Fascinating People Fascinating Places

The Killing Fields: Surviving The Cambodian Genocide

In 1975, 9-year-old Sarah Pol-Lim saw her family's life descend into horror when the Communist Party of Kampuchea -- better known as the Khmer Rouge ( ខ្មែរក្រហម) seized power in Cambodia. 

Initially backed by the North Vietnamese government, the Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot sought to reset the country to year zero. Replacing all elements of colonialism, capitalism, culture, and the class divided by society with an agrarian utopia. The wealthy, the middle class, the educated, the religious, and ethnic minorities were among the segments of society they resolved to erase. The end result was a genocide that killed as many as 25 percent of the population. 

Even as a young child Sarah Pol-Lim was in the firing line because she and her parents were educated. 

In this episode, I speak with Sarah about her harrowing experiences during four years spent in work camps under the Khmer Rouge. The fate of her family, her eventual escape to America, and her views on lessons to be learned from this horrific event in modern history. 

 

Pinochet: Chilean Tyrant & ”Friend” of the West

On 2 May 1973, the Chilean national football team took on Peru in a crucial world cup qualifier at the Estadio Nacional in Santiago. The victory coupled with success in a subsequent playoff meant that only the Soviet Union stood between Chile and a place at the world cup finals. That game, against a nation whose government had friendly ties with Chilean President Allende would take place in November at the same venue. But Chileans would come to remember 1973 for more important reasons than football. Powerful figures had been plotting against the democratically elected Allende for two years, both at home and in Washington DC at the White House.

The Chilean football team did qualify for the world cup but only because their opponents from the USSR forfeited the match in protest at the CIA-backed military coup that saw President Allende killed, and thousands imprisoned, tortured, or killed in the very stadium that was due to hold the match.

In this episode, I speak with Professor Kristin Sorensen an expert on global studies whose specialties include Chile about the notorious regime of General Augusto Pinochet and the devastating and lasting impact it has had on the lives of ordinary Chileans. 

Audio: Nixon tapes public domain
Chile v Peru 1972 world cup qualifying

Music: Pixabay

The Business of Sex Part Two: Paying for Sex

In parts of Nevada, you can openly stroll into a publicly advertised brothel and legally engage in sexual activities with a willing provider. But venture a few miles away and the same activity could land you and the provider in jail.

In this episode, I speak with two women who consciously chose to become sex workers. One where it is legal, one where it is not.

Olivia LaRue a self-described courtesan and madam, operates her trade in Nevada. Rose, lives and works in Kansas City, Missouri where police stings are common as local authorities try to stamp out the illegal trade.

Why did these women walk away from careers in other fields and become involved in a business that is largely illegal and remains controversial? How does it impact their personal lives? How do they mitigate dangers that include legal problems and violence?

Regardless of your views on the trade, their candid disclosures are truly eye-opening. 

 

 

The Business of Sex: The Only Fans Wife Next Door

This episode contains adult content and is not suitable for young listeners.

In this episode, I speak with Kiki Smith — not her real name. But she is a stay at home mom and a married woman who makes a quite lucrative living posting as KS Wifey on websites including Only Fans, many vids and even her own domain: kswifey.com. What led her into this industry? How does it affect her relationship with her husband? What are the pitfalls and perks? A candid discussion about a growing yet controversial segment of the sex industry.

Guest: Kiki Smith

KS Wifey on Onlyfans
KS Wifey Official website

The Vow: A Love Story and The Holocaust

Author Michael Ruskin’s powerful new book “The Vow: A Love Story and The Holocaust,” tells the heart-breaking yet inspirational story of his own family’s experiences during the Holocaust.

His Parents David and Dora Ruskin lived in Lithuania at the outbreak of World War II. Initially, the area fell under Soviet control as a result of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. However, Hitler soon broke that agreement and sent Nazi storm troopers into Lithuania. Like countless other Jews living in Europe, the Ruskins were forced into ghettos before eventually being deported to concentration camps.

In this episode I talk to Michael about his book and his parents vow, that they were remarkably able to honor after the ravages of World War II and the Holocaust.

