This week, Justin has a conversation with Nicholas Reynolds. After graduating from Oxford University in the 1970s, he served in the US Marine Corps as an infantry officer, and later as a historian. Nick retired from the Reserves as a colonel and the officer in charge of field history. He also served with the Central Intelligence Agency, including as the historian for the Agency's museum at their headquarters in Langley. Today, Nick dives into the origins of the modern intelligence community in t...
Jul 03, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 103
In a special retrospective for episode 101 of the podcast, Justin discusses the lessons he's learned along the way. From getting into contact with incredible guests to growing an audience to some of his favorite episodes, we take a look back at how Spycraft 101 got where it is today. Connect with Spycraft 101: Check out Justin's latest release, Covert Arms , here . spycraft101.com IG: @spycraft101 Shop: spycraft-101.myshopify.com Patreon: Spycraft 101 Find Justin's first book, Spyshots: Volume O...
Jun 26, 2023•27 min•Ep. 101
This week, Justin sits down with Barry Meier. Barry is a veteran reporter who has written for the New York Times and received the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting, along with other members of the New York Times staff. He's also the first journalist to bring significant attention to the dangers of abuse of the prescription drug, Oxycontin, with his book Pain Killer , which was first published in 2003. Today, Justin and Barry discuss the story of a former FBI agent turned private in...
Jun 19, 2023•53 min•Ep. 101
Today, Justin speaks with Aaron Stark. Aaron served in the US Army as an Apache helicopter pilot, including on two tours in Afghanistan. He finished his term of service teaching at his alma mater, West Point Military Academy, as an assistant professor of economics after completing his Master's in Business administration at Harvard University, and he now works as a chief of staff at a Fortune 500 tech company. Today, Aaron is discussing the story of the Waltham Watch Company, headquartered in Wal...
Jun 12, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 100
Today, Justin chats with author, veteran, and former CIA case officer James Stejskal. James enlisted in the US Army in 1973 and served for more than 20 years, including with the now famous Special Forces Detachment A in Berlin in the 1970s and 80s. Among other assignments, he was severely wounded in Somalia in 1992 and medically retired from the Army in 1996, after which he joined the CIA as a case officer, where he spent nearly another 15 years. Now fully retired from government service, James ...
Jun 05, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 98
This week, Justin chats with Olga Sheymov. Olga has worked in high technology, on arts projects, and as a television producer. Her TV credits include the Long-Running series Russia Today, produced from 1997 until 2015, and Your Source TV among other projects. But long before she began her media career, Olga and her husband Victor Sheymov defected to the US and were smuggled out of the Soviet Union and into the Carpathian Mountains by a team from the Central Intelligence Agency in 1980. Victor wa...
May 29, 2023•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 97
Today Justin sits down with Jon and Alex from Fenrir Group. They're licensed private investigators based in Atlanta, Georgia, who offer a wide range of services, including skip tracing, process, serving bond recovery, and boutique litigation support. Not only have they successfully closed hundreds of cases of all types, but they've also developed a very large online following and have been featured in articles with Vox, Vice, and the Discovery Plus series Secrets, Lies and Private Eyes . This ep...
May 22, 2023•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 96
Today Justin sits down with Sue Dobson. Sue grew up in Pretoria, South Africa during the apartheid era and witnessed firsthand the brutality and oppression of the government at that time. As a young woman, she decided to take action and join the outlawed African National Congress to do her part to improve the lives of Black South Africans. She was eventually sent to Moscow for nearly a year of training in surveillance, intelligence gathering, and weapons before returning to South Africa as a spy...
May 15, 2023•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 96
Today Justin sits down with Marine Corps and US Army Intelligence veteran Erick Miyares. Erick spent nearly 30 years in the US service, deployed to some of the most dangerous corners of the world. Now that he's transitioned out of the military, he has found a new mission helping members of the very same units he served with face the personal challenges brought on by so many years of unrelenting combat and separation from their families. Today he shares his experiences in the War on Terror, and t...
May 08, 2023•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 94
In this solo episode, Justin dives into a failed professional hit on a businessman in Irvine, California in the 1980s. The botched job involved the CIA, FBI, ATF, and the Apartheid government of South Africa and ultimately uncovered a cache of buried machine guns, stockpiles of biological weapons, and a conspiratorial relationship between an American doctor and South Africa's illicit biological warfare program known as Project Coast. Connect with Spycraft 101: Check out Justin's latest release, ...
