The International Spy Museum SpyCast®
By spycast@spymuseum.org (Mark Stout)
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Podcast Description
Each month, the International Spy Museum will offer a new SpyCast featuring interviews and programs with ex-spies, intelligence experts, and espionage scholars. The SpyCast is hosted by Peter Earnest, Executive Director of the International Spy Museum and former CIA operations officer. The International Spy Museum (www.spymuseum.org) in Washington DC is the only public museum in the U.S. solely dedicated to espionage.
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May 18, 2012: The Hunt for KSM: Inside the Pursuit and Takedown of the Real 9/11 Mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed | Josh Meyer, co-author with Terry McDermott of The Hunt for KSM, visits the International Spy Museum to talk about the decade-long FBI and CIA effort to capture Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Meyer discusses the repeated failed attempts to find the evil genius who had plotted to kill the Pope and President Clinton and explode a dozen planes over the Pacific Ocean, all before masterminding the 9/11 attacks. Finally, hear how the US finally grabbed KSM as a result of the interrogation of another terrorist, Abu Zubaydah. | 5/18/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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May 11, 2012: Dick Holm: the Perils and Rewards of a Life in the CIA, Part 1 | Today Peter starts a conversation with Dick Holm, a legendary CIA operations officer, who has served all over the world. Dick, the author of The Craft We Chose: My Life in the CIA, talks about the importance of intelligence and reveals the terrible price that he paid for serving his country as a young officer in the Congo in the 1960s. | 5/11/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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April 26, 2012: Leak: Why Mark Felt became Deep Throat | Intelligence officers and investigative journalists both depend on clandestine sources to divulge secrets. But why do people betray a trust? Peter interviews veteran journalist Max Holland about his new book, Leak, which probes the mind and motivations of one of the most famous clandestine sources in American history: Deep Throat. Hear why Mark Felt, the Deputy Director of the FBI, betrayed President Nixon by leaking to the Washington Post and Time about Watergate. Were Felt’s motives patriotic or self-serving…or both? | 4/26/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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April 2, 2012: Author Debriefing: Shadow Commander: The Epic Story of Donald D. Blackburn-Guerrilla Leader and Special Forces H | During the Vietnam War, perhaps the US Army’s most secretive unit was the Studies and Observations Group (SOG). This unit conducted reconnaissance missions, captured enemy prisoners for interrogation and rescued American POWs. It also ran teams of clandestine agents, and conducted psychological operations. The leader of this group in the mid-1960s was a legendary Army officer, Donald Blackburn. Listen to author Mike Guardia describe Blackburn’s colorful life in this event which took place on 16 February 2012. | 4/2/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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March 28, 2012: Eavesdropping in Vietnam: One Man’s Experience | SPY Historian Mark Stout explores the importance of signals intelligence (SIGINT) to the Vietnam War with retired National Security Agency cryptanalyst Tom Glenn. Glenn served more time in country than any other civilian of the NSA. Hear about the sixth sense that good SIGINTers need to have, the difficulties of working in foreign languages, and how Glenn and his colleagues were able to predict every major Communist offensive. Learn also why American commanders did not always believe them. Finally, hear the wrenching story of Glenn’s last days in Saigon in 1975 as the city was falling to the North Vietnamese Army. | 3/28/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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March 21, 2012: The Power of Open Source Intelligence | With the ever increasing global connectivity, more and more information is available merely for the asking. This has led to a flourishing of the discipline of open source intelligence collection. SPY Historian Mark Stout has a probing discussion with one of the world’s leading practitioners of this art: Arno Reuser of the Dutch military intelligence service. With the growth of open source, can we stop stealing secrets? | 3/21/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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February 17, 2012: Author Debriefing: Smersh: Stalin's Secret Weapon: Soviet Military Counterintelligence in WWII | In the early James Bond novels, the hero battled the villainous forces of Smersh, a shadowy Soviet intelligence organization. Bond was fictional, but Smersh really existed. Drawing its name from smert shpionam Russian for “death to spies,” it was Stalin’s wartime terror apparatus and it cut a bloody swath of death across Eastern Europe. Its job was to “filter” the Red Army for spies and it was responsible for the arrest, torture, and execution of many thousands of innocent people. Listen to historian Vadim J. Birstein as he discusses this bloodthirsty organization and discusses the evidence suggesting that Raoul Wallenberg was one of its victims. This event took place on 12 January 2012. | 2/17/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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February 8, 2012: Investigating Historical Spies | Researching spy history is a difficult business. Spies carefully cover their tracks and intelligence agencies classify everything and release their records only after many years, if at all. Given these difficulties how do historians reconstruct espionage history? SPY Historian Mark Stout explores this issue with Dr. R. Bruce Craig, the author of Treasonable Doubt: The Harry Dexter White Spy Case. Hear Craig describe how a receipt for $1.25 allowed him to discover the real identity of the mysterious “Agent Zero” who spied for the Soviets before World War II. Also listen as Craig tells of his forthcoming book about Alger Hiss and how he has brought lawsuits that forced the government to open up sealed grand jury records for Hiss and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. | 2/8/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 18, 2012: The Intelligence War Against Terrorism | Since 9/11, the United States Intelligence Community has expanded into an $80 billion behemoth and taken on many new tasks, for instance spying on terrorists in cyberspace and even becoming a combat organization in its own right. Are we getting value for our money? To what extent did the invasion of Iraq divert important intelligence resources from Afghanistan? And why is the FBI flying reconnaissance flights over northwest D.C.? Intelligence historian, Matthew Aid, the author of the new book Intel Wars: The Secret History of the Fight Against Terror, grapples with these and other questions in a discussion with SPY Historian Mark Stout. | 1/18/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 13, 2012: Intelligence and Espionage in the U.S. Civil War | Spies, cavalry, and telescopes were the traditional intelligence tools available during the Civil War, but there was also cutting edge high tech: the telegraph and the observation balloon. How did