Wind of Change
Episodes
Special Preview: "London Falling" by Patrick Radden Keefe
23 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Patrick has a new book coming out April 7, a true story about Zac Brettler, a London teenager who died under mysterious circumstances in 2019. After ...
Introducing Dreamtown: The Story of Adelanto
07 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Chapter 1: Bug’s Plan. It’s 2014. Adelanto is a bankrupt city in the California desert known for its massive detention centers and not much else. ...
Bonus #3 - Scorpions Live from New York | Fundraiser For Ukraine
11 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When Patrick Radden Keefe heard that the Scorpions were coming to town last month, he knew he had to go to the show. So he called his friend Michael, ...
Special Preview: "Rogues" by Patrick Radden Keefe
21 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Patrick has a new book that's just out, Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks. It's twelve strange but true stories of skuldug...
An Avocado Revolution | Introducing 544 Days
14 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Everything was going great for Jason Rezaian. He was The Washington Post’s correspondent in Tehran. He had just gotten married. Then, in July of 201...
Out Now: Bonus Episodes
06 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Thanks for listening to Wind of Change. We’ve made two additional episodes of the show — a pair of stories that we couldn’t fit into the main se...
8. Hello, Klaus
29 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
HANOVER, GERMANY, 2020: There is one last person Patrick needs to ask about “Wind of Change.” At a small hotel in sleepy Hanover, Germany, it is t...
7. Rorschach
22 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
MOSCOW, RUSSIA, 2019: On a boat ride down the Moskva River, Patrick starts to fear that this entire podcast could itself be CIA propaganda. Or worse, ...
6. The Doctor Is In
15 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
CAYMAN ISLANDS, 1982: The Scorpions’ manager Doc McGhee has a secret past: he played a role in one of the largest drug busts in U.S. history, workin...
5. I Follow The Moskva
08 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
MOSCOW, USSR, 1989: Klaus Meine, the lead singer of the Scorpions, has said for 30 years that the Moscow Music Peace Festival in 1989 inspired him to ...
4. The KGB Rock Club
01 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
LENINGRAD, USSR, 1988: Patrick finds another person who has told an eerily similar story about the Scorpions and the CIA. But he won’t answer emails...
3. America’s Secret Weapon
25 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
LAGOS, NIGERIA, 1961: One of America’s most beloved singers died without ever knowing that during the Cold War she had been used by the CIA. And a 4...
2. You Call It An Operation, We Call It A Performance
18 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
KYIV, UKRAINE, 2019: Patrick flies to Ukraine and witnesses how fully the political message of “Wind of Change” still resonates with fans at a Sco...
1. My Friend Michael
11 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
LANGLEY, VIRGINIA, 2011: The Scorpions’ song “Wind of Change” became the soundtrack to the end of the Cold War. But decades later, New Yorker in...
Wind of Change, coming May 11
25 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A power ballad helped bring down the Soviet Union. Was it written by the CIA? Journalist Patrick Radden Keefe investigates the secret history of Cold ...