Summary

Dr. Dennis Walters (LinkedIn; Website) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss the Irregular Warfare Center and its ties to intelligence. Dennis is the current Acting Director of the IWC. 

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• The need for an Irregular Warfare Center
• The Irregular Warfare Center’s mission 
• What role intelligence plays in irregular war
• Creating unique solutions for unique situations 
• How do intelligence and Special Operations blend together? 

Reflections

• Education as a strategic tool
• Creative problem solving

And much, much more …

Episode Notes

This week on SpyCast, the IWC’s Acting Director Dr. Dennis Walters joins Andrew in a conversation about all thing's irregular warfare. What is irregular warfare, and how does it differ from conventional warfare? What is the mission of the IW Center, and what tools and tactics do they employ to accomplish this? Tune in to find out. 

And… 

Want to keep your enemies at bay, try an irregular approach – throw a “Scorpion Bomb” at them: yes, it is literally a glass jar filled with scorpions. The tactic was resurrected by ISIS. 

Guest Bio 

Dr. Dennis Walters is the acting Director of the Irregular Warfare Center. He served in the United States Army for 26 years, with time spent in the Army Intelligence Corps and in command of a Special Forces Operations Detachment in the Balkans. Upon his retirement from the Army, Dennis worked to build a network of irregular warfare experts that would culminate in the Department of Defense Regional Defense Fellowship Program. He has also instructed college courses on irregular warfare at the National Defense University and Regent University. He speaks fluent Russian.

Quotes of the Week

"It varies based on region, based on country, based on culture. And that's the part that we have not done well on the U.S. side, really factoring in all of those social implications of how you structure programs to make a country more stable, more resilient, more leaning towards the ideals that support a global community. That's the part that I think that we were missing in some cases." – Dr. Dennis Walters.

Resources 

SURFACE SKIM

*SpyCasts*

• Ukraine & Intelligence: One Year On with Shane Harris (2023)
• “The Third Option” – US Covert Action with Loch Johnson, Part 1 (2022)
• “The Third Option” – US Covert Action with Loch Johnson, Part 2 (2022)
• Al Qaeda, DOD & the 9/11 Commission with Bonnie Jenkins and Alexis Albion (2022)
• Afghanistan, the Mujahedeen, Al Qaeda – My Time at CIA and State with Diana Bolsinger (2021)

*Beginner Resources*

• Lessons from the Ukraine Conflict on Conventional War, ABC News (2022) [4:24 video]
• What is Hybrid Warfare? GeoVane (2019) [3:57 video]
• Maximizing the Potential of American Irregular War, C. Cleveland et al.,The Hill (2023) [op-ed]
• safire-t.html">Irregular Warfare, D.Safire, New York Times (2008)

Summary

This week’s episode is the result of a collaboration with The Sound, a recent limited series podcast exploring the so-called Havana Syndrome. The guests are host and investigative journalist Nicky Woolf (Twitter), former senior CIA operations officer and sufferer Marc Polymeropoulos (Twitter), and attorney and advocate Mark Zaid (Twitter).

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• What Havana Syndrome is
• Who it is affecting
• Theories to explain it
• The role of intelligence organizations

Reflections

• The unending search for truth 
• Humanity in the intelligence field 

Quotes of the Week

"There’s a betrayal I felt when the CIA didn't give me the medical attention that I needed. You know, if you're not feeling well and an employee comes to you, send 'em to the doctor. And they weren't able to do that. And to me, that's just a leadership fail for the ages." – Marc Polymeropoulos.

Resources 

*SpyCasts*

• The Past 75 Years: A History of the CIA with Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones (2022)
• Dealing with Russia with Jim Olson (2022)
• One of the CIA’s Most Decorated Field Officers with Marc Polymeropoulos (2021)
• NatSec and the Law with Mark Zaid (2018)

*Beginner Resources*

• Havana Syndrome: What We Know, B. Tau and W. P. Strobel, The Wall Street Journal (2023) [Short article]
• What is the “Havana Syndrome?”, Brut America, YouTube (2022) [3 min. video]
• medical.net/health/What-is-Havana-Syndrome.aspx">What is Havana Syndrome?, B. Cuffari, News Medical (2022) 

Video

• Who or What is Behind Havana Syndrome?, Al Jazeera, YouTube (2022)
• Early Victims of ‘Havana Syndrome’ Speak Out About Ongoing Health Struggles, NBC News, YouTube (2021)

Primary Sources 

• Updated Assessment of Anomalous Health Incidents, National Intelligence Council (2023)
• Anomalous health Incidents: Analysis of Potential Causal Mechanisms, IC Experts Panel (2022)
• Senate Hearing on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, U.S. Senate (1978)
• Kissinger Telephone Conversation with Ambassador Dobrynin, National Security Archive (1975)
• Samuel Koslov Memorandum to the State Department, “Biomedical Phenomena,” National Security Archive (1965)

*Wildcard Resource*

• Havana Syndrome is an example of a toponymic term in the medical field – A name that comes from a geographic place. For more on medical etymology, check out this article that shares the backstory of the name of 7 well-known conditions. 

Summary

Sameer Patil (Twitter; Website) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss intelligence and cybersecurity in the world’s most populous nation. He formerly worked in the NSC Secretariat in the Prime Minister’s Office in New Delhi. 

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• Cybersecurity in the world’s largest democracy
• The breakdown of India’s intelligence agencies
• Cybersecurity among the world’s second largest internet user base
• India’s relationships with China and Pakistan

Reflections

• Imperial legacies
• Borders of the mind

Guest Bio

Sameer Patil is a senior fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, where he is an expert on the intersection between cybersecurity, counterterrorism, and national security. Previously, he served as the Assistant Director of the National Security Council Secretariat at the Prime Minister’s Office in New Delhi. He has a PhD in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, and is the author of the 2022 book Securing India in the Cyber Era.

Quote of the Week

"So, it's a very unique relationship because if you see both the countries, uh, in a sense emerged as modern nation states at around the same time. India attended independence in 1947 the Chinese Communist party emerged victory years from a protracted civil war. In 1949 and. Initial periods of both the countries, as modern nation states were very cordial relationship, very friendly relationship in fact, we had a very populous slogan at that time, which is known as “Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai,” which means India, China, Brothers - Indians and Chinese are brothers together. But by the late 1950s, many of the issues started to unravel." – Sameer Patil.

Resources 

SURFACE SKIM

*SpyCasts*

• “Intelligence & the World’s Largest Democracy” - Indian Spy Chief Vikram Sood (2021)
• “Afghanistan, the Mujahedeen, Al Qaeda” – My Time at CIA & State with Diana Bolsinger (2021)

Beginner Resources

• Cyber War: How Prepared is India? WION (2022) [Video]
• India’s Rise in Cybersecurity Incidents, The Print (2022) [Video]
• The Entire History of India in Under 10 Minutes, Made in History (2022) [Video]
• Cybersecurity in 7 Minutes, Simplilearn (2021) [Video] 
• India Profile: Timeline, BBC (2019) [Article]
• The Indus Valley Civilization, J. Green, PBS (n.d.) [Video]

DEEPER DIVE

*Featured Resource*

• Securing India in the Cyber Era, S. Patil (Routledge, 2022)

*Wildcard Resource(s)*

• “ajit-doval-turns-77-today-all-you-need-to-know-about-the-james-bond-of-india-10303881.html">The James Bond of India”
• Real-life spy Ajit Doval who spent years undercover in Pakistan
• He is currently the National Security Advisor of India! 

Summary

Dr. Alexis Albion (LinkedIn, Twitter) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss amazing artifacts with amazing stories from SPY’s newest pop-up exhibit: “Secrets Revealed: Highlights from the Grant Verstandig Collection.”

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• Casablanca’s spy connection
• Lasting effects of the Rosenberg trial
• Women in Intelligence
• WWII covert operations

Reflections

• What makes a story timeless?
• The human dimension of history

And much, much more …

Quote of the Week

“To us, that might be the Rosenbergs – These sort of incredible historic figures from the Cold War Intelligence. But to Mike Meeropol, it's his mom and dad. So, I think it's a really human story as well. This letter makes recommendations about their sentencing, about life and death, and again, for me it evokes that really human dimension about whether or not this mother might have lived.” – Dr. Alexis Albion.

Resources 

*SpyCasts*

• Hitler’s Trojan Horse – Nazi Intelligence with Nigel West (2023)
• Honey Trapped: Sex, Betrayal & Love – with Henry Schlesinger (2022)
• Amazon to Darien, Atlantic to Pacific – Intelligence in Colombia with former Head of its Navy Admiral Hernando Wills (2022)
• My Life Looking at Spies &the Media with Paul Lashmar (2021)

*Beginner Resources*

• Soviet Spy Scandal: Who Were the Rosenbergs?, L. Davidson, HistoryHit (2022) [Article]
• Casablanca in 2 Minutes, YouTube (2019) [Video]
• Who was the real Mata Hari?, N. Barber, BBC Culture (2017) [Article]
• How D-Day Was Fought From The Sea, Imperial War Museum (n.d.) [Article]

*Artifacts Discussed*

• Mata Hari Pencil Sketch (ca. 1905)
• German Bombing Map, WWII (1941)
• Victor Lazlos Prop Passport (ca. 1942)
• The Neptune Monograph (ca. 1944)
• J. Edgar Hoover Letter, FBI (1951)

*Primary Resources*

• Letter from Sophie Rosenberg to Mamie Eisenhower, Eisenhower Presidential Library (1953)
• Letter from Clyde Miller to Dwight Eisenhower Urging Clemency for the Rosenbergs, Eisenhower Presidential Library (1953)
• Response from Dwight Eisenhower to Clyde Miller, Eisenhower Presidential Library (1953)
• The Clydebank Blitz, National Records of Scotland (1941)

*Wildcard Resource(s)*

• The classic quote from Casablanca, “Here’s looking at you, kid” is ranked #4 on the American Film Institute’s Top 100 Movie Quotes. In fact, four quotes from the movie made it onto the list – Can you guess what the others are?

Summary

Yossi Kuperwasser (Twitter; Website) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss the Israeli intelligence community. Yossi is the former head of the Research Division of IDF Military Intelligence.

*FULL SHOWNOTES & FULL TRANSCRIPT HERE*

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• The layout of Israeli intelligence
• The First and Second Intifadas
• Israel’s complicated position in the Middle East
• Relationship between Israeli and American ICs

Reflections

• Intelligence as a learning process
• The importance and difficulty of trust 

And much, much more …

*FULL SHOWNOTES & FULL TRANSCRIPT HERE*

Quote of the Week

“That's the problem of intelligence - It's an ongoing learning process. And if you don't learn all the time to enable you to adjust to the developing situation, you are going to fail.” – Yossi Kuperwasser.

Resources 

*SpyCasts*

• The Counterterrorism and Counter WMD Strategist with Dexter Ingram (2022)
• Son of Hamas, Spy for Israel with Mosab Hassan Yousef and Gonen Ben Yitzhak (2010)
• Israeli Intelligence and the Jonathan Pollard Spy Case with Ron Olive (2007)

*Beginner Resources*

• History of Israel, Encyclopedia Britannica [encyclopedia entry]
• What you need to know about the 1987 Intifada, PBS (2019) [article]
• The Oslo Accords, 25 Years Later, Washington Post (2018) [video]
• 1967 War: Six Days that Changed the Middle East, J. Bowen, BBC (2017) [article]
• The Israel-Palestine Conflict: Brief, Simple History, Vox (2016) [video]

*Wildcard Resource(s)*

• The Little Drummer Girl – A fictional novel about a double agent working for the Israelis, written by famed spy author John le Carré in 1983. 

*FULL SHOWNOTES & FULL TRANSCRIPT HERE*

Summary

Nigel West (Wikipedia) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss Germany’s military intelligence service during WWII, the Abwehr. Nigel is known as the expert’s expert on spy history.

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• The rise and fall of the Abwehr 
• The 20th of July plot to kill Hitler & Operation Valkyrie 
• How effective German intelligence was during WWII 
• How “Nazi” the Abwehr was

Reflections

• The search for truth across generations
• The power of historical documents

EXTENDED SHOW NOTES HERE!

Quote of the Week

“The Germans were ruthless. They had really good intelligence on all the bridges. They knew exactly what had to be captured in advance. The bridges would then be held, so as to allow the tanks over, and the tanks wouldn't wait to attack strong points. They would just go directly ahead in order to achieve their objectives.” – Nigel West.

Glossary

• Abwehr: Germany’s military intelligence service from 1920-1945, serving both the Riechswehr and Wehrmacht. Translates to “defense.”
• Reichswehr: The name for German armed forces from 1919-1935, under the Weimar Republic and first two years of the Third Reich. Per the Treaty of Versailles, the Reichswehr was very limited in arms and personnel. Translates to “Reich Defence.” 
• Wehrmacht: The name for German Armed Forces from 1935-1945 under Nazi Germany. The heavily militarized and manned Wehrmacht illustrated Hitler’s intentions to expand Germany. Translates to “Defense Force.” 
• Sicherheitsdienst: The intelligence agency of the Schutzstaffel, or SS. Translates to “Security Service.”
• Gestapo: Nazi Germany’s political police force. Notorious for their brutality and representation of Nazi authoritarianism. Full name Geheime Staatspolizei, translating to “Secret State Police.”

EXTENDED SHOW NOTES HERE!

Resources 

SURFACE SKIM

Featured Resource(s)

• Hitler’s Nest of Vipers: The Rise of the Abwehr, N. West (Frontline, 2022)
• Hitler's Trojan Horse: The Fall of the Abwehr, N. West (Frontline, 2023)

*SpyCasts*

• Nazis on the Potomac – with former National Park Service Chief Historian Bob Sutton (2022)
• A Jewish Spy in Nazi Germany – 101-Year-Old Marthe Cohn’s Incredible True Story (2021)

*Beginner Resources*

• July Plot, Britannica (2023) [encyclopedia entry)
• From War to War in Europe: 1919-1939, National WW11 Museum (2018) [Background on Interwar Period]
• The Treaty of Versailles, What Did the Big Three Want?, YouTube (2016) [3 min. video]
• German Chief Spy Admiral Canaris, P. Kross, Warfare History Network (2014)
• Abwehr, A. Lerner, Encyclopedia.com (n.d.)

EXTENDED SHOW NOTES HERE!

Summary

Cathy Hackl (Twitter, LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss the potential implications of the metaverse on intelligence. Cathy has been called the “Godmother of the Metaverse.”

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• What the metaverse is
• Security and counterintelligence in a virtual world
• Futurism within intelligence agencies 
• Potential risks and consequences of the metaverse

Reflections

• How virtual spaces can affect our physical world
• The necessity to evolve alongside technology

And much, much more …

Episode Notes

The web will continue to evolve and change with time, but what’s coming next? And how will this evolution affect the ways that intelligence organizations around the world conduct their operations?

This week on SpyCast, Cathy Hackl joins Andrew to explain what the metaverse is, what we can expect from living in this new virtual world, and how intelligence agencies can begin planning for the Web 3 future. Cathy Hackl has been dubbed the “Godmother of the Metaverse” 

Resources

Featured Resource

• Into the Metaverse: The Essential Guide to the Business Opportunities of the Web3 Era, Cathy Hackl (Bloomsbury, 2023) 
• Metaverse Marketing [Cathy’s podcast]

*Beginner Resources*

• What Is the Metaverse, Exactly?, Wired (2022) [Article]
• Web 3.0 Explained In 5 Minutes, YouTube (2022) [5 min. Video]
• 12 new tech terms you need to understand the future, R. Gray, BBC (2018)

*SpyCasts*

• How Artificial Intelligence is Changing the Spy Game – with Mike Susong (2022)
• Trafficking Data: The Digital Struggle with China -- with Aynne Kokas (2022)
• The FBI & Cyber – with Cyber Division Chief Bryan Vorndran (Part 1 of 2)
• The FBI & Cyber – with Cyber Division Chief Bryan Vorndran (Part 2 of 2) 

*Wildcard Resource*

• Watch the world’s first metaverse music video, Snoop Dogg’s “House I Built,” here!

Summary

Shane Harris (Twitter, LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss the role of intelligence in the Ukraine conflict one year after it began. Shane reports on intelligence for the Washington Post and is the author of two books.

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence 

• Where we are with the war in Ukraine
• The role intelligence agencies are playing in the conflict
• The leadership of Zelensky and Putin
• What it’s like to report on spies
• Dealing with sources inside the intelligence agencies

Reflections

• The tenacity of the Ukrainian people and army
• History as both repetitive and unpredictable 

Episode Notes

This week on SpyCast, Shane Harris of The Washington Post joins Andrew to reflect on the previous year and discuss the role of intelligence within the war in Ukraine. He has been writing about these issues for more than two decades, including a period with the Wall Street Journal. He is the author of two books, The Watchers, on the rise of surveillance in the US, and @War, on the rise of the military-internet complex. He was part of a team that won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2021.

Quote of the Week

“At the outset, [I] believed that what we were looking at was probably a pretty swift Russian victory … They would come in, they would decapitate the central government in Kiev in the first 72 hours, and it would be bloody, and it would be violent, but that Russia would prevail because they were deemed to have the superior military in terms of technology experience numbers. Turns out, all those things were spectacularly wrong.” – Shane Harris.

Resources 

*SpyCasts*

• How Artificial Intelligence is Changing the Spy Game with Mike Susong (2023)
• Dealing with Russia A Conversation with Counterintelligence Legend Jim Olson (2022)
• Becoming a Russian Intelligence Officer with Janosh Neumann (2022)
• The Information Battlespace: Foreign Denial and Deception with Bill Parquette (2022)

*Beginner Resources*

• Has Putin's war failed and what does Russia want?, P. Kirby, BBC (2023)
• A Brief History of Modern Ukraine, BBC (2022) [YouTube video]
• Russia-Ukraine Relations in 60 Seconds, CBC News (2022)

Summary

Aliza Bran (LinkedIn, Twitter) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss her role as Media Relations Manager at the International Spy Museum. Aliza is a D.C. native and graduate of Washington University in St. Louis. 

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• The media and intelligence
• International Spy Museum Artifacts
• Espionage fact vs. fiction
• The history of The International Spy Museum

Reflections

• Creativity & Ingenuity 
• Growing up in the DMV 

And much, much more …

Episode Notes

Aliza Bran’s passion and excitement for the world of SPY is contagious. Around the office of the International Spy Museum, Aliza is known for her cheerful demeanor, quick wit, and intensely creative mind. She’s been working at SPY for six years now, four of those years as our Media Relations Manager. 

How does Aliza navigate the ever-changing media landscape and represent the International Spy Museum on this worldwide stage? What are Aliza’s favorite memories, artifacts, and exhibits from SPY? What makes her love this work so much, and what skills do you need to build a career in media relations? Tune in to find out. 

And… 

Aliza has been particularly busy these past few weeks covering the news surrounding the Chinese Spy Balloon. For a taste of Aliza’s work, find articles and video on the subject that she orchestrated here, here, here, and here. 

Quote of the Week

“Part of it for me is knowing that we live in a very polarized world right now and I want to have a sense of our full audience, which is everyone. So I'm going to look at stories, places that aren't natural fits for where I tend to go. Because if people go there to read the news, I want to know what they're reading, I want to know what interests them. I want to know what people are excited about, worried about, looking at.” – Aliza Bran.

Resources 

*SpyCasts*

• My Life Looking at Spies & the Media with Paul Lashmar (2021)

*Beginner Resources*

• What is Media Relations?, Nancy Shenker, ClearVoice (2021) [Blog Post]
• Paid vs. Owned vs. Earned Media: What's the Difference?, Indeed (2021) [Article]

Books

• The Good Assassin, S. Talty (Mariner, 2020)
• The Alice Network, K. Quinn (William Morrow, 2017)

Articles

• Deadly Women, Dirty Laundry, and a Shootout With The IRA, Reaper Feed (2020)

Video

• Former CIA Operative Explains How Spies Use Disguises, WIRED (2019)
• Meet a Former CIA Chief of Disguise, Atlas Obscura (2020)
• Alias, ABC (2001-2006)

Artifacts from SPY’s Collection 

• Scrotum Concealment
• Aston Martin DB5
• Iron Concealment Device

*Wildcard Resource*

• Check out the Refinery29 article that features Aliza’s SPY expertise applied to the collection and analysis of Taylor Swift-related intelligence. 

Summary

Alan Kohler joins Andrew to discuss the FBI’s counterintelligence division. He is a recipient of the FBI Director’s Award for Outstanding Counterintelligence Investigation. 

***FULL SHOWNOTES AVAILABLE HERE***

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• Counterintelligence vs. Counterespionage
• How the FBI recruit’s foreign agents 
• Ideological motivations behind spying
• Effect of technology on counterintelligence

Reflections

• Staying grounded under pressure 
• The value of creativity

Notes

Alan Kohler (LinkedIn, Website) has been the FBI Assistant Director for Counterintelligence since 2020. Alan and Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) talk all things counterintelligence.

***FULL RESOURCES AVAILABLE HERE***

*SpyCasts*

• The FBI & Cyber with Cyber Division Chief Bryan Vorndran, Part 1 (2022)
• The FBI & Cyber with Cyber Division Chief Bryan Vorndran, Part 2 (2022)
• My Global Career as a Female FBI Agent with Kathy Stearman (2021)
• The FBI Way with Counterintelligence Spy Chief Frank Figliuzzi (2021)

***FULL RESOURCES AVAILABLE HERE***

*Beginner Resources*

• What We Investigate, FBI (n.d.) [webpage]
• FAQ’S, FBI (n.d.) [webpage]
• US Opens Counterintelligence Investigation into China Every 12 Hours (Dir. Wray), MSNBC (2022) [video]
• What We Know About China’s Spy Agency, Bloomberg Originals (2019) [video]
• Hollow Nickel/Rudolf Abel, FBI (n.d.) [Article]
• NCSC Mission, Vision, and Goals, ODNI (n.d.) [Website]

Glossary: 

• Counterintelligence: Information gathered, and activities conducted to identify, deceive, exploit, disrupt, or protect against espionage or other intelligence activities
• FBI Attaché: a special agent assigned to a U.S. embassy or consulate overseas to liaise with local law enforcement and intelligence agencies. They pursue terrorist, intelligence, and criminal threats with international dimensions. 
• Occam’s Razor: a rule of thumb theory that states when you are faced with competing explanations for the same phenomenon, the simplest one is probably the correct one. Attributed to William of Ockham, a 14th century English theologian. 

***FULL RESOURCES AVAILABLE HERE***

Summary

Mike Susong joins Andrew to discuss the impact and potential of AI on the intelligence field. Mike is a former CIA case officer who now oversees global intelligence for a risk management company.

***FULL SHOW NOTES AVAILABLE HERE!***

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• What AI is and why it matters
• How the Intelligence Community is using AI 
• The pros and cons of AI for case officers in the field
• Ukraine - intersections between AI and OSINT
• AI in Alan Turing’s Imitation Game

Reflections

• Replicants, machines and robots
• Will humans become obsolete?

Notes

Mike Susong (Website, LinkedIn) is an expert in the growing field of artificial intelligence. He joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss.