Civil War generals combine these to help make strategic decisions? As we observe the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, SPY Historian Mark Stout discusses this question with Professor William Feis of Buena Vista University, the author of Grant’s Secret Service: The Intelligence War from Belmont to Appomattox. | 1/13/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 19, 2011: Author Debriefing: MH/CHAOS: The CIA’s Campaign against the Radical New Left and the Black Panthers | Operation MHCHAOS was the code name for a secret domestic spying program conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency in the late 1960s and early 1970s charged with unmasking any foreign influences on left wing protestors. CIA counterintelligence officer Frank Rafalko was a part of that operation. When The New York Times revealed MHCHAOS in 1974 and Congress investigated, MHCHAOS took its place in the pantheon of intelligence abuses. However, in his new book Rafalko says that the operation was justified and that the CIA was the logical agency to conduct it. Listen as he defends his perspective with dramatic intelligence collected on the New Left and black radicals. This event took place on 26 October 2011. | 12/19/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 16, 2011: The Silent Listener: British Eavesdropping in the Falklands War | D. J. Thorp, a signals intelligence officer in the British Army, spent many years eavesdropping on the hot spots of the Cold War in Europe and the Middle East. In 1982 he found himself on board a Royal Navy ship intercepting signals from the Argentinean military as it fought the British in the Falklands War. Listen in as Major Thorp describes to SPY Historian Mark Stout how signals intelligence influenced the course of that war, how his team uncovered an Argentinean plan for a counterattack that could have turned the tide of the war, and even how a signals intercept led British naval personnel to shave off their beards! | 12/16/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 6, 2011: J. Edgar Hoover: Fact vs. Fiction | Clint Eastwood’s movie, J. Edgar, gives a Hollywood take on the controversial Director of the FBI. However, many people have criticized the movie for whitewashing Hoover’s abuses while others have criticized it for its implication that Hoover may have been gay. Peter addresses these issues in discussion with Ray Batvinis, a former FBI special agent, a former Executive Director of the J. Edgar Hoover Foundation, and the author of the book, The Origins of FBI Counterintelligence. | 12/6/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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November 17, 2011: Author Debriefing: Uncompromised: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of an Arab American Patriot in the CIA | After a childhood in war-torn Lebanon with an abusive father, Nada Prouty jumped at the chance to forge her own path in America, a path that led to undercover work in the FBI, then the CIA. Her work earned her great respect from her colleagues but her promising career came to an end when federal investigators charged Prouty with passing intelligence to Hezbollah. Lacking sufficient evidence to make their case in court, prosecutors went to the media, suggesting that she had committed treason. Though the CIA and a federal judge eventually exonerated Prouty, she was dismissed from the Agency and stripped of her citizenship. In Uncompromised, Prouty tells her story in a bid to restore her name and reputation. This event took place on 15 November 2011. | 11/17/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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October 7, 2011: Identity, Espionage, and Social Media | Who are your friends on Facebook? Are you sure? Thomas Ryan, co-founder of Provide Security, knows that you can’t always be certain. Why? Because he created the fictional Robin Sage, a cyber femme fatale, who quickly wormed her way into the confidence of national security professionals who should have known better. He conceived the experiment to expose weaknesses in the nation's defense and intelligence communities, but even he was surprised by its success. Robin Sage is just one of the fascinating and disturbing tricks of the online espionage trade that Ryan shared with SPY Historian Mark Stout. You may never friend anyone again… | 10/9/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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September 23, 2011: Interrogating a High Value Detainee: A Morality Tale | What would you do if you were told to do whatever was necessary to get a prisoner to talk? This is the situation that career CIA officer Glenn Carle found himself in when he was made the lead interrogator for a detainee who was said to be a member of Al Qaeda’s top echelon. Carle, the author of the recently published book, The Interrogator: An Education, tells Peter what it was like to be in this position. And, he describes how he got on the wrong side of CIA Headquarters (HQ) when he objected to the treatment of the detainee, who he came to believe was not who CIA HQ said he was. Listen in on a discussion that raises profound questions about American values and the struggle against terrorism. | 9/23/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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September 9, 2011: In the Counterterrorism Center on 9/11: One Analyst’s Story | The war with Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda did not begin on September 11th. CIA analyst Cindy Storer was there from the beginning in the early 1990s, a member of a small band of mostly female analysts who worked on Al Qaeda long before September 11. They faced a frustrating uphill battle convincing others about this new threat and were subjected to ridicule for their supposedly excessive passion right up until September 11th. Hear Cindy discuss with SPY Historian Mark Stout what it was like to be in the building on that day and the amazing combination of emotion, professionalism, and commitment that characterized the following days. | 9/9/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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August 16, 2011: Author Debriefing: The Triple Agent: The al-Qaeda Mole Who Infiltrated the CIA | In 2009, the CIA’s partners in the Jordanian General Intelligence Directorate had a source named Humam Khalil al-Balawi working inside Al Qaeda and he knew where Ayman al-Zawahiri, the number two man in al Qaeda was…or so they thought. In fact, Al Qaeda was running a deception. In December 2009 al-Balawi came to a CIA base in Khost, Afghanistan and detonated bomb strapped to his chest, killing seven CIA officers and one Jordanian intelligence officer. It was the CIA’s greatest loss of life in decades. Join Pulitzer Prize winning author Joby Warrick for this gripping true story of miscalculation, deception, and revenge, and learn how Al Qaeda fooled the world’s greatest intelligence service. This event took place on 20 July 2011. | 8/16/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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August 2, 2011: The Aftermath of Bin Laden’s Death: The Lessons of Strategic Manhunting | The 13-year search for Osama Bin Laden may have seemed unprecedented, but actually such events have not been uncommon in American history. Since the days of Geronimo, the United States has embarked on at least eleven such “strategic manhunts.” Benjamin Runkle, the author of the new book Wanted Dead or Alive: Manhunts