Letter from America by Alistair Cooke: The Reagan Years (1981-1988)
By BBC Radio 4
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Description
Ronald Reagan’s presidency, from Reagonomics and the invasion of Grenada in his first term, to the Iran-contra scandal and reconciliation with Soviet leader Mihail Gorbachev in his second. A fascinating social, cultural and political history of American life, through the words of British-American journalist and broadcaster, Alistair Cooke (1908 – 2004).
| Episode | Date |
|---|---|
|
Gorbachev's perilous experiment
|
Dec 09, 1988 |
|
Yasser Arafat's speech at the UN, 1988
|
Dec 02, 1988 |
|
Fears over US deficit
|
Nov 25, 1988 |
|
A dirty campaign
|
Nov 18, 1988 |
|
The 1988 presidential election
|
Nov 11, 1988 |
|
George H W Bush vs Michael Dukakis
|
Nov 04, 1988 |
|
The Bess Myerson trial begins
|
Oct 28, 1988 |
|
Baseball and politics in 1988
|
Oct 21, 1988 |
|
Testing public opinion
|
Oct 14, 1988 |
|
1988 televised debates, and Thatcher in 1979
|
Oct 07, 1988 |
|
Looking good on TV
|
Sep 30, 1988 |
|
Hurricane Gilbert
|
Sep 23, 1988 |
|
The Democratic outsider
|
Sep 16, 1988 |
|
Yellowstone National Park, 1988
|
Sep 09, 1988 |
|
Etiquette for presidential candidates and the heat wave of Summer 1988
|
Sep 02, 1988 |
|
Dan Quayle for vice president
|
Aug 26, 1988 |
|
President Reagan’s final Republican Convention
|
Aug 19, 1988 |
|
Ed Koch, Mayor of New York
|
Aug 12, 1988 |
|
Day care and recreation
|
Aug 05, 1988 |
|
America's polluted waters
|
Jul 29, 1988 |
|
Democratic National Convention, 1988
|
Jul 22, 1988 |
|
Indict and remand
|
Jul 15, 1988 |
|
Iran Air Flight 655
|
Jul 08, 1988 |
|
Seeing justice done
|
Jul 01, 1988 |
|
Goodbye to men's clubs
|
Jun 24, 1988 |
|
The Stand in the Schoolhouse Door of 1963
|
Jun 17, 1988 |
|
Bush will win it
|
Jun 10, 1988 |
|
Golf in Russia
|
Jun 03, 1988 |
|
Nancy Reagan's astrologer, 1988
|
May 27, 1988 |
|
Lame duck President Reagan, 1988
|
May 20, 1988 |
|
The forgotten William Le Queux
|
May 13, 1988 |
|
Irving Berlin turns 100, 1988
|
May 06, 1988 |
|
George H W Bush nominated
|
Apr 29, 1988 |
|
Stanton Delaplane (1907-1988)
|
Apr 22, 1988 |
|
The Augusta National, 1988
|
Apr 15, 1988 |
|
Correspondents answered
|
Apr 08, 1988 |
|
Democrat agony
|
Apr 01, 1988 |
|
Warnings for Gorbachev
|
Mar 25, 1988 |
|
California public health laws
|
Mar 18, 1988 |
|
1988 presidential primaries
|
Mar 11, 1988 |
|
Black Monday remembered
|
Mar 04, 1988 |
|
Serious Money
|
Feb 26, 1988 |
|
New Hampshire
|
Feb 19, 1988 |
|
Caucus system
|
Feb 12, 1988 |
|
McCarran-Walter Act repealed
|
Jan 15, 1988 |
|
Missile treaty questioned
|
Jan 08, 1988 |
|
The Democrat Convention of 1924
|
Dec 23, 1987 |
|
Gary Hart confesses
|
Dec 18, 1987 |
|
Gorby mania
|
Dec 13, 1987 |
|
INF Treaty
|
Dec 04, 1987 |
|
Thanksgiving 1987
|
Nov 27, 1987 |
|
Iran-Contra reports
|
Nov 20, 1987 |
|
Black Monday
|
Nov 13, 1987 |
|
Gorbachev wants economic change
|
Nov 06, 1987 |
|
Time for more taxes
|
Oct 30, 1987 |
|
Black Monday 1987, Black Tuesday 1929
|
Oct 23, 1987 |
|
Peace prize for Sanchez
|
Oct 16, 1987 |
|
Off the hook?
