About this podcast
SpyCast, the official podcast of the International Spy Museum, is a journey into the shadows of international espionage. Each week, host Sasha Ingber brings you the latest insights and intriguing tales from spies, secret agents, and covert communicators, with a focus on how this secret world reaches us all in our everyday lives. Tune in to discover the critical role intelligence has played throughout history and today. Brought to you by N2K Networks, Podville Media, and the International Spy Museum.
The Spy Museum does not endorse, approve, or support the opinions stated by guest speakers. Statements made by speakers do not represent the position or opinion of the International Spy Museum.
Episodes
The newest 50 of 770 episodes
- The One-Man Intelligence Operation Against ISIS · 40 min · Episode 758It’s not every day that we get a pitch for a book with a foreword by Pope Francis and an introduction by former CIA Director David Petraeus. In fact, our producer didn’t believe…
- How a CIA Rising Star Fought His Own Agency After Polio · 33 min · Episode 757In the 1950s, Lyman Kirkpatrick had just been promoted to Chief of Operations in the CIA’s clandestine service. He was 36, with a bright future ahead. Then what he thought was a…
- General Petraeus on Ukraine and the Shadow War · 52 min · Episode 756Winter is coming, and that means Ukraine has to gear up for another brutal season of strikes on its energy infrastructure - Russia’s bid to cut off power and heat, making life…
- Unraveling a Secret KGB Investigation That Separated a Father and Son · 36 min · Episode 755The Kremlin is not a fan of Alex Goldfarb. He left the Soviet Union as a scientist, becoming a prominent author and human rights activist. In 2006, he was in the room with ex-FSB…
- Ukraine’s Nord Stream Attack: Underwater Sabotage and Its Fallout · 51 min · Episode 754Correction: At 3:27, Bojan Pancevski refers to the “Danish” military intelligence agency. He meant the Dutch military intelligence agency, which picked up the intelligence and…
- A Plan to Be Captured: How Three American Commandos Deceived Their Nazi Captors Before D-Day · 43 min · Episode 753In the spring of 1944, three elite commandos parachuted into Hungary. The country was aligned with Nazi Germany, and these men intended to be captured in what was meant to look…
- Inside Sweden's Cold War Stay-Behind Operation · 35 min · Episode 752It was preparation for an invasion that might never come, and never did. Across Cold War Europe, stay-behind networks were established on the premise that Soviet forces might…
- How the CIA Captured Carlos the Jackal · 45 min · Episode 751Before he became one of the world's most notorious terrorists in the 1970s and '80s, inspiring movies, books, and future terrorists, Carlos the Jackal was born Ilich Ramírez…
- A House Divided: The CIA, State, and a Coup in South Vietnam · 36 min · Episode 750It's a dark moment in American history that leads to a lot of what-ifs. By the spring of 1963, eight years into the Vietnam War, two opposing factions across the CIA and the…
- 25 Years After 9/11: The CIA's First Moments Behind Enemy Lines in Afghanistan · 48 min · Episode 749Retired Colonel Justin Sapp was a Green Beret detailed to the CIA after the September 11th terrorist attacks. He was part of Team Alpha, the first eight Americans to drop behind…
- Japanese Surveillance, Enslavement, and Experimentation in Wartime China · 41 min · Episode 748Graphic content warning: Not recommended for younger listeners. This episode contains material that may be triggering to some audiences, including violence and harm, medical and…
- Peter Ortiz: The WWII Marine Who Foreshadowed Modern-Day Special Forces · 39 min · Episode 747In 2017, journalist Katie Sanders discovered an episode of a radio program called This Is Your Life. It was a scratchy recording from 1949, and she heard the voice of 2nd Lt…
- What It Takes to Run the CIA's Southeast Asia Department · 42 min · Episode 746You might find Meredith Cavan playing music in an Irish pub. But long before her first album dropped, she clocked more than 20 years at the CIA. One of her jobs there was…
- Cuba's Spies, Defectors, and the Ex-FBI Agent Who Met Them All · 42 min · Episode 745For decades, Cuban intelligence has been seen as a force that punches above its weight. Shaped during the Cold War through cooperation with the Soviet Union, its intelligence…
