences of this refracted view of the Cold War on the “New Cold War” dynamic we’re seeing today.

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On this episode of American Prestige, we’re back with Penny Von Eschen, William R. Kennan Jr. Professor of American Studies and professor of history at UVA, about her book Paradoxes of Nostalgia: Cold War Triumphalism and Global Disorder since 1989. This second part of the conversation picks up with Cold War nostalgia in American pop culture, the 1990s search for a new “bad guy” in places like DPRK/North Korea and the Balkans, the “kitschification” of the Cold War, ways this nostalgia manifested throughout the War on Terror, how US-Russia relations were reshaped in the 1990s and 2000s, and the influences of this refracted view of the Cold War on the “New Cold War” dynamic we’re seeing today.

Listen to Part 1 here.

The Nation Podcasts

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

Palestine and the Iran War w/ Yousef Munayyer | The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer
byThe Nation Magazine

As negotiations proceed in ending the Iran War, the question of the relationship between the US

and Israel becomes more salient. I spoke with Middle East expert Yousef Munayyer on the

agenda of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose interest in a securing his country’s

hegemony in the region is now in conflict with efforts to end the war.

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Daniel BessnerTwitterDaniel Bessner is an historian of US foreign relations, and cohost of American Prestige, a podcast on international affairs.


Derek DavisonDerek Davison is a writer and analyst specializing in international affairs and US foreign policy. He is the publisher of the Foreign Exchanges newsletter, cohost of the American Prestige podcast, and former editor of LobeLog.


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