The Rest Is Classified

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Episodes

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Goalhanger

The Rest Is Classified takes you into the mysterious world of spies and espionage. Hosted by former CIA analyst now turned spy novelist, David McCloskey, and veteran security correspondent, Gordon Corera, they’ve experienced this field first-hand. It’s a world of shadows, shrouded in secrecy, but it affects every one of us. It’s time to bring it into the light.

Episodes

The Seventh Floor (Extract)

To coincide with the release of David's latest novel, The Seventh Floor, we have the book’s first chapter in audiobook form for you to enjoy. Bouncing between the corridors of Langley and the Kremlin, the thrilling new novel by David McCloskey explores the nature of friendship in a faithless business, and what it means to love a place that does not love you back. The Seventh Floor by David McCloskey, is OUT NOW in the UK. Pre-order a signed edition via this link. ------------------- A Russian ar...

Feb 01, 2025•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast

15. Crossing the Iron Curtain: The Cold War’s Most Valuable Spy (Ep 2)

Was it possible to avoid KGB surveillance in Moscow as a CIA agent at the height of the Cold War? What motivates someone to spy on their country for an opposing power? And how did Adolf Tolkachev manage to smuggle out the top secret documents the CIA needed to defeat the USSR? Adolf Tolkachev has been recruited by the CIA as a mole inside a highly sensitive government department in Moscow. His job: to sneak top secret documents out to offer the US a glimpse of Russia's defence capabilities. Desp...

Jan 29, 2025•47 min•Ep 15•Transcript available on Metacast

14. Crossing the Iron Curtain: The CIA’s Mole In Moscow (Ep 1)

How did the CIA recruit a Russian asset in Moscow during the height of the Cold War? Why would someone be so determined to defect from the Soviet Union and spy for the US? And what would happen if the KGB found out they had a traitor in their midst? Adolf Tolkachev had a vendetta against the Soviet state and became determined to orchestrate its demise. An expert on Soviet radar, Tolkachev realised his top secret work could help the US fight his communist overlords and potentially topple the enti...

Jan 27, 2025•53 min•Ep 14•Transcript available on Metacast

13. How China Spies: Trump, TikTok, and Taiwan

Is the Chinese state using TikTok to spy on you? Why did President Biden move to shut TikTok down in the US the day before Trump's inauguration? And where does TikTok fit into China's cognitive warfare strategy? On Sunday 19 January, TikTok users in the United States opened their apps to receive an error message from the company, explaining that "a law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S.". Op eds were written, influencers took to other social media apps to express their dismay, and polit...

Jan 22, 2025•44 min•Ep 13•Transcript available on Metacast

12. The Spy Who Loved Me: A Russian in New York (Ep 2)

The net is closing in around Anna Chapman. She is being watched by the FBI as they suspect her of being a Russian spy. Her moves are being tracked, but it is not as simple as they think. With the US and Russia trying to reset relations and President Medvedev stateside, the FBI are not in a place to be arresting Russians in New York. Especially when they can’t prove what she is. So what will they do? Listen as David McCloskey and Gordon Corera discuss Anna Chapman and the precarious nature of her...

Jan 21, 2025•54 min•Ep 12•Transcript available on Metacast

11. The Spy Who Loved Me: Undercover in Londongrad (Ep 1)

How did a Russian spy manage to infiltrate the upper echelons of London and New York society? Was Anna Chapman really an old fashioned Russian honeytrap or was she underestimated by the world's press? What was life like for wealthy Russians in "Londongrad" in the early 21st century? The year is 2001 and the 18-year-old daughter of a Russian oligarch is partying in London. She meets a handsome young man at a warehouse rave and her passport to a new life in Western Europe glistens before her very ...

Jan 15, 2025•42 min•Ep 11•Transcript available on Metacast

10. North Korea’s CIA: The Billion Dollar Heist (Ep 2)

What happens when an authoritarian state runs its security services like an organised crime syndicate? Why did a group of North Korean cyber criminals gamble away vast sums of stolen money in the casinos of Las Vegas? And did Kim Jong Un's spies get away with their billion dollar heist? After over a year of work, the North Korean cyber criminals are inside the Central Bank of Bangladesh and about to escape with their bags of cash, but there's a glitch. The account they plan to send the stolen mo...

Jan 08, 2025•45 min•Ep 10•Transcript available on Metacast

9. North Korea’s CIA: Inside Kim’s Crime Family (Ep 1)

How did a group of North Korean cyber criminals manage to pull off the biggest bank heist in history? Did Kim Jong Un really orchestrate the murder of his own brother? And what does it take to keep an authoritarian state afloat? A seemingly innocuous spearfishing email lands in the inbox of an unsuspecting employee at the Central Bank of Bangladesh. Months of patient digital hacking follow, all masterminded by a team of cyber criminals within North Korea’s shadowy spy service. But how did they m...