***FULL RESOURCES AVAILABLE HERE!***

*SpyCasts*

• From the CIA to Strategic Cyber -- with Hans Holmer (2022)
• So, I Design Board Games for the CIA... - with Volko Ruhnke (2022)
• CIA Case Officer, Cyber Entrepreneur, Burning Man Volunteer – with Mike Susong (Part 1 of 2, 2022)
• CIA Case Officer, Cyber Entrepreneur, Burning Man Volunteer – with Mike Susong (Part 2 of 2, 2002)
• The Cyber Zeitgeist – with Cyberwire Host Dave Bittner (2021)

***FULL RESOURCES AVAILABLE HERE!***

*Beginner Resources*

• Machine Leaning: Explain it to me Like I’m 5 Years Old, Bob Deprizio, Medium (2020)
• What is AI (Artificial Intelligence)?, Youtube (2019) [2 min. video]
• Singularity: Explain it to me Like I’m 5 Years Old, Roey Tzezana, Futurism (2017) [Article]
• Alan Turing: The experiment that shaped artificial intelligence, N. Sharkey, BBC (2012) [Article] 

Glossary: 

• AGI: Artificial General Intelligence. The unrestricted ability of software to learn, understand, & respond to any intellectual task that a human being is capable of. 
• ANI: Artificial Narrow Intelligence. The restricted ability of software to perform a limited subset of intellectual tasks. 
• Deep Learning: a machine learning technique that teaches computers to learn by example, something that comes naturally for human beings.
• Machine Learning: The field of study interested in building computational systems that can improve their own performance of some task.
• Natural Language Processing: A field of study that aims to analyze and understand human language communications both spoken and textual. 
• Uncanny Divide: Where people feel a sense of unease or revulsion in response to humanoid robots that are highly realistic.

***FULL RESOURCES AVAILABLE HERE!***

Summary

Alexander Rose (Website; Twitter) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss a gripping spy-vs-spy true story from the U.S. Civil War. He wrote the book that was the inspiration behind the hit TV-series TURN.

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• The secret plot to build a Confederate Navy
• Why Liverpool was so important to both the North and the South 
• How Civil War espionage played out in Great Britain 
• The high-level spy the South had in the British Foreign Office 

Reflections

• The birth of the Atlantic World
• The malleability of public opinion

And much, much more …

Episode Notes

Liverpool. The city of the Beatles. The home of Liverpool F.C., winner of six European Cups. Did you know that there – thousands of miles away from the bloody battlefields of Fredericksburg, Shiloh, and Gettysburg – the U.S. Civil War played out? 

In fact, it was a key part of the strategies of both the North and the South since at that time it produced more ships than every other dockyard in the world combined. The North wanted to choke off the South, with the help of spies; but the South wanted to build a navy, with the help of spies. Who would prevail? This is the story of spy-vs-spy, North vs South, and Thomas Dudley vs James Bulloch.

And… 

If this spy story makes you hungry for more, check out Alex’s historical espionage newsletter, Spionage. 

Quotes of the Week

“If Dudley hadn't stopped Bulloch, or if Dudley hadn't existed and Bulloch created this massive fleet of blockade runners and had built more commerce raiders … You would've had a many more sinkings of American merchant vessels. You would've had larger inflows of arms and weapons into the South. The biggest change of all would've been that having the sea lanes open like that would've allowed the South to fight on much longer than it actually did.”

Resources 

SURFACE SKIM

Andrew’s Recommendation

• You must watch Ken Burns landmark documentary The Civil War; but, you must also read net.org/node/4113/reviews/4441/renda-toplin-ken-burnss-civil-war-historians-respond">more recent commentary and critique – there’s even a whole book related to it. 

Headline Resource

• The Lion and the Fox: Two Rival Spies and the Secret Plot to Build a Confederate Navy, A. Rose (Mariner, 2022)

*Beginner Resources*

• Civil War: Evolution of Espionage in America, INTEL.gov (n.d.) [digital exhibition]
• uk.com/HistoryMagazine/DestinationsUK/Liverpool/#:~:text=Liverpool%2520began%2520to%2520expand%2520rapidly,sprung%2520up%2520across%2520the%2520town.">The History of Liverpool, Historic UK (2018) [webpage]
• Liverpool and the American Civil War, National Museums Liverpool (n.d.) [short article]
• British Support During the U.S. Civil War, LDHI (n.d.) [digital exhibit]

DEEP DIVE

*SpyCasts*

• George Sharpe and the BMI – Peter Tsouras (2019) 
• Intelligence in the Early Republic – Ken Diagler (2015)
• The Beginnings of U.S. Overhead Reconnaissance – Jim Green (2014)
• Intelligence and Espionage in the U.S. Civil War - William Feis (2012) 

Books

• The Civil War Abroad, J. Priestley (McFarland, 2022)
• Cotton, Liverpool and the American Civil War, J. Powell, (LUP, 2020)
• Lincoln’s Spies, D. Waller (S&S, 2019)
• Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy, K. Abbott (Harper, 2015)
• The Union and Confederate Navies, J. McPherson (University of North Carolina, 2012)
• The Civil War at Sea, C. Symonds (Oxford, 2012)

Articles

• Liverpool, site of last surrender in US Civil War, S. Abdelaziz, CNN (2020)
• alabama-lost-and-found.html">CSS Alabama: Lost and Found, Naval History & Heritage Command (2020)

Primary Sources 

• The Secret Service of the Confederate States in Europe, J.D. Bulloch (1882)
• Letter from J.D. Bulloch to General McRae et al (1865)
• Dudley Introduces Lincoln to a Liverpudlian Union Sympathizer (1863)
• Dudley’s Concerns About Southern Secession (1860)

*Wildcard Resource(s)*

• You know Liverpool as the city of the Beatles. Did you know that The Beatles’ first single “Love Me Do” and James Bond’s debut movie “Dr. No” were released within a month of each other in 1962? And while none of the Beatles went on to become spies themselves, Ringo married Bond girl Barbara Bach in 1980 and Paul was behind the first rock Bond theme song, “Live and Let Die,” in 1973. 

Summary

Jim Popkin (Twitter, LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss America’s most damaging female spy, Ana Montes. Jim is a four-time recipient of the national Emmy Award for outstanding journalism.

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• How Ana Montes was recruited
• Her espionage at the heart of the Department of Defense
• Cuban intelligence tactics 
• The molehunt to capture Montes

Reflections

• The “City of Spies” Washington D.C.
• Betrayal and familial loss

And much, much more …

Episode Notes

She’s “the most famous spy no one’s ever heard of” – Why? Clouded by the tragedy of 9/11, Ana Montes was arrested on suspicion of espionage on September 21, 2001, as the Twin Towers smoldered. She had been spying for Cuba for almost two decades, sending secrets from the heart of American intelligence to Fidel Castro’s regime. 

This week, author and investigative journalist Jim Popkin joins Andrew to discuss Ana Montes’ story framed by his new book, Code Name Blue Wren: The True Story of America's Most Dangerous Female Spy—and the Sister She Betrayed. Jim debriefs us on how Ana was recruited, how she gathered and sent secrets, and how she ultimately the net closed in on her. 

And… 

The timing couldn’t be better to discuss Ana Montes’ story. Ana was released from prison two weeks ago on January 6th after serving 21 of her 25-year prison sentence. Why has Ana been released while fellow spies who caused tremendous damage, Robert Hanssen and Aldrich Ames, remain incarcerated? Tune into this week’s episode to find out!

Quotes of the Week

“There's a haunting message that the FBI found on her laptop from the Cubans that said, ‘Thank you so much for revealing [Redacted.] We are waiting for him here with open arms.’ So, she revealed the real name of someone who was headed to Cuba, the Cubans were aware of it, and, and they were, ‘waiting for him with open arms.’” – Jim Popkin.

Resources 

Headline Resource

• Code Name Blue Wren: The True Story of America's Most Dangerous Female Spy—and the Sister She Betrayed, J. Popkin (Hanover, 2023)

*SpyCasts*

• “SPY@20: Spy of the Century Kim Philby” - With Curators Alexis and Andrew (2022)
• America's Most Damaging Russian Spy: FBI Agent Robert Hanssen – with Lis Wiehl (2022)
• Leningrad, Molehunts, and Life After the CIA – with Christopher Burgess (2021)
• FBI Special Agent Pete Lapp (2019)

*Beginner Resources*

• Ana Montes: Cuban Spy, FBI History (n.d.) [Short Article]
• A Timeline of US-Cuba Relations, I. Roman, HISTORY (2021) [Timeline]
• The Evolving Motives of American Spies, N. Hunt, Washingtonian (2013) [Article]

Books

• Castro’s Nemesis: True Stories of a Master Spy-Catcher, C. Simmons (Independently Published, 2022)
• American Spies, M. Sulick (GUP, 2013)
• True Believer: Inside the Investigation and Capture of Ana Montes, S. Carmichael (Naval Institute, 2009)
• United States-Cuban Relations: A Critical History, E. M. Dominguez (Lexington, 2008)

Articles

• ”Ana Montes released from prison” C. Yilek, CBS News (2023)
• “A DC Resident Spied for Cuba for Years. How Did She Get Away With It?” S. McNamara, Washingtonian (2023)
• “Ana Montes: How Cuban spy used incredible memory to betray US” C. Bailey, BBC (2023)
• “How Spy Agencies Use American Universities to Secretly Recruit Students” D. Golden, Town & Country (2017)

Video

• Traitors Within - Spies Who Sold Out America, YouTube (2018)
• The Two Faces of Ana: Model Employee/Cuban Spy, YouTube (2017)

Primary Sources 

• The Ana Montes Press Reports (various) 
• Prisoner of Conscience: Ana Belen Montes is free! (2023)
• Committee-on-Science-Space-and-Technology.pdf">Scholars or Spies? House of Representatives Hearing (2018)
• 37.pdf">Inspector General Review of Ana Montes Investigation (2005)
• statement.htm">Ana Montes Statement During Trial (2001)
• FBI Arrests DIA Employee (2001)

*Wildcard Resource*

• “Lasso of Truth!”
• Wonder Woman’s secret power has a connection to the polygraph...

Summary

John Hamilton (LinkedIn, Website) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss Woodrow Wilson and the birth of American propaganda during WWI. He is a Professor of Journalism at Louisiana State University. 

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• Propaganda as a form of covert action 
• The history of the Committee on Public Information 
• Woodrow Wilson & Intelligence
• Deception and mental manipulation 

Reflections

• There is nothing new under the sun...or is there?
• Life chapters in very different settings

And much, much more …

Episode Notes

When the Committee on Public Information was created in April of 1917, the United States was but one week into the first World War. In fact, the Selective Service Act would not come about for another month after the organization of the CPI. Why was Woodrow Wilson so quick to establish a system of control over public opinion, and how successful was this endeavor?

To answer these questions and more, author John Hamilton joins Andrew in a conversation about how propaganda and manipulation were used as a covert tactic during WWI and beyond. As John notes, “everything that’s done today can be traced to the CPI.”

And… 

While the CPI formally existed for only a year, its impact and imagery has endured for over 100 years. For proof, look no further than the story of the iconic “I Want You!” poster of Uncle Sam. 

Quotes of the Week

“You may not like the enemy, but the enemy and you are doing the same thing to manipulate people’s attitudes. And while you may think you have a just cause, your means are quite often the same – Right down to lying, and manipulation and coercion.” – John Hamilton.

Resources 

Surface Skim

Headline Resource

• Manipulating the Masses: Woodrow Wilson and the Birth of American Propaganda, J. Hamilton (LSU, 2020)

*SpyCasts*

• The Third Option: US Covert Action with Loch Johnson, Part 1 (2022)
• The Third Option: US Covert Action with Loch Johnson, Part 2 (2022)
• Crossfire Hurricane: Trump, Russia & the FBI with Josh Campbell (2021)
• Intelligence and the Presidency with John Hedley (2008)

*Beginner Resources*

• How Does Propaganda Work? A. Cuncic, VeryWell Mind (2022) [Article]
• Selling the War, The National WWI Museum and Memorial (2020) [6 min. Video]
• Committee on Public Information, R. McNamara, ThoughtCo (2019) [Article]

Deeper Dive

Books

• The Imposter’s War, M. Arsenault (Pegasus, 2022)
• This Is Not Propaganda: Adventures in the War Against Reality, P. Pomerantsev (PublicAffairs, 2020)
• The Fake News Panic of a Century Ago, L. Huebner (Cognella, 2020)

Articles

• Ukraine’s Garwa Media Fights for Truth in Kharkiv, B. Dooley, Human Rights First (2023)
• The Espionage Act’s consitutional legacy, S. Bomboy, National Constitution Center (2022)
• Modern Political Propaganda Posters & the Principles of Art, B. Krudwig, ArtsHelp (2020)

Video

• World War I: Its History and Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art (2017)
• Crackdown on Dissent, PBS Learning Media (n.d.)

Primary Sources 

• World War I Posters (1914-1920)
• The Sedition Act (1918)
• The Espionage Act (1917)
• To the Four Minute Men, George Creel (1917)
• Letter From Creel to President Wilson (1917)

*Wildcard Resource*

• Check out the Mussolini funded movie Scipione L’Africano (1937) - an attempt to use the story of a legendary Roman general to justify the fascist regime and its ambitions in North Africa.

Summary

Thomas Leahy (Website; LinkedIn) and Eleanor Williams (Website; Twitter) join Andrew to discuss the intelligence war during “the Troubles.” Thomas lives in Cardiff and Eleanor lives in Belfast. 

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• The Troubles through the lens of intelligence
• Some key intelligence players in the Northern Ireland conflict
• How the IRA and the British Army adapted organizationally
• The role intelligence played in the end of the conflict

Reflections

• The fluid nature of motivations and intentions
• How historic narratives shape and constrain the here-and-now

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

From the late 60’s to the late 90’s Republican and Loyalist paramilitaries, and the British and Irish states, were engaged in a period known as “the Troubles”: a struggle to define or redefine the future of the island of Ireland. This is an issue with deep and complex roots, but the intelligence dimension of the period known as the Troubles is fascinating and often overlooked.

To help us get our head around it all, Andrew sat down with two specialists to discuss all things intelligence and the Troubles: from the role that MI5 and MI6 played, to the Force Research Unit and the RUC Special Branch, through to how the IRA played the counterintelligence game and the role that informers, agents and moles, such as the notorious “Stakeknife,” played. 

Thomas is the author of the Intelligence War Against the IRA, while Eleanor is a doctoral candidate comparing intelligence use during the Northern Irish and Colombian conflicts. 

And…

The head of the Republic of Ireland’s police and security intelligence force, the Garda Síochána, is Drew Harris. Drew Harris was a career Royal Ulster Constabulary officer whose father, also a career RUC officer, was killed by the IRA in 1989. He was the first external appointee from outside the Garda.

Quote of the Week

"What's their [IRA] main role in this intelligence conflict?...one of the key points here…the IRA was quite highly regional regionalized. That's actually quite key to explain why British intelligence had some difficulties against them…Initially, it was set up similar to armed forces. It would have brigades, battalions and companies…the IRA operated this kind of army structure up to 1975…the IRA then switched to this new strategy…And part of this was to prevent mass infiltration, which had started to become a problem, particularly in Belfast pre-1975. So, what it adopted in Belfast and Derry was a cell structure." – Thomas Leahy

Resources

Books

• The Intelligence War Against the IRA, T. Leahy (CUP, 2020)
• Britain’s Secret War Against the IRA, A. Edwards (Merrion, 2021)
• Thatcher’s Spy, W. Carlin (Merrion, 2019)
• The Accidental Spy, S. O’Driscoll (Mirror, 2019)
• Snitch! S. Hewitt (Continuum, 2010)
• Infiltrating the IRA, R. Gilmour (LB&C, 1998)
• Fifty Dead Men Walking, M. McGartland (Blake, 1997)
• Best Books on the Troubles (Five Books)

Articles

• The Murky World of Spying During the Troubles, J. Ware, Irish Times (2017)
• Alternative Ulster: How Punk Took on the Troubles, T. Heron, Irish Times (2016)

Audio

• 70-dennis-mcfadden-the-mi5-chameleon-who-infiltrated-the-new-ira-41322330.html">MI5 Chameleon Infiltrated New IRA

Documentary

• Spotlight on the Troubles: A Secret History, BBC (2019)
• The Spy in the IRA, BBC (2017)

Web 

• Operation Kenova
• MI5 in Northern Ireland 

Primary Sources

• IRA-MI6 Intermediary: Interviews with Brendan Duddy (2009)
• Good Friday Agreement (1998)
• Downing Street Declaration (1993)
• Anglo-Irish Agreement (1985)
• Thatcher Speech at Airey Neave Memorial (1979)
• IRA Green Book (1977)
• 3f71d0fe2b653c4f00f32175760e96e7.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/29D303F6511D439598762543AD6E880E.pdf">PM Wilson & Thatcher discuss N. Ireland (1975)
• Secret Meetings Between Government and IRA (1972)
• Senator E. Kennedy, Ulster is Britain’s Vietnam (1971)
• 6fdc69c6d57b6654c3d1ed0f46215416.pdf">IRA Reports on Intelligence Informants (1922) 
• W.B. Yeats, “Easter: 1916” (1921)

Oral Sources

• Duchas Oral History Archive (2014)

Wildcard Resource

• “Murals of Northern Ireland” (4500+ Photographs)

Summary

Enrique “Ric” Prado (LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss his new memoir “Black Ops.” One of the most renowned CIA officers of his generation tells his story.

Book

You can buy Ric’s book, Black Ops, and support the International Spy Museum’s mission here.

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• His time as CIA Counterterrorist Chief of Operations which included 9/11
• His career battling communist insurgents and Islamic terrorists on multiple continents
• His experience living in “Contra” camps during the Nicaraguan Revolution
• His time as Dep. Chief of Station and co-founding member of the Bin Laden Task Force

Reflections

• Conquering your emotions to stay focused in a crisis
• His journey fleeing the Cuban Revolution as a young boy to CIA via USAF Pararescue

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

Ric Prado spent twenty-four-years in the CIA – and what a twenty-four years it was. His first 36 months were in the jungles of Central America as the first CIA officer to live among the “Contras,” including a period with the Miskito Native people; indeed, the photos he took ending up on the desk of CIA Director casey-ex-cia-head-is-dead-at-74.html">Bill Casey. So, what was it like at the pointy end of the Reagan Doctrine’s anti-communist spear, or as CIA Counterterrorist Center Chief of Ops during 9/11?

To find out, and to hear more about Ric’s storied career, Andrew sat down with him for this week’s episode. One of the meanings of the noun “legend” is “a story coming down from the past.” Many people who were in the business at the CIA and elsewhere will have heard the stories that come down from the past re Enrique “Ric” Prado, but now we all have a chance to hear Ric set the record straight in his own words. 

And…

If Ric’s communist uncle hadn’t alerted the family that his school intended to send him off to the Soviet Union as a promising student for further education…if he hadn’t taken an Oceanography class at Miami Dade College and met someone who led him to USAF Pararescue…if he hadn’t been tipped off that he was to be killed in a Contra camp during the night and extricated himself from the situation…as Bob Dylan said, summing up so much of the human condition, “one more time, for a simple twist of fate.”

Quote of the Week

"The wiring was there and the mentoring from my dad…then the trip to the orphanage. And then definitely when I got into pararescue…being one of our special operations forces, the training is very, very intense…And making it through SERE school, making it through mountain climbing school. There's a certain level of conquering your emotions that you have to do…But I think that the most important thing was that I believed in what I was doing." – Ric Prado

Resources

SpyCast Episodes

• In the CT Center on 9/11, C. Storer
• A Life in the CIA, Hank Crumpton
• Interview with Cofer Black
• CT, Nicholas Rasmussen
• CT Strategy: P. Bergen & C. Costa
• Rethinking CT: J. Blazakis

Books

• The Reagan Doctrine, J. Scott (DUP, 1996) 
• The Real Contra War, T. Brown (UOP, 2001)
• Insurgency to Stability, “The Philippines,” Rabasa et al., (RAND, 2011)
• Shining Path’s Politics of War, C. Degregori (UWP, 2012)
• Red Revolution: Philippine Guerillas, G. Jones (Routeledge, 2019)
• The Shining Path, Starn & Serna (Norton, 2019)
• US Relations with Latin America (Five Books)

Articles

• “Shining Path Leader Dead,” BBC (2021)
• “Nicaragua Veers to Dictatorship,” J. Cordoba, WSJ (2021)

Documentaries

• Nicaragua Was Our Home (L. Shapiro, 1985)
• Ballad of the Little Soldier (W. Herzog, 1985)

Primary Sources

• nic-17.pdf">President Carter to Somoza (Brown, 1979)
• Reagan Covert Ops. Nicaragua (NSA, 1981)
• nic-1.pdf">US Aid to Nicaragua (1982)
• Reagan Covert Ops. Nicaragua (Brown, 1983)
• nic-9.pdf">Goldwater to Casey, “I’m Pissed Off” (Brown, 1984)
• Reagan State Of The Union (APP, 1985)
• Reagan Address Nicaragua (ReaganLib, 1986)
• RDP90-00965R000403800001-9.pdf">Contras Lost Congress (WaPo, 1986)
• hwp.com/archives/54a/072.html">25 Years of the NPA (Hartford, 1994) 

Wildcard Resource

• The Clash, Sandanista (Album, 1980)

Summary

Loch Johnson (Website, LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss covert action aka “The Third Option.” He is the author of over 30 books on intelligence.

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• What is covert action
• Four types of covert action
• Foreign policy options: “War Power,” “Treaty Power,” and “Spy Power.” 
• Examples of CA: Guatemala (1954), Indochina (1965), Afghanistan (2001), Iran (2020)

Reflections

• Accountability
• The value of learning from past mistakes 

And much, much more …

Episode Notes

There is perhaps no better guest to join Andrew in this week’s exploration of covert action than Professor Emeritus at the University of Georgia Loch Johnson. Loch’s latest book, The Third Option: Covert Action and American Foreign Policy, examines the history of the complicated and sometimes controversial usage of covert action by the U.S. international affairs. 

Loch’s decades-long career in foreign policy and intelligence has brought him to the forefront of some of the most seminal moments within US intelligence reform: he served as special assistant to the chair of the committee.htm">Church Committee, staff director of the House Subcommittee on Intelligence Oversight, and worked directly with the chair of the Aspin-Brown Commission.

In this two-part episode of SpyCast, Andrew and Loch unpack what makes a covert action operation successful, and how we can learn from intelligence failures and past mistakes. 

And… 

How many people have a society named after them? Loch does! 

Quote of the Week

"History doesn't like to be shaped, it has a power all of its own, but we try to shape it at least at the margins, and we do that through covert action, sometimes called the third option…and it really comes in four packages. Package number one is propaganda… And then comes political covert actions…Thirdly is economic covert action…And then fourthly, and most dramatically, are paramilitary operations. These are war-like activities." – Loch Johnson.