|
Oct 09, 1987 |
|
Oliver North’s diminished popularity
|
Oct 02, 1987 |
|
Robert Bork’s Supreme Court nomination
|
Sep 18, 1987 |
|
Papal visit, September 1987
|
Sep 11, 1987 |
|
The meaning of Labor Day
|
Sep 04, 1987 |
|
Pat Schroeder pitches in
|
Aug 28, 1987 |
|
Anniversary mania
|
Aug 21, 1987 |
|
What's in a catchphrase?
|
Aug 14, 1987 |
|
Inflation rising again
|
Aug 07, 1987 |
|
Forget the smoking gun
|
Jul 31, 1987 |
|
UN unanimous on Iran-Iraq
|
Jul 24, 1987 |
|
The national anthem, 1986
|
Jul 18, 1987 |
|
An overnight hero
|
Jul 17, 1987 |
|
Oliver North’s role in Iran-Contra, 1987
|
Jul 10, 1987 |
|
A surfeit of scandal
|
Jul 03, 1987 |
|
Fred Astaire, 1987
|
Jun 26, 1987 |
|
2000th Edition
|
Jun 18, 1987 |
|
Alan Greenspan
|
Jun 12, 1987 |
|
Election envy
|
Jun 05, 1987 |
|
The return of Richard Nixon, 1987
|
May 18, 1987 |
|
In the money
|
May 08, 1987 |
|
Garbage disposal
|
May 01, 1987 |
|
Ethics in government
|
Apr 24, 1987 |
|
Playing nuclear chess
|
Apr 17, 1987 |
|
US-Canada relations sour
|
Apr 10, 1987 |
|
Surveillance and espionage in the Cold War
|
Apr 03, 1987 |
|
Farewell to stereotypes
|
Mar 27, 1987 |
|
Presidential press conferences
|
Mar 20, 1987 |
|
Reagan and the Iran-Contra scandal
|
Mar 06, 1987 |
|
Economic variations
|
Jan 09, 1987 |
|
Dairy buy-out
|
Jan 02, 1987 |
|
Presidential memory loss
|
Dec 26, 1986 |
|
Mayor Clint Eastwood
|
Dec 19, 1986 |
|
Voters believe Reagan lied, December 1986
|
Dec 12, 1986 |
|
The credibility gap
|
Dec 05, 1986 |
|
An unhappy Thanksgiving
|
Nov 28, 1986 |
|
The Iran-Contra scandal revealed, 1986
|
Nov 21, 1986 |
|
Teflon President on sticky ground
|
Nov 14, 1986 |
|
Democrats take Senate
|
Nov 07, 1986 |
|
A Boston wake
|
Oct 31, 1986 |
|
James McGill Buchanan
|
Oct 24, 1986 |
|
Reykjavik Summit, October 1986
|
Oct 17, 1986 |
|
The Third Man
|
Oct 10, 1986 |
|
US interference in UK politics
|
Oct 03, 1986 |
|
United Nations in decline
|
Sep 26, 1986 |
|
Tougher drug laws
|
Sep 19, 1986 |
|
Labor Day parades end
|
Sep 05, 1986 |
|
Keeping secrets
|
Aug 29, 1986 |
|
Hotels for the homeless
|
Aug 22, 1986 |
|
Drought hits farmers
|
Aug 15, 1986 |
|
A small earthquake
|
Aug 08, 1986 |
|
Averell Harriman (1891-1986)
|
Aug 01, 1986 |
|
Drug addiction spreading
|
Jul 25, 1986 |
|
A popular president
|
Jul 11, 1986 |
|
Independence Day celebrations, 1986
|
Jul 04, 1986 |
|
Sounding American, 1986
|
Jun 27, 1986 |
|
Supreme Court changes
|
Jun 20, 1986 |
|
Ozone loss and cancer
|
Jun 13, 1986 |
|
Americans fly abroad again
|
Jun 06, 1986 |
|
Yakima Canutt, 1986
|
May 30, 1986 |
|
Chernobyl nuclear disaster, 1986
|
May 23, 1986 |
|
Michael Deaver case
|
May 16, 1986 |
|
Growing US deficit
|
May 09, 1986 |
|
Ukraine nuclear disaster
|
May 02, 1986 |
|
US bombing of Libya, 1986
|
Apr 25, 1986 |
|
US attack on Libya
|
Apr 18, 1986 |
|
TV violence
|
Apr 13, 1986 |
|