from Geronimo to Bin Laden, sits down with SPY Historian Mark Stout to discuss what we can learn from the history of these manhunts. Find out what kind of intelligence it takes to track down an evasive enemy leader and learn what the strategic pay-off can be from a successful manhunt. Part three of a series. | 8/2/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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August 1, 2011: Author Debriefing: Mastermind: The Many Faces of the 9/11 Architect, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed | Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was behind many of the most heinous terrorist plots of the past twenty years, including the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the Millenium Plots, and 9/11 itself. He even claims to have personally beheaded Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Investigative journalist Richard Miniter brings to life the remarkable story of “KSM,” including his time living in the United States. Based on interviews with government officials, generals, diplomats and spies from around the world, Miniter reveals never before reported Al Qaeda plots and remarkable new details about the 9/11 attacks. He also lets us into the ultimately successful clandestine operations of American and Pakistani intelligence officers to capture this notorious killer. This event took place on 19 May 2011. | 8/1/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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July 13, 2011: Author Debriefing: "Wild Bill" Donovan | “Wild Bill” Donovan was a World War I hero with a Medal of Honor to prove it, a millionaire Wall Street lawyer, and a prominent Republican. Democratic President Franklin Roosevelt chose this brilliant yet disorganized visionary to be his spymaster, head of the World War II Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Veteran journalist Douglas Waller has written a compelling biography of William Donovan. He describes Donovan’s reckless nature: how he needlessly risked his life on foreign battlefields and engaged in extramarital affairs that emboldened his enemies in Washington. Waller also recounts the OSS’s daring operations overseas and the vicious political battles that Donovan had to fight with Winston Churchill, J. Edgar Hoover, and the Pentagon. Donovan’s plans to continue the OSS after the war were defeated, yet the CIA rose like a phoenix from the OSS’ ashes. This event took place 17 February 2011. | 7/13/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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July 1, 2011: Modern Intelligence Analysis: From Art to Science? | A great deal of public attention goes to the CIA’s case officers who recruit and run agents and steal secrets. However, few people pay attention to the fact that those secrets are stolen so that they can be put on desks of intelligence analysts. Analysts, then, must put together information from both secret sources and open sources to produce insightful assessments to inform the nation’s leaders. Randy Pherson, a former senior official at the CIA and the President of Pherson Associates, teaches advanced analytic techniques to the US Intelligence Community. Join him as he discusses with SPY Historian Mark Stout his efforts to move the vital field of intelligence analysis toward greater rigor. | 7/1/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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June 16, 2011: The Aftermath of Bin Laden’s Death: Inside al Qaeda’s Hard Drive | After killing Osama bin Laden, the SEALs reportedly took hundreds of drives, disks, and computers from the house in Abbottabad, Pakistan. What challenges will American intelligence agencies face in exploiting bin Laden’s computers and what can be learned from the computer of a terrorist mastermind? SPY Historian Mark Stout discusses the complexities of digital dumpster diving with Wall Street Journal reporter Alan Cullison, who in 2001 purchased and exploited a computer used by Ayman al-Zawahiri, now the heir apparent to lead al Qaeda. Part two of a series. | 6/16/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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May 20, 2011: The Aftermath of bin Laden’s Death: Winning the War While Staying in the Right | What are the implications of Osama bin Laden’s death for the al Qaeda movement? What role did waterboarding and “enhanced interrogation techniques” play in tracking down Bin Laden and should we reassess our views of torture? Peter explores these provocative questions with naval intelligence veteran and counterterrorism expert Malcolm Nance, the author of An End to al Qaeda: Destroying bin Laden’s Jihad and Restoring America’s Honor. As a SERE instructor, Nance has been waterboarded and has conducted waterboardings. He has even given expert testimony on the issue before Congress. Part one of a series. | 5/20/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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May 9, 2011: Spy versus Spy in East Germany | The East German security service, the Stasi, was infamous for surveilling and oppressing the East German population. However, it also hunted Western spies and there were many to be found; the CIA, the West German BND, and Britain’s MI-6 were all very active. In fact, from 1955 to 1989 the Stasi uncovered more than 1300 foreign spies operating in East Germany. Join SPY Historian Mark Stout as he discusses Stasi counterespionage with Professor Paul Maddrell who has been working in the Stasi archives. Learn about Western espionage in East Germany and find out the grim fate of the spies who were uncovered. | 5/9/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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April 21, 2011: Stalking Terrorists Online | Montana resident Shannen Rossmiller is proof that things are not as they seem online. Before September 11, she was a judge, a wife, and a mother but not an expert on terrorism or an Arabic speaker. After September 11, she taught herself Arabic and started to explore the world of online jihadism, pretending to be a male terrorist. She soon found that real jihadists were willing to share their secrets with her. She turned these secrets over to the FBI and as a result some of her online acquaintances are now in jail. Listen in as Peter, who used to steal secrets in the real world, compares notes with Shannen who used to steal secrets in the virtual world. | 4/21/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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March 16, 2011: Dropping Spies from the Sky during the Korean War | During the Korean War, US military intelligence worked with anti-communist Korean agents and partisans to collect information from behind North Korean lines. SPY Historian Mark Stout interviews Colonel Douglas Dillard, USA (Ret.) who led AVIARY operations, the airborne insertion of the agents and partisans, and Mr. James M. H. Lee, a native of North Korea, who worked at his side as an interpreter. Learn what it was like flying at night over North Korea in a blacked out plane and hear about the courage of the Korean volunteers who parachuted into the dark, many of them never to return. | 3/16/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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February 1, 2011: Social Media: Tools of Liberation or Repression? | Social media—Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and others—are held up as powerful tools for peoples trying to