Resources 

SURFACE SKIM 

*Featured Resource* 

• The Third Option, L. Johnson (Oxford, 2022) 

*Beginner Resources*

• Covert Action, E. Rosenbach & A. Peritz, Belfer Center (2009) [Background Memo]
• Looking back at the Church Committee, National Constitution Center (2019) [Blog Post]
• The Iran-Contra Affair, B. Craig, The Miller Center (2017) [Article] 

*SpyCasts*

• The Spymaster’s Prism: CIA Legend Jack Devine (2021)
• First Casualty: Inside the CIA Mission to Avenge 9/11 (2021)
• Author Debriefing: The Art of Intelligence: Lessons from a Life in the CIA’s Clandestine Service (2012)

DEEPER DIVE

Books

• A Covert Action: Reagan, the CIA and Poland, S. Jones (W.W. Norton, 2018)
• The Church Committee Confronts America's Spy Agencies, L. Johnson (UP of Kentucky, 2015)
• The Brilliant Disaster: JFK, Castro, and the Bay of Pigs, J. Rasenberger (Scribner, 2012)
• Executive Secrets: Covert Action and the Presidency, W. Daugherty (UP of Kentucky, 2006)
• Covert Action, G. Treverton (1987)

Articles

• The Disturbing Story Of The Heart Attack Gun Invented By The CIA During The Cold War, M. Dunn, All That’s Interesting (2022) 

Video

• Iran-Contra: Reagan’s Scandal and the Unchecked Abuse of Presidential Power, US National Archives (2015) 
• ‘Covert Action’ By U.S. To Assist Ukraine Could Be In Play, MSNBC News (2022) 

Primary Sources 

• Commission on the U.S. Intelligence Community (1994-1996)
• committee.htm">Senate Select Committee with Respect to Intelligence Activities (1976)
• “Huge C.I.A. Operation Reported in U.S. against Antiwar Forces," S. Hersh, NYT (1974)
• FBI Records: COINTELPRO (1956-1971)
• Note on U.S. Covert Actions

*Wildcard Resource*

• A 90s cartoon, evil beings threaten humanity, only the Wild C.A.T.s can save them: i.e., Covert Action Teams!
• “Covert action” as a concept has become part of the entertainment industry

Summary

Loch Johnson (Website, LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss covert action aka “The Third Option.” He is the author of over 30 books on intelligence.

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• What is covert action
• Four types of covert action
• Foreign policy options: “War Power,” “Treaty Power,” and “Spy Power.” 
• Examples of CA: Guatemala (1954), Indochina (1965), Afghanistan (2001), Iran (2020)

Reflections

• Accountability
• The value of learning from past mistakes 

And much, much more …

Episode Notes

There is perhaps no better guest to join Andrew in this week’s exploration of covert action than Professor Emeritus at the University of Georgia Loch Johnson. Loch’s latest book, The Third Option: Covert Action and American Foreign Policy, examines the history of the complicated and sometimes controversial usage of covert action by the U.S. international affairs. 

Loch’s decades-long career in foreign policy and intelligence has brought him to the forefront of some of the most seminal moments within US intelligence reform: he served as special assistant to the chair of the committee.htm">Church Committee, staff director of the House Subcommittee on Intelligence Oversight, and worked directly with the chair of the Aspin-Brown Commission.

In this two-part episode of SpyCast, Andrew and Loch unpack what makes a covert action operation successful, and how we can learn from intelligence failures and past mistakes. 

And… 

How many people have a society named after them? Loch does! 

Quote of the Week

"History doesn't like to be shaped, it has a power all of its own, but we try to shape it at least at the margins, and we do that through covert action, sometimes called the third option…and it really comes in four packages. Package number one is propaganda… And then comes political covert actions…Thirdly is economic covert action…And then fourthly, and most dramatically, are paramilitary operations. These are war-like activities." – Loch Johnson.

Resources 

SURFACE SKIM 

*Featured Resource* 

• The Third Option, L. Johnson (Oxford, 2022) 

*Beginner Resources*

• Covert Action, E. Rosenbach & A. Peritz, Belfer Center (2009) [Background Memo]
• Looking back at the Church Committee, National Constitution Center (2019) [Blog Post]
• The Iran-Contra Affair, B. Craig, The Miller Center (2017) [Article] 

*SpyCasts*

• The Spymaster’s Prism: CIA Legend Jack Devine (2021)
• First Casualty: Inside the CIA Mission to Avenge 9/11 (2021)
• Author Debriefing: The Art of Intelligence: Lessons from a Life in the CIA’s Clandestine Service (2012)

DEEPER DIVE

Books

• A Covert Action: Reagan, the CIA and Poland, S. Jones (W.W. Norton, 2018)
• The Church Committee Confronts America's Spy Agencies, L. Johnson (UP of Kentucky, 2015)
• The Brilliant Disaster: JFK, Castro, and the Bay of Pigs, J. Rasenberger (Scribner, 2012)
• Executive Secrets: Covert Action and the Presidency, W. Daugherty (UP of Kentucky, 2006)
• Covert Action, G. Treverton (1987)

Articles

• The Disturbing Story Of The Heart Attack Gun Invented By The CIA During The Cold War, M. Dunn, All That’s Interesting (2022) 

Video

• Iran-Contra: Reagan’s Scandal and the Unchecked Abuse of Presidential Power, US National Archives (2015) 
• ‘Covert Action’ By U.S. To Assist Ukraine Could Be In Play, MSNBC News (2022) 

Primary Sources 

• Commission on the U.S. Intelligence Community (1994-1996)
• committee.htm">Senate Select Committee with Respect to Intelligence Activities (1976)
• “Huge C.I.A. Operation Reported in U.S. against Antiwar Forces," S. Hersh, NYT (1974)
• FBI Records: COINTELPRO (1956-1971)
• Note on U.S. Covert Actions

*Wildcard Resource*

• A 90s cartoon, evil beings threaten humanity, only the Wild C.A.T.s can save them: i.e., Covert Action Teams!
• “Covert action” as a concept has become part of the entertainment industry

Summary

John Mullen (LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss his life and career. He was awarded the Distinguished Intelligence Medal.  

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• How John was recruited 
• Life as an adrenaline addict in the CIA
• Case officers vs. entrepreneurs
• How China spies on corporate America 

Reflections

• Atlantic vs. Pacific outlook
• Quantum

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

The Pacific Theater of WWII was imprinted on John Mullen as a young boy. He grew up in Seattle on the West Coast and had family members who remembered Boeing factories under camouflaged nets. He had two family members who were killed in that theater in the 1940s. 

John went on to have a stellar CIA career - but one that always had an eye to the East. He went on the become the Assistant Director for Asia and the Pacific, leading all clandestine activity across this huge region, and spent time as a CIA Station Chief in the Far East. He has since co-founded his own firm and is currently engaged in protecting innovation at Strider Technologies as an Executive Vice President. 

Ever wondered what it’d be like to join the CIA or to leave it to work in corporate America? 

I have a feeling John might be able to help…

And…

Business intelligence, competitive intelligence, product intelligence, workforce intelligence: in case you haven’t noticed – intel is everywhere these days! 

Quote of the Week

Honestly, in my 30 years, at CIA, there were probably less than two handfuls of days. I woke up and wasn't excited about going to work. – John Mullen.

Resources

SURFACE SKIM

*Andrew’s Recommendation*

• The Pacific War, WELT (2021) [documentary]

*Beginner Resources*

• What We Know About China’s Spy Agency, Bloomberg (2019) [4 min video]
• Start Ups Backed by the CIA and Pentagon, CB Insights (2016) [short web article]
• Brian Cox Explains Quantum Mechanics in 60 secs, BBC, (2014) [60 sec video]

DEEPER DIVE

*SpyCasts*

• CIA Case Officer, Cyber Entrepreneur, Burning Man Volunteer with Mike Susong, Part 1 (2022)
• CIA Case Officer, Cyber Entrepreneur, Burning Man Volunteer with Mike Susong, Part 2 (2022)
• From the CIA to Strategic Cyber with Hans Holmer (2022)
• My Global Career as a Female FBI Agent with Kathy Stearman (2021)

Books

• China Unbound: A New World Disorder, J. Chiu (House of Anansi Press, 2021)
• Quantum Computing for Everyone, C. Berhardt (MIT, 2020)
• Chinese Espionage Operations and Tactics, N. Eftimiades (Vitruvian Press, 2020)
• Spies for Nimitz: Joint Military Intelligence in the Pacific War, J. Moore (Naval Institute Press, 2004)
• In Search of Schrödinger's Cat: Quantum Physics and Reality, J. Gribbin (Bantam Books, 1984)

Articles

• Chinese intelligence officer sentenced to 20 years in prison in espionage case, R. Legare, CBS News (2022)
• The World-Changing Race to Develop the Quantum Computer, S. Witt, The New Yorker (2022)
• Paradigm Shift: China’s State Capitalism Is Not Colliding With Its Technological Ambitions, Strider (2021)

Video

• in-beijing-030722.mp4/view">Made in Beijing: The Plan for Global Market Domination, FBI (2022)
• China's New Quantum Computing Breakthrough Shocks American Scientists, YouTube (2022)
• Seattle’s Waterway to the World, YouTube (2017)

Primary Sources

• Indo-Pacific-Strategy.pdf">Indo-Pacific Strategy of the United States (2022)
• War-in-Pacific.pdf">The Information War in the Pacific, 1945, J. Williams (2002)
• The Art of China Watching, G. Solin (1996)

*Wildcard Resource*

• The American Battle Monuments Commission maintains 26 military cemeteries and memorials in 17 different foreign countries around the world that honor Americans that served in World War I and World War II. If you have a family member buried abroad, you can utilize ABMC’s Burial Search to locate their records. 

Summary

Henry Schlesinger (Rare Bird Books) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss two of the most mysterious and alluring forces in human history: sex and spying. He is a journalist and author proudly based out of NYC. 

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• The impact of sexpionage on history 
• Debunking common “honey trap” myths 
• Examples of weaponized seduction and leveraged love 
• Cyber honey traps and digital sexpionage

Reflections

• Psychological implications of love and lies
• The relationship between pop culture myths and historical truth 

And much, much more …

Episode Notes

Sex. Espionage. Sometimes they both overlap by accident...but sometimes it's entirely intentional. From Samson and Delilah in the Bible to the Profumo Affair that rocked British society in the 1960’s, they are a heady and dramatic combination.

But how is sex used in modern espionage? How do the professionals combine them, if indeed they do? What myths surround the use of both? How have men and women used sex and seduction to spy? 

To answer these questions and more, Andrew sat down with Henry Schlesinger to discuss his newest book, Honey Trapped: Sex, Betrayal, and Weaponized Love, which explores the fascinating relationship between sex and spying. 

And… 

You know about Benjamin Franklin in Paris as a “bon vivant, wily diplomat and aging lion,” but read Henry’s article about him as the “Founding Forger” engaged in disinformation and fake news during the Revolution!

Quote of the Week

“The thing about espionage is that it encompasses the best in human beings and the worst and everything in between.” – Henry Schlesinger.

Resources 

SURFACE SKIM

*Andrew’s Recommendation*

• RDP88G00186R000400410003-4.pdf">“Security Implications of Polygraph Derived Homesexual Fantasies”
• See how much social mores have changed since 1985

*Featured Resource*

• Honey Trapped: Sex, Betrayal, and Love, Henry R. Schlesinger (Rare Bird, 2022)

*Beginner Resources*

• The Stasi Spies Who Traded Sex for Secrets, Oliver Moody, The Times (2022) [Article] 
• Romeo Spies, CIA (2018) [Article]
• The Brilliant MI6 Spy Who Perfected the Art of the ‘Honey Trap’, Hadley Meares, Atlas Obscura (2017) [Article]
• The History of the Honey Trap, Philip Knightly, Foreign Policy (2010) [Article]

DEEPER DIVE

*SpyCasts*

• Mata Hari, The Spy with Dr. Julie Wheelwright (2019)
• Sexpionage with H. Keith Melton (2009) 

*Books*

• The Last Goodnight: A World War II Story of Espionage, & Betrayal, H. Blum (Harper, 2017)
• In the Garden of Beasts, E. Larson (Crown, 2011)
• Stalin's Romeo Spy, E. Draitser (Northwestern, 2010)
• Femme Fatale: Love, Lies, and Mata Hari, P. Shipman (Harper, 2008)

*Articles*

• MEA staffer ‘honey trapped’: What’s the role of sex in spying?, A. Bhaskar, The Indian Express (2022)
• The making of an iconic image: Christine Keeler, 1963, Victoria and Albert Museum (n.d.)
• Christine Keeler obituary: the woman at the heart of the Profumo affair, P. Sanford, The Guardian (2017)
• The Honeytrap That Ensnared One Marine in a Sexpionage Case, C. Burgess, ClearanceJobs (2022)
• How to Use Sex Like a Russian Spy, P. Sullivan, Foreign Policy (2010)

*Video*

• Spy History: King Goujian and the Boiled Seeds (2021) [Short Story]
• Spies & Spymasters Happy Hour | Soviet Romeo Spy Dmitri Bystrolyotov (2020) [SPY Program]
• The Spy Who Loved Me: When East German Spies Broke Hearts In The Cold War (2017) [Documentary]

*Primary Sources*

• Delilah Betrays Samson, Judges 16, The Bible
• Sexpionage: Why We Can't Resist Those KGB Sirens, M. Dobbs, The Washington Post (1987)
• RDP91-00587R000100500009-9.pdf">CIA Cover Exposed in Ghana, S. Meddis, USA Today (1985)
• RDP90-00965R000302310026-8.pdf">Spying Casts Shadow Over Talks, R. Beeston & B. Gertz, The Washington Times (1987)
• RDP90-00965R000302310032-1.pdf">Soviets Still Employed at Embassy in Moscow, B. Gertz, The Washington Times (1987)
• RDP73B00296R000500140003-9.pdf">Testimony of George Karlin aka Yuri Krotkov (1969)

*Wildcard Resource*

• From Russia With Love (1963) 
• Bond: Honey Trapped or Honey Trapper? A little bit of both! 

Summary

Bryan Vorndran (Website, LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss how the FBI has adapted to the digital age. As Bryan says, “We are not your grandparents FBI.”

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• The evolution of the FBI and cyber 
• Weakening cyber adversaries 
• Motivations behind creating and distributing malware
• How to keep your information safe from cyber attacks

Reflections

• Adapting to change within the intelligence field
• The value of a passionate and committed team

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

When Bryan Vorndran attended the FBI Academy in 2003, cyber was not on his personal radar, nor was it on Quantico’s vigorous training schedule. Now, almost 20 years later, Bryan serves as the Assistant Director of the FBI’s Cyber Division. 

What changed in those 20 years to bring Bryan to the forefront of the cyber battlefield, and how have the tactics and strategies used in this used in this field evolved alongside the ever-changing face of cyber? 

Tune into this week’s SpyCast episode to find out! 

The FBI has historically been associated with law enforcement and criminal justice. How does cyber fit into this world, and what is the FBI’s strategy for defending the country against cyber adversaries? 

And…

Check out the FBI Cyber's Most Wanted list. A look through the details on each of these wanted posters can give you a better idea of the vast array of cyber-crimes committed around the world. 

Quotes of the Week

“We will not arrest our way out of the ransomware problem. We are not going to arrest our way out of the Russia China Nation state cyber vector problem. Right? It's just not going to happen. But again, national tool power is something we will always do, but there has to be a way to degrade the ecosystem to make their life more challenging.” – Bryan Vordran.

Resources

*SpyCasts*

• Sure, I Can Hack Your Organization – with Eric Escobar, Part 1 (2022)
• Sure, I Can Hack Your Organization – with Eric Escobar, Part 2 (2022)
• From the CIA to Strategic Cyber - with Hans Holmer (2022)
• CIA Case Officer, Cyber Entrepreneur, Burning Man Volunteer – with Mike Susong (2022)
• Cyberattacks, Espionage & Ransomware – Inside Microsoft’s MSTIC (2021)
• The Cyber Zeitgeist – Cyberwire Host Dave Bittner (2021)

*Beginner Resources*

• What is cybersecurity?, IBM (n.d.) [Article]
• How does Malware Work?, Peter Baltazar, Malware Fox (2021) [Article]
• Director Wray on FBI Cyber Strategy, FBI (2020)

Books

• Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War, Fred Kaplan (Simon & Schuster, 2017) 
• Spam Nation: The Inside Story of Organized Cybercrime, Brian Krebs (Sourcebooks, 2015) 
• DarkMarket: How Hackers Became the New Mafia, Misha Glenny (Vintage, 2012)
• The FBI: A History, Rhodri Jefferys-Jones (Yale, 2007)

Articles

• magazine.com/news/fbi-cyberthreat-from-russian/">FBI: Beware of Cyber-Threat from Russian Hacktivists, Phil Muncaster, Info Security (2022)
• Web shell attacks continue to rise, Microsoft Security (2021)
• Thingbots: The Future of Botnets in the Internet of Things, Paul Sabanal, Security Intelligence (2016)

Video

• the-fbi-decoding-the-cyber-threat-022522.mp4/view">Inside the FBI: Decoding the Cyber Threat (2022)
• Made in Beijing: The Plan for Global Market Domination (2022)
• FBI Oregon Cyber Jobs: Cyber Special Agent (2022)
• Life on an FBI Cyber Squad (2020) 
• The Evolving Attack Surface (2020)

Primary Sources 

• my.sharepoint.com/personal/edietrick_spymuseum_org/Documents/Oversight%2520of%2520the%2520FBI%2520Cyber%2520Division">Oversight of the FBI Cyber Division (2022)
• Sodinokibi/REvil Ransomware Defendant Extradited to United States and Arraigned in Texas (2021) 
• Bryan A. Vorndran Named Assistant Director of the FBI Cyber Division (2021)
• The FBI’s Role in Cyber Security (2014)

*Wildcard Resource*

• Quiz: Test your knowledge of the FBI in pop culture!

Summary

Brian Vorndran (Website, LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss how the FBI has adapted to the digital age. As Brian says, “We are not your grandparents FBI.”

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• The evolution of the FBI and cyber 
• Weakening cyber adversaries 
• Motivations behind creating and distributing malware
• How to keep your information safe from cyber attacks

Reflections

• Adapting to change within the intelligence field
• The value of a passionate and committed team

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

When Brian Vorndran attended the FBI Academy in 2003, cyber was not on his personal radar, nor was it on Quantico’s vigorous training schedule. Now, almost 20 years later, Brian serves as the Assistant Director of the FBI’s Cyber Division. 

What changed in those 20 years to bring Brian to the forefront of the cyber battlefield, and how have the tactics and strategies used in this used in this field evolved alongside the ever-changing face of cyber? 

Tune into this week’s SpyCast episode to find out! 

The FBI has historically been associated with law enforcement and criminal justice. How does cyber fit into this world, and what is the FBI’s strategy for defending the country against cyber adversaries? 

And…

Check out the FBI Cyber's Most Wanted list. A look through the details on each of these wanted posters can give you a better idea of the vast array of cyber-crimes committed around the world. 

Quotes of the Week

“We will not arrest our way out of the ransomware problem. We are not going to arrest our way out of the Russia China Nation state cyber vector problem. Right? It's just not going to happen. But again, national tool power is something we will always do, but there has to be a way to degrade the ecosystem to make their life more challenging.” – Bryan Vordran.

Resources

*SpyCasts*

• Sure, I Can Hack Your Organization – with Eric Escobar, Part 1 (2022)
• Sure, I Can Hack Your Organization – with Eric Escobar, Part 2 (2022)
• From the CIA to Strategic Cyber - with Hans Holmer (2022)
• CIA Case Officer, Cyber Entrepreneur, Burning Man Volunteer – with Mike Susong (2022)
• Cyberattacks, Espionage & Ransomware – Inside Microsoft’s MSTIC (2021)
• The Cyber Zeitgeist – Cyberwire Host Dave Bittner (2021)

*Beginner Resources*

• What is cybersecurity?, IBM (n.d.) [Article]
• How does Malware Work?, Peter Baltazar, Malware Fox (2021) [Article]
• Director Wray on FBI Cyber Strategy, FBI (2020)

Books

• Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War, Fred Kaplan (Simon & Schuster, 2017) 
• Spam Nation: The Inside Story of Organized Cybercrime, Brian Krebs (Sourcebooks, 2015) 
• DarkMarket: How Hackers Became the New Mafia, Misha Glenny (Vintage, 2012)
• The FBI: A History, Rhodri Jefferys-Jones (Yale, 2007)

Articles

• magazine.com/news/fbi-cyberthreat-from-russian/">FBI: Beware of Cyber-Threat from Russian Hacktivists, Phil Muncaster, Info Security (2022)
• Web shell attacks continue to rise, Microsoft Security (2021)
• Thingbots: The Future of Botnets in the Internet of Things, Paul Sabanal, Security Intelligence (2016)

Video

• the-fbi-decoding-the-cyber-threat-022522.mp4/view">Inside the FBI: Decoding the Cyber Threat (2022)
• Made in Beijing: The Plan for Global Market Domination (2022)
• FBI Oregon Cyber Jobs: Cyber Special Agent (2022)
• Life on an FBI Cyber Squad (2020) 
• The Evolving Attack Surface (2020)

Primary Sources 

• my.sharepoint.com/personal/edietrick_spymuseum_org/Documents/Oversight%2520of%2520the%2520FBI%2520Cyber%2520Division">Oversight of the FBI Cyber Division (2022)
• Sodinokibi/REvil Ransomware Defendant Extradited to United States and Arraigned in Texas (2021) 
• Bryan A. Vorndran Named Assistant Director of the FBI Cyber Division (2021)
• The FBI’s Role in Cyber Security (2014)

*Wildcard Resource*

• Quiz: Test your knowledge of the FBI in pop culture!

Summary

Aynne Kokas (LinkedIn; Twitter) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss her book "Trafficking Data: How China is Winning the Battle for Digital Sovereignty."

Summary

Bob Sutton (LinkedIn; Twitter) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss the mysterious intelligence site P.O. Box 1142. High-value Nazis were interrogated here during WWII.

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• The interrogation of top Nazis for intelligence 
• The analysis of literally tons of captured German documents 
• Refining ways to escape and evade Nazis in German occupied Europe
• The importance of intelligence on the German Army’s Order of Battle 

Reflections

• The National Park Service & History
• Politicizing Interpretation

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

This week’s guest is the former Chief Historian of the National Park Service, Bob Sutton, and what a wonderful conversation we had.

His book, Nazis on the Potomac: The Top-Secret Intelligence Operation that Helped Win WWII, tells the story of military intelligence facility P.O. Box 1142 – present day Fort Hunt, around 15 miles south of Washington DC.It was here, between 1942-1945, that around three and a half thousand high level German prisoners were interrogated, captured documents analyzed, and ways to help Americans escape and evade Nazis in occupied Europe studied.

This story is particularly incredible, because many of the interrogators were German born Jews.

This story was almost lost to history, but thankfully because of the NPS and Bob Sutton, it never will be.

[Conflict of interest disclosure, Andrew has an “America the Beautiful” Annual Pass].

And…

John W. Kluge arrived in the United States from Germany not speaking a word of English in 1922. He was 8 years old. He would go on to be the head of the Military Intelligence Research Section (MIRS) at P.O. Box 1142. After the war, he would go on to become the richest man in the United States. He was so appreciative of America, that he provided funds to Columbia University and The Library Congress to provide opportunities to future students and scholars. Andrew is a former John W. Kluge Fellow at the Library of Congress and therefore a direct recipient of his philanthropy for which he is grateful.