Americans stay at home
|
Apr 04, 1986 |
|
US-Libya missile battle
|
Mar 28, 1986 |
|
Loving Los Angeles
|
Mar 21, 1986 |
|
International airlines in trouble
|
Mar 14, 1986 |
|
Floods in California
|
Mar 07, 1986 |
|
Marcos overthrown by people power
|
Feb 28, 1986 |
|
Reagan blunders over Marcos election
|
Feb 21, 1986 |
|
Philippines election queried
|
Feb 14, 1986 |
|
The US budget
|
Feb 09, 1986 |
|
Christa McAuliffe and the Challenger disaster, 1986
|
Jan 31, 1986 |
|
Loans warning on economy, January 1986
|
Jan 24, 1986 |
|
Martin Luther King day
|
Jan 17, 1986 |
|
Sanctions against Libya
|
Jan 10, 1986 |
|
Reagan's Russian broadcast
|
Jan 03, 1986 |
|
Paul Castellano shot dead
|
Dec 20, 1985 |
|
Some stories don't date
|
Dec 13, 1985 |
|
Making assumptions
|
Dec 06, 1985 |
|
The computer age, 1985
|
Nov 29, 1985 |
|
California's sea otters
|
Nov 22, 1985 |
|
Old hatreds
|
Nov 15, 1985 |
|
Tennessee jails crisis
|
Nov 08, 1985 |
|
US labour unions
|
Nov 01, 1985 |
|
Limousine envy, 1985
|
Oct 25, 1985 |
|
Cholesterol discovery wins Nobel prize
|
Oct 18, 1985 |
|
Achille Lauro hijack
|
Oct 11, 1985 |
|
Hurricane Gloria
|
Oct 04, 1985 |
|
1985 Mexico City Earthquake
|
Sep 27, 1985 |
|
On the 40th anniversary of the United Nations
|
Sep 20, 1985 |
|
Summer's end, September 1985
|
Sep 13, 1985 |
|
Hurricane Elena, 1985
|
Sep 06, 1985 |
|
Kevin Curren and Flushing Meadows
|
Aug 30, 1985 |
|
Moscow's spy dust
|
Aug 23, 1985 |
|
General Douglas MacArthur and the Japanese surrender
|
Aug 16, 1985 |
|
The president's nose
|
Aug 09, 1985 |
|
Francis Perkins and the US deficit
|
Aug 02, 1985 |
|
South Africa boycott
|
Jul 26, 1985 |
|
Reagan has surgery
|
Jul 19, 1985 |
|
Sport and tax avoidance
|
Jul 12, 1985 |
|
TWA hostages released
|
Jul 05, 1985 |
|
No comment
|
Jun 28, 1985 |
|
TWA plane hijack
|
Jun 21, 1985 |
|
Being a good politician
|
Jun 14, 1985 |
|
Hotel strike in New York
|
Jun 07, 1985 |
|
Simpler taxes suggested by president, 1985
|
May 31, 1985 |
|
Defining death
|
May 24, 1985 |
|
Trade deficit with Japan
|
May 17, 1985 |
|
Voters back Bitburg visit
|
May 10, 1985 |
|
Contra aid cut off
|
May 03, 1985 |
|
Senator Sam Ervin
|
Apr 26, 1985 |
|
Anniversaries to remember
|
Apr 19, 1985 |
|
Politicising the dictionary
|
Apr 12, 1985 |
|
Street crime fears
|
Apr 05, 1985 |
|
MX funding agreed
|
Mar 29, 1985 |
|
Strong dollar hits jobs
|
Mar 22, 1985 |
|
Reagan budget defeated
|
Mar 15, 1985 |
|
America's acid rain
|
Mar 08, 1985 |
|
Meese takes oath of office
|
Mar 01, 1985 |
|
General Westmoreland libel case
|
Feb 22, 1985 |
|
US farming in crisis
|
Feb 15, 1985 |
|
New Zealand bans US navy
|
Feb 08, 1985 |
|
Defending Kingsley Amis
|
Feb 01, 1985 |
|
Inauguration parade cancelled
|
Jan 25, 1985 |
|
The strong dollar and Lindsay Wellington
|
Jan 18, 1985 |
|
Budget cuts continue
|
Jan 11, 1985 |
|
Cholesterol-free Christmas, anyone?
