The door to the walk-in cooler slammed shut behind Jack Barsky. This is it, he thought, this is how it all ends – in a restaurant in the Deep South at the hands of a crazy Irish-American eight inches shorter than me. “He said he was taking me through a secret passage to a speakeasy.” But it was not the end that day in Atlanta, 30 years after the Cold War’s end, but a new beginning. The residual fear felt by the former deep-cover KGB illegal soon dissipated and a new friendship was born over drin...
Feb 16, 2021•55 min•Ep. 468
Have you seen that episode of The Crown where an intruder gets in one of the most heavily guarded buildings in the world via an unlocked window? Welcome to its cyber equivalent: “zero-days.” Join Andrew and Nicole Perloth , award-winning cybersecurity and digital espionage reporter for the New York Times , as they descend into a cyber netherworld that will enlighten, challenge and quite possibly terrify you. Oh, I almost forgot, she is also the author of what has been called “quite possibly the ...
Feb 09, 2021•45 min•Ep. 467
Counterintelligence. Counterespionage. Criminal Investigations. The Office of Special Investigations (OSI) have a fascinating remit around the world and across the country – one that also includes cyber, infosec and technology protection. What better way to break all of this down than to chat to TWO former Directors of Counterintelligence for the U.S. Air Force, Jude Sunderbruch and Terry Phillips . They are colleagues, collaborators and close friends who have seen momentous changes in the opera...
Feb 02, 2021•37 min•Ep. 466
What better way to start developing an Antipodean flavor to SpyCast than to release an episode with Brett Peppler. Aussie Army. Spec Ops. Deputy Director Military Intelligence. AIPIO President. Professor. He’s been around the block, thought about the block, and anticipated what the block might do next (he said he is, "desperately, madly in love with Futures Intelligence"). The Indo-Pacific is often overlooked, but it will be a key component of international security long after Brett and I have s...
Jan 26, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 465
Marie Mitchell is an FBI agent sent by the CIA to spy on the “African Che Guevara,” leftist president of Burkina Faso, Thomas Sankara. Inspired by real events, he became president in 1983 at the age of 33, this week’s guest takes what is best about the spy fiction genre and gives it her own unique je ne sais quoi (if most of what you know about this land-locked West African country can be written on a business card, guess the official language?). The week of Martin Luther King Jr. Day seemed lik...
Jan 19, 2021•54 min•Ep. 464
January 6, 2021. What to say. Former president George W. Bush, 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell all used the term “insurrection.” As these momentous events unfolded – I watched it on TV although I can literally see the US Capitol from my rooftop – I was constantly thinking about the intelligence implications. Long story short, I reached out to Diana Bolsinger and Mark Stout and voila! welcome to a SpyCast Special. Diana’s background inc...
Jan 07, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 463
This is the second in our two-parter with Dr. Matthew Brazil , a historian of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intelligence operations. Andrew and Matt discuss everything from recruitment, ideology, and foreign tourism, to modern history and contemporary politics – all the biggies really. Ever wondered about the “century of humiliation” or the “Great Firewall of China”? This might be the episode for you (but don’t forget Part 1!). Matt spent over twenty years working in East and South Asia. Even be...
Jan 05, 2021•48 min•Ep. 462
Edward Snowden is back in the news. I know what you are thinking: shocker! As we move into the new year from the annus horribilis that was 2020, however, one of the main intelligence stories is will Snowden receive a presidential pardon. Come to think of it, does he even deserve one? Back in what now seems like the mists of time, 2013, Mark Stout sat down with one of the nation’s top national security lawyers, Mark Zaid, for a legal perspective on the then recent Snowden case. Like a smoky 8 yea...
Dec 29, 2020•46 min•Ep. 461
Nothing makes me happier than a conversation with whip smart people on the past, present or future of intelligence: enter Heather Williams, a senior policy researcher at RAND, and Zachery Tyson Brown, a strategic futurist and founder of Consilient Strategies. With decades of experience at multiple agencies, multiple deployments overseas, advanced degrees from the National Intelligence University and a network of contacts that would do any Rolodex proud, they have oodles to offer. We talk the inf...
Dec 22, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 460
Bet you are wondering which adversary caused him the most sleepless nights, right? From the Red Army to New Jersey street gangs, from terrorists to the Taliban – Dean Barrata has analyzed them all. During a 30+ year career in intelligence, Dean has been everywhere from West Germany to Afghanistan, from the Pennsylvania National Guard to a New Jersey Police Street Gang Unit. If you have ever wondered if there was life beyond the three letter agencies (CIA, NSA, DIA), this just might be the episod...
Dec 15, 2020•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 459
The second in a double-header on Israeli intelligence. This week we walk the story up to the present day – including the election of Joe Biden and the recent assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. We also hear how Israeli intelligence is retooling for the twenty-first century. Andrew is joined by journalist Yossi Melman, a reporter for Haaretz and advisor on the Netflix Series Inside the Mossad , and Dan Raviv, who was at CBS for over 40 years. They are the authors of Eve...