Quote of the Week

"Doing what we did at Fort Hunt is actually fairly unusual, where we didn't know the story. We were able to locate people, we were able to get money, we could actually interview everybody that we found…That's relatively unusual." – Bob Sutton

Resources

SURFACE SKIM

• *Andrew’s Recommendation*
• Oral History Interview with John W. Kluge, NPS
• Some fascinating budgets on how his time in intelligence informed his business practices
• *Featured Resource*
• Nazis on the Potomac: The Top-Secret Intelligence Operation that Helped Win WWII, B. Sutton (Casemate, 2022) 
• *Beginner Resources*
• POWs and Intel at Fort Hunt in WWII, NPS (n.d.) [web article]
• P.O. Box 1142, Top Secret Heroes, YouTube [3 min video]
• History Series (GS-0170) Federal Jobs, [career article]

DEEPER DIVE

• *SpyCasts*
• “The Beverley Hills Spy” – with Seth Abramovich (2022)
• Books
• Richie Boy Secrets, B. Eddy (Stackpole, 2021)
• Escape and Evasion, P. Froom (Schiffer, 2015)
• The History of Camp Tracy, A. Corbin (Zeidon, 2009)
• Articles
• P.O. Box 1142, The Mysterious WWII Installation, SOF (2022)
• MIS-X: Escape and Evasion in WWII, N. Nix, Patch (2011)
• Moving Image
• span.org/classroom/document/?18752">Fort Hunt Up to WWII, R. Sutton, C-SPAN (2022)
• Richie Boys, 60 Minutes (2022)
• The New Americans: The Immigrants who Served, U.S. Holocaust Museum (2020)
• Primary Sources
• “Red Book”: Order of Battle of the German Army (1945)
• Oral Sources
• Oral History Interview with Rudolph Pins (2006)
• Oral History Interview with Silvio Bedini (2007) 
• Oral History Interview with Paul Fairbrook (2008)
• Oral History Collections
• Fort Hunt Oral History Project, P.O. Box 1142
• *Wildcard Resource*
• 110hres753ih.pdf">H. Res. 753
• A Resolution on P.O. Box 1142 from the 110th Congress
• “Whereas” is utilized to great effect to tell the story with great aplomb! 

Summary

Ryan Zimmerman (MLB Stats; Wikipedia) and Marc Polymeropoulos (Twitter; LinkedIn) join Andrew to discuss intelligence and America’s pastime. From the SpyCast Field of Dreams.

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• Sign-stealing and codebreaking
• Glue guys and teamwork
• Ethics in baseball and espionage
• Clutch and pinch hitters in espionage and baseball

Reflections

• Daring to fail
• Stepping up to the plate of life

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

Buy me some peanuts and crackerjack. Few things in the world compare to sitting back, putting your feet up, and cracking open a cold one while watching the World Series. 

For the 2021 World Series Marc joined us for a fantastic discussion on the links between baseball and espionage. How do we top that? A baseball fanatic ex-CIA officer? 

Why, how about getting a first-round draft pick, World Series Champion with over 6500 at-bats? Done! Enter Ryan Zimmerman, Mr. National! 

Ever wondered about signs-stealing, how to run a baseball counterintelligence operation, or what some of the many, many links are between baseball and espionage? You’ve come to the right place for a discussion that goes to the bottom of the ninth inning over a two-episode conversation.

Ryan played for the Nationals from 2005, when he was a first-round draft pick, through to 2021, when his #11 jersey was retired. He is an ex- All-Star, Silver Slugger, Gold Glove winner, and 2019 World Series Champion. 

Marc is a highly decorated former CIA operations officer who specialized in counterterrorism, the Middle East, and South Asia. Prior to his retirement, he served at CIA headquarters in charge of clandestine operations in Europe and Eurasia. He is the author of the 2021 book, “Clarity in Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the CIA.”

And…

“Big Data” is upending many fields, not least baseball and espionage. Gaining a competitive edge is central to both activities, the big argument is about how much “soul” is lost along the way. The Houston Astros have been a lighting-rod team, whose “smart and modern” or “cold and cynical” approach has been discussed at Penn's Wharton School of Business and in the pages of the Harvard Business Review. 

Quotes of the Week

"I think “Dare to Fail” is enormous. I would want you to put me up at the bases load in the bottom of the ninth. I'll take it every single time. Even if I feel like I have zero chance, I want to be there." - Ryan Zimmerman

"You know, you have to have that mentality in these professions." - Marc Polymeropoulos

Resources

*Andrew’s Recommendation*

• Moneyball, M. Lewis (W.W. Norton, 2004)
• Love it or hate it, this is the first port of call for any reckoning of baseball and analytics. 

*SpyCasts*

• “Baseball & Espionage” – with Marc Polymeropoulos (2021)

*Beginner Resources*

• Spy Agencies Struggling in Age of Big Data, A. Zegart, Wired (2022) [article]
• Baseball Analytics for the Casual Fan, Simple Sabermetrics (2020) [7 min video]
• Beginners Guide to Baseball Analytics, N. Allen, Fansided (2018) [article]
• Best Baseball Analytics Resources, Simple Sabermetrics (2022)

Books

• Spies, Lies and Algorithms, A. Zegart (PUP, 2022)
• The Catcher Was a Spy: Moe Berg, N. Dawidoff (Pantheon, 1994)

Articles

• Baseball and Cybersecurity, S. Handler, Atlantic Council (2020)
• Baseball’s Rude Welcome to Age of Cyberespionage, N. Paine, 538 (2015)
• The Man Who Remade Basketball, M. McCluskey, Wired (2014)
• Baseball on Exhibit: Musuems in the SABR Era, Z. Jendro, SABR (2011)

Video

• Lessons from the CIA’s Analytic Front-Lines, B. Pease, JHU (2022)
• Sabermetrics 101: Baseball Analytics, A. Andres, Talks at Google (2016)
• CIA’s Chief Information Officer - Advanced Analytics, D. Wolfe, O’Reilly (2015)

Primary Sources

• The PC Goes to Bat (1984)

*Wildcard Resource*

• Get “Analytics Certification” from the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) - which is where the term “sabermetrics” comes from!

Summary

Ryan Zimmerman (MLB Stats; Wikipedia) and Marc Polymeropoulos (Twitter; LinkedIn) join Andrew to discuss intelligence and America’s pastime. From the SpyCast Field of Dreams.

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• Sign-stealing and codebreaking
• Glue guys and teamwork
• Ethics in baseball and espionage
• Clutch and pinch hitters in espionage and baseball

Reflections

• Daring to fail
• Stepping up to the plate of life

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

Buy me some peanuts and crackerjack. Few things in the world compare to sitting back, putting your feet up, and cracking open a cold one while watching the World Series. 

For the 2021 World Series Marc joined us for a fantastic discussion on the links between baseball and espionage. How do we top that? A baseball fanatic ex-CIA officer? 

Why, how about getting a first-round draft pick, World Series Champion with over 6500 at-bats? Done! Enter Ryan Zimmerman, Mr. National! 

Ever wondered about signs-stealing, how to run a baseball counterintelligence operation, or what some of the many, many links are between baseball and espionage? You’ve come to the right place for a discussion that goes to the bottom of the ninth inning over a two-episode conversation.

Ryan played for the Nationals from 2005, when he was a first-round draft pick, through to 2021, when his #11 jersey was retired. He is an ex- All-Star, Silver Slugger, Gold Glove winner, and 2019 World Series Champion. 

Marc is a highly decorated former CIA operations officer who specialized in counterterrorism, the Middle East, and South Asia. Prior to his retirement, he served at CIA headquarters in charge of clandestine operations in Europe and Eurasia. He is the author of the 2021 book, “Clarity in Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the CIA.”

And…

“Big Data” is upending many fields, not least baseball and espionage. Gaining a competitive edge is central to both activities, the big argument is about how much “soul” is lost along the way. The Houston Astros have been a lighting-rod team, whose “smart and modern” or “cold and cynical” approach has been discussed at Penn's Wharton School of Business and in the pages of the Harvard Business Review. 

Quotes of the Week

"I think “Dare to Fail” is enormous. I would want you to put me up at the bases load in the bottom of the ninth. I'll take it every single time. Even if I feel like I have zero chance, I want to be there." - Ryan Zimmerman

"You know, you have to have that mentality in these professions." - Marc Polymeropoulos

Resources

*Andrew’s Recommendation*

• Moneyball, M. Lewis (W.W. Norton, 2004)
• Love it or hate it, this is the first port of call for any reckoning of baseball and analytics. 

*SpyCasts*

• “Baseball & Espionage” – with Marc Polymeropoulos (2021)

*Beginner Resources*

• Spy Agencies Struggling in Age of Big Data, A. Zegart, Wired (2022) [article]
• Baseball Analytics for the Casual Fan, Simple Sabermetrics (2020) [7 min video]
• Beginners Guide to Baseball Analytics, N. Allen, Fansided (2018) [article]
• Best Baseball Analytics Resources, Simple Sabermetrics (2022)

Books

• Spies, Lies and Algorithms, A. Zegart (PUP, 2022)
• The Catcher Was a Spy: Moe Berg, N. Dawidoff (Pantheon, 1994)

Articles

• Baseball and Cybersecurity, S. Handler, Atlantic Council (2020)
• Baseball’s Rude Welcome to Age of Cyberespionage, N. Paine, 538 (2015)
• The Man Who Remade Basketball, M. McCluskey, Wired (2014)
• Baseball on Exhibit: Musuems in the SABR Era, Z. Jendro, SABR (2011)

Video

• Lessons from the CIA’s Analytic Front-Lines, B. Pease, JHU (2022)
• Sabermetrics 101: Baseball Analytics, A. Andres, Talks at Google (2016)
• CIA’s Chief Information Officer - Advanced Analytics, D. Wolfe, O’Reilly (2015)

Primary Sources

• The PC Goes to Bat (1984)

*Wildcard Resource*

• Get “Analytics Certification” from the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) - which is where the term “sabermetrics” comes from!

Andrew Hammond shares an encore episode From the Vault. From counternarcotics to counterterrorism, from Latin America to the Middle East, and from the back streets of a warzone to the center of events in Washington DC – Karen Schaefer has had, how should we say, an “eventful” career as an intelligence officer. Charming, smart, thoughtful, and you haven’t even met Karen yet…but seriously, it was a pleasure to talk to this week’s guest who had all of those qualities, and more; so enjoyable it will be released as a double-header. This week, Part I focuses on her time as an operator; while Part II focuses on her time as a “serial collaborator” who worked with Special Operations, the FBI, and the NSC. Stay tuned…

Summary  

Eric Escobar (Twitter; LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss compromising networks and information security. He has a coveted DEFCON Black Badge. 

What You’ll Learn 

• Intelligence 
• What keeps Eric up at night  
• Thinking like an ethical hacker (aka a “penetration tester) 
• Protecting your information (i.e., “Hardening the attack surface”) 
• Plain English explanations of key cyber concepts like “Kill Chains” and “Zero Days” 
• Reflections 
• Having a cool job 
• The information revolution and life in the modern world 
• And much, much more… 

Episode Notes 

Eric Escobar commits several thousand felonies on any given day, if he didn’t have permission to do what he was doing. 

A Principal Security Consultant with SecureWorks, Eric has compromised pretty much everything out there: from healthcare and banking to technology and critical infrastructure, through to amusement parks and next generation military aircraft. 

“From my perspective, it’s the coolest job in the entire world.” 

His team consecutively won first place in the Wireless CTF category at DEF CON 23, 24, and 25, snagging a black-badge.html">Black Badge along the way. He has a BS and MS in civil-engineering.html">Civil Engineering.  

And… 

The links between computing, hacking and the 60’s counterculture are FASCINATING. Learn more by dipping your toes here and here, or dive deeper with What the Dormouse Said (2005) by John Markoff and From Counterculture to Cyberculture (2006) by Fred Turner.   

Quote of the Week 

"Watching any critical infrastructure get compromised is really the thing that keeps me up at night because lives are in the balance…and we do a lot of testing for critical infrastructure, and I've seen computers and machines that have been online and not been taken offline, longer than I've been alive…So really interesting to see those types of things because they interact with really big, expensive hardware…there's a catch 22 that happens where you can't really take the machine offline to do maintenance on it because it's critical infrastructure. So then how do you test it to make sure that a hacker can't take it offline, or maintenance can't be done on it? " – Eric Escobar.

Resources 

*Andrew’s Recommendation* 

• Word Notes  
• From beginner thru advanced, you’ll find some helpful definitions of things like “Web 3.0,” “NFT’s” and “Digital Transformation” on this Cyberwire audio glossary. 

*SpyCasts* 

• Inside Microsoft’s Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) – with John Lambert and Cristin Goodwin (2021) 
• The Cyber Zeitgeist – with Dave Bittner (2021) 
• Securing Cyberspace – with Charlie Mitchell (2016) 

*Beginner Resources* 

• What is Hacking? The Economic Times (n.d.) [web] 
• Ethical Hacking in 8 Minutes, Simplilearn (2020) [8 min video] 
• Cybersecurity in 7 minutes, Simplilearn (2020) [7 min video] 

Books 

• The Cyberweapons Arms Race, N. Perloth (Bloomsbury, 2021) 
• Cult of the Dead Cow, J. Menn (PublicAffairs, 2020) 
• Breaking & Entering, J. Smith (Mariner Books, 2019) 
• The Art of Invisibility, K. Mitnick (L, B & C, 2017) 
• Ghost in the Wires, K. Mitnick (Back Bay Books, 2012) 
• Kingpin, K. Poulson (Crown, 2012) 
• The Cuckoo’s Egg, C. Stoll (Doubleday, 1989) 
• Neuromancer, W. Gibson (Ace, 1984) 

Articles 

• 2022 State of the Threat: A Year in Review, Secureworks (2022) 
• The Anthropology of Hackers, The Atlantic (2010) 
• Timeline Since 2006: Significant Cyber Incidents, CSIS (n.d.) 

Documentary 

• DEFCON, The Documentary Network (2013) 

Resources 

• Government Hacking Bibliography, S. Quinlan, New America Foundation (2016) 

*Wildcard Resource* 

• “The Aurora Shard” 
• Come to the International Spy Museum to see an ugly chunk of metal. Why? Well, it speaks to a revolution in the relationship between the material world and the non-material world. Broken down? 30 lines of code blew up a 27-ton generator. Zeros and ones can cause violent explosions! 

Summary  

Eric Escobar (Twitter; LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss compromising networks and information security. He has a coveted DEFCON Black Badge. 

What You’ll Learn 

• Intelligence 
• What keeps Eric up at night  
• Thinking like an ethical hacker (aka a “penetration tester) 
• Protecting your information (i.e., “Hardening the attack surface”) 
• Plain English explanations of key cyber concepts like “Kill Chains” and “Zero Days” 
• Reflections 
• Having a cool job 
• The information revolution and life in the modern world 
• And much, much more… 

Episode Notes 

Eric Escobar commits several thousand felonies on any given day, if he didn’t have permission to do what he was doing. 

A Principal Security Consultant with SecureWorks, Eric has compromised pretty much everything out there: from healthcare and banking to technology and critical infrastructure, through to amusement parks and next generation military aircraft. 

“From my perspective, it’s the coolest job in the entire world.” 

His team consecutively won first place in the Wireless CTF category at DEF CON 23, 24, and 25, snagging a black-badge.html">Black Badge along the way. He has a BS and MS in civil-engineering.html">Civil Engineering.  

And… 

The links between computing, hacking and the 60’s counterculture are FASCINATING. Learn more by dipping your toes here and here, or dive deeper with What the Dormouse Said (2005) by John Markoff and From Counterculture to Cyberculture (2006) by Fred Turner.   

Quote of the Week 

"Watching any critical infrastructure get compromised is really the thing that keeps me up at night because lives are in the balance…and we do a lot of testing for critical infrastructure, and I've seen computers and machines that have been online and not been taken offline, longer than I've been alive…So really interesting to see those types of things because they interact with really big, expensive hardware…there's a catch 22 that happens where you can't really take the machine offline to do maintenance on it because it's critical infrastructure. So then how do you test it to make sure that a hacker can't take it offline, or maintenance can't be done on it? " – Eric Escobar.

Resources 

*Andrew’s Recommendation* 

• Word Notes  
• From beginner thru advanced, you’ll find some helpful definitions of things like “Web 3.0,” “NFT’s” and “Digital Transformation” on this Cyberwire audio glossary. 

*SpyCasts* 

• Inside Microsoft’s Threat Intelligence Center (MSTIC) – with John Lambert and Cristin Goodwin (2021) 
• The Cyber Zeitgeist – with Dave Bittner (2021) 
• Securing Cyberspace – with Charlie Mitchell (2016) 

*Beginner Resources* 

• What is Hacking? The Economic Times (n.d.) [web] 
• Ethical Hacking in 8 Minutes, Simplilearn (2020) [8 min video] 
• Cybersecurity in 7 minutes, Simplilearn (2020) [7 min video] 

Books 

• The Cyberweapons Arms Race, N. Perloth (Bloomsbury, 2021) 
• Cult of the Dead Cow, J. Menn (PublicAffairs, 2020) 
• Breaking & Entering, J. Smith (Mariner Books, 2019) 
• The Art of Invisibility, K. Mitnick (L, B & C, 2017) 
• Ghost in the Wires, K. Mitnick (Back Bay Books, 2012) 
• Kingpin, K. Poulson (Crown, 2012) 
• The Cuckoo’s Egg, C. Stoll (Doubleday, 1989) 
• Neuromancer, W. Gibson (Ace, 1984) 

Articles 

• 2022 State of the Threat: A Year in Review, Secureworks (2022) 
• The Anthropology of Hackers, The Atlantic (2010) 
• Timeline Since 2006: Significant Cyber Incidents, CSIS (n.d.) 

Documentary 

• DEFCON, The Documentary Network (2013) 

Resources 

• Government Hacking Bibliography, S. Quinlan, New America Foundation (2016) 

*Wildcard Resource* 

• “The Aurora Shard” 
• Come to the International Spy Museum to see an ugly chunk of metal. Why? Well, it speaks to a revolution in the relationship between the material world and the non-material world. Broken down? 30 lines of code blew up a 27-ton generator. Zeros and ones can cause violent explosions! 

Summary

Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones (Website; Wikipedia) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss his book. He has studied American intelligence for 50 years.

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• The CIA and the American presidents they served  
• The founding of the CIA just as America became a global superpower 
• Pearl Harbor, the USSR and covert action under Eisenhower
• Assassinations, controversy, the Church Committee, and 9/11

Reflections

• How much of the future can we predict
• Intention in history

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

This week’s guest, Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones, is Emeritus Professor of American History at the University of Edinburgh. He has been studying American intelligence for half a century and has written a history of the CIA to coincide with its 75th anniversary, entitled: A Question of Standing.   

This episode with Rhodri is a counterpoint to last week’s episode with Robert Gates: a career historian and a career intelligence officer; a European and an American; a 70,000 feet view and a 30,000 feet one. Interestingly, they were born continents apart within almost a year of each other.  

Rhodri is the author of over a dozen books, has a Ph.D. from Cambridge University, and grew up in Harlech, Wales.  

And…

Harlech, Wales, where Rhodri grew up, has the steepest street in the Northern Hemisphere. The steepest street in the Southern Hemisphere, and the world according to Guinness Records, is in Dunedin, New Zealand (Dunedin is Gaelic for Edinburgh). The steepest street in the continental United States is Canton Avenue in Pittsburgh (to celebrate its Welsh heritage the Steel City has a St. David’s Society). Espionage in Welsh is ysbïo.

Quote of the Week

"CIA can't afford to rest on its laurels and continue with systems it has. It has to change all the time." – Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones

Resources

*Andrew’s Recommendation*

• “Documents on Origins of CIA,” Truman Library [pdf]

*SpyCasts*

• “The 75th Anniversary” – with Robert Gates (2022)

*Beginner Resources*

• History of CIA, CIA (n.d.) [web]
• A Brief History of US-Iran Relations, ABC News (n.d.) [video]
• CIA Involvement in 1953 Iranian Coup, CNN (n.d.] [video]
• trends-iran-guatemala-1953-54-revisiting-cold-war-coups-finding-them.html">Iran & Guatemala, 1953-4, NYT (2003) [article]

Books

• Covert Action & USFP, L. Johnson (OUP, 2022)
• A Brief History of the CIA, R. Immerman (Wiley, 2014)
• The [Dulles] Brothers, S. Kinzer (St. Martin’s, 2014)
• Mighty Wurlitzer: How CIA Played America, H. Wilford (HUP, 2009)
• Countercoup: Struggle for Iran, K. Roosevelt (McGraw-Hill, 1979)

Articles

• 64 Years Later CIA Releases Details of Iranian Coup, B. Allen-Ebrahimian, FP (2017)

Video

• “The Nazi Spy Ring in America,” R. Jeffreys-Jones, SPY (2021)
• “Secrecy, Democracy & the Birth of the CIA,” H. Wilford, Great Courses (n.d.)

Photo

• “The 1953 Iranian Coup,” Radio Free Europe Archives (2013)

Documentary

• The Spymasters, Showtime (2015)
• CIA: Secret Wars, Part 1, Roche (2003)
• CIA: Secret Wars, Part 2, Roche (2003)

Curatorial

• Pocket-History-CIA-1.pdf">Pocket History of CIA, CIA (2014)

Primary Sources

• History Staff Analysis: CIA & Guatemala Assassination Proposals, 1952-4 (1995)
• ISecurity-Archive.pdf">ran 1953: Transcript of Interview with MI6 Officer Norman Darbyshire (1985)
• DCI Dulles to President Eisenhower (1953)
• Telegram from CIA to Station in Iran (1953)
• Telegram from Station in Iran to CIA (1953)
• Monthly Report, Directorate of Plans, CIA (1953)
• Memo from Deputy Director for Plans (Wisner) to DCI Dulles (1953)
• National Security Act (1947)

Website

• Intelligence Milestones During Eisenhower Administration, Eisenhower Library (n.d.]

*Wildcard Resource*

• Tom Paine (Common Sense, 1776), Alexis de Tocqueville (Democracy in America, 1835) and Mork from Ork (Mork & Mindy, 1978-82) are all outsiders, like Rhodri, looking in. What can each of them tell us about the United States? What can they tell us that people born within an ecosystem can’t?

Summary

Robert Gates (Website; Website) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to reflect on the 75th Anniversary of the CIA. He served 8 U.S. presidents. 

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• His reflections on the CIA at 75
• How the CIA’s story intersected with his own  
• His take on the organization’s strengths and weaknesses 
• The complex intl. environment the CIA must now help America navigate

Reflections

• Twists of fate
• Identity and institutions 

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

Robert M. Gates is the first career officer in the CIA’s history to rise from entry level employee to Director. He spent 27 years at CIA, nine of those at the NSC. More recently, he was the first Secretary of Defense to be asked to remain in office by a newly elected president. In all, he served 8 presidents. 

Wouldn’t you love to know his take on the CIA at 75? Well, we’ve made that happen for you!

He was born in Wichita, Kansas, served in the U.S.A.F. and he received his undergraduate education at William & Mary, his masters from Indiana University, and his doctorate from Georgetown University. He was formerly the President of Texas A&M University and the current Chancellor of William & Mary. 