overthrow police states. Iran’s “Twitter Revolution” electrified the world and the Egyptian government shut off Internet access as demonstrations swept that country. However, Evgeny Morozov of Stanford University, one of the leading thinkers about the political impact of new media, explains to SPY Historian, Mark Stout that they are less powerful than we normally think; worse, “the KGB wants you to join Facebook.”Social media—Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and others—are held up as powerful tools for peoples trying to overthrow police states. Iran’s “Twitter Revolution” electrified the world and the Egyptian government shut off Internet access as demonstrations swept that country. However, Evgeny Morozov of Stanford University, one of the leading thinkers about the political impact of new media, explains to SPY Historian, Mark Stout that they are less powerful than we normally think; worse, “the KGB wants you to join Facebook.” | 2/1/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 26, 2011: Intelligence and Analysis in the National Football League | In 2007, the New England Patriots were caught videotaping the New York Jet’s sideline defensive signals. That was illegal, but it’s remarkable what is allowed, even routine. From surveillance films, to secure communications, to briefing books, and deception operations, the intelligence activity conducted for the gridiron warriors is as intense as that conducted for the US military. T. J. Waters joins Peter Earnest and Dan Treado of the International Spy Museum to discuss his new ebook, Prior to the Snap: How the NFL’s Hyperperformance Strategy Safeguards the World’s Most Successful Team Sport. You’ll never look at football the same way again. | 1/26/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 5, 2011: Spying on the Soviet Army in East Germany | During the Cold War, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France each had a “military liaison mission” authorized to roam East Germany. While the fiction was that they existed to coordinate military affairs with the Soviets in Germany, the reality was that they collected intelligence on the Soviet military. Join Spy Museum Historian Mark Stout as he talks with Brigadier General Roland Lajoie, a former chief of the US Military Liaison Mission, about the accomplishments, adventures, and tragedies of these little known spies in uniform. | 1/5/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 17, 2010: A Young Woman on the Front Lines of the Cold War | Shirley Perry was recruited to join the CIA in 1951, a time when applications were handed out “under the counter” at the university job office, and when the CIA lived in rodent-infested temporary buildings on the National Mall. What was it like to be a young woman in the Agency at that time, and to be sent to Vienna—the front line of the Cold War—to support intelligence operations? Shirley Perry, former CIA case officer, reminisces with Peter about those early days and talks about her new memoir, After Many Years. | 12/17/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 6, 2010: David Kahn on Codebreaking from Ancient Times to the Internet Era | David Kahn is the author of the classic book The Codebreakers. When it was first published in 1967, the National Security Agency was concerned that the book might reveal sensitive secrets. Over the years, however, NSA changed from perceiving Kahn as “an enemy of the people” to depending on him as a popularizer of codebreaking. Join Peter and David Kahn as they discuss Kahn’s career, some of the greatest triumphs of American signals intelligence history, and the challenges facing today’s codebreakers. | 12/6/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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November 1, 2010: The Real History of MI6 | Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, better known as MI6, is James Bond’s home agency and one of the world’s most secretive organizations. The British government did not even admit that it existed until the 1990s. Yet, in connection with its centennial year, the service has commissioned an outside scholar to write an official history of its first forty years. Peter chats with Professor Keith Jeffery, the only outsider who has ever seen the MI6 archives and given their penchant for secrecy perhaps the only one who ever will in our lifetimes. Drawing on his new book, The Secret History of MI6, 1909-1949, Professor Jeffery shares “how it actually was and how it’s actually done. | 11/1/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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October 14, 2010: Escape from Tehran, 1979: Part II | American diplomats Mark and Cora Lijek were hiding at the home of a Canadian diplomat as the Iranian Revolution swirled around them. Peter continues his discussion with the Lijeks and also welcomes Tony Mendez, the CIA officer who led the daring operation to bring them home. Hear how they escaped the country posing as Hollywood filmmakers and the joy they felt as they finally left Iranian airspace. | 10/14/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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September 28, 2010: Escape from Tehran, 1979: Part I | When Iranian militants stormed the US Embassy in Tehran, Mark and Cora Lijek and four other American diplomats slipped out a side exit and found themselves on the run in a hostile country. Before long, Canadian diplomats gave them shelter but now they had to avoid discovery while Washington hatched an audacious plan to rescue them. The Lijeks discuss with Peter their ordeal and how they prepared to escape. | 9/28/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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August 16, 2010: Peering Over the Iron Curtain: Overhead Photography and the Cold War | Today Peter converses with Dino Brugioni, a pioneer of the art of photo interpretation and a living legend of the US Intelligence Community. Dino shares his personal experiences briefing Presidents and describes the role that he and overhead photography played in such seminal Cold War events as the “missile gap” and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Dino Brugioni has looked inside the most secret places on earth…from above.. | 8/16/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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July 21, 2010: A Spy in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard | A young student in the US when the Iranian Revolution happened in 1979, Reza Kahlili rejoiced and hurried back to his native country, but he soon found that "every promise that Khomeini had made was vividly a lie." In the early 1980s, he made contact with the CIA, agreeing to risk his life and his family's wellbeing as a spy within Iran. He discusses with Peter how he burrowed inside the regime's elite Revolutionary Guard to report what he found, balancing his constant fear against his Persian patriotism. | 7/21/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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July 12, 2010: An Army of Illegals: Assessing the Russian Spy Case | Two weeks ago on 27 June, the FBI arrested a network of 10 Russian "deep cover" spies. Peter sits down with former KGB Major General Oleg Kalugin to discuss this remarkable case and the historic spy swap which took place last Friday. Kalugin, who once ran agents in the United States, is forthright in expressing his views about what this case says about the state of Russian intelligence today. | 