May 01, 2023•39 min•Ep. 93
This week Justin sits down with author Norman Ridley. Today they discuss a counterespionage incident that occurred at the beginning of World War II. Two senior members of British Intelligence were ensnared in a German trap in Venlo, Netherlands in November, 1939. This was a devastating blow to MI6, just as the largest war in history was beginning. Check out Norman's book, The Venlo Sting , here . https://www.amazon.com/Venlo-Sting-MI6s-Deadly-Fiasco/dp/1636242073 Connect with Spycraft 101: Check...
Apr 24, 2023•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 92
This week, Justin shares another solo episode. He covers a brief history of espionage and covert operations run by or against North Korea. These stories involve other power players like Russia, Japan, and more. Connect with Spycraft 101: Check out Justin's latest release, Covert Arms , here . spycraft101.com IG: @spycraft101 Shop: spycraft-101.myshopify.com Patreon: Spycraft 101 Find Justin's first book, Spyshots: Volume One , here . Download the free eBook, The Clandestine Operative's Sidearm o...
Apr 10, 2023•52 min•Ep. 91
This week, Justin sits down with journalist and Vietnam veteran Jack Chappell. After leaving active duty, he covered the Western White House during the Nixon administration. Jack is also the son of Howard Chappell, an OSS officer who served in Northern Italy at the end of WWII. Howard's story is told in the book The Brenner Assignment by Patrick O'Donnell. Justin met Jack in person last fall at Arlington National Cemetery during the unveiling of the OSS Memorial in section two of the cemetery. C...
Apr 03, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 91
Today, Justin sits down with return guest Toby Harnden. Toby served as an officer in the British Royal Navy, graduated from Oxford University, worked as a foreign news correspondent in 33 different countries, and has focused on terrorism and war throughout his career. Toby is back on the podcast to talk discuss the IRA and South Armagh. It's an examination of the troubles of Northern Ireland, focusing on just a single county i and the incredible violence, strife, and human tragedy that occurred ...
Mar 27, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 89
Today Justin sits down with Chad Millman, Chief Content Officer of the Action Network and the host of the very popular sports betting podcast, The Favorites. Before founding the Action Network, Chad was the editorial director for ESPN Digital and Editor-in-Chief of ESPN Magazine. Chad also an author with seven books published. Most of Chad's work has centered around sports, but today he discusses one that tells the story of German sabotage operations inside the United States during World War I, ...
Mar 20, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 88
Today Justin sits down with Bradley Hope, an author and reporter who has covered topics like the The Arab Spring. He's also written several books along with his co-authors. Bradley's latest book is the story of an incredible confrontation between an activist organization and the Kim regime in North Korea, which culminated in an incident at the North Korean Embassy in Madrid, Spain in 2019. The fallout from this event was heard and seen around the world and led to enormous consequences for everyo...
Mar 13, 2023•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 87
Today Justin chats with Dr. Frederick H. White. Dr. White is professor of Russian and Integrated Studies at Utah Valley University. He's also a fellow of the UVU Center for National Security. He's published eight books and more than 45 academic articles on Russian literature, film, and culture. Dr. White onto the podcast has done extensive research into the life of Ernest Hemingway, one of America's most famous authors and cultural figures. But did you know he also spent time working for the KGB...
Mar 06, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 87
This week, Justin answers more listener questions from Instagram. He dives into the USS Halibut and Operation Ivy Bells and takes us to Spain to dissect Operation Mincemeat. Then, he shifts to the Pacific Theater of World War II to discuss the role Japanese Americans played in the war. To close out, Justin shares the true story behind the Netflix series The Spy . Connect with Spycraft 101: Check out Justin's latest release, Covert Arms , here . spycraft101.com IG: @spycraft101 Shop: spycraft-101...
Feb 27, 2023•43 min•Ep. 86
In this solo episode, Justin shares his research into a question that haunted America for decades after the end of the Vietnam War: whether any living prisoners of war were left. It's a subject that has spawned many books, articles, and films, and it has evoked a lot of passion from people whose husbands, fathers, brothers and sons went off to war but never came home. Listen an learn why it was believed that somewhere left behind and what efforts went into finding them in the months and years an...
Feb 20, 2023•45 min•Ep. 85
This week Justin chats with Pate McMichael. Pate is the Associate Director of the School of Journalism at the University of Arizona and worked as a freelance magazine journalist in Georgia for 15 years. He's also written two books. Today, Pate is here to discuss the murder of an OSS officer named Major William Holohan, who was killed by his own men while serving behind enemy lines in northern Italy in 1944. Connect with Pate: patemcmichael.com IG: @patemcmichael Check out Pate's book, Operation ...