And…

The academic institutions Dr. Gates has been associated with all have quite different capacities of football stadium: Georgetown University’s gu-cooper-field-html.aspx">Cooper Field can hold 3,750; William & Mary’s Zable Stadium can hold 12,259; Indiana University’s Memorial Stadium can hold 52,626; and Texas A&M’s Kyle Stadium can hold a whopping 102,733. What could we infer about Dr. Gates, college sports, or the United States from this information? Well, that would be thinking like an intelligence analyst.

Quote of the Week

"I've led four very big, very different institutions and like all of them I always saw where places where CIA could be better. But I always loved the place, and I always was proud to work there and proud of the people that I knew…they were probably the smartest, most honest people I've ever met and worked with." – Robert Gates.

Resources

*Andrew’s Recommendation*

• “Reorganization in the Intel. Community,” DCI Gates (1992)
• Watch this prescient span.org/video/?c5031522/user-clip-cia-director-robert-gates-testimony">clip on historical naivete, or if you’re hardcore, the entire span.org/video/?25307-1/reorganization-intelligence-community">congressional testimony

*SpyCasts*

• “Dealing with Russia” – with Jim Olson (2022)
• “I was a Presidential Daily Briefer on 9/11” – with Mike Morell (2021)

*Beginner Resources*

• History of CIA, CIA (n.d.) [website]
• CIA Director’s Portrait Gallery, CIA (n.d.) [online gallery]
• Impact of President G.H.W. Bush’s Foreign Policy, MSNBC (2018) [13 min. video]
• At 75, CIA Back Where it Started, Countering Kremlin, G. Myre, NPR (2022) [5 min. audio]

Books

• Spymasters: CIA Directors, C. Whipple (S&S, 2020)
• Duty, R. Gates (Vintage, 2015) [Def. Sec. memoir]
• A World Transformed, Bush & Scowcroft (Knopf, 1998)
• From the Shadows, R. Gates (S&S, 1996) [CIA memoir]
• Power & Principle, Z. Brzezinski (FS&G, 1983) [Gates was Z.B.’s Special Asst. at the NSC during the Carter era]

Articles

• A More Realistic Strategy for the Post-Cold War Era, R. Gates, WaPo (2022)
• Creation of the Central Intelligence Group, M. Warner, SII (1996) 

Video

• Legacy of the G.H.W.B. Administration, CFR (2016)
• span.org/video/?72834-1/from-shadows">Book Talk: From the Shadows, R. Gates, C-Span (1996)

Documentary

• The Spymasters, Showtime (2015)

Curatorial

• Pocket-History-CIA-1.pdf">Pocket History of CIA, CIA (2014)

Primary Sources

• Biden Speech on 75th Anniversary of the CIA (2022)
• Robert Gates on CIA and Openness (1992)
• Nomination of Gates to be DCI (1991)
• roscoe-h-hillenkoetter-85-first-director-of-the-cia-dies.html">Adm. Roscoe, First CIA Director Dies (1982) 
• CIA Review of the World Situation (1947)
• Lester to Truman re Centralized Intelligence (1947) 
• National Security Act (1947)

*Wildcard Resource*

• North by Northwest (Hitchcock, 1959)
• We hear the first explicit mention of “CIA” in a major movie
•  “FBI. CIA. ONI. We’re all in the same alphabet soup.”

Summary

Alex Finley (Twitter; Website) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss life as a CIA Reports Officer turned author. She lives in Barcelona.

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• Her take on CIA analysts vs. case officers 
• Information and disinformation in fact and fiction 
• Ukraine, the 2016 election and the Russian historical playbook 
• The regularity even mundanity of much of daily intelligence life 

Reflections

• Being an American in Barcelona 
• Viewing your own country from outside the goldfish bowl

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

Alex Finley spent 6 years in the CIA as a Reports Officer - whom she describes as a bridge between the case officers and analysts. She is author of a trilogy of novels on the exploits of fictional CIA officer Victor Caro. Her most recent book, Victor in Trouble, completes the series (…or does it?) by looking at website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/211109_Hersman_Influence_and_Escalation_0.pdf?fAE4qTWKrjF0eT9k8wVV6gs8KDU_x0Bn">Russian influence operations and the contemporary intelligence landscape through a satirical lens. 

She now lives in Barcelona, Spain - and yes, apparently it’s as awesome as it sounds! – and she is the voice behind #YachtWatch, which tracks and exposes the activities of Russian oligarchs and their superyachts. 

And…

Satire is often described as fitting into three categories: Horatian, which offers light comedy and social commentary (e.g., Pride & Prejudice, Parks & Rec, The Colbert Report); Juvenalian, a darker and more abrasive take that can often take the form of speaking truth to power (e.g., Animal Farm, American Psycho, South Park) and Menippean, which casts moral judgement on beliefs or generic character flaws (e.g., Alice in Wonderland, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Saturday Night Live). Which one does Alex use? 

Quote of the Week

"There, there were points where I found myself in the middle of nowhere, West Africa. And there are these moments where…how did I end up here? This makes zero sense. And then there were the bureaucratic Catch-22s." – Alex Finley.

Resources

*Andrew’s Recommendation*

• Who are the Russian Oligarchs? (2022)
• A great visulacapitalist.com infographic - but if you want to go understand how they can afford their superyachts, start here

*SpyCasts*

• CIA Officers Turned Authors – David McCloskey & James Stejskal (2022)
• NSA, CIA, Author - Alma Katsu (2021)
• Victor in the Rubble – Alex Finley (2016)

*Beginner Resources*

• A Brief History of Spy Fiction, Stella Rimington, Crime Reads, (2018) [short essay]
• An Introduction to Satire, Jackson School District (n.d.) [2-page guide]
• Russia’s Top Five Disinformation Narratives, State (2022) [webpage]

Books

• Victor in Trouble, A. Finley (Smiling Hippo, 2022)
• The Revenge of Power, M. Naim (St. Martin’s, 2022)
• Active Measures, T. Rid (Picador, 2021)
• The Misinformation Age, C. O’Connor & J. Weatherall (YUP, 2020)
• Victor in The Jungle, A. Finley (Smiling Hippo, 2019)
• Victor in The Rubble, A. Finley (Smiling Hippo, 2016)
• Great Spy Stories from Fiction, A. Dulles (Harper, 1969)

Articles

• The Russian Firehose of Falsehood, C. Paul & M. Matthews, RAND (2016)
• Yellow Journalism, PBS (n.d.)

Videos

• The Spy Writers You Love to Read, SPY (2019) 
• Russian Active Measures: Past, Present & Future, CSIS (2018)
• The Strategy Behind Russia’s Disinformation Campaigns, DW News (n.d.)
• Meet the KGB Spies Who Invented Fake News, NYT (n.d.)

Reports

• targeted-disinformation-campaigns.pdf">Combatting Targeted Disinformation Campaigns, DHS (2019)

Primary Sources

• Disinformation: Russian Active Measures, Senate Intelligence Committee (2017)
• KGB Active Measures in SW Asia in 1980-82, Wilson Center

Primary Source Collections

• Rumor Control Project Documents, Library of Congress 

*Wildcard Resource*

• A Clockwork Orange (1962) [novel]
• A short, sharp satire that ruminates on the nature of society and free will – it will stay with you for a long time to come

Summary

Dexter Ingram (LinkedIn; Website) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss his varied career. He has a very cool private collection of spy gadgets.

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• What spy gadget he would save if his house were on fire
• How the hunt for a spy artifact “gets his blood pumping”
• Using intelligence to achieve concrete policy objectives
• His preference for Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) while working with international partners

Reflections

• Vulnerability and trust
• Building and leveraging relationships 

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

Dexter Ingram is the Acting Director at the Office of the Special Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS and in his spare time a passionate collector of intelligence artifacts and gadgets.

He has performed a variety of roles at the Department of State – he was on a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan, he was a Counterterrorism Coordinator at Interpol in Lyon, France, and has a deep interest in counterterrorism, counterproliferation and WMD. He was formerly a Naval Flight Officer and White House Intern with the US Navy and has studied at Hampton University, University of Oklahoma, and the National Defense University.

In part of our ongoing effort to look at consumers of intelligence as well as producers - i.e., who eats the sausages as well as who makes them - we touch on the various parts of Dexter’s career that intersect with intelligence. 

And…

Hampton University, where Dexter studied for his undergrad, is one of over 100 seven.org/">Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’s) in the United States. It sits near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay (incidentally on the same peninsula as “The Farm,” a covert training facility for CIA operations officers). Many leaders of the black community have attended HBCU’s, such as Booker T. Washington (Hampton), W.E.B. Du Bois (Fisk), Martin Luther King (Morehouse), activism.php">Jesse Jackson (North Carolina A&T), and Kamala Harris (Howard). 

Quote of the Week

"It's about real people. These are real gadgets better than the movies. It gets my blood pumping." – Dexter Ingram on collecting artifacts.

Resources

*Andrew’s Recommendation*

• shall-we-all-commit-suicide.pdf">“Shall We All Commit Suicide?” (1924)
• One of Churchill’s most powerful and prophetic essays on the destructive powers unleashed by modern science

*SpyCasts*

• Spy of the Century Kim Philby & Artifacts (2022)
• ISIS Leader Al Mawla – Part 1 (2022)
• ISIS Leader Al Mawla – Part II (2022)
• Intelligence and the WMD Fiasco (2008)

*Beginner Resources*

• 100 Years of Intl. Police Cooperation, Interpol (2014) [video]
• Our History, Interpol (n.d.) [website]
• Nuclear Proliferation & Nonproliferation: What you Need to Know, CFR (2019) [video] 

Books

• The Terror Years: Al Qaeda to ISIS, L. Wright (Penguin, 2017)
• Black Flags: Rise of ISIS, J. Warrick (Doubleday, 2015)
• Policing the World: Interpol, M. Anderson (Clarendon, 1989)

Articles

• “Islamic State’s Khorasan Vision in Asia,” L. Webber & R. Valle, The Diplomat, (2022)
• “Red Notices,” Interpol (n.d.)

Video

• Deadly Evolution of Nuclear Weapons, Tech Insider, YouTube (2017)
• Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty: What you Need to Know, CFR (2015) [video]
• Sailing in the Sea of OSINT, S. Mercado, CSI (2004)

Documentary

• Nuclear Tipping Point, NTI, YouTube (2010)

Interactives

• A Guide to Open-Source Nuclear Detection Work, NTI (2020)

Resource sites

• OSINT Techniques 

Primary Source Collections

• Historical Documents, Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS)

*Wildcard Resource*

• A BBC News Program and Nuclear War (2019)
• “Today” is Britain’s highest profile current affairs radio program, and it has been on air since 1958 - a few consecutive days without it and Britain could launch a nuclear counterstrike. Read more here.

Summary

James Brundage (LinkedIn; Twitter) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss prisoners-of-war and intelligence. He is the Curator at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library in Chicago. 

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• The intelligence dynamics of “prisoners-of-war”
• Tap codes and other ways to covertly communicate
• Using POWs for propaganda
• Debriefing POWs after their release 

Reflections

• Comparing across time (WWII, Korea, Vietnam, etc.)
• Comparing within time (German/Japanese/American POW camps during WWII)

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

What intelligence questions are generated when we discuss “prisoners of war”? The prisoner’s side asks: what happened? Are they alive? If so, where? What did they know? Can they compromise operations? Can we get them out? The other side asks: what do they know? Can they tell us anything we don’t know? Are they misleading us? The prisoner asks: where are we? Are there any friendlies? Can we share information to escape? 

To answer these questions, this week’s guest is James Brundage who curated the May 22-Apr 23 exhibit, “Life Behind the Wire: POW” which explores life in captivity. He is a public historian who has also worked at the Obama Presidential Library, the Chicago History Museum & the James Garfield Historic Site. 

And…

Jeremiah Denton Jr. was shot down while leading an attack over North Vietnam in 1965 and the title of his memoir, When Hell Was in Session, gives you an idea of what he endured during his captivity. As part of a propaganda campaign, the North Vietnamese arranged for him to be interviewed by a Japanese reporter. Hi blinked T-O-R-T-U-R-E in Morse code. Needless to say, the intelligence community took great interest in the video footage. He passed away in 2014. 

Quote of the Week

"So roughly 1% of the POW population perished in Europe at the hands of the Germans versus in Japan…the death rate was almost 40%. A lot of that was the conditions of the camp…in Vietnam, of the more than 700 American POWs, there were 73 who perished in POW camps in North Vietnam, which is roughly 10%." – James Brundage

Resources

*Andrew’s Recommendation*

• The Railway Man: A POW’s Searing Account, E. Lomax (Norton, 2014) 
• A powerful, powerful memoir. Lomax had nightmares about his WWII experience for over half a century.

*SpyCasts*

• Operation Chaos – Matthew Sweet (2018)
• Eavesdropping in Vietnam – Tom Glenn (2012)
• Studies & Observations Group – Donald Blackburn (2012) 
• Intelligence Lessons from Vietnam – Rufus Phillips (2009)

*Beginner Resources*

• The Vietnam War Explained in 25 Minutes, The Life Guide (n.d.) ([video] 
• Intelligence in the Vietnam War, Vietnam War 50th [posters]
• POW’s: What You Need to Know, ICRC (2022) [webpage]

Books

• Spies on the Mekong, K. Conboy (Casemate, 2021)
• War of Numbers, S. Adams (Steerforth, 2020)
• Tap Code, C. Harris & S. Berry (Zondervan, 2019)

Articles

• Meet the Hero: Douglas Hegdahl, Milliken Center (n.d.)
• ho-chi-minh.pdf">OSS’s Role in Ho Chi Minh’s Rise, B. Bergin, SII 62/2 (2018)
• Support-to-Communications.pdf">Intel. Support to Comms. with POWs in Vietnam, G. Peterson & D. Taylor, SII 60/1 (2016)
• on-Intel-Vietnam.pdf">Takes on Intelligence and the Vietnam War, C. Laurie, SII 55/2 (2011)

Documentaries

• The Vietnam War, K. Burns & L. Novick (2017)
• The Fog of War, R. McNamara (2003)
• Hearts & Minds, P. Davis (1974)

Oral Histories

• Veterans History Project
• Vietnam POW Interviews, U.S.N.I.

Primary Sources

• POW/MIA Closed Briefing, DD CIA (1991)
• Report on US-Vietnamese Talks on POW/MIAs (1985)
• 92shrg83605.pdf">Causes, Origins & Lessons of the Vietnam War (1972)
• The POW Scandal in Korea (1954)

*Wildcard Resource*

• Interestingly, philosophers Ludwig Wittgenstein, John Paul Sartre, Paul Riceour, Emmanuel Levinas and Louis Althusser were all POWs – now, the impact this had on their thinking would be one hell of a rabbit hole to go down!

Summary

Seth Abramovitch (Twitter; LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss the British war-hero who spied on behalf of the Japanese during Hollywood’s Golden Age. This is a story-and-a-half, by jingo! 

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• How a British war-hero became a spy for the other side
• Japanese espionage in Tinseltown 
• How the story involves Boris Karloff, Charlie Chaplin and Yoko Ono’s father 
• The spy ring’s activities before and after Pearl Harbor

Reflections

• Playing the game for yourself vs. for a country or a cause
• Hubris & Nemesis 

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

Sqn. Ldr. Frederick Rutland, AM, DSC and Bar, was the first person to fly a seaplane from a ship in history. He was also the first man to spot the German fleet from his seaplane, thereby precipitating the largest naval battle of the First World War, the Battle of Jutland. 

After leaving the military because of indiscretions with a fellow officer’s wife, he tries to live an ordinary vanilla life, but still craves his action-packed days of old…ultimately, he is approached by the Japanese to spy on their behalf, which leads him to relocate to LA during the Golden Age of Hollywood.

To discuss this doozy of a story, I am joined by Seth Abramovitch from The Hollywood Reporter – i.e., the definitive interpretive voice of the entertainment industry – where he has worked for ten years. 

And…

There are some incredible Hollywood movies from the interwar period, capturing some of the tension and suspicion of the era, as well as the faint drumbeat of approaching war. Hitchcock alone had, The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), The 39 Steps (1935), Sabotage (1936), and Foreign Correspondent (1940). Major stars of the era such as Marlene Dietrich, Great Garbo, and Madelaine Carroll helped solidify the spy genre with movies such as Dishonored (1931), Mata Hari (1931), and I Was a Spy (1933). Don’t forget Fritz Lang’s Spione (1928), which has been called a, “marvel of narrative economy in montage.” 

Quote of the Week

"At the very bottom of the list, it would be any kind of allegiance to any flag, because he's quick to offer to turn on Japan when push comes to shove at the very end of the whole story. I don't think he was doing it for any kind of nationalism or political, viewpoint. I think if anything he was apolitical." – Seth Abramovitch.

Resources

Headline Resources

• “Beverley Hills Spy” Seth Abramovitch, The Hollywood Reporter (2022)

Andrew’s Recommendation

• Reel vs. Real CIA – The Americans, Argo, Black Panther, and the Good Shepherd

*SpyCasts*

• “Russia Upside Down” – with Creator of The Americans Joe Weisberg (2022)
• “The Courier” – the Director’s Take with Dominic Cooke (2021)
• “Hollywood Spies” – with Jonna Mendez (2020)
• “U.S. Naval Intelligence in WWII” – with Rear Admiral Donald Mac Showers 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Beginner Resources

• Spy for Japan, T. Bradbeer, Historynet (2022) [webpage]
• The Pacific War, WELT (2021) [video]
• FBI Raid Japanese Spy Network in LA, Smithsonian Channel (2019) [video]

Books

• Intelligence & the War Against Japan, R. Aldrich (CUP, 2000)
• The Emperor’s Codes, M. Smith (Bantam, 2000)

Articles

• “Agent Shinkawa Revisited,” R. Drabkin & B. Hart, IJIC, 35/1 (2022)
• The 1924 Law That Slammed the Door on Immigrants, Smithsonian Magazine (2020)
• Washington Naval Conference, 1921-22, Historian, State Dept. (n.d.) 
• Russo-Japanese War, 1904-5, Historian, State Dept. (n.d.)

Primary Sources

• “Security Service Files, Frederick Rutland” – National Archives (U.K.):
• 1924-1933
• 1933-1935
• 1935-1936
• 1935-1937
• 1937-1941
• 1941
• 1941-1942
• 1942
• 1942-1943
• 1943-1944

*Wildcard Resource*

• Reel-vs-Reel
• How Hollywood compares to the real CIA
• The Americans
• Argo
• Black Panther
• The Good Shepherd

Summary

Bill Parquette (LinkedIn; Website) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss Denial and Deception. They discuss examples such as D-Day, the Yom Kippur War, and the Persian Gulf War.

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• Denial and deception – what it is and why it matters
• Key examples of denial and deception
• Detecting denial and deception operations
• How to avoid seeing monsters everywhere

Reflections

• How to counter denial and deception in everyday life (children, salespeople, etc.) 
• Stumbling into new roles in new fields

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

Sun Tzu said, “all warfare is based on deception” and so much of the natural world is also based on denial and deception: camouflage, feigning, mimicry, distraction. It is also a feature of our daily 21st century lives: spyware, trojan horses, catfishing, and spear phishing.

With this week’s guest we look at the Denial and Deception Committee, which aimed to discover and mitigate foreign denial and deception operations against the U.S. by coordinating efforts throughout the IC.

Bill Parquette was a former Chair of the Committee. He joined the Committee in 2002 and left in 2015. He was formerly a Lt. Col. In the U.S. Army, starting his career with 10 years in the 82nd Airborne, and is currently Professor of Practice at Penn State University. 

And…

The episode looks at deceiving others but the human capacity for self-deception and denial is VAST – from head in the sand, plugging your ears, living in denial, willful ignorance, and cognitive dissonance through to doublethink. 

Quote of the Week

"If I have an audience of one or 100, I ask does anyone have children? And the hands get raised. And then I said, okay, did you teach your child deception or denial? And of course not. Do they conduct denial or deception? And they all said yeah, it's throughout nature, it's throughout society…it's a natural thing to deny. I didn't mom I didn't take that cookie." – Bill Parquette

Resources

Headline Resources

• Bill Parquette’s list of of acronyms and sources
• Fall-Intelligence-Discipline.pdf">“Countering Foreign Denial & Deception – Rise of Fall of a Discipline” – J. Bruce, Studies in Intelligence, 64/1 (2020) 
• “Denial & Deception Issue,” American Intelligence, 32/2 (2015)

Andrew’s Recommendation

• “D-Day Would be Nearly Impossible to Pull Off Today,” D. Lupton, WaPo (2019)

*SpyCasts*

• “Deceiving the Iraqis in Operation Desert Storm” – with BGen Tom Draude (2013)
• “Agent Garbo” – with Stephan Talty (2012)
• “Identity, Espionage and Social Media” – with Thomas Ryan (2011)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Beginner Resources

• Deception at D-Day, Army Uni. Press (2022) [video]
• The True Story of the D-Day Spies, BBC (2014) [video]
• Operation Bodyguard Map, Eisenhower Foundation (n.d.) [map]

Books

• History of the National Intelligence Council, Hutchings &. Treverton, eds. (OUP, 2019)
• Practice to Deceive, B. Whaley (NIP, 2016)
• The Watchman Fell Asleep, U. Bar-Joseph (SUNY, 2005)
• The Deceivers, T. Holt (Scribner, 2004)
• Deception 101, J. Caddell (Army War College, 2004)
• Strategic Denial and Deception, Godson & Wirtz eds. (Transaction, 2002)
• Deception in War, J. Latimer (Overlook, 2001)

Videos

• The War in October, Al Jazeera (2013)

Primary Sources 

• 78.pdf">US-PLO Contacts During War, Oct 26, 1973
• 63.pdf">Secretary’s Staff Meeting, Oct 23, 1973
• Sadat - Speech Calling for Arab-Israeli Peace Conference, Oct 16, 1973
• 13.pdf">Arab-Israel Tensions – Quandt to Scowcroft, Oct 6, 1973
• Ultra – Marshall to Eisenhower, Mar 15, 1944
• Overall Deception Policy, Jan 22, 1944
• Deception Operations Around England, Dec 18, 1943
• Overlord Cover Operation, Nov 20, 1943

*Wildcard Resource*

• Movies to explore on deception include Deception (1946), The Sting (1973), The Usual Suspects (1995), Donnie Brasco (1997), Female Agents (2008) and Operation Mincemeat (2021), 

Summary

David McCloskey (Twitter; Website) and James Stejskal (Twitter; LinkedIn) join Andrew to discuss writing about espionage. They are both former intelligence officers.  

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• What it is like writing spy fiction as a former practitioner
• How fact informs fiction
• Writing as a former analyst compared to as a former operator (James) 
• Reactions by the intelligence community to practitioners-turned-authors

Reflections

• The heaven and hell of being an author 
• The process of getting a process

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

Hear two intelligence formers discuss life as current novelists. 

Where does fact end, and fiction begin when you are a former CIA officer writing fiction? What parts of your own story bleed into the novel? Are the characters composites of people you knew in your line of work or are they entirely fictional? 

To answer these questions and more, this week, I sat down with David McCloskey, former CIA analyst and author of Damascus Station, a book David Petraeus described as “the best spy novel I have ever read,” and James Stejskal, author of Appointment in Tehran, which has been called “a textbook clandestine operation involving…US Army Special Forces and a clandestine CIA Case Officer,” which James would know something about, since he was both. 