Dec 08, 2020•59 min•Ep. 458
Mossad. Shin Bet. Aman. Legendary names from the world of secret intelligence. Adolf Eichmann. Wrath of God. Stuxnet. Israel’s intelligence agencies never seem to be far from the history books…or the headlines. Were they behind the recent killing of the so-called Iranian Robert Oppenheimer, nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh? To provide some context, best-selling author Dan Raviv spoke about his co-authored book Spies Against Armageddon , back in 2012. Hear about the history of Israeli intelli...
Dec 01, 2020•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 457
Ever thought you were the smartest person in the room? You’ve never been in a room with Sir David Omand. My former professor – no slouch himself – described Sir David as “the brightest person I have ever met.” It is certainly difficult to think of anyone more qualified to appear on SpyCast: former Director of GCHQ, former Chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee, formulator of current British counter-terrorism policy, he also happens to be one of the world’s deepest thinkers on intelligence and...
Nov 24, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 456
If 1985 was “The Year of the Spy,” was 2019 its equivalent in the sporting world? The Patriots were accused of spying on the Bengals, Leeds Utd. of surveilling Derby County, and the Houston Astros of stealing-signs from, well, everybody. Just before Super Bowl XLV (2011), high-school quarterback, artist and Spy Museum stalwart Dan Treado sat down with ex-intelligence officer, analyst, consultant and author T.J. Waters to discuss the secret world of the NFL. Briefing books. Secure Comms. Deceptio...
Nov 17, 2020•26 min•Ep. 455
Join Andrew and former Baltimore Sun reporter Liz Atwood as they dig into the fascinating life of multi-lingual Baltimore socialite Marguerite Harrison: path-breaking journalist, documentary actor, co-founder of the Society of Women Geographers…double agent.
Nov 10, 2020•57 min•Ep. 454
Fact vs. Fake. Truth vs. Lies. Information vs. Disinformation. For voters trying to choose between competing parties and candidates the distinction between them would seem to be central. But is it still possible to tell which is which? In this week’s SpyCast Andrew is joined by two analysts from the Alliance for Securing Democracy – Russia watcher Brad Hanlon and China watcher Bryce Barros – to try to get to the bottom of what is going on. Is “disinformation” fake news and malarkey, or a serious...
Nov 03, 2020•48 min•Ep. 453
For Andrew Hammond, a Scotsman and the historian and curator of the International Spy Museum , the loss of iconic actor Sean Connery this week at the age of 90 hits particularly hard. “As a Scot, someone from the same country, it’s a great loss and a deep loss,” Hammond told WTOP. “For spy fans and people who are from Scotland, but also for anyone who’s ever loved having the lights out and escaping through the lens of cinema, it’s just a great loss.” James Bond movies, Hammond said, have taught ...
Nov 02, 2020•5 min•Ep. 452
What do you get if you cross a Harvard historian with a UCLA trained political scientist and an award winning doctoral researcher? One word: context. Join Andrew and his guests – Calder Walton, Dov Levin and Magda Long – as they drill down into intelligence agencies and electoral intervention. Transcript available at https://www.spymuseum.org/spycast
Oct 27, 2020•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 451
Authorized History of a Secret Intelligence Agency –(STOP)– author debriefed by Spy Historian Hammond –(STOP)– WW1 WW2 Cold War –(STOP)– reevaluation of Western Front Bletchley Park Ultra Falklands War –(STOP)– discuss Authorized Histories “Cyber Rifles” and coming century –(STOP)– Podcast released on same day as Ferris book –(STOP) – a coincidence? (END TELEGRAM)
Oct 20, 2020•53 min•Ep. 450
Oct 14, 2020•43 min•Ep. 449
SPY Curator Alexis Albion asks author Ben Macintyre “Can women spies have it all?”, as they discuss his latest book on the extraordinary Ursula Kuczynski aka Agent Sonya. Transcript available at https://www.spymuseum.org/spycast
Sep 29, 2020•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 448
In the second of our “changing of the guard” episodes, the new SpyCast host Andrew Hammond sits down with Vince. It’s Been Emotional.
Sep 22, 2020•52 min•Ep. 447
Author Chris Whipple discusses his new book, The Spymasters:How the CIA Directors Shape History and the Future with SPY Executive Director Chris Costa.
Sep 15, 2020•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 446
Dr. Vince Houghton sat down for a conversation with the new International Spy Museum historian, Dr. Andrew Hammond.
Sep 08, 2020•47 min•Ep. 445
SPY Executive Director Chris Costa sat down with Kristin Wood who spent more than two decades with CIA in a number of roles.
Sep 01, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 444
SPY Historian sat down with some of the leadership of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research for a candid conversation
Aug 25, 2020•59 min•Ep. 443
SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with former CIA operations officer Alison Bouwmeester to discuss her career, and how she’s been helping people transition from government service to the private sector.
Aug 18, 2020•56 min•Ep. 442
Executive Director Chris Costa sits down with Professor Kevin King to learn more about his career traveling the world, and how that led to him being held by the Taliban for over three years.
Aug 11, 2020•46 min•Ep. 441
On July 23rd, we had a great conversation with Jonna Mendez about spies in Hollywood.
Aug 04, 2020•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 440
SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with former US Navy officer and double agent Art Lindberg to discuss his career and the sting operation that snared multiple Soviet spies.
Jul 28, 2020•1 hr•Ep. 439