|
Dec 21, 1984 |
|
China denies move to capitalism
|
Dec 14, 1984 |
|
Texas A&M University
|
Dec 07, 1984 |
|
George Aiken of Vermont
|
Nov 30, 1984 |
|
Senator Jesse Helms
|
Nov 16, 1984 |
|
George Gallup (1901-1984)
|
Nov 09, 1984 |
|
Bodyguards and personal security
|
Nov 02, 1984 |
|
Being 'on welfare'
|
Oct 26, 1984 |
|
Political TV commercials
|
Oct 19, 1984 |
|
Old Man Reagan, 1984
|
Oct 12, 1984 |
|
Gangsters in Chicago
|
Oct 05, 1984 |
|
Reagan meets Gromyko
|
Sep 28, 1984 |
|
Oklahoma ends liquor ban
|
Sep 21, 1984 |
|
Mondale gets mad
|
Sep 14, 1984 |
|
Car workers to strike
|
Sep 07, 1984 |
|
Alfred Knopf (1892-1984)
|
Aug 31, 1984 |
|
Mondale's wobbly leadership
|
Aug 24, 1984 |
|
Republicans head for Texas
|
Aug 17, 1984 |
|
James Mason remembered, 1984
|
Aug 10, 1984 |
|
Fishing for votes
|
Aug 03, 1984 |
|
Ferrero nominated
|
Jul 27, 1984 |
|
Reporting party conventions
|
Jul 20, 1984 |
|
Convention histories
|
Jul 13, 1984 |
|
Rise in drinking age
|
Jul 06, 1984 |
|
Jesse Jackson in Cuba
|
Jun 29, 1984 |
|
Misleading headlines
|
Jun 22, 1984 |
|
D-Day anniversary
|
Jun 15, 1984 |
|
Democrat prospects dim
|
Jun 08, 1984 |
|
Beware stereotypes, 1984
|
Jun 01, 1984 |
|
Tougher smoking warnings
|
May 25, 1984 |
|
Ed Meese investigation
|
Apr 20, 1984 |
|
CIA mines Nicaragua ports
|
Apr 13, 1984 |
|
Argentina bailed out
|
Apr 06, 1984 |
|
Holiday in San Francisco
|
Mar 30, 1984 |
|
No school prayers
|
Mar 23, 1984 |
|
'Where's the beef?'
|
Mar 16, 1984 |
|
Smiley Ratliff's escape bid, 1984
|
Mar 09, 1984 |
|
John Glenn and the presidency
|
Mar 02, 1984 |
|
Americanisms
|
Feb 24, 1984 |
|
Chernenko is Soviet leader, 1984
|
Feb 17, 1984 |
|
Reagan wants second term
|
Feb 03, 1984 |
|
Do Russians want Reagan out?