And…

Spy fiction received quite the blow in the space of a 6-month period (Dec 2020-May 2021) which saw the passing of both John Le Carre and Jason Matthews, two formers who served in British and American intelligence. Le Carre was in MI5 and MI6 while Matthews had a long career in the CIA. David and James join a distinguished cast of formers who became novelists, including Ian Fleming, Graham Greene and Dame Stella Rimington. 

Quote of the Week

"There are far more edits on, short articles I wrote that weren't even going to the president than on the book, so your writing is being critiqued at all levels. I I think when I did write for the PDB [Presidential Daily Brief], I don't think I'm making this up, I believe it was 9 or 10 layers of review. You could probably argue that sometimes that makes it worse, but you have to be able at all stages to roll with the punches and to write and to try to make things very clear." – David McCloskey.

Resources

Headline Resources

• Damascus Station, D. McCloskey (2021)
• Appointment in Tehran, J. Stejskal (2021)

Andrew’s Recommendation

• The Looking Glass War, J. Le Carre (1965)
• Le Carre doubles down on disabusing the public’s romanticization of intelligence 

*SpyCasts*

• “Snake Eaters, Detachment A, CIA” – James Stejskal (2022)
• “American Spy” – Lauren Wilkinson (2021)
• “Red Widow” – Alma Katsu (2021)
• “American Traitor” – Brad Taylor (2021)
• “The Evolution of Spy Fiction”  - Wesley Wark (2011)

Beginner Resources

• 15 Best Espionage Novels, M. Warwick, Mal Warwick On Books (2022) [article]
• Novelists Who Became Spies, C. Cumming, Crime Reads (2019) [article]
• Best Spy Novels According to a Spy, A. Katsu, Crime Reads (2021) [article]

Books

• Missions of the SOE and OSS in WWII, J. Stejskal (Casemate, 2021)
• Special Forces Berlin, J. Stejskal (Casemate, 2017)
• On Writing, S. King (Scribner, 2010)
• Spy Fiction, Spy Films & Real Intelligence, W. Wark (Routledge, 1991)

Articles

• Nine Examples of Spy Fiction Books, Masterclass (2021)
• How to Write a Spy Thriller, Masterclass (2021)
• How End of Cold War Changed Spy Fiction, J. Ciabattari, BBC Culture (2014)

Videos

• All the Old Knives, O. Steinhauer, SPY (2022)
• Spy Writing in the Real World, Hayden Center (2021)
• The Spy Writers You Love to Read, SPY (2020)

Primary Sources 

• RDP75-00001R000100040003-0.pdf">American Observer, CIA (1970)
• Barry Farber Show, CIA (1970)

*Wildcard Resource*

• The Riddle of the Sands, E. Childers (1903)
• An early spy novel that presaged the anti-German “spy fever” that struck allied countries before and during WWI 

Summary

Janosh Neumann (LinkedIn; Website) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss life in the FSB. He was born in the Soviet Union to parents in the “business.” 

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• Why Jan defected to the United States
• How you get recruited and trained as a Russian intelligence officer
• What it is like to recruit and run agents in Moscow
• His take on what he did for the Russian state

Reflections

• Learn to connect with anybody
• Making a life-changing and potentially life-ending decision

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

Have you ever wondered how a Russian intelligence officer is trained? Ever wondered what it would be like to be a defector? Ever wondered what it’d be like to be given three choices, shoot yourself, get shot, or go on the run?

If so, you’ll enjoy this week’s episode with Jan Neumann, who was born Alexy Yurievich Artamonov in the former Soviet Union. 

Jan’s father was a KGB internal affairs officer, and he would go on to join one of its successors, the FSB, or Federal Security Service, in which his wife also served. He speaks about a number of projects he is involved in, here in the States, where he now resides.

And…

Jan is the Co-Founder of RealSpyComics, which will be the first independent comic publisher dedicated to telling true intelligence stories. The International Spy Museum is a partner on this venture, because if there is one thing, we have a lot of – its spy stories!

Quote of the Week

"I'm not a big fan of ballet, but one of my sources was a big ballet fan. So, I had to go to the Bolshoi Theater, watch this again, and again, and again, I had to do some learning to be able to talk to the guy. And same thing was happening with the art as well. so going to some galleries and talk to the people, be sure that they're using at least same terminology as they are, to be able in the future to support the conversation, be interesting to this person whom you're trying to approach." – Janosh Neumann

Resources

Headline Resources

• Russian Spy, American Defector: with Janosh Neumann, YouTube, 2020
• “Almost American, 1-5,” Aftershock Comics (2021-22)

Andrew’s Recommendation

• Russian Intelligence, K. Riehle (NIU, 2022) [download entire book u.edu/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Riehle_Russian-Intelligence.pdf">here for free)

*SpyCasts*

• “Dealing with Russia” – Jim Olson (2022)
• “KGB Spy & NCIS Agent” – Jack Barsky & Keith Mahoney
• “The Spymaster’s Prism” – Jack Devine (2021)
• “The Corrupted State” – Ilya Zaslavskiy (2016)

Beginner Resources

• Introduction to the Three Main Arms of Russian Intelligence, Globe & Mail (n.d.) [video]
• Putin, Power & Poison: Russia’s Elite FSB Spy Club, BBC (2018) [article]
• From Spy to President: Rise of Putin, Vox (2017) [video]
• Federal Security Service (FSB), Britannica (n.d.) [article]

Books

• Putin’s People, C. Belton (William Collins, 2021)
• Return of the Russian Leviathan, S. Medvedev (Polity, 2019)
• Near & Distant Neighbors, J. Haslam (FS&G, 2016)
• The New Nobility, A. Soldatov & I. Borogan (Public Affairs, 2010)

Memoirs

• Spymaster: My 32 Years in Espionage Against the West O. Kalugin (Basic, 2009)
• Special Tasks: A Soviet Spymaster, P. and A. Sudoplatov (Little Brown, 1994)

Articles

• russian-spies-victorya-jan-neumann-fbi-portland-519309.html">How Two Russian Defectors Helped the FBI, B. Denson, Newsweek (2016)
• Russian Defectors in Oregon, C. McGreal, Guardian (2015)

Videos

• Lubyanka Federation: How the FSB Determines the Politics and Economics of Russia, Atlantic Council (n.d.)
• span.org/video/?64553-1/washington-station-life-kgb-spy">Washington Station: My Life as a KGB Spy, Y. Shvets, C-Span (1995)

Primary Source Collections [All Wilson Center]

• Intelligence Operations in the Cold War
• The Mitrokhin Archive 
• The Vassiliev Notebooks

*Wildcard Resource*

• KGB Members from Ahmed to Yuri, courtesy of Marvel Comics!

Summary

Chris Costa (LinkedIn; Website) and John Quattrocki (LinkedIn; Website) join Andrew to discuss coming in from the Cold War. They both had long illustrious careers in intelligence.

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• Two Cold War intelligence experiences
• Two perspectives on the U.S. intel. community in the 80’s & early 90’s
• Two reflections on the art and science of counterintelligence
• Two perspectives on serving on the National Security Council

Reflections

• Career bookends 
• “Inadequate war termination”

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

The Windy City Episode. 

The Pritzker Military Museum and Library (PMML) in Chicago is well worth a visit. Located on Michigan Avenue overlooking Grant Park and Lake Michigan – there’s three additional attractions right there – you will not be disappointed. SPY teamed up with PMML to put on what would become this week’s episode.

To discuss coming in from the Cold War intelligence landscape, Executive Director of SPY Chris Costa and AFIO board member John Quattrocki sat down for a panel discussion with Andrew. 

Chris, a former intelligence officer of 34 years with 25 of those in active duty in hot spots such as Panama, Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq, is also a past Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism on the NSC. John retired from the Senior Executive Service (SES - 4) as a Special Agent of the FBI with 19 years of operational experience against the Soviet Union/Russia, the Warsaw Pact, East Asia, Islamic extremist groups, and domestic terrorism. He also served on the NSC as the Director of Counterintelligence Programs.

And…

Pritzker Military Museum & Library’s mission is to “increase the public’s understanding of military history.” The International Spy Museum’s mission is to “educate the public about espionage and intelligence.” As you can see, then, in the military-intelligence-espionage national security continuum, we are pretty much as good a partnership as it gets. 

Quote of the Week

"The government has seen the counterintelligence (CI) resources as a kind of a human capital escrow account to draw on for other elements to the government. And in, so doing, we have started to lend our CI bodies to the private sector. So, we are providing indirect cost support to the private sector for their CI responsibilities, rather than causing them to acquit all their own CI responsibilities." – John Quattrocki

"I was not entirely satisfied with the idea of being between wars, because we were trained as infantry men. Our job was to prepare to go to war. And then I said, you know what? I wanna fight against our adversaries on a different plane, multilevel chess, if you will. And that's what brought me into the intelligence business." – Chris Costa

Resources

Headline Resource

• Video of the live event featuring Chris & John at PMML in Chicago, YouTube

*SpyCasts*

• "The FBI Way" - Frank Figliuzzi (2021)
• “Army Intelligence” –Mary Legere (2016)
• “The CI Professional” – John Schindler (2016)

Beginner Resources

• Cold War Overview, Khan Academy (n.d.)
• HUMINT vs. Counterintelligence, Clearance Jobs (2020)

Books

• To Catch a Spy, J. Olson (GUP, 2019)
• U.S. Army CI Handbook (Dept. of Army, 2013)
• Double Cross, B. McIntyre (Crown, 2013)

Articles

• The Best Books on Counterintelligence, J. Olson, Shepherd (n.d.)
• Anatomy-of-Counterintel.pdf">An Anatomy of Counterintelligence, A.C. Wasemiller, SII (1994)
• glossary.pdf">Terms & Definitions of CI, FAS (2014)

Website

• Counterintelligence, FBI

Primary Sources

• National CI Strategy, 2020-22 (2020)
• The Spy Who Loved Her (1994)
• A Review of US CI (1986)
• Church Committee Report (1976)
• Summary of the “CIA Family Jewels” (1975)

*Wildcard Resource*

• “Gerontion,” T.S. Elliott (1920)
• This poem is the origin of the phrase often associated with CI: “the wilderness of mirrors.”

Summary

Alexis Albion (LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss Kim Philby using some of his personal belongings as prompts. This episode on the Soviet mole inside MI6 coincides with SPY’s 20th Anniversary.

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• Why Philby has been called “The Spy of the Century”
• Philby the man, the ideologue, the spy, and the traitor
• Philby’s corrosive effect on Cold War British and American intelligence
• The cultural blind spot that allowed him to hide in plain sight then ride a storm of suspicion 

Reflections

• Psychological complexity and contradiction
• Social stratification

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

The Cambridge Five are some of the most notable and notorious traitors in British history, and among them one man stands out in a way that has led some to call him, “The Spy of the Century,” MI6 officer Kim Philby. How did a quintessential Englishman who came from the “right” stock and went to the “right” schools become a Soviet mole? How did a genial chum come to haunt the corridors of British and American intelligence like a ghastly apparition? 

Dr. Alexis Albion is this week’s guest and the Curator of Special Projects at the International Spy Museum. She was formerly on the 11commission.gov/report/">9/11 Commission Report, the World Bank and the U.S. Department of State.

In this is a first of a kind podcast, Alexis and Andrew sat down with some of Philby’s personal belongings drawn from our world-leading collection of artifacts on espionage and intelligence. 

And…

Harold Adrian Russell Philby acquired the nickname “Kim” from the main character in Rudyard Kipling’s novel Kim, an orphan-boy-cum-spy in British India. Kim and Philby also have the Punjab in common, the novel begins in Lahore and Philby was born in Ambala, although the historic region was partitioned between Pakistan and India in 1947. The drive between Lahore and Ambala is roughly similar to that between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Quote of the Week

"So why is he The Spy of the Century? Maybe the fact that he's not identified with any particular event or set of information [e.g., unlike Julius Rosenberg], but he's identified with this idea of betraying his Englishness is perhaps why he's been such a lasting figure because he almost is a touchpoint for the history of the 20th century and England. Great Britain's demise is a great power."

Resources

*Andrew’s Recommendation*

• My Five Cambridge Friends, Y. Modin (FS&G, 1994)
• A one-time KGB handler of the Cambridge 5 reflects on each of them as spies and as individuals

*SpyCasts*

• Stalin’s Englishman: Guy Burgess – with Andrew Lownie (2016)
• The British the Joint Intelligence Committee – with Mike Goodman (2014)
• The Real History of MI6 – with Keith Jeffrey (2010)
• The Cambridge 5 – with Nigel West (2009)

*Beginner Resources*

• Facts About Kim Philby, J. Hayes, Factinate (n.d.)
• Reading Material Culture [i.e., objects] (2020]
• India’s Partition in Pictures, BBC (n.d.)

Books

• Spies & Traitors, M. Holzman (Pegasus, 2021)
• A Spy Among Friends, B. McIntyre (Crown, 2015)
• Kim, Rudyard Kipling (1901)

Articles

• The Punjab Partition, S. Sultan, LSE (2018)
• Philby & Mistrust, M. Gladwell, New Yorker (2014)

Documentary

• Why Was India Split into Two Countries, H. Roy, TED-Ed, YouTube (n.d.)
• MI6 Agent Turned Russian Spy, Philby, Timeline, YouTube (n.d.)

Primary Sources

• Philby, I Spied for Russia from 1933 (1967)
• My Silent War, K. Philby (1967)
• The Disappearance of Kim Philby (1963) 
• Kim Philby (Peach): File 1 (1951-52)
• Constituent Assembly of India (1946)

Primary Source Collections

• Indian Independence & Partition, UK National Archives

*Wildcard Resource*

• Surnames & Social Mobility in England, 1230-2012
• So, you thought social mobility in England has changed significantly since the heritage.org.uk/learn/histories/1066-and-the-norman-conquest/">Norman Conquest almost 1000 years ago – well, yes, and NO!

Summary

Jim Olson (Website) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss Putin and Russia. He had a 31-year career with the CIA including a tour in Moscow.

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• His views on Russia and its trajectory since the Cold War’s end
• His frank assessment of Putin and admiration for the Russian people
• His time in Moscow with 3 rotating KGB teams surveilling him
• His time as Chief of Station in the city of spies Vienna

Reflections

• A “beautiful marriage” with American technology 
• Passing the generational baton

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

“James Olson is a legend in the clandestine service,” not my description of this week’s guest, but that of former CIA Director and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Jim spent 31 years in the CIA, including tours in Moscow, Vienna & Mexico City, and rose to become Chief of CIA Counterintelligence. He is the author of Fair Play and To Catch a Spy. 

He joined Andrew to speak about Russia. He speaks the language, spent time living and working in the country, where he was involved in one particularly daring operation that he shares with us in the episode, and he faced off against the organization that would go on to become the current org.htm">SVR and FSB – the KGB.

Jim has had Vladimir Putin on his radar for many a year, and he doesn’t pull any punches reflecting on his trajectory in this episode.

And…

Jim grew up in a small town in Iowa where, “we didn’t really follow international affairs, we joked among ourselves…if it didn’t affect the price of corn, we weren’t really interested.” My, how things changed for Jim.

Quote of the Week

"I have tremendous respect for the Russian people. They are long suffering. I've gotten to know many Russians. I've worked with a lot of Russians. I found them to be people who had a real soul. They had a human qualities that I could admire, but they were locked into a repressive regime that did not allow them to express any of those human sentiments that that they felt." – Jim Olson

Resources

Headline Resource

• To Catch a Spy: The Art of Counterintelligence, J. Olson (GUP, 2019)
• Fair Play: The Moral Dilemmas of Spying, J. Olson (Potomac, 2008)

*SpyCasts*

• “The Spymaster’s Prism” – with Jack Devine (2021)
• “Russians Among Us: The Hunt for Putin’s Spies” – with Gordon Corera (2020)
• “The Corrupted State” – with Ilya Zaslavskiy (2016)
• “Putin’s End Game in Ukraine” – with KGB General (Retd.) Oleg Kalugin (2014)

Beginner Resources

• span.org/video/?470533-1/to-catch-spy">To Catch A Spy with J. Olson, C-SPAN (2020) [9:44 minutes] 
• The Best Books on Counterintelligence, J. Olson, Shepherd (n.d.)
• Putin’s Revisionist History of Russia and Ukraine, I. Chotiner, New Yorker (2022)

Books

• Putin’s People, C. Belton (Picador, 2022)
• Operative in the Kremlin, F. Hill & C. Gaddy (Brookings, 2015)
• One Soldier’s War in Chechnya, A. Babchenko (Portobello, 2008)

Articles

• Former CIA Leader Said LinkedIn is Like a Candy Store to China, C. Burgess, ClearanceJobs (2022)
• New Documentary Series Explores Pollard Affair, H. Brown, Jerusalem Post (2022)
• J. Olson First Recipient of “The Spirit of Aggieland – 41 Award,” J. Adams, KAGS (2022)
• Ex-CIA Chief on Accused Chinese Spymaster, P. Christian, WCPO (2021)

Videos

• To Catch A Spy with J. Olson, Houston World Affairs Council (2020)

Primary Sources

• James Collins Oral History, US Ambassador to Soviet Union, 1997-2001 (n.d.)
• Jack Matlock Oral History, US Ambassador to Soviet Union, 1987-1991, (n.d.)
• Ukraine: Memo. On Security Assurances (1994)
• Belovezha Accords, Eyewitness Account of Former Belarus Soviet Leader (1991)

*Wildcard Resource*

• What Classic Russian Literature Can Teach us about Putin’s War on Ukraine 
• Putin is a big fan of Dostoevsky – who underwent a mock execution & four years of hard labor in Siberia for belonging to a literary discussion group feared by the Tsarist autocracy. 

Summary

John Gise joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss the Wall of Spies Experience. It features over 200 stories of espionage and sabotage in America since 1776.

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• America’s first Spymaster
• The Founding Father of American Counterintelligence 
• The New Yorker who adopted a Southern accent so she could spy on the Confederacy 
• The escaped enslaved man who was described as a “walking order of battle chart” 

Reflections

• Educating a workforce on its past
• Dreaming about history

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

The Wall of Spies Experience features over 200 stories of espionage, sabotage and betrayal from American history. The physical wall is a private museum on an intelligence community facility, but the second installment of the Digital Wall of Spies has recently been released. Thus far we have the Revolutionary War and the Civil War, with WWI coming up next. 

Whether you want to get a sense of the evolution of espionage in America, dork out on a particular historical period, or just have a browse – we are sure you will agree that this National Counterintelligence & Security Center (NCSC) sponsored exhibit is a welcome contribution to the public’s understanding of the history of intelligence and espionage.

This week’s guest is John Gise, for whom the Wall of Spies was a labor of love. He has had a number of different roles across the US government, including a stint in Special Forces, but for now, spies from American history are with him while awake…and while asleep. 

And…

If you’ve ever wondered why you can’t visit the Statue of Liberty’s torch, you need to listen to the teaser John provides at the end of this episode on the next installment of the Digital Wall of Spies (we’ll give you a clue…it’s the opposite of White Jerry).

Quote of the Week

"We've now posted online…the digital revolutionary war spies, the digital civil war spies…And we're talking in the revolutionary war about 30 continental army spies and British spies…for the civil war, it's about 25 Union spies and Confederate spies. And many of those spies are also Scouts, right? Collecting information, going behind enemy lines, conducting reconnaissance missions and collecting intelligence for their superiors." – John Gise.

Resources

Headline Resource

• The Wall of Spies Experience (Digital) 

*SpyCasts* 

• “Birthplace of American Espionage” - Spy Sites of Philadelphia (2021)
• George Sharpe and the BMI: A Conversation with Peter Tsouras (2019)
• Washington’s Spies: An Interview with Alexander Rose (2015)
• Spies, Patriots, and Traitors: American Intelligence in the Revolutionary War (2014)
• Intelligence and Espionage in the U.S. Civil War (2012)

Books

• The Creation of American Military Intelligence in the Civil War, P. Tsouras (Casemate, 2018)
• Spies, Patriots, and Traitors: American Intelligence in the Revolutionary War (GUP, 2014)
• The Secret War for the Union, E. Fishel (Houghton, 1996)

Articles

• Audacious Confederate Spies, G. Brockell, WaPo (2022)
• The Wall of Spies, M. Rosenwald, WaPo (2019)
• Intelligence Agency Unveils New Weapon to Deter Spies – A Museum, J.J. Green, WTOP (2019)

Primary Sources

• John McEntee to George H. Sharpe [Charley Wright’s intel on location of Lee's army] 1863)
• Lincoln and the Baltimore Plot – Pinkerton Papers [Kate Warne] (1861)
• The Federalist Papers: No:64 (John Jay, 1788)
• Minutes of the Commissioners for Detecting and Defeating Conspiracies (1778-1781)
• Benedict Arnold Letter to John André (1780)
• John André Letter to Joseph Stansbury [for Benedict Arnold] (1779)
• Letter, George Washington to Benjamin Tallmadge (1779)

*Wildcard Resource*

• Fraunces Tavern, New York City
• If you want to connect to Revolutionary War espionage, grab an ale, a seat by the fire, and muse (they also have a museum!)

Summary

Vikram Sood (Twitter, Blog) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss intelligence in the world’s largest democracy. He was the chief of India’s Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW). 

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• The intelligence landscape in India 
• China, Pakistan, and the intelligence challenges in the region
• The founding and evolution of the Research and Analysis Wing 
• The pressure involved in the top job and being responsible to the Prime Minister

Reflections

• The power of narratives 
• Spies can be sensitive souls too

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

This is the final installment of our month long special on SPY CHIEFS, featuring Vikram Sood. former Director of India’s foreign intelligence agency, the Research & Analysis Wing (RA&W). This episode from the vault was recorded during the darkest days of the pandemic when the International Spy Museum was closed, infections and deaths were sky high, and Andrew was at home in his living room with Vikram at his in New Delhi. 

So, is the R&AW similar to the CIA or MI6 or both? Does it have a covert action capability? How focused is it on China and Pakistan? Who does the Director report to? To hear the answers tune in to listen to an Indian Spy Chief who was in office in the critical years 2000-2003. 

Vikram was in the intelligence business for more than thirty years, since leaving as the professional head of India’s foreign intelligence agency he went on to have a successful second career at the think-tank, Observer Research Foundation, which is based in New Delhi. He is the author of two books (see below).

And…

Depending on the source, India has more, a little less, or roughly the same number of Muslims as Pakistan. An incredible fact when you consider that Pakistan is generally in the top five for having the largest population in the world. In fact, India has a larger population than the United States, Pakistan, Indonesia, Brazil and Nigeria combined. 