Feb 13, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 83
This week just sits down with Jim Popkin, former senior investigative reporter and producer at N NBC News and on air correspondent. Jim's articles have appeared in publications like Washington Post Magazine, Wired, Newsweek, Slate, The Guardian, Washingtonian, and on National Public Radio. Jim is also an author, and today he's here to talk about Anna Montez, a Cuban spy who spent more than 16 years as an intelligence analyst with the Defense Intelligence Agency. Anna had already been recruited t...
Feb 06, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 83
This week Justin is joined by Colonel Rose Mary Sheldon, previous history professor at Virginia Military Institute world-renowned expert on intelligence and espionage in the ancient world. She earned her PhD from the University of Michigan and has published several books and many articles over the years, as well as serving as an editor for the International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence , Small Wars and Insurgencies , and The Journal of Military History . Today, she discusses i...
Jan 30, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 81
Today Justin speaks with with journalist and documentary filmmaker Justin Webster. Justin was a business reporter in the 90s before the release of his debut film on soccer team FC Barcelona in 2004. Since then, he's directed several more award-winning documentaries. Today he's here to discuss a six part series he created on the life and death of Alberto Nisman, a federal prosecutor in Argentina who was found dead at home in January, 2015. Nisman died hours before he was scheduled to testify on a...
Jan 23, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 81
Today Justin sits down with author and retired FBI special agent John Whiteside III. Since leaving the FBI after working 30 years of Cold War counterintelligence cases, John has worked as a private investigator and as a government consultant. Today, John discusses one of the highest profile cases of his career: the discovery and arrest of Robert Steven Lipka. Lipka was an Army solider assigned to the NSA who spent the mid 60s passing classified documents to the Soviet government. His acts of esp...
Jan 16, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 80
This week, Justin brings on journalist and author Howard Blum. Howard studied at Stanford University where he received both his bachelor's and master's degree and has worked as a reporter for the New York Times where he was nominated twice for the Pulitzer Prize. More recently, he was a contributing editor for Vanity Fair. He's also the author of several best selling non-fiction books, several of which have been optioned for films. Today, Howard tells the story of the mysterious death of a senio...
Jan 09, 2023•41 min•Ep. 78
This week, Justin answers questions you've submitted via Instagram. He dives into the deaths of Spanish espionage agents in Iraq and covers the story an American revolutionary. Tune in to hear about the weapons real spies carry every day, how Hollywood adapts real espionage events, and more. Keep a look out on Instagram for your next chance to submit your biggest questions about clandestine work. Connect with Spycraft 101: Check out Justin's latest release, Covert Arms , here . spycraft101.com I...
Jan 02, 2023•46 min•Ep. 77
In this solo episode, Justin dives into some of the most intriguing and suspicious deaths related to espionage in the last 80 years. While the USA and the USSR never saw combat with each other during the Cold War, their clandestine operations resulted in many casualties and fatalities over the years. Apparent suicides, murders without explanation, and plane crashes abound. Some of these deaths appear straightforward, but become suspicious when an informed eye takes a closer look. Connect with Sp...
Dec 26, 2022•56 min•Ep. 76
This week, Justin has his first repeat guest. Lee Gossett is back to talk CIA missions. Lee first joined us for episode 13. In his last episode, Lee and Justin dove into Lee's time as a smoker jumper and the years he spent working for Air America in the Secret War in Laos, and this time Lee is sharing stories of his time flying all over the world for the CIA after Air America went under. From Laos to El Salvador, Columbia, Honduras, and more, Lee has seen it all and lived to tell the tale. Check...
Dec 19, 2022•58 min•Ep. 75
This week, Justin chats with author and Air Force intelligence veteran Brian Morra. Brian was an intelligence officer in the US Air Force and Air Force Reserve for 15 years before shifting his focus to the aerospace and defense industry, where he spent many years managing intelligence programs. Brian finally retired as a senior Vice President at the end of 2016 and began writing his debut novel. Today, we focus on a pivotal event that took place 1983, what some historians call the most dangerous...
Dec 12, 2022•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 74
Today Justin sits down with anonymous source known as Sarah. Sarah is veteran member of the special operations and intelligence community, having served as an NCO with the US Air Force for more than 10 years. She has also worked as an Arabic linguist, spending much of her time in the Middle East and Africa. She is a reputable source Justin knows personally, and has requested anonymity in the episode due to privacy concerns. For the first time, we'll really dive in to 21st century intelligence an...
Dec 05, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 73