|
Jan 27, 1984 |
|
Home videotaping gets the OK
|
Jan 20, 1984 |
|
Charles Wick's secret tapes
|
Jan 13, 1984 |
|
Syrians free US soldier
|
Jan 06, 1984 |
|
1984 and the nuclear threat
|
Jan 01, 1984 |
|
NORAID and the Harrods bombing
|
Dec 23, 1983 |
|
President Alfonsin of Argentina
|
Dec 16, 1983 |
|
Joe Polowsky's funeral, 1983
|
Dec 02, 1983 |
|
The Day After
|
Nov 25, 1983 |
|
Defending freedom
|
Nov 18, 1983 |
|
Martin Luther King Day
|
Nov 11, 1983 |
|
Grenada press ban lifted
|
Nov 04, 1983 |
|
Invasion of Grenada
|
Oct 28, 1983 |
|
Barbara McClintock
|
Oct 21, 1983 |
|
Boycotts can backfire
|
Oct 14, 1983 |
|
Andrei Gromyko and the United Nations
|
Oct 07, 1983 |
|
The America's Cup
|
Sep 30, 1983 |
|
Fear of Russia returns
|
Sep 23, 1983 |
|
US troops in Lebanon
|
Sep 16, 1983 |
|
Korean Airlines flight 007
|
Sep 09, 1983 |
|
Reverend Jesse Jackson
|
Sep 02, 1983 |
|
Benigno Aquino assassinated
|
Aug 26, 1983 |
|
Andrei Berezhkov's non-defection
|
Aug 19, 1983 |
|
The arrest of Dave Winfield
|
Aug 12, 1983 |
|
Equal rights crusade goes on
|
Aug 05, 1983 |
|
Intervention in Central America
|
Jul 29, 1983 |
|
President Reagan's social programmes
|
Jul 22, 1983 |
|
Chrysler repays loan
|
Jul 15, 1983 |
|
Briefing-gate to be investigated
|
Jul 08, 1983 |
|
Connecticut bridge collapse
|
Jul 01, 1983 |
|
Paul Volcker, head of the Fed
|
Jun 24, 1983 |
|
Sally Ride, new role model
|
Jun 17, 1983 |
|
Margaret Thatcher's re-election and the 'special relationship', 1983
|
Jun 10, 1983 |
|
Thatcher plans second term
|
Jun 03, 1983 |
|
Bishops call for nuclear ban
|
May 27, 1983 |
|
Mayor Feinstein to stay
|
May 20, 1983 |
|
Williamsburg summit
|
May 13, 1983 |
|
Literacy rates falling
|
May 06, 1983 |
|
El Salvador crisis
|
Apr 29, 1983 |
|
Slimmer social security
|
Apr 22, 1983 |
|
Chicago's first black mayor
|
Apr 15, 1983 |
|
Intelligent computers
|
Apr 08, 1983 |
|
Reagan's 'Star Wars' speech
|
Apr 01, 1983 |
|
The Squeal Rule
|
Mar 25, 1983 |
|
Reagan being Reagan again
|
Mar 18, 1983 |
|
Queen Elizabeth and Pope John Paul II
|
Mar 11, 1983 |
|
Financial crisis of 1933
|
Mar 04, 1983 |
|
Who's next for President?
|
Feb 25, 1983 |
|
China-US relations
|
Feb 18, 1983 |
|
Fear of appeasement, 1983
|
Feb 04, 1983 |
|
Reagan u-turn on economy
|
Jan 28, 1983 |
|
Florida's changing fortunes
|
Jan 21, 1983 |
|
Satellite communication
|
Jan 14, 1983 |
|
Puerto Rican bombing in NY
|
Jan 07, 1983 |
|
China's spoilt brats
|
Dec 31, 1982 |
|
The Dull Men's Club, 1982
|
Dec 24, 1982 |
|
The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930
|
Dec 17, 1982 |
|
Congress vote on MX missile
|
Dec 10, 1982 |
|
Kennedy quits presidential bid
|
Dec 03, 1982 |
|
Airline cartel claim
|
Nov 26, 1982 |
|
Voting for equal rights
|
Nov 19, 1982 |
|
Vietnam veterans' memorial, 1982
|
Nov 12, 1982 |
|
Mid-term elections
|
Nov 05, 1982 |
|
Reaganomics 'a gimmick'
|
Oct 29, 1982 |
|
Jobless are main elections issue
|
Oct 22, 1982 |
|
National Football League strike 1982
|
Oct 08, 1982 |
|
New York immigrants
|
Oct 01, 1982 |
|
US impotent in Lebanon conflict
|
Sep 24, 1982 |
|
Labor Day parade
|
Sep 10, 1982 |
|