Quote of the Week

"There is immense tension in the job because anything can go wrong any day and you will be held responsible if there is another bomb blast somewhere else. But if the leadership is supportive and it's understanding, and also contributes to helping you decide things, takes decisions for you that need politically clearances. That helps a lot that takes away the anxieties, it keeps the blood pressure down." – Vikram Sood

Resources

Headline Resource

• The Ultimate Goal: R&AW Chief Deconstructs how Nations Construct Narratives (Harper India, 2020)
• The Unending Game: A Former R&AW Chief’s Insights into Espionage (Penguin, 2018)

Beginner Resources

• [Video] How Was R&AW Started: Story of India’s External Intelligence Agency, WION (2022)
• [Article] a-history-of-indias-covert-operations-showcases-indias-shadow-warriors-2176989.html">RAW: A History of India’s Covert Operations, Yatish Yadav, New Indian Express (2020)

Books

• The War that Made R&AW, A. Nandakumar (Westland, 2021)
• JFK’s Forgotten Crisis: Tibet, the CIA and the Sino-Indian War, B. Riedel (BIP, 2015)
• Intelligence Elsewhere, P. Davies & K. Gustafson (GUP, 2013)
• The Kaoboys & R&AW, B Raman (Lancer, 2012)
• India’s External Intelligence, V.K. Singh (ManasPub, 2007)

Articles

• History of RAW, Sachidananda Mohanty, Frontline (2022)
• A Peek Into India’s IB and RAW, Amjed Jaaved, Pakistan Today (2022)
• Inside R&AW, Rahul Bedi, The Wire: India (2020)
• Quiet Americans in India, P. McGarr, Diplomatic History, 38(5), 2014 (1046-1082)

Videos

• Ex-Israel Spy Chief Talks Intelligence Cooperation with India, The Quint, YouTube (n.d.)
• Ex R&AW Chief Vikram Sood Gives a Glimpse of the World of Spies, The Quint, YouTube (n.d.)

*Wildcard Resource*

• “ajit-doval-turns-77-today-all-you-need-to-know-about-the-james-bond-of-india-10303881.html">The James Bond of India”
• Real-life spy Ajit Doval who spent years undercover in Pakistan
• He is currently the National Security Advisor of India! 

Summary

Ellen McCarthy (Twitter; LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss her career and time as head of the State Department’s intelligence agency. INR is one of the 18 U.S. intelligence agencies.

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• Her start as a Soviet submarine analyst in the Office of Naval Intelligence 
• Bringing the U.S. Coast Guard intel. program into the Intelligence Community (IC) 
• Working for DoD and Geospatial-Intelligence
• Why she admires the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) 

Reflections

• Government/for-profit/non-profit life
• Managing complexity and change 

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

Imagine seeing a pyramid from different angles and different heights instead of from one vantage point? You get a better sense of what it truly looks like, its dimensions, colors, idiosyncrasies, and the shadows it casts, right?

Ellen McCarthy has seen more of the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) pyramid than most: she started as a junior analyst for the U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence and ended up as the head of the State Dept.’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR). Along the way, she was with the U.S. Coast Guard, in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, and at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. 

Quite the journey, I am sure you will agree…

And…

INR has been called the 2001.state.gov/publications/statemag/statemag_nov-dec/bom.html">“biggest little intelligence shop in town” and its morning intelligence summary, “2001.state.gov/publications/statemag/statemag_nov-dec/bom.html">Better than Wheaties.” The NYT called it the war-intelligence-tiny-agency-s-iraq-analysis-better-than-big-rivals.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm">“least wrong” intelligence agency on Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and it has been credited for a more accurate assessment of Ukraine’s ability to withstand Russia than its peers. “They get paid attention to because they’re good and they tend to be contrarian,” notes a former chair of the National Intelligence Council. How do they manage this? Well, big question, but the deep, deep expertise of their staff – who are on average on their regional or functional area for over a decade – as well as an “intolerance for mediocrity” would be good places to start.

Quote of the Week

"The Geographer of the United States sits in INR. I don't think a lot of people know that. So, when there's a boundary dispute or you've got countries trying to build islands, it's INR that's actually working what the legal boundaries are. The other thing that INR does that a lot of folks don't know about is polling. Polling in the intelligence community is conducted at INR…And I will tell you that the polling capability at INR is the best I've ever seen." – Ellen McCarthy 

Resources

*SpyCasts*

• “State Department Intelligence: Inside the INR” – INR Leadership (2020)

Beginner Resources

• Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Wikipedia [webpage]
• Learn About the Smallest Organization in the IC, YouTube (n.d.) [1:45 minute]
• Geographer of the United States, YouTube, (2011) [13:24 minute]

Books

• “Intelligence Informs Policymaking at DoS: INR,” T. King in T. Juneau, ed. Strategic Analysis in Support of Policymaking, R&L (2017), pp. 95-110.
• Reducing Uncertainty: Intelligence Analysis & National Security, T. Fingar, SUP (2011)
• INR, Intelligence & Research at State, U.S. DoS (1973)

Article

• The U.S. Intelligence Community Needs a ‘Wild Bill’ Moment, E. McCarthy & M. Scott, Cipher Brief (2021)

Video

• SPYCHAT: Ellen McCarthy & Chris Costa, YouTube (2021)
• The New IC: Ellen McCarthy Keynote, YouTube (2019)
• FedMentor: NGA’s Ellen McCarthy, YouTube (2014)

Primary Sources

• INR: 2025 Strategic Plan (2022)
• Oral History with Teresita Schaeffer (1998)
• Oral History with Thomas F. Conlon (1992)
• Oral History with Frank Burnet, (1990)
• Oral History with Daniel Zachary (1989)

*Wildcard Resource*

• The Ralph J. Bunche Library
• State Dept. Library named after OSS intelligence analyst, diplomat & Nobel Prize Winner Dr. Bunche

Summary

Ellen McCarthy (Twitter; LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss her career and time as head of the State Department’s intelligence agency. INR is one of the 18 U.S. intelligence agencies.

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• Her start as a Soviet submarine analyst in the Office of Naval Intelligence 
• Bringing the U.S. Coast Guard intel. program into the Intelligence Community (IC) 
• Working for DoD and Geospatial-Intelligence
• Why she admires the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) 

Reflections

• Government/for-profit/non-profit life
• Managing complexity and change 

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

Imagine seeing a pyramid from different angles and different heights instead of from one vantage point? You get a better sense of what it truly looks like, its dimensions, colors, idiosyncrasies, and the shadows it casts, right?

Ellen McCarthy has seen more of the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) pyramid than most: she started as a junior analyst for the U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence and ended up as the head of the State Dept.’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR). Along the way, she was with the U.S. Coast Guard, in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence, and at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. 

Quite the journey, I am sure you will agree…

And…

INR has been called the 2001.state.gov/publications/statemag/statemag_nov-dec/bom.html">“biggest little intelligence shop in town” and its morning intelligence summary, “2001.state.gov/publications/statemag/statemag_nov-dec/bom.html">Better than Wheaties.” The NYT called it the war-intelligence-tiny-agency-s-iraq-analysis-better-than-big-rivals.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm">“least wrong” intelligence agency on Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and it has been credited for a more accurate assessment of Ukraine’s ability to withstand Russia than its peers. “They get paid attention to because they’re good and they tend to be contrarian,” notes a former chair of the National Intelligence Council. How do they manage this? Well, big question, but the deep, deep expertise of their staff – who are on average on their regional or functional area for over a decade – as well as an “intolerance for mediocrity” would be good places to start.

Quote of the Week

"The Geographer of the United States sits in INR. I don't think a lot of people know that. So, when there's a boundary dispute or you've got countries trying to build islands, it's INR that's actually working what the legal boundaries are. The other thing that INR does that a lot of folks don't know about is polling. Polling in the intelligence community is conducted at INR…And I will tell you that the polling capability at INR is the best I've ever seen." – Ellen McCarthy 

Resources

*SpyCasts*

• “State Department Intelligence: Inside the INR” – INR Leadership (2020)

Beginner Resources

• Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Wikipedia [webpage]
• Learn About the Smallest Organization in the IC, YouTube (n.d.) [1:45 minute]
• Geographer of the United States, YouTube, (2011) [13:24 minute]

Books

• “Intelligence Informs Policymaking at DoS: INR,” T. King in T. Juneau, ed. Strategic Analysis in Support of Policymaking, R&L (2017), pp. 95-110.
• Reducing Uncertainty: Intelligence Analysis & National Security, T. Fingar, SUP (2011)
• INR, Intelligence & Research at State, U.S. DoS (1973)

Article

• The U.S. Intelligence Community Needs a ‘Wild Bill’ Moment, E. McCarthy & M. Scott, Cipher Brief (2021)

Video

• SPYCHAT: Ellen McCarthy & Chris Costa, YouTube (2021)
• The New IC: Ellen McCarthy Keynote, YouTube (2019)
• FedMentor: NGA’s Ellen McCarthy, YouTube (2014)

Primary Sources

• INR: 2025 Strategic Plan (2022)
• Oral History with Teresita Schaeffer (1998)
• Oral History with Thomas F. Conlon (1992)
• Oral History with Frank Burnet, (1990)
• Oral History with Daniel Zachary (1989)

*Wildcard Resource*

• The Ralph J. Bunche Library
• State Dept. Library named after OSS intelligence analyst, diplomat & Nobel Prize Winner Dr. Bunche

 Summary

Mike Burgess (general-security.html">Website; Twitter) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss his agency and the enduring strength of Australia’s alliances. ASIO is the second intelligence agency he has directed.

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• The Australian idea of “mateship” in the intelligence context
• The Australian intelligence landscape 
• The United States as its most important strategic alliance
• The enduring value and historical uniqueness of the FIVE EYES alliance

Reflections

• How Man. Utd. might help us understand leadership
• The frustrations of watching spy fiction on TV as a practitioner 

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

The top job: what is it like? what are the joys and pains of leadership? This is not like leading a business, though, or a soccer team, this is protecting the country and its citizens from terrorism, espionage, sabotage, and external interference. Such is the charge of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO).

To address these questions, Andrew sat down with general-security.html">Mike Burgess, who was formerly the Director-General of the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), comparable to GCHQ and the NSA – an agency would serve in for over 20 years. They also discussed the Australian intelligence landscape and its most important alliances, such as the U.S. and FIVE EYES and some of its important regional relationships. 

And…

Mike and Andrew hit it off, especially when discussing Alex Ferguson and how soccer can help us understand alex-ferguson-executive-education-hbs.aspx">management and leadership. Ferguson won more titles in soccer than any other manager, at 49, and he is generally considered the GOAT or a strong contender. Of course, trophies are extremely important, but they do not capture everything. If you are looking for an example of transformational change of an entire organization and its subsequent culture, HBS could do a lot worse than draft a case study on the legendary leadership of Liverpool F.C. by Bill Shankly. He made people believe.

Quote of the Week

Talking about FIVE EYES, that's one of those foundational partnerships in our relationships…It's unique because…it was born through WWII. It's an interesting phenomenon because it started its life as a signals intelligence relationship…at its core, it's an intelligence relationship that really has made a difference to each of those five nations’ respective national security…And we do trust each other, and we share our most intimate secrets.

Resources

*SpyCasts*

• “Keeping Secrets/Disclosing Secrets” – with Spy Chief turned DG of Australia’s National Archives David Fricker (2022)
• “Desperately, Madly in Love” – Brett Peppler and the Australian IC (2021)

Beginner Resources

• Australian Intelligence Community, Wikipedia [webpage]
• Australian Security and Intelligence Organization (ASIO) [Website]
• Why I Spy, M. Burgess, YouTube (n.d.) [60 second video]
• Intelligence Professionals FAQ, ASIO, YouTube (n.d.) [2:32 minute video]

Virtual Exhibition

• Spy: Espionage in Australia (NAA)

Books

• Spies & Sparrows: ASIO & the Cold War, P. Deery (2022)
• Between Five Eyes, A. Wells (2020)
• Intelligence & the Function of Government, D. Baldino & E. Crawley (2018)
• The Official History of ASIO – 3 Volumes, D. Horner, J. Blaxland, R. Crawley (2014/2015/2016)

Report

• Intelligence Oversight: A Comparison of the FIVE EYES Nations, C. Baker et.al., Parliament of Australia (2017) 

Primary Sources

• generals-annual-threat-assessment-2022.html">Director-General’s Annual Threat Assessment (2022)
• Foreign Espionage: An Australian Perspective, ASIS DG (2022)
• ASIO Internal Message on Vietnam War (1970)
• Surveillance of the Aarons, Communist Party Australia (1966) 
• Counterespionage Film, ASIO (1963)
• Citizenship for former Soviet Spies, Petrovs (1956)

*Wildcard Resource*

• Sydney vs. Melbourne: The Real Canberra Story
• If you’ve ever wondered why Canberra is the capital…

Summary

Paul Lashmar (Twitter, Website) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss investigative journalism and intelligence. He is a former UK Reporter of the Year. 

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• The similarities and differences between spooks and journalists 
• The role Watergate played for his generation of journalists 
• Intelligence overseers as “Ostriches,” “Cheerleaders,” “Lemon-suckers,” or “Guardians”
• Bellingcat, Spycatcher and the “Zinoviev Letter”

Reflections

• The long shadow of the Second World War
• Investigative journalism in democratic societies

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

“Cardiac stimulating experiences,” is how this week’s guest describes meeting sources in smoky IRA pubs in Belfast all on his lonesome. But he also met sources in the oak-paneled clubs of Whitehall and in many other places around the world. So, what has our guest distilled from his long career examining intelligence agencies? What are the types of relationships spooks and journalists have had with one another? What are the similarities and differences between both tribes?

To answer these questions and more, Andrew sat down with investigative reporter and current Head of the Dept. of Journalism at City, University of London, Paul Lashmar. Paul has worked across the media landscape, as a producer for the BBC, as a broadcast journalist with British current affairs television program World in Action, and as an investigative journalist for the Observer newspaper. He won Reporter of the Year in the 1986 UK Press Awards. He is the author of Spy Flights of the Cold War, Britain’s Secret Propaganda War, and most recently Spies, Spin and the Fourth Estate. 

And…

World in Action was a legendary investigative TV program in the U.K. It’s programming led to the resignation of a Home Secretary, one of the Great Offices of State in the UK; the release of the Birmingham Six, who were wrongfully convicted of planting IRA bombs; and the exposure of Combat-18, a violent neo-Nazi movement. It would also publish the original story of the Spycatcher allegations that the head of MI5 was a Soviet mole and that there had been a joint MI5-MI6 plot to overthrow Labor Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Paul co-wrote that 1984 episode. For all these reasons and more, it was rarely out of the courts. The last series was broadcast in 1998. 

Quote of the Week

"They would meet you in an up-market club in the center of London…it's leather Chesterfields, gentleman walking around getting your gin and tonic. It was all of that, in those days it was all informal…there are now in most newspapers, somebody who is usually appointed by the editor who maintains those connections… it's a sensible arrangement." – Paul Lashmar

Resources

Headline Resource

• Spies, Spin and the Fourth Estate, P. Lashmar (EUP, 2021)

*SpyCasts*

• The Women of NatSec Journalism – 6 Leading Journalists (2017)
• Covering Intelligence (2015)
• Part 1: with Mark Mazzetti
• Part 2 – with Ali Watkins
• Part 3 – with Greg Miller

Books

• Zinoviev Letter, G. Bennett (OUP, 2020)
• Spies and the Media in Britain, R. Norton-Taylor (IBT, 2018)
• Spinning Intelligence, R. Dover and M. Goodman (CUP, 2009)
• Spycatcher, P. Wright (Viking, 1987)

Beginner Articles

• UK Officials Still Blocking SpyCatcher Files, Guardian (2021)
• The Zinoviev Letter, FT (2018)
• When Spy Agencies Didn’t Exist, BBC (2014)

Articles

• 5617-5b1f-acae-dde96ced8718.html">Why Good Investigative Journalism Matters (2022)
• peter-wright-1617351.html">Obituary: Peter Wright, Independent (1995)

Documentary

• “World in Action,” YouTube (n.d.)

Primary Sources

• my.sharepoint.com/personal/ahammond_spymuseum_org/Documents/o%252509The%2520Spy%2520Who%2520Never%2520Was%2520(">The Spy Who Never Was [World In Action] (1984)
• Moscow Orders to Our Reds [Daily Mail Accusation] (1924)
• Zinoviev Denies Writing Letter (1924)
• Zinoviev Narrative of Facts [TUC & Labour Party] (1924)

*Wildcard Resource*

• How Bellingcat is Using TikTok to Investigate the War in Ukraine
• Investigative journalism, Bellingcat style!

Summary

Admiral Hernando Wills Velez (Twitter) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss intelligence in Colombia. He is the former professional head of the Colombian Navy.

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• What it is like to be the head of an entire Navy
• Intelligence from the point of view of a senior military officer
• The unique set of challenges Colombia faces – insurgents, terrorists, paramilitaries, drug-cartels, etc.
• The role intelligence played in the daring Operation Jacque 

Reflections

• The blessings and curses of geography 
• Capacity building in organizations

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

To hear more about his remarkable career as former professional head of the Colombian Navy, and to discuss Colombia and intelligence, Andrew sat down with Admiral Hernando Wills Vélez. 

Colombia and its navy must reckon with a unique combination of challenges – including Marxist insurgents, right-wing paramilitaries, drug cartels, crime syndicates, and a vast and diverse territory. To sum up, it is a remarkably fascinating case-study for the role intelligence might play.

Admiral Wills was also the commander of the Pacific Fleet, head of the Colombian Coast Guard, and a former aide de camp to the President of Colombia. His father was a career military officer who served in the Korean War with the Colombian Navy. He is an NDU graduate.

And…

“Operation Jacque.” 

This episode coincides with a pop-up exhibit at our museum on a 2008 Colombian intelligence-led operation to rescue 15 hostages held for many years by the FARC, a Marxist guerilla group who were involved in drug trafficking, extortion, and terrorism. 3 Americans and 12 Colombians were rescued, including a candidate for the Colombian presidency. Bottom line: all the hostages were freed from deep within the rainforest without a single shot being fired. Intelligence baby, intelligence. 

Quote of the Week

"Time goes so fast. I joined the Navy when I was 15 years old, very young. I finished high school. in the Naval academy. And then you start your regular business as a young lieutenant in ships and destroyers and positions on land. And all of a sudden, you see yourself as an admiral. I mean, it's a crazy thing…[then] I had the privilege to be selected by the president to lead the Columbia Navy." – former Head of Columbia's Navy Admiral Hernando Wills.

Resources

Headline Resource

• “Operation Jacque,” International Spy Museum, Spring-Summer 2022

Books

• Colombia: A Concise Contemporary History, M. Larosa & G. Mejía (R&L, 2017)
• Out of Captivity: Surviving 1967 Days in the Colombian Jungle, M. Gonsalves, et al. (W. Morrow, 2009)

Beginner Articles

• Colombia Profile – Timeline, BBC (2018)
• Colombia – CIA World Factbook, CIA (2022)
• Colombia Marks One Year Anniversary of Jaque, Reuters (2009)
• history.htm">Colombia – Navy, Global Security (n.d.)

Articles

• Anchoring the Caribbean: The Colombian Navy, W. Mills, Stable Seas (2021)
• Colombia & Operation Jacque, L. Collins, Modern War Institute (2021)
• Plan Colombia and the U.S. Army’s 7th Special Forces Group, K. Higgins, Taylor Francis (2021)
• colombia-final-2.pdf">Plan Colombia: Effectiveness & Costs, D. Mejía, Brookings (2016)
• Globalization & FARC, J. Forero, USAWC (2013)
• FARC: A Portrait of Insurgent Intelligence, J. Gentry & D. Spencer, INS (2010)

Videos

• FARC Hostage Rescue Video – Operation Jacque, CBS (2008)

Primary Sources

• Revocation of Terrorist Designation for FARC, A. Blinken, State (2021)
• 109SPRT25278.htm">Plan Colombia – Staff Trip Report, Senate Foreign Relations Committee (2005)
• 106hhrg69868.htm">Plan Colombia, U.S. Role – Hearing, House Subcommittee on the W. Hemisphere (2000)
• NSC 1 – Carter Panama Canal Directive (1977)
• Letter to U.S. Senators From Carter – Panama Canal (1977)

*Wildcard Resource*

• One Hundred years of Solitude (novel), Embrace of the Serpent (movie), or Adventures of an Orchid Hunter (travel memoir) – take your pick!

Summary

Peter Earnest spent 35 years in the CIA as a case officer and retired as its chief spokesman. He was the founding Executive Director of the International Spy Museum.

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• Losing a friend in the line of duty vs. betrayal by a colleague 
• Using affability to your advantage
• Thoughts on the shift from classic espionage to counterterrorism for the CIA 
• The relationship between the CIA, the press and the public

Reflections

• The origins of the International Spy Museum
• The role museums can play in fostering a sense of collective identity & esprit de corps 

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

May 21st, 2022. The date of the Memorial Service at the International Spy Museum for Peter Earnest, the founding Executive Director of the museum and a 35-year veteran of the CIA and. In honor of him, his week’s episode is an exit-interview he recorded with my predecessor, Vince Houghton, not long after Peter announced his retirement from the museum.

Peter was a case officer at CIA for 25 years, largely in Europe and the Middle East, recruiting and running agents, and getting involved in covert actions, counterespionage, and double agent operations. He later went on to work in the Inspector General’s office and as the CIA’s Senate liaison, concluding his career as the CIA’s chief spokesman. 

What is it like being a nice guy in the murky world of intelligence? How does a tight-lipped case officer make the transition to chief spokesman? How did a museum on espionage and intelligence end up in Washington D.C.?

Peter Earnest died on February 13, 2022. He will be sorely missed.

And…

Peter wrote the foreword for a 2011 edition of Boy Scout founder Robert Baden-Powell’s classic book, My Adventures as a Spy, featuring chapters such as “Commercial Spying,” “Traitorous Spying,” and “How Spies Disguise Themselves.” The only CIA officer who came through the ranks to become Director, Robert Gates, was an Eagle Scout, as was the only Director of both the CIA and the FBI, Judge William Webster.

Quote of the Week

"There's a broad respect from museums by the American public they're distrustful of almost everything else, but the trust in museums is high, and so I think it's a place that some of those senior professionals refer to. If they've come down, they feel, it's, doing good work." – Peter Earnest

Resources

Headline Resource

• TRIBUTE: CIA Veteran Who Helped Launch the Spy Museum, Dies at 88, International Spy Museum, YouTube (2022)

*SpyCasts

• Peter Earnest: My Life in the CIA (2012)

Articles

• In Memoriam, Peter Earnest, 1934-2022, SPY (2022)
• earnest-dead.html">CIA Veteran who Ran a Spy Museum, Dies at 88, NYT (2022)
• CIA Veteran Who Helped Launch Spy Museum, Dies at 88, H. Smith, WaPo (2022)
• Family of Spies, Washingtonian Magazine (2013)

Books

• The Real Spy’s Guide to Becoming a Spy, P. Earnest (Harper, 2009)
• Business Confidential: Lessons for Corporate Success from Inside the CIA, P. Earnest & M. Karinch (AMACOM, 2010) 
• Harry Potter and the Art of Spying, P. Earnest & S. Harper (Wise Ink, 2014)

Primary Sources

• Soviet Defector Arkady Shevchenko Dies, WaPo (1998)
• Emily A. Earnest, Consular Office Obituary, WaPo (1994)
• CIA Officer Richard Welch Murdered in Athens, CIA (1975)
• CIA COS Richard Welch Murdered in Athens, Counterspy Magazine Blamed for his Death, British Pathe (1975)

*Wildcard Resource*

• Colbert Classic, Spy Training with Peter Earnest, Comedy Central (2013) Go to 3:31 

Summary

Lis Wiehl (Twitter, Website) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss the FBI Agent Robert Hanssen. His espionage for the Russians was described as the “worst intelligence disaster in U.S. history.” 