Jan 01, 2025•44 min•Ep 9•Transcript available on Metacast

8. The Man Who Made MI6

The daring, gadget-loving, mischievous founder of MI6. Mansfield Cumming, the first C, was a former navy man brought out of retirement to keep tabs on German spies around the outbreak of the First World War. Over the following decade he established MI6 and set it on course to be a central part of the British security apparatus. Known to test the mettle of potential employees by taking a knife out and stabbing his own wooden leg; Mansfield was an eccentric man who's personality has come to shape ...

Dec 25, 2024•48 min•Ep 8•Transcript available on Metacast

7. The Real Godfather: The Assassination that Shook Syria (Ep 2)

Did the assassination of Rafic Hariri lay the foundations for the ultimate downfall of the Assad regime? And was the Syrian dictator always destined for evil, or was evil thrust upon him? Rafic Hariri is looking over his shoulder, anxious for his future, with Bashar al-Assad hellbent on his removal from power. He steps up his security detail and coordinates convoluted exit strategies, but his efforts are ultimately in vain. So, what was the long-term impact of the assassination of the Lebanese p...

Dec 19, 2024•42 min•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast

6. The Real Godfather: Assad’s Syrian Mafia (Ep 1)

How did Bashar al-Assad become one of the Middle East’s most feared dictators? What role did Hezbollah play in the assassination of the Lebanese Prime Minister in 2005? And how did Assad’s rise to ultimate power mirror the ascent of Michael Corleone in the Godfather? As the new millennium dawned, Bashar al-Assad prepared to step into his father’s shoes as the next authoritarian president of Syria. While he enjoyed a smooth ascension to the top job, trouble was brewing over the border in Lebanon ...

Dec 18, 2024•46 min•Ep 6•Transcript available on Metacast

5. CIA vs the Taliban: Bin Laden's Trojan Horse (Ep 2)

Mazar i-Sharif has fallen without much of a fight. The Taliban's grip on Afghanistan is looking all the more shaky. It seems as if the American policy to work with the warlords is paying dividends. Enemy fighters are surrendering to them. But is it all too rosy? In the centre of Mazar i-Sharif, the Americans take 400 Al-Qaeda captives to Qala-i-Jangi, the Fort of War. They believe they have surrendered. But all is not as it seems... Listen as David McCloskey and Gordon Corera discuss the first C...

Dec 11, 2024•43 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast

4. The Rise and Fall of Assad's Mafia Spy State

What will western and Syrian spy services be focusing on following the fall of Bashar al-Assad? Is Russia and Iran’s withdrawal from Syria similar to the US withdrawal from Afghanistan? Were the security services predicting that the Assad regime would collapse so quickly? Join David McCloskey and Gordon Corera as they answer all these questions and more in this emergency episode of The Rest Is Classified. For further reading, check out David and Gordon’s recommended profiles below: Razan Saffour...

Dec 10, 2024•39 min•Ep 4•Transcript available on Metacast

3. CIA vs the Taliban: Behind Enemy Lines (Ep 1)

America knew Al-Qaeda were behind the 9/11 attacks before the day was out. They knew they were being sheltered by the Taliban in Afghanistan and so the CIA went after them. Small teams were dropped behind enemy lines with bags of cash and very little else, instructed to link up with Afghan warlords like Abdul Rashid Dostum. It proved to be a devastating combination as they began to sweep through Afghanistan. Listen as Gordon Corera and David McCloskey discuss the first CIA teams first in Afghani...

Dec 04, 2024•48 min•Ep 3•Transcript available on Metacast

2. The First CIA Coup: Turmoil in Tehran (Ep 2)

The first coup attempt has failed. The Shah has fled to Baghdad. The CIA have told Kermit he can leave if he's in a jam, but he chooses not to. He wants to finish the job. The streets of Tehran are chaos; protesters against the Shah are out in their thousands and things are getting violent. But in this Kermit sees an opportunity. If he stokes enough disorder will the majority of the capital turn against Mossadegh's radical supporters? What follows is a tale of dirty tricks, armed weightlifters, ...

Nov 28, 2024•33 min•Ep 2•Transcript available on Metacast

1. The First CIA Coup: Oil, Iran, and MI6 (Ep 1)

Welcome... to the first episode of The Rest Is Classified! It's Iran 1951. Mohammad Mossadegh, fuelled by an ever-growing nationalism, has just been elected Prime Minister. Immediately he chooses to nationalise the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, much to the anger of the British who control the majority stake. In response, MI6 are determined to destabilise his government and remove him from power. So they begin to conspire with the CIA. Kermit Roosevelt, grandson of Teddy Roosevelt and agency man, wi...

Nov 27, 2024•44 min•Ep 1•Transcript available on Metacast

The Rest is Classified Trailer

Nov 18, 2024•1 min•Transcript available on Metacast