7/12/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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July 2, 2010: Son of Hamas, Spy for Israel | Mosab Hassan Yousef was the nearest thing to royalty in the terrorist group Hamas: the son of one of its founding members. He was also a spy for Shin Bet, Israel's internal security agency, which dubbed him the "Green Prince." Today Mosab and his Shin Bet handler sit down with Peter to discuss their dangerous game and his book Son of Hamas. | 7/1/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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June 4, 2010: Caught by the KGB | Martha Peterson, a 32 year CIA veteran, was the first female case officer assigned to Moscow. Today she talks with Peter about her sudden capture by the Soviet KGB while executing a covert operation in Moscow. | 6/3/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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May 7, 2010: Military Intelligence from the Cold War to Cyber War | In 1973 Captain Gail Harris became the first woman to hold a combat intelligence job in the U.S. Navy. Her 28 year career included hands-on leadership in the intelligence community during every major conflict from the Cold War to Desert Storm to Kosovo. Today, she discusses with Peter her unique experience providing intelligence support to military operations and the challenges of developing policies for defense against cyber warfare. | 5/6/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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April 19, 2010: Evolution of Government Surveillance Programs | Shane Harris is a staff correspondent for National Journal and the former technology editor of Government Executive magazine. In his new book, The Watchers, he chronicles the government’s efforts to create a computer system capable of analyzing data and identifying terrorist activity. Harris contends that while pinpointing threats remains difficult, the governments can now spy on U.S. citizens with ease. He joins Peter today to discuss the evolution of surveillance, America’s changing views on privacy, and the human element behind computerized data collecting. | 4/18/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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March 01, 2010: Tales from the OSS, part II | Elizabeth Macintosh continues to offer her insights into OSS. This time, she talks about the many fascinating and colorful people she met at OSS, including Director William “Wild Bill” Donovan and Virginia Hall. | 2/28/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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February 17, 2010: Cyber Security and Covert Action | Dr. Herbert Lin is chief scientist at the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, National Research Council of the National Academies. An expert on cyber security, Herb discusses various aspects of cyber attacks, including ways in which cyber weapons can be used for covert action. To view his co-edited report on this subject, visit: http://www.anagram.com/berson/nrcoiw.pdf | 2/16/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 20, 2010: Intelligence in a War Zone | Melissa Mahle served from 1988-2002 at the CIA, much of the time as a case officer dealing with terrorist issues in the Middle East, running agents and gathering intelligence. Today, she discusses with Peter her perspective on the recent suicide bombing of a CIA base in Afghanistan, the perils of collecting intelligence in a war zone, as well as the terrorist challenge. | 1/19/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 8, 2010: The Terrorist Challenge | The U.S. authorities' failure to prevent a Nigerian suicide bomber from boarding a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day, and the suicide bombing at a CIA base in Afghanistan have roiled the intelligence community. International Spy Museum historian Dr. Thomas Boghardt discusses with SpyCast host and CIA veteran Peter Earnest how these incidents unfolded and their implications for intelligence reform. | 1/7/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 1, 2010: Tales from the OSS, Part I | Elizabeth Macintosh served in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II. Today, she discusses her personal experience working for OSS, the role of women in it, as well as some of the agency’s most exciting operations. | 12/31/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 1, 2009: The MI5 Centenary | This year, Britain’s domestic security service, MI5, celebrates its 100th anniversary. Cambridge University professor Christopher Andrew, the author of MI5’s official history, Defend the Realm, reveals the agency’s strengths and weaknesses, and relates some of the most intriguing stories involving Britain’s spy catchers. | 11/30/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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November 1, 2009: Cyber Threats: Challenges and Solutions | Melissa Hathaway served as acting senior director for cyberspace for the National Security Council, heading a 60-Day Cyberspace Policy Review for President Obama that resulted in a comprehensive report with recommendations for action. Today, she discusses the massive and growing challenges of cyberspace—such as identity theft, cyber espionage, and cyber wars—and what needs to be done to deal with this threat. | 10/31/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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October 1, 2009: The Changing Face of Al Qaeda | How has the sustained U.S. effort to destroy Al Qaeda affected the terrorist organization, and how important is the current struggle against the Taliban in Afghanistan for the future of Al Qaeda? A former Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Combating Terrorism, Juan C. Zarate discusses America’s struggle with Al Qaeda and comments on the organization’s current state. | 9/30/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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September 11, 2009: Intelligence and 9/11 | Could intelligence have prevented the terrorist attacks of 9/11, and has the Intelligence Community been sufficiently reformed to deal with current and future threats? These are the questions that Amy Zegart discusses on the eighth anniversary of 9/11. An intelligence scholar, Amy has worked on President Clinton’s National Security Council and is currently teaching intelligence and national security at UCLA. | 9/10/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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September 1, 2009: Sexpionage | Since biblical times, spies and intelligence services have used sexual entrapment and emotional blackmail to recruit agents and gather secret information. International Spy Museum advisory board member and espionage author H. Keith Melton discusses the means, methods, and effectiveness of “sexpionage,” and elaborates on specific examples, such as the Russian honeytrap and the East German Romeo agent. | 8/31/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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August 15, 2009: The Cambridge Five | In the 1930s, five young Cambridge University students were recruited by Soviet intelligence to penetrate the British intelligence community. In the course of their decade-long espionage career, the Five did enormous damage to Western security. British intelligence author Nigel West examines their motivations and activities, and reveals new evidence he has