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• The many contradictions of this fragmented personality
• The criminal sworn FBI Agent
• The sexual fetishist in Opus Dei
• The anti-communist Soviet spy
• Hanssen’s impact on the FBI and American Intelligence
• How the Hanssen case effected the FBI-CIA relationship 

Reflections

• Technology’s impact on the espionage/counterespionage cat-and-mouse game
• Cultural and institutional blind spots

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

The International Spy Museum has the handcuffs that were put on one of the most notorious spies in American history, former FBI Agent Robert Hanssen. But what was the backstory of the moment those metal restraints closed around his wrists in Foxstone Park, Virginia? What did he do? Why did he do it? Who was this man? What damage did he do?

To discuss these questions, Andrew sat down with the author of A Spy in Plain Sight, Lis Wiehl. Lis is a former Federal Prosecutor and a legal analyst and reporter on major news networks, including a 15-year stint at Fox News. She is the best-selling author of 20 fiction and non-fiction books and last but not least she is the daughter of an FBI Agent who heard stories of Hanssen’s betrayal from her father.

Hanssen betrayed “jewel in the crown of American intelligence, Dimitri Polyakov, and other U.S. assets, as well as handing over thousands of pages of highly classified information to the Soviet Union and later Russia.

And…

In the intelligence community compartmentalization is a way to try to protect sensitive information, caveats, codewords, clearances, read ins, need to know, etc., but in the personal context it refers to being capable of being a “different person in terms of outlook, values and behavior at different times and circumstances.” David Charney met with Hanssen for an entire year after his arrest and described him as “the most compartmentalized person I have ever met.” He also mentions that he is a very experienced psychiatrist. Charney says in terms of compartmentalization most of us are a 1-2 on a scale of 10. Guess where Hanssen was?

Quote of the Week

"At one point hacked into one of his colleagues’ computers to get more information, he was found out and his excuse was, I was just trying to show you how easily we're hacked into so that we can make sure that we don’t, and they believed him because he was a computer guy…they just believed him when he hacked in this other person's computer. Crazy." – Lis Wiehl

Resources

Headline Resource

• A Spy in Plain Sight, L. Wiehl (S&S, 2022)

*SpyCasts*

• “The FBI Way” - Counterintelligence Chief Frank Figliuzzi
• “Leningrad, Molehunts, and Life After the CIA” - Christopher Burgess (2021)
• “Defending a Spy, An Espionage Attorney” - Plato Cacheris (2015)
• “The Movie Breach and Hollywood’s Take on Espionage” – Eric O’Neill (2007)
• “FBI Counterintelligence and the Robert Hanssen Spy Case” – Dave Major (2007)

Books

• New History of Soviet Intelligence, J. Haslam (FS&J, 2015)
• Spy Handler, V. Cherkashin, (Basic, 2008)

Articles

• Spy Who Kept Cold War Cold – Polyakov, History (2019)
• White-Paper-17JUL14.pdf">Spy Psychology/Insider Spies, NOIR (2014)
• Death of the Perfect Spy – Polyakov, Time (2001)

Videos

• Charney on What Makes Traitors Tick? SPY (2014)

Primary Sources

• Witness to History at SPY, Hanssen Investigation (2013)
• Review on FBI Performance Detecting Hanssen, OIG (2003) 
• A Review of FBI Security Programs, Webster Commission (2002)
• Sandy Grimes Interview on Polyakov (1998)

*Wildcard Resource*

• Inside the Supermax Prison (Florence, Colorado) 
• Hanssen is here alongside Harold James Nicholson, El Chapo, Ramzi Yousef and Terry Nichols

Summary

Mike Susong (Website; LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss CIA, cyber and corporate intelligence. He won the Intelligence Star for Heroism in the Field.

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• Applying aspects of Mike’s training to the private sector using “competitive intelligence” 
• Mike’s role co-founding a pioneering company in the field of Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI)
• The role of technology in enabling and constraining espionage 
• What drew Mike to an annual free-thinking social experiment in the desert 

Reflections

• Entrepreneurial thinking as unwavering belief in an idea
• The difference between working for Uncle Sam and working for corporate America

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

Andrew sat down with W. Michael Susong for a two-parter to discuss CIA, cyber and Burning Man. Last week in PART I we looked at Mike’s time working for the CIA and in the domain of human intelligence, while in PART II we will focus on his time as an entrepreneur and intelligence leader in the cyber threat intelligence and competitive intelligence spaces.

Mike was a U.S. Army major who completed multiple combat tours and a CIA case officer. He went into the private sector and created competitive intelligence programs for Fujitsu and Ernst & Young, and he was a pioneer in the field of cyber threat intelligence or CTI, creating the first programs for Visa and Pacific Gas & Electric. He is both CISM and CPP certified and a Black Rock Ranger.

And…

Black Rock Rangers are volunteers at Burning Man, an annual event that focuses on artistic expression, spiritual regeneration, and radical inclusion. It culminates in the symbolic burning of a large wooden effigy, known as “The Man.” If you want to explore the event or the ideas that propel it, including its roots in the Californian counter-culture and its Silicon Valley connections, you can do so here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Quote of the Week

"I worked with, with two corporations to build competitive intelligence programs, for them…I want to emphasize that's the ethical application of certain aspects of the intelligence cycle, to support a business decision. So, this was more on the analysis piece, some on collection, and certainly when you start to speak of collection within a private sector environment, you have to have clear, bright lines aloud about what is and is not acceptable." – Mike Susong

Resources

Headline Resource

• Application of Intelligence Principles to Raise IT Security, M. Susong, YouTube (2012)

*SpyCasts

• From the CIA to Strategic Cyber – Hans Holmer (2022)
• Cyberattacks, Espionage & Ransomware – Inside Microsoft’s MSTIC (2022)

Articles

• Start a Competitive Intelligence System that Wins, P. Mertens, Sprout Social (2022)
• Gathering Competitive Intelligence From Twitter, S. Argawal, Startup Grind

Websites

• Competitive Intelligence Resources, SCIP

PBR (Projects, Briefs, Reports) 

• 2022 State of Competitive Intelligence, SCIP/Crayon (2022)
• CTI: Applying Better Terminology to Threats Intelligence, A. Greer, SANS (2021)
• cyber-threat-intelligence-operations.pdf">Understanding Cyber Threat Intelligence Operations, Bank of England (2016)

Courses

• Cyber Threat Intelligence, SANS
• Cyber Threat Intelligence, Threat Intelligence Academy

Podcasts

• Cyber Threat Intelligence, Hacking Humans (2020)
• Intelligence Operations: A First Principle of Cybersecurity, CSO Perspectives (2022)

Video

• 2022 State of Competitive Intelligence, YouTube (2022)
• a-ceos-perspective-on-intelligence.html">A CEO’s Perspective on Intelligence, Report Linker (2020)

Primary Sources

• RDP88G01332R000700750033-7.pdf">Letter to CIA Deputy Director on Competitive Intelligence (1986)

*Wildcard Resource*

• The Whole Earth Catalog (1968)
• Steve Jobs called it “the bible of his generation” and links have been made between it and Silicon Valley, Cyber, and of-Love-40-Years-Later-Stewart-Brand-2559651.php">Burning Man.

Summary

Mike Susong (Website; LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss CIA, cyber and corporate intelligence. He won the Intelligence Star for Heroism in the Field.

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• The outgrowth of “intelligence” from a nation-state activity to a corporate activity
• Recruiting and running agents as a CIA case officer
• His shift from tactical intelligence to strategic intelligence
• His journey from a curious kid with a short-wave radio to an intel professional

Reflections

• Effective decision-making and intelligence
• The opportunities and challenges of working in different fields and domains

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

What is it like to do intelligence for Uncle Sam and then for the private sector? What is different and what is similar? How did intelligence go from supporting national security decision-making to business decision-making? 

To answer these questions, Andrew sat down with W. Michael Susong for a two-parter. PART I will focus on Mike’s time working for the CIA and in the domain of human intelligence, while PART II will focus on his time in the as an entrepreneur and intelligence leader in the cyber threat intelligence and competitive intelligence spaces.

Mike was a U.S. Army major who completed multiple combat tours and a CIA case officer. He went into the private sector and created competitive intelligence programs for Fujitsu and Ernst & Young, and he was a pioneer in the field of cyber threat intelligence or CTI, creating the first programs for Visa and Pacific Gas & Electric. He is both CISM and CPP certified and a Black Rock Ranger.

And…

Black Rock Rangers are volunteers at Burning Man, an annual event that focuses on artistic expression, spiritual regeneration, and radical inclusion. It culminates in the symbolic burning of a large wooden effigy, known as “The Man.” If you want to explore the event or the ideas that propel it, including its roots in the Californian counter-culture and its Silicon Valley connections, you can do so here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Quote of the Week

"It’s analogous to business. So, there's closers, people who are really the salesman…but then they're not good at the kind of that long-term relationship, reassuring, working over time…And so I would say that there are case officers who are better at spotting and recruiting, and there are case officers that are better at handling." – Mike Susong

Resources

Headline Resource

• Application of Intelligence Principles to Raise IT Security, M. Susong, YouTube (2012)

*SpyCasts

• From the CIA to Strategic Cyber – Hans Holmer (2022)
• Cyberattacks, Espionage & Ransomware – Inside Microsoft’s MSTIC (2022)

Articles

• Start a Competitive Intelligence System that Wins, P. Mertens, Sprout Social (2022)
• Gathering Competitive Intelligence From Twitter, S. Argawal, Startup Grind

Websites

• Competitive Intelligence Resources, SCIP

PBR (Projects, Briefs, Reports) 

• 2022 State of Competitive Intelligence, SCIP/Crayon (2022)
• CTI: Applying Better Terminology to Threats Intelligence, A. Greer, SANS (2021)
• cyber-threat-intelligence-operations.pdf">Understanding Cyber Threat Intelligence Operations, Bank of England (2016)

Courses

• Cyber Threat Intelligence, SANS
• Cyber Threat Intelligence, Threat Intelligence Academy

Podcasts

• Cyber Threat Intelligence, Hacking Humans (2020)
• Intelligence Operations: A First Principle of Cybersecurity, CSO Perspectives (2022)

Video

• 2022 State of Competitive Intelligence, YouTube (2022)
• a-ceos-perspective-on-intelligence.html">A CEO’s Perspective on Intelligence, Report Linker (2020)

Primary Sources

• RDP88G01332R000700750033-7.pdf">Letter to CIA Deputy Director on Competitive Intelligence (1986)

*Wildcard Resource*

• The Whole Earth Catalog (1968)
• Steve Jobs called it “the bible of his generation” and links have been made between it and Silicon Valley, Cyber, and of-Love-40-Years-Later-Stewart-Brand-2559651.php">Burning Man.

Summary

Noah Hurowitz (Twitter; LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss infamous drug kingpin El Chapo. A weak link in his cybersecurity set-up would help bring him down. 

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• El Chapo’s internal surveillance operation
• The cartel’s use of cryptography to keep communications covert
• How cybersecurity enabled then brought down El Chapo
• The role of the infamous DFS – a corrupt and now disbanded intelligence agency

Reflections

• Technology – early adopters vs. counter responders
• The changing nature of crime enabled by emerging technologies – spyware, drones, etc.

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera, aka El Chapo (shorty) because of his 5-foot 6-inch frame, was called by one of the agents chasing him, “the godfather of the drug world.” So, how did a low-level drug dealer from a provincial state rise to try and subvert the Mexican government to his will? What was the intelligence game that played out with regards to El Chapo? How did the cartels use spytech, tradecraft and cybersecurity to stay one step ahead of the law? How was he caught?

To answer these questions and more, Andrew sat down with Noah Horowitz who covered the trial of El Chapo in Brooklyn for Rolling Stone magazine. Noah is also the author of the recent book El Chapo, and his work has appeared in the Village Voice, the Baffler and New York Magazine. 

And…

In the El Chapo trial, question wls-chapo-jury-questions-doc.pdf">No.57 asked prospective jurors, “Are you familiar with Jesus Malverde?” If you are not familiar with this angel of the poor (el ángel de los pobres) as well as the Sinaloan narcos (el narcosantón), then you can find out why this question would be relevant here, here, here and here.

Quote of the Week

"So, in addition to encrypted communications…he was also installing spyware on Blackberry devices that El Chapo was giving out to his lieutenants and his girlfriends and his wives. And then EL Chapo was able to use this, the spyware program to see what was on their phones. He was able to see their text messages. He was able to see their locations. He was even able to remotely activate their mic and listen to them. And he loved that…it was like a toy to him almost. He became obsessed with it." – Noah Hurowitz

Resources

Headline Resource

• El Chapo, N. Hurowitz (S&S, 2021)

*SpyCasts*

• Drug Cartels, Sleeper Cells, the Waco Siege & the Mob - Dennis Franks (2021)

Books

• Dope: History of the Mexican Drug Trade, B. Smith (W.W. Norton, 2021)
• Blood Gun Money: How America Arms Gangs & Cartels, I. Grillo (Bloomsbury, 2021)

Articles

• Drugs, Crime and the Cartels, CFR (2021)
• The Tech that Took Down Pablo Escobar, Wired (2021)
• Mexican Cartels Cyber Surveillance, C. Schilis-Gallego, Forbidden Stories (2020) 
• Spy vs. Spy, El Chapo Edition, E. Groll, FP (2019)
• The Spyware that Brought Down El Chapo, S. Fussell, The Atlantic (2019)

Websites

• El Paso Intelligence Project (EPIC)
• Centro Nacional De Intelligencia (CNI) 

PBR (Projects, Briefs, Reports) 

• Mexico: Evolution of the Merida Initiative, C. Seelke, CRS (2021)
• Mexico Organized Crime and Drug Traffickers, J. Beittel, CRS (2020)

Primary Sources

• EDNY Press Release on El Chapo Trial (2019)
• Memo in Support of Pre-trial Detention, USA vs. Joaquín Guzmán Loera (2017)
• Chapo-trial-Transcript-of-El-Chapo-s-text.pdf">Trial Transcripts of El Chapo Text Messages with His Mistress (2012)
• Official Report on Mexico’s “Dirty War” (2006)
• 113-Pg1606.pdf">Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (1999)

Primary Source Collections

• The Mexican Intelligence Digital Archives (MIDAS)
• Inside The Cartel: Key Documents (LAT)

*Wildcard Resource*

• “The Original Indigenous People of Sinaloa”
• To understand Joaquín Guzmán Loera, starting at the year of his birth, 1957, might be enough; but to understand “El Chapo” it might help to go deeper still…

Summary

Daniel Milton (Website; Twitter) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss the former Caliph of the Islamic State. Al Mawla was killed in a U.S. raid in February 2022. 

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• The origin of the term “Canary Caliph”
• The mythology of Islamic State and the reality
• Battlefield intelligence and understanding an enemy
• The Combating Terrorism Center being on the radar of terrorists

Reflections

• The presentation of “self”
• The relationship between organizational priorities and organizational hierarchies

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

Daniel Milton joins us again to discuss a series of interrogation reports of Al Mawla, at the time leader of Islamic law in Mosul for the Islamic State in Iraq (ISI). ISI was the successor to Al Qaeda in that country and the predecessor of Islamic State (Islamic State is a larger umbrella category, while ISIS, ISKP, etc. come with geographical designations, e.g., Islamic State of Iraq and Syria). Al Mawla gave up the names of over 50 people within his own organization: and that was only in the first 3 of 56 interviews. 

One interesting insight you can glean from the documents is that Islamic State while very different from many organizations in many respects, is just like them in others: empire building, clashing personalities, struggles over process, paperwork, committees, territorialism, jealousy, prejudice, insecurity – like The Office, but with much more malevolent intent.

And…

If you want to read a document that captures (a) an important inflection point in the transition from Al Qaeda to Islamic State and (b) was one of the West Point CTC publications captured during the Bin Laden raid, read “Al Qaeda Secedes from Iraq.”

Quote of the Week

"I think we get a sense of it as an organization that exists and has similar struggles as any other organization does. Having said that, clearly, it's a clandestine organization, and so one of the overriding imperatives is security. Individuals are trying to stay alive and not get arrested or killed. And that affects a little bit of the way that you carry out business. I do think that you also see some element of the things that you described. There is competition. There are people who don't like each other." – Daniel Milton

Resources

*Headline Resources*

• Al Mawla Interrogation Reports
• “Islamic State,” Mapping Militants, CISAC Stanford

Books

• Enemies Near & Far, D. Gartenstein-Ross (CUP, 2022)
• The ISIS Reader, Ingram et al. (Hurst, 2020)
• The Rise of Global Jihad, T. Hegghammer (CUP, 2020)
• Foreign Fighters in the Armies of Jihad, D. Byman (OUP, 2019)
• Anatomy of Terror, A. Soufan (W.W. Norton, 2017)
• The Far Enemy, F. Gerges (CUP, 2005)
• Best Books on the Middle East (Five Books)

Articles

• ISIS Leader Quraishi Kills Himself, Al-Khalidi & Bose, Reuters (2022)
• ISIS’S Leadership Crisis, H. Ingram and C. Whiteside, Foreign Affairs (2022)
• The Islamic State in Afghanistan, A. Jadoon et al., CTC (2022)
• The Cloud Caliphate, Ayad et al., CTC (2021)
• Lessons from the Islamic State’s “Milestone” Texts and Speeches, Ingram et al., CTC (2020)
• Timeline: The Rise, Spread & Fall of the Islamic State, C. Glenn et al., Wilson Center (2019)

Documentary

• Iraq & Syria: After Islamic State, BBC (2018)
• Confronting ISIS, PBS Frontline (2016)

Reports

• Islamic State’s Method of Insurgency, H. Ingram, GW (2021)

Web

• my.sharepoint.com/personal/ahammond_spymuseum_org/Documents/o%2509https:/www.inherentresolve.mil">Operation Inherent Resolve

Primary Sources

• President Biden on a Successful Counterterrorism Operation (2022)
• Cyber Command’s Internet War Against ISIL (2018)
• Islamic State Memo for Dealing with New Recruits (2017)
• Message to the Mujahidin and the Muslim Ummah, Caliph Al Baghdadi (2014)
• bakr-naji-the-management-of-savagery-the-most-critical-stage-through-which-the-umma-will-pass.pdf">The Management of Savagery (2006) 
• The Sykes-Picot Agreement (1916)

*Wildcard Resource*

• “Camp Bucca Newsletter #1”
• A U.S. forces newsletter from the time-period when Al Mawla was interrogated at Camp Bucca, in the vicinity of Umm Qasr, Iraq.

Summary

Daniel Milton (Website; Twitter) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss Tactical Interrogation Reports of the former Caliph of the Islamic State. Al-Mawla was killed in a U.S. raid in February 2022. 

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• The ideological feud between Islamic State and Al Qaeda 
• Islamic State's retreat from a quasi-state centered to a shadowy insurgency
• Battlefield intelligence such as “exploitable material” and “interrogation reports”
• The role of the Combating Terrorism Center in analyzing this intelligence

Reflections

• Training your people for the current fight…and the next one 
• The trade-off between a short-term view and a longer-term view

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

This week’s episode focuses on battlefield intelligence, or more specifically a series of tactical interrogation reports from 2008. 

Ok, so why are they significant? Well, the individual being interrogated, Al Mawla, would go on to become the second leader and so-called Caliph of the Islamic State. Ok, so why are they significant beyond that…well, it turns out that Al Mawla was an informant who gave away colleagues and friends to save his own skin, leading to the nickname, “The Canary Caliph.”

Daniel Milton joined Andrew to discuss these reports and what they mean in the broader scheme of things. Daniel is the Director of Research at the Combatting Terrorism Center at West Point, and he has a Ph.D. from FSU. He has been cited in outlets such as The NYT, BBC, and NBC News and he regularly briefs all levels of the Government, including the Intelligence Community and Department of Defense.

And…

In February 2022, Al Mawla became the second Islamic State Caliph to blow himself up during a U.S. raid. His predecessor Abu-Bakr al-Baghdadi had done so in October 2019. I wonder what will happen to the third Caliph…

Quote of the Week

"I think that's one of my favorite things about looking at this type of material is that it really gives an inside view to organizations that are clandestine and usually not seen very well from the outside, but these documents paint a very vivid picture of struggles, challenges, bureaucratic minutia, whatever the case might be, which is not typically how we think about these organizations, but these documents really allow us to see that." – Daniel Milton

Resources

*Headline Resources*

• Al Mawla Interrogation Reports
• CTC Sentinel 

Books

• Enemies Near & Far, D. Gartenstein-Ross (CUP, 2022)
• The ISIS Reader, Ingram et al. (Hurst, 2020)
• The Rise of Global Jihad, T. Hegghammer (CUP, 2020)
• Foreign Fighters in the Armies of Jihad, D. Byman (OUP, 2019)
• Anatomy of Terror, A. Soufan (W.W. Norton, 2017)
• The Far Enemy, F. Gerges (CUP, 2005)
• Best Books on the Middle East (Five Books)

Articles

• ISIS Leader Quraishi Kills Himself, Al-Khalidi & Bose, Reuters (2022)
• ISIS’S Leadership Crisis, H. Ingram and C. Whiteside, Foreign Affairs (2022)
• The Islamic State in Afghanistan, A. Jadoon et al., CTC (2022)
• The Cloud Caliphate, Ayad et al., CTC (2021)
• Lessons from the Islamic State’s “Milestone” Texts and Speeches, Ingram et al., CTC (2020)
• Timeline: The Rise, Spread & Fall of the Islamic State, C. Glenn et al., Wilson Center (2019)

Documentary

• Iraq & Syria: After Islamic State, BBC (2018)
• Confronting ISIS, PBS Frontline (2016)

Web

• Operation Inherent Resolve

Primary Sources

• President Biden on a Successful Counterterrorism Operation (2022)
• Cyber Command’s Internet War Against ISIL (2018)
• Islamic State Memo for Dealing with New Recruits (2017)
• Message to the Mujahidin and the Muslim Ummah, Caliph Al Baghdadi (2014)
• Letter-to-Zarqawi-Translation.pdf">Zawahiri’s Letter to Zarqawi (2005)
• The Sykes-Picot Agreement (1916)

Wildcard Resource

• “The America I Have Seen”
• An account of his time living in the U.S. by theorist of violent jihad Sayyid Qutb.

Summary

Thomas Leahy (Website; LinkedIn) and Eleanor Williams (Website; Twitter) join Andrew to discuss the intelligence war during “the Troubles.” Thomas lives in Cardiff and Eleanor lives in Belfast. 

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• The Troubles through the lens of intelligence
• Some key intelligence players in the Northern Ireland conflict
• How the IRA and the British Army adapted organizationally
• The role intelligence played in the end of the conflict

Reflections

• The fluid nature of motivations and intentions
• How historic narratives shape and constrain the here-and-now

And much, much more…

Episode Notes

From the late 60’s to the late 90’s Republican and Loyalist paramilitaries, and the British and Irish states, were engaged in a period known as “the Troubles”: a struggle to define or redefine the future of the island of Ireland. This is an issue with deep and complex roots, but the intelligence dimension of the period known as the Troubles is fascinating and often overlooked.

To help us get our head around it all, Andrew sat down with two specialists to discuss all things intelligence and the Troubles: from the role that MI5