Episodes

British aristocrat Donald Maclean, as a member of the Cambridge 5, worked his way to the top of the British Foriegn Office while secretly working as KGB spy. His wife was in on it the whole time. How did an …

This is our third episode in a three part series on CIA Directors who shaped US policy towards the Soviet Union and now Russie. I give an overview of the life of John Brennan, a straight talking Irishman from New …

This is our second episode in a three part series on CIA Directors who shaped US policy towards the Soviet Union. I gives an overview of the life of Robert Gates a proverbial and literal boyscout. We also give a …

From the OSS to CIA Director William Casey is the CIA Director who shaped America's Cold War policy and indirectly gave us GPS. Find out how. This is the first episode in a three part series on CIA Directors who …

We're taking a break from our weekly conversations to focus on our proper episodes. Look out for Frank Wisner, part 2 in two weeks. Then we're taking a short break to get things prepped for what we're generously calling Seaso...

Picture this: You're a high-ranking Air Force official overseeing research and development of new, top-secret aircraft. Your job is Operational Security, which is to say, keeping it secret. Then one day, a civilian who's an e...

In 1986, computers were still the domain of the wily nerd. They wouldn't become cool until the World Wide Web was invented. And even then, computers weren't really that much cooler until DSL connections came along. But Cliffo...

Mikhail Gorbachev died on August 30, 2022, at the age of 91. Brandon discusses the man's life and political trajectory while making the case that Gorbachev's legacy deserves more appreciation. And I, Topher, talk about new de...

Brandon walks us through some of the misunderstood, overblown, and under-reported aspects of Russia's long-term efforts to sow derision and division among Americans. How involved was Russia with the NRA? Has the Kremlin been ...

On Monday, August 8th, the FBI conducted a search of Trump’s Mar A Lago mansion, seizing 11 boxes of documents. It was later disclosed that the boxes were classified material, including some labeled Top Secret, that the Natio...

Sorry for the delay. We recorded this episode to release last week, but I (Topher) had a lot going on and neglected to edit and publish it on time. So here it is for this week. We hope you didn't …

This week, we review CIA Director Bill Burns' track record so far.

Who is current CIA Director William J. Burns? Not a soldier, nor a lawyer, nor a long-time intelligence officer. Instead of the usual suspects for the role, Bill Burns is a legacy civil servant and a career diplomat. Under hi...

The 1950s might be regarded by some as the salad days of the CIA. No ideas were too wacky, and the money was flowing into research and development like a cool, clean mountain spring. So when CIA mad scientist Dr. …

No episode this week, but we'll be back next week.

Julian Assange began hacking in the 80s when he was just 16 years old. Now he's perhaps the most famous whistleblower in the world. The United States wants to put him on trial for espionage, but his defenders say he …

That's right, folks. This is our last news episode. We will still be releasing proper episodes highlighting the lives of the people involved with the CIA. And we'll be releasing more short episodes as well. We will also be la...

Jim Angleton dedicated his life to building and maintaining the CIA. He spent years manipulating people and policy from his self-labeled "wilderness of mirrors," motivated by his own paranoia, and informed by an opportunistic...

Chinese fighter pilots are full of beans. Are things looking up in Yemen? Because they aren't in Tigray. A CIA whistleblower dies. And if you're looking for classified tank information, you might want to check some online vid...

More news from around the world -- an update on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a look at Ethiopia's record number of displaced people, and a discussion about the decline of democracy and the rise of autocracy and authoritar...

We discuss global food shortages. Finland officially wants in NATO. Badass e-bikes with missile launchers. George W. Bush makes a textbook Freudian slip. And we've got an update on UFOs, or I guess UAPs now, from the Pentagon...

Finland wants in NATO. Elections in the Philippines go retro as the Marcos family gets back into the mix. Did Star Trek: The Next Generation correctly predict Irish reunification? Also, what's going on in Ukraine? Old Russian...

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/exclusive-cia-chief-told-bolsonaro-government-not-mess-with-brazil-election-2022-05-05/ https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/nkorea-fires-unidentified-projectile-off-its-east-coast...

I don't feel well, so imagine a clever blurb and insert that here. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/reputed-federal-informant-whistleblower-found-dead-l-reported-missing-rcna26382 https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/v...