Reagan backs Palestinian autonomy
|
Sep 03, 1982 |
|
Reagan's 'revenue' increases
|
Aug 27, 1982 |
|
Hinckley insanity defence
|
Aug 20, 1982 |
|
White-collar unemployment
|
Jul 23, 1982 |
|
Fourth of July
|
Jul 02, 1982 |
|
Falklands surrender
|
Jun 18, 1982 |
|
Reagan's Europe tour
|
Jun 04, 1982 |
|
Reagan silent over Falklands
|
May 28, 1982 |
|
Nuclear reduction talks suggested
|
May 21, 1982 |
|
The Falklands, the BBC and censorship, 1982
|
May 14, 1982 |
|
Falklands casualties
|
May 07, 1982 |
|
Hinckley trial opens
|
Apr 30, 1982 |
|
Argentina invokes security pact
|
Apr 23, 1982 |
|
Haig's shuttle diplomacy over Falklands
|
Apr 16, 1982 |
|
The invasion of the Falkland Islands
|
Apr 09, 1982 |
|
El Salvador elections
|
Apr 02, 1982 |
|
Soviet-China peace request
|
Mar 26, 1982 |
|
St. Patrick's Day 1982
|
Mar 19, 1982 |
|
The real Florida
|
Mar 12, 1982 |
|
The Moral Majority
|
Feb 26, 1982 |
|
Winter deepens recession
|
Feb 19, 1982 |
|
President Truman and Dr Arthur Barsky
|
Feb 12, 1982 |
|
Roosevelt 100th anniversary, 1982
|
Feb 05, 1982 |
|
Franklin D Roosevelt and the New Deal
|
Jan 29, 1982 |
|
Reagan faces reality
|
Jan 22, 1982 |
|
Polish propaganda
|
Jan 08, 1982 |
|
President Reagan and the Middle East
|
Jan 01, 1982 |
|
US budget deficit
|
Dec 25, 1981 |
|
Martial law in Poland
|
Dec 18, 1981 |
|
US-China relations
|
Dec 11, 1981 |
|
Video games craze
|
Dec 04, 1981 |
|
Reagan vetoes budget
|
Nov 27, 1981 |
|
Reagan backtracks on missiles
|
Nov 20, 1981 |
|
Abortion an issue again
|
Nov 06, 1981 |
|
Video tape copyright claim
|
Oct 30, 1981 |
|
Death of Anwar Sadat (1918-1981)
|
Oct 09, 1981 |
|
US reviews Soviet military strength
|
Oct 02, 1981 |
|
Illegal immigration, 1981
|
Sep 25, 1981 |
|
First woman Supreme Court judge
|
Sep 18, 1981 |
|
Inner city decay
|
Sep 11, 1981 |
|
Fruit fly battle
|
Sep 04, 1981 |
|
Libyans challenge US aircraft
|
Aug 28, 1981 |
|
Neutron bomb backlash
|
Aug 21, 1981 |
|
Reagan breaks air strike
|
Aug 14, 1981 |
|
Baseball strike, 1981
|
Aug 07, 1981 |
|
Royal wedding spectacle
|
Jul 31, 1981 |
|
Ottawa economic summit
|
Jul 24, 1981 |
|
British city riots
|
Jul 17, 1981 |
|
Reagan wins budget cuts
|
Jul 03, 1981 |
|
US-China relations warm
|
Jun 26, 1981 |
|
Surgeons' insurance costs soar
|
Jun 12, 1981 |
|
Reagan's policies stalled
|
Jun 05, 1981 |
|
Reagan at West Point
|
May 29, 1981 |
|
New York bomb threats
|
May 22, 1981 |
|
Grain embargo stalls
|
May 08, 1981 |
|
Remembering Jack Thum, 1981
|
May 01, 1981 |
|
Reagan budget-cutting campaign, 1981
|
Apr 24, 1981 |
|
Columbia space shuttle, 1981
|
Apr 17, 1981 |
|
Protecting the president
|
Apr 10, 1981 |
|
Assassination attempt on Reagan
|
Apr 03, 1981 |
|
US looks to Far East
|
Mar 27, 1981 |
|
Meet the neighbours
|
Mar 06, 1981 |
|
Inflation dips slightly
|
Feb 27, 1981 |
|
A meeting of minds, 1981
|
Feb 20, 1981 |
|
The new First Lady
|
Feb 06, 1981 |
|
Press overkill on hostages return
|
Jan 30, 1981 |
|
President Reagan’s inauguration, 1981
|
Jan 22, 1981 |
|
Haig questioned by Senate committee
|
Jan 16, 1981 |
|
Reagan chooses cabinet, 1981
|
Jan 09, 1981 |
|
Winter in Vermont
|
Jan 02, 1981 |