The Korean War by Indy Neidell

1. 

   E1. The Korean War Week 81: Ridgway Admits the UN is Little Threat! - January 6, 1952

   Jan 6, 2026 · 16m

   The year may have changed, familiar faces come and go, but some things remain the same. The POW issue continues to dominate and frustrate armistice talks, the fear of an expanded war in Asia re-emerges, and the snow remains cold. The war found no end and no pause in either 1950 or 1951, but third time's the charm, surely?

2. 

   E2. The Korean War Week 82: Operation Strangle Isn't Strangling! - January 13, 1952

   Jan 13, 2026 · 16m

   Operation Strangle, to destroy enemy logistical capability with air power, has been in progress for months now, and yet the enemy is still able to bring up men and supplies, and even slowly stockpile them for possible future offensives. The UN position now is that should there be an armistice, and should the other side break its terms, retaliation would be broader and would include actions against Communist China, but will the UN have the force to do such retaliation? That is the question.

3. 

   E3. The Korean War Week 83: The Medics' War! - January 20, 1952

   Jan 20, 2026 · 16m

   There's discussion- and disagreement- in UN Command and Washington about whether or not to poll all the POWs the UN side holds to see where they would like to go should they be released. There are arguments for and against this, and it brings up a couple different interpretations of the Geneva Convention. This week we also talk a lot about recent medical advances in field medicine in Korea, and the development of the 'Medics' War'.

4. 

   E4. The Korean War Week 84: Inside Truman's Diary - January 27, 1952

   Jan 27, 2026 · 14m

   Things heat up in the Panmunjom Peace Talks, which each side arguing that the other side's proposals violate the Geneva Convention, but by the end of the week they talks are in recess. Naval aircraft pound the North Korean infrastructure all week long, though, and US President Harry Truman has a few things to say about the Soviet Union that the world may wish to hear.

5. 

   E5. The Korean War Week 85: Futilely Pounding North Korea? - February 3, 1952

   Feb 3, 2026 · 15m

   The UN forces are by now having trouble just keeping their planes in the skies, thanks to shortages of spare parts, so for long can they maintain aerial supremacy over Korea? And though the aerial campaign to destroy North Korean infrastructure has been stepped up, so too has the enemy's ability to quickly rebuild. And at the armistice talks, the big issue this week is which countries will form inspection teams after an armistice, and who might be out of the question. The Soviets?

6. 

   E6. The Korean War Week 86: Koje-do: A Simmering Cauldron - February 10, 1952

   Feb 10, 2026 · 16m

   An astonishing accusation about chemical weapons by Soviet diplomat Yakov Malik dominates headlines this week, as the POW issue continues to plague ceasefire negotiations. But those are far from the only developments this week. Elsewhere, overcrowding, poor conditions, and lack of firm control escalate tensions at the UN's Koje-do POW camp, perhaps beginning to precipitate unpredictable and dangerous results...

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