Everyone was on high alert in the 1950s. Both the Russians and the Americans were conducting numerous nuclear tests in a battle for supremacy in nuclear weapons. Both power blocs deployed many spies to gather intelligence.
And it was precisely during that time that University of Groningen (UG) physicist and nuclear scientist Hendrik Brinkman brought a promising PhD student to Groningen—or so he thought. Because Runar Gåsström was under investigation by nearly every Western intelligence agency.
‘A Russian Spy’ is the seventh episode of Echoes, the podcast by UKrant, featuring stories from four centuries of the University of Groningen. Editors Christien Boomsma and Rob van der Wal introduce you to Finnish PhD student Runnar Gåsström, who clearly raised suspicions. The episode was researched by UG emeritus professor Hans Wilschut.
Next week’s episode: ‘The woman who could see the fourth dimension’, about Alicia Boole Stott, who could visualise dimensions that others could only calculate.