- Smears, Fakes & Phantoms: Cold War Britain's Secret Propaganda Department · 41 min · Episode 744In Cold War Britain, a secret propaganda department saw its list of targets and tactics widen. Personnel inside the Information Research Department went beyond forgeries, fakes…
- Murder in Mexico City: The Assassination of Leon Trotsky · 42 min · Episode 743For those of you who have visited the International Spy Museum, you may be familiar with one of our most prized artifacts, the ice ax used to assassinate Leon Trotsky in 1940…
- The Triumphs and Failures of France's Foreign Intel Service · 38 min · Episode 742The DGSE, or Directorate General for External Security, is France's foreign intelligence service. It's found inside the Ministry of Defense but reports to the president. It was…
- Inside China's Cyber Espionage Business · 40 min · Episode 741Ahana Datta Fasel became the British government’s first ethical hacker in 2014, testing vulnerabilities in computer systems and networks that hackers could potentially exploit…
- The Navy Spy who Sold Secrets for $377 a Year · 35 min · Episode 740You may have heard of the long-running TV show NCIS, based on the real work of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. But you may never have heard of a unit inside it, called…
- Closer than Cuba: the Able Archer Nuclear Crisis of 1983 · 40 min · Episode 739It's November of 1983, the closest the world came to nuclear war, some may argue even closer than the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Yet the Able Archer 1983 exercise incident is…
- Putin’s Paramilitary 2.0 · 40 min · Episode 738Since its emergence in 2014, the Wagner Group operated as the Kremlin's shadow army, deploying mercenaries across Africa and the Middle East. It gave Vladimir Putin plausible…
- Tricked and Extradited: Inside the First FBI Operation to Lure a Chinese Spy to the US · 38 min · Episode 737The FBI won’t discuss exactly how Chinese spy Xu Yanjun came to the attention of special agents. Xu was handling a GE Aviation engineer in Ohio who specialized in composite…
- The Flip That Broke the Cali Cartel · 41 min · Episode 736Now that drug cartels can be labeled foreign terrorist organizations, how do you dismantle one? As part of his 26 years at the Drug Enforcement Administration, retired Special…
- The Weather Report that Changed History · 36 min · Episode 735"If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone." This is the end of the announcement Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight David Eisenhower had prepared in…
- From Cartels to Terrorists, the CIA, FBI, and White House: The Vast Career of Karen Schaefer · 40 min · Episode 734Karen Schaefer retired from the CIA in 2019, after 26 years of service. She started out in Latin America and ended with a stint at the FBI. In between, she earned numerous…
- From Ivory Tower to Iron Curtain: The Academics Who Reshaped the CIA · 37 min · Episode 733In 1947, a new civilian intelligence agency was established: the CIA. But a series of intelligence failures undermined its credibility. The White House and Congress were up in…
- The Civil War Spies and Saboteurs Across the Canadian Border · 41 min · Episode 732It’s 1864, and against the backdrop of the US Civil War- a war the Confederacy is losing- a group of spies and saboteurs have set up a base in Montreal, Canada. Today we would…
- How Far the US Went to Rescue Hostage Bowe Bergdahl · 37 min · Episode 731In 2009, Bowe Bergdahl walked away from his Army post in eastern Afghanistan, only to be abducted and held hostage until 2014. He was captured by the Taliban and then handed to…
- From the Kaiser to the Führer: Inside the World of Lothar Witzke · 37 min · Episode 730One of the more notorious German spies of the 20th century, Lothar Witzke lived a life of intrigue: from escaping the death penalty in the First World War to joining the Nazi…
- The Hunt for American Turncoats in World War II Europe · 42 min · Episode 729It’s a story that journalist and veteran Stephen Harding uncovered: a secret component of the FBI’s “European Operation,” whereby agents traveled abroad working undercover to…
- The Story Isn't Over: Inside Havana Syndrome and the CIA’s Response · 40 min · Episode 728Confusion and controversy are growing around the intelligence community’s handling of Havana Syndrome. This is what the government refers to as Anomalous Health Incidents, or…
- Palmer Luckey on the Next Generation of Intelligence · 41 min · Season 1 Episode 727He may dress like he’s on a vacation in Hawaii, but Palmer Luckey has been busy designing weapons for the Pentagon. He founded California-based defense technology firm, Anduril…
- Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin: Lies, Spies, and Hitler · 37 min · Episode 726Half-truths. Lies. Distrust. And spying. These were part and parcel of the tenuous relationship between Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin - the “Big…
- Fake Shahs and Exfiltrations: Memories from CIA's Former Disguise Chief · 39 min · Episode 725Jonna Mendez knows how to blend in and when to stand out. Starting out as a secretary at the CIA, she left as its Chief of Disguise. Her career took her into denied areas, where…
- When the CIA Lost a Nuclear Device in India · 41 min · Episode 724In the 1960s, the CIA lost a plutonium-fueled generator on top of a mountain in India. The generator was supposed to power an unmanned listening station, intended to pick up…
- AI Companions May Be China's Next Recruitment Tool · 41 min · Episode 723When you’re sitting alone, and you want company or advice, have you ever turned to Artificial Intelligence? Chip Usher, who spent 32 years in the CIA, has been looking at AI…
- Roald Dahl: The Spy Behind the Storyteller · 39 min · Episode 722Children grew up reading Roald Dahl’s tales of giant peaches and chocolate factories. Adults know about the controversy surrounding the antisemitic statements he made in his…
- In Bed With Beijing: The Double Agent Who Seduced Her FBI Handler · 41 min · Episode 721Katrina Leung, code name Parlor Maid, received nearly two million dollars from the FBI for being their top China informant. But little did the Bureau know… she was a double…
- Exfiltrating María Corina Machado from Venezuela · 33 min · Episode 720Before Delta Force captured Nicolás Maduro, Bryan Stern went on a secret mission in Venezuela. The veteran and Purple Heart recipient was there to extract opposition leader María…
- Hezbollah’s Long Game in Latin America · 37 min · Episode 719A 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Argentina opened the world’s eyes to Hezbollah’s presence in Latin America. But the Iranian proxy, a US-designated terrorist group…
- Building the US’s First Known Gang Intelligence Database in Latin America · 36 min · Episode 718As an agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) who later embedded with the CIA, Wes Tabor worked to dismantle criminal networks in Central and South America - think…
- Looking Back on the US Invasion of Panama · 41 min · Episode 717This January marks the anniversary of the conclusion of Operation Just Cause, which began days before Christmas, on December 20th, 1989, when about 27,000 US troops deployed to…
- Directing The Night Manager · 32 min · Episode 716When The Night Manager aired in 2016, it was an instant success. Based on the 1993 John le Carré novel of the same name, the series centered on former British soldier Jonathan…
- Inside the CIA’s Most Covert and Dangerous Branch: The Special Activities Center · 40 min · Episode 715For SpyCast’s 20th year, we’re kicking off the season with Brian Carbaugh. After serving in the CIA for over two decades, he retired as Director of the Special Activities Center…
- The Man Behind John le Carré · 38 min · Episode 714John le Carré, born David Cornwell in 1931, was a British novelist renowned for his morally complex spy fiction. Writing under a pen name gave him the freedom to publish while he…
- Inside Operation Odyssey Lightning in Libya · 35 min · Episode 713From August to December 2016, then Marine Special Operations Officer Ivan Ingraham lived on an assault ship off the coast of Sirte, a city in northern Libya that lies between…
- Auctioning Off the Key to Kryptos · 28 min · Episode 712At the CIA headquarters in Langley, you will find Kryptos, a large curved copper panel that holds the letters to four encrypted messages. The first three messages- K1, K2, and…
- An Interview with the CIA’s Former “Q” · 35 min · Episode 711Bob Wallace was appointed Deputy Director of the CIA’s Office of Technical Service in 1995 and became its director three years later. In other words, he was the CIA’s “Q.” The…
- Inside the CIA’s Book Club Designed to Bring Down Communism · 33 min · Episode 710The CIA’s book club, known by the codename QRHELPFUL, was a secret 35-year program born of the fear that communism would dominate the globe. About 10 million books were smuggled…
- The Hunt for China’s Spy Family · 39 min · Episode 709For decades, California-based engineer Chi Mak quietly stole secrets on war-fighting technologies. He and his family members shared the intelligence with spies in China, giving…