The book features rare archive footage including letters of his parents, family photos, and rare archival pictures and information from both Israel and the US. You can purchase a copy of Michael’s book through his official website:

TheVowaLoveStory.com

Music:

Ken Bakodesh Haziticha, A Jewish Hasidic Niggun, sung by the Li-Ron choir, Israel. Public Domain.
BBC recording from April 20, 1945, of Jewish survivors of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp five days after their liberation. Public Domain

Preview: Chile, the CIA and the Disappeared

Coming on 11 August, I speak with Professor Kristin Sorenson of Bentley University and an expert on Chile about the American involvement in over throwing a democratically elected government in Chile and replacing it with a fascist dictatorship that killed, tortured and tormented tens of thousands.

POISONOUS WORDS: LORD HAW HAW THE NAZI PROPAGANDA TOOL

During World War II, a new medium gave people on the homefront the kind of insight into the frontlines they had lacked during World War I: Radio. This relatively new technology enabled political figures such as Winston Churchill to warn of the dangers on Nazism even before the war.

But radiowaves are not confined by national boundaries and the British were not the only ones to see the usefulness of this technology during war time. In 1939, listeners in the UK began hearing seemingly British yet unwelcome messages over the radio.

In this episode I explore, Lord Haw Haw and the Nazi’s radio propaganda machine.

Related episodes:

The Göring Brothers: Albert and Hermann
The Hindenburg Disaster
East Germany
This episode is sponsored by World History Encyclopedia, one of top history websites on the internet. I love the fact that they’re not a Wiki: Every article they publish is reviewed by their editorial team, not only for being accurate, but also for being interesting to read. The website is run as a non-profit organization, so you won’t be bombarded by annoying ads and it’s completely free. It’s a great site; and don’t just take my word for it they’ve been recommended by many academic institutions including Oxford University. Go check them out at WorldHistory.org or follow this link: World History Encyclopedia

Music: Pixabay

Sound: Public domain speeches from Winston Churchill, King Edward VIII and William Joyce AKA Lord Haw Haw

Während des Zweiten Weltkriegs gab ein neues Medium den Menschen an der Heimatfront den Einblick in die Frontlinien, der ihnen während des Ersten Weltkriegs gefehlt hatte: das Radio. Diese relativ neue Technologie ermöglichte es Politikern wie Winston Churchill, bereits vor dem Krieg vor den Gefahren des Nationalsozialismus zu warnen.

Aber Radiowellen sind nicht an nationale Grenzen gebunden und die Briten waren nicht die Einzigen, die den Nutzen dieser Technologie während des Krieges erkannten. Im Jahr 1939 begannen Hörer im Vereinigten Königreich, scheinbar britische, aber unwillkommene Botschaften über das Radio zu hören.

Solidarność: Solidarity and the End of Communism in Poland

In 1981, American journalist David Ost attended an extraordinary meeting in the Polish city of Bydgoszcz. Just decades earlier, it had been a majority German city, in the German empire and had a German name: Bromberg. Two world wars, the Holocaust, mass movement of people and two border realignments had seen it end up behind the proverbial iron curtain in 1945.

The meeting was organized by a group named Solidarity which became the first legally sanctioned trade union in the Warsaw pact. It was a remarkable concession by a communist regime whose authority was based on the fact the country was controlled by the workers, to acknowledge there was even a need for such a group.

This minor freedom had been hard fought but it was short lived. Within months, Solidarity had been banned and the whole of Poland was subjected to martial law. In this episode I talk to David Ost, Hobart and William Smith professor of politics about Solidarity and Poland’s arduous journey from communism to today.

David Ost Professor of Politics at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1986 B.A., SUNY Stony Brook, 1976.

David Ost: The Defeat of Solidarity: Anger and Politics in Postcommunist Europe

If you enjoyed this episode you will also enjoy the following episodes:

Romania 1989
East Germany
Putin’s False Flag: The 1999 Moscow Apartment Bombings

This episode is sponsored by World History Encyclopedia, one of top history websites on the internet. I love the fact that they’re not a Wiki: Every article they publish is reviewed by their editorial team, not only for being accurate, but also for being interesting to read. The website is run as a non-profit organization, so you won’t be bombarded by annoying ads and it’s completely free. It’s a great site; and don’t just take my word for it they’ve been recommended by many academic institutions including Oxford University. Go check them out at WorldHistory.org or follow this link: World History Encyclopedia

Music: Pixabay