unearthed in Soviet intelligence archives. | 8/14/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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August 1, 2009: Cold War Radio | Richard H. Cummings served for fifteen years as Director of Security for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). He reviews the propaganda activities of RFE/RL during the Cold War and describes Soviet bloc operations against the stations, including the 1978 murder of RFE scriptwriter Georgi Markov in London, and the 1981 bombing of RFE/RL headquarters in Munich by the terrorist Carlos the Jackal. | 7/31/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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July 1, 2009: Intelligence on Pakistan | "Pakistan is the most dangerous country in the world today," asserts Bruce Riedel, a 30-year CIA veteran and currently a senior fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. Bruce discusses the various threats emanating from Pakistan, including the rise of the Taliban, the security of the country’s nuclear weapons, the murky role of its Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI), and the precarious relationship with neighboring India. | 6/30/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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June 15, 2009: Intelligence in Cyberspace | Cyber threats, information warfare, and internet espionage are growing challenges for business companies, private individuals, and the intelligence community alike. A former CIA operations officer and current president of the cyber intelligence company Cyveillance, Dr. Terry Gudaitis discusses specific examples of cyber threats as well as techniques to counter them. | 6/14/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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June 1, 2009: Inside the National Security Agency | The National Security Agency (NSA), America’s premier cryptanalytic organization, is the largest and most secretive member of the American intelligence community. Discussing NSA’s mission, capabilities, and past exploits, former NSA Chief of Information Policy Mike Levin reveals some of the mysterious agency’s secrets. | 5/31/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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May 1, 2009: U.S. Military Intelligence—Past and Present | A West Point graduate, Brian G. Shellum was U.S. Army attaché in Germany, served in the armed forces during the first Gulf War, and worked for over a decade as historian for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). Today, Brian discusses the history and purpose of American military intelligence, describing the DIA and the role of the military attachés posted abroad. | 4/30/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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April 14, 2009: U.S. Naval Intelligence in World War II | Rear-Admiral Donald Mac Showers joined the U.S. Navy’s codebreakers at Pearl Harbor in 1942 and went on to serve three decades in the American intelligence community. Today, he talks about the contribution of codebreaking to the defeat of Japanese naval forces at Midway in 1942, and he reveals how cryptanalysts helped U.S. forces locate and kill Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the mastermind of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. | 4/13/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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April 1, 2009: Intelligence and Conspiracy Theories II | During the Cold War, Soviet intelligence used disinformation to malign the United States, for example, by spreading the rumor that AIDS resulted from U.S. Army bacteriological warfare experiments. U.S. State Department Counter-Misinformation officer Todd Leventhal discusses some of the most notorious Soviet-inspired conspiracy theories and explains how the United States sought to counter them. | 3/31/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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March 4, 2009: Intelligence and Conspiracy Theories I | What makes conspiracy theories so appealing, and why have they become so prevalent in this day and age? Do some of them contain a grain of truth? And who stands to gain from spreading these ideas? To answer these questions, Peter interviews Professor Robert Alan Goldberg, author of Enemies Within, and a leading authority on conspiracy thinking. | 3/3/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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February 19, 2009: Intelligence Lessons from Vietnam | Working for the Saigon Military Mission and the CIA, Rufus Phillips spent ten years in South East Asia during the Vietnam War. Drawing on this experience, Rufus talks about psychological warfare and counter-insurgency tactics in Vietnam, and lessons for America’s present engagement in Iraq and Afghanistan. | 2/18/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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February 2, 2009: Robert De Niro on Intelligence | Today, Peter chats with actor and film producer Robert De Niro. De Niro talks about his long-standing interest in the world of intelligence and discusses his latest espionage movie The Good Shepherd about the early history of the CIA. He also provides an insider look at the making of the humorous polygraph scene in Meet the Parents. | 2/1/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 2, 2009: U.S. Intelligence in Decline? | A senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, Melvin A. Goodman served many years as an analyst at the CIA and the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research. A critical observer of the intelligence community, he elaborates on his thesis about the decline of U.S. intelligence, specifically its militarization, privatization, and deteriorating analysis capacities. | 1/1/09 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 5, 2008: The CIA and the End of the Cold War | As CIA station chief in Pakistan, Nigeria, Sudan, and Germany in the 1980s and early ‘90s, Milt Bearden observed—and influenced—the end of the Cold War from a unique vantage point. Today, he talks with Peter about U.S. support of Afghani mujahideen against the Soviet invaders, intelligence community reforms, and his work as a consultant on spycraft in Hollywood. | 12/4/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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November 18, 2008: Woman in Disguise | Jonna Hiestand Mendez began her CIA career as a secretary and ended it as head of the agency’s Office of Technical Services, overseeing the development of gadgets, disguises, and high-tech devices in support of espionage missions. Today, she discusses with Peter some of the operations she was involved in as well as opportunities for women in the intelligence community. | 11/17/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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November 1, 2008: Intelligence and the Presidential Elections II | Judge William H. Webster, the only person who directed both the FBI (1978-87) and the CIA (1987-91), taps into his vast expertise to discuss with Peter the guidance he would offer to the next U.S. president. In addition, he provides insight on the ever-present tension between civil liberties and national security, and issues of intelligence oversight. | 10/31/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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October 20, 2008: Inspecting the CIA | Peter’s guest today is Frederick Hitz, the CIA’s first inspector general subject to U.S. Senate Confirmation (1990-98) and now a lecturer on intelligence at the University of Virginia. In a wide-ranging discussion, Fred talks about intelligence oversight, leadership issues, and terrorism. He also discusses career options in intelligence for young people. | 10/19/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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October 1, 2008: Intelligence and the Presidential Elections I | A former station chief in Moscow and head of the CIA’s Soviet/East Europe division, Burton Gerber now lectures on intelligence and national security at Georgetown University. Today, Peter interviews him about the post 9/11 reforms of the intelligence community and what guidance he would offer to the next occupant of the White House. | 9/30/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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September 2, 2008: The Iranian Hostage Crisis | In November 1979, radical Iranian students overran the U.S. embassy in Tehran, capturing most of the embassy staff—except for six diplomats who found refuge with the Canadian embassy. Today, Peter talks with retired CIA officer Tony Mendez who, in an elaborate deception and disguise operation, managed to exfiltrate the six Americans from Tehran before the Iranians were able to track them down. | 8/31/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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August 1, 2008: Intelligence and the Presidency | How is information from the intelligence community (IC) conveyed to the president, and how have different administrations incorporated intelligence in the political decision-making process? John Hedley, former CIA officer and editor of the President’s Daily Brief (PDB), reviews the relationship between the IC and presidents since World War II, in the course revealing fascinating episodes from his personal experience in dealing with several administrations. | 7/31/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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July 1, 2008: Gizmos and Gadgets—the World of Spycraft | Peter interviews Robert Wallace, director of the CIA’s Office of Technical Services (OTS, the department in charge of “gadgetry”) from 1998 to 2002. Bob explains some of his favorite devices, such as the T-100 subminiature camera, and compares OTS’ performance to that of its adversaries. He also reviews the role of OTS in some high-profile spy cases and discusses the capabilities and limitations of technical support in intelligence operations. | 6/30/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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June 1, 2008: Predicting Terrorism | Peter’s guest today is Malcolm W. Nance. A 20 year veteran of the US intelligence community, Malcolm has participated in numerous counter-terrorism operations in the Balkans, the Middle East, and sub-Saharan Africa. The author of The Terrorist Recognition Handbook and The Terrorists of Iraq, Malcolm discusses with Peter the role of Osama Bin Laden, Al Qaeda operations in Iraq, and the threat of domestic terrorism in the United States. He also talks about means and methods of effective anti-terrorist operations and cautions against overreactions. | 5/31/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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May 1, 2008: Congressional Perspectives on U.S. Intelligence | Peter’s guest today is former Democratic Congressman Louis Stokes from Ohio, who chaired the House Intelligence Committee in the 1980s and the House Select Committee on Assassinations in the 1970s. Congressman Stokes discusses Congress’ role in overseeing the intelligence community and the value of intelligence to national security, and his committee’s investigation of the deaths of President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. | 4/30/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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April 1, 2008: Comrade J and Russian Espionage in the U.S. | Today, Peter interviews espionage writer Pete Earley about one of the most senior Russian intelligence defectors ever, Col. Sergei Tretyakov or “Comrade J.” Pete reveals some of the secrets Tretyakov covertly betrayed to the FBI/CIA while serving as SVR (Russian foreign intelligence) deputy resident in New York in the late 1990s. He also sheds light on Tretyakov’s complex motivations for defecting. | 3/31/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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March 5, 2008: Intelligence and the WMD Fiasco - Part II | Looking further into the U.S. intelligence community’s faulty assessment of Iraq’s WMD program, Peter interviews Bob Drogin, author of Curveball: Spies, Lies and the Conman Who Caused a War. Bob reveals how fabricated information about Saddam’s WMD program from the Iraqi defector “Curveball” could make it all the way to the White House and consequently became one of the primary rationales for war against Iraq. | 3/4/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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February 1, 2008: Intelligence and the WMD Fiasco | Today, Peter interviews Tyler Drumheller, the former chief of CIA covert operations in Europe. In the run-up to the Iraq war, Tyler consistently questioned affirmative intelligence on the existence of Saddam’s WMD program. He recounts his often frustrating efforts to prevent questionable information, such as that provided by the Iraqi defector "Curveball," from distorting intelligence assessments on Iraq. | 1/31/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 1, 2008: Valerie Plame Speaks | Peter’s guest today is Valerie Plame, a covert CIA officer who recently left the Agency after her name was leaked to the press. Valerie discusses her time at the CIA, the controversy surrounding her case, and the administration’s drive to war against Iraq. She also reveals how suddenly becoming a focus of public attention affected her marriage and family. | 1/1/08 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 1, 2007: On Assignment to Congo | Today, Peter chats with Larry Devlin, the CIA’s legendary station chief in Congo during the 1960s. Larry reflects on his reasons for joining the CIA, the political situation in Congo at the time, and the face-off with the Soviets in the Third World. He also discusses his response to the controversial directive from headquarters to have Congo’s Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba killed. | 12/2/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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November 1, 2007: Intelligence and the Middle East | Peter’s guest today is Robert Baer who served for many years as a CIA operative in the Middle East. Among other things, Bob talks about his tour of duty in Lebanon, the psychology of suicide bombers, and the emerging threat of Iran. He also discusses the movie Syriana, which is based on his book, See No Evil. | 10/31/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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October 1, 2007: The Polygraph — Science or Art? | Peter interviews John Sullivan, the CIA’s longest serving polygrapher. The lie detector has supporters and detractors, and John confronts the controversy surrounding it head-on. He frankly discusses the role of the polygraph in the Agency’s security process and offers his candid opinion on the possibilities and limitations of this device. | 9/30/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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September 1, 2007: Leon Trotsky — Murder in Mexico | Peter’s guest today is H. Keith Melton, renowned intelligence historian and owner of the largest collection of espionage artifacts. Keith sheds new light on one of the most notorious intelligence operations of all time—the assassination of exiled Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky in Mexico in 1940. Keith reconstructs the operation in all its phases, including material from his own original research. | 8/31/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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August 1, 2007: Cuban Intelligence and the Ana Montes Spy Case | Peter’s guest this month is Scott Carmichael of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). As the DIA’s senior counterintelligence investigator, Scott identified one of the most damaging spies in recent U.S. history, the Agency’s own chief Cuba analyst, Ana Belen Montes. Scott discusses Montes’ motivations, the damage she did, and the continuing threat of Cuban intelligence to the United States. | 7/31/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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July 1, 2007: From the Secret Files of the CIA | Peter interviews Tom Blanton of the National Security Archive about a recently declassified set of documents regarding illegal CIA activities in the early Cold War. Putting these "Family Jewels" in historical perspective, Tom and Peter discuss the CIA’s participation in domestic wiretapping, assassination attempts at Fidel Castro, and the popular notion of the Agency as a "rogue elephant." | 7/1/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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June 1, 2007: British Intelligence—Past and Present | Peter interviews Dame Stella Rimington, former Director-General of MI5, the British domestic security service. Dame Stella compares American and British approaches to intelligence and offers her view on the terrorist threat and the Litvinenko murder. She also discusses the authenticity of spy fiction and reveals her favorite espionage writer. | 5/31/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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May 1, 2007: Counterterrorism, Intelligence, and the Iraq War | After responding to inquiries from listeners, Peter interviews Melissa Mahle who served for over a decade in the CIA’s clandestine service in the Middle East. Melissa provides a unique intelligence perspective on 9/11, terrorist threats, and America’s continuing engagement in Iraq. She also discusses career opportunities in the intelligence community and the changing role of women in the CIA. | 4/30/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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April 2, 2007: FBI Counterintelligence and the Robert Hanssen Spy Case | Peter discusses the Robert Hanssen spy case with retired Senior FBI Supervisory Special Agent David Major who knew Hanssen for over 20 years and was one of his supervisors. Dave shares his thoughts on Hanssen’s personality and reasons for spying for the Russians. Last not least, Dave offers his perspective on how the movie Breach captures and misses aspects of the Hanssen espionage case. | 4/1/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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March 1, 2007: The Movie Breach and Hollywood’s Take on Espionage | Peter interviews Eric O’Neill, the FBI investigator who went undercover as Robert Hanssen’s clerk during the final months before Hanssen was arrested for espionage. O’Neill is the model for Ryan Phillippe’s character in the current movie Breach. O’Neill talks about the ways the film mirrors—and diverges—from his real experiences with one of America’s most damaging spies. | 2/28/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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February 1, 2007: Israeli Intelligence and the Jonathan Pollard Spy Case | Peter sits down with Ron Olive, former special agent in charge of counterintelligence for the Naval Investigative Service, to discuss Olive’s role in the capture of Jonathan Pollard, one of the most controversial spies in history. Ron talks about investigating and interrogating Pollard, explores Pollard’s motivations and significance, and reveals the real significance of gift cacti. | 1/31/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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January 5, 2007: Reviewing Robert De Niro’s The Good Shepherd | Peter discusses the film The Good Shepherd with former CIA officer Jack Platt and AFIO (Association for Intelligence Officers) Director Elizabeth Bancroft, comparing fact and fiction in the OSS and CIA. Enjoy a bonus spoiler in which the three debate the meaning of the ending—and the best way to destroy secret information. | 1/5/07 | Free | View In iTunes |
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December 4, 2006: The Litvinenko Murder and Other Riddles from Moscow | Peter sits down with former CIA officer Bob Rayle and Oleg Kalugin to talk Russia past and present. The three discuss their perspectives on the recent poisoning of former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko. Then, they turn to 1967 and Bob's role in the extraordinary defection of Svetlana Alliluyeva, daughter of Josef Stalin. | 12/3/06 | Free | View In iTunes |
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November 1, 2006: The Secret History of Disguises | Peter talks with Tony Mendez, former Chief of Disguise for the CIA. Peter and Tony discuss the intricacies of developing disguises for use in hostile environments, the advantages of selective aging, and the secret history of facial recognition technology. | 10/31/06 | Free | View In iTunes |
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October 6, 2006: Russian Intelligence—Past and Present | Peter interviews Oleg Kalugin, former Major General of the Soviet KGB. Peter and Oleg discuss the current espionage conflict between Russia and Georgia, reminisce about the Cuban Missile Crisis, and bring an old question to light: Was Isaac Stone a Russian spy? | 10/5/06 | Free | View In iTunes |
| Total: 93 Episodes |
Customer Reviews
Excellent
I've listened to the first four podcasts and I'm very much enjoying them. As a history fan you can't do much better than the first person recollections and insights of the people who were there. Forget about James Bond, this is the real deal and they're nice long interviews ... just the thing for a plane flight or a commute. Good production values and no unnecessary fluff or flash.
Incisive analysis of covert operations
The interviewer, a.k.a. Peter Earnest, does an excellent job of bringing contemporary relevance to past historical operations in the Company (CIA). Each spycast maintains a very objective position on past operations which allows interviewed guests to speak candidly on the topic under discussion.
I can't get enough
To be able to hear stories from a former Major General of the Soviet KGB is amazing. Oleg Kalugin's passion is very apparent, and his point of view is quite interesting and insightful. I can’t wait to visit Washington and see the museum. The Smithsonian will have to wait.
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- Category: History
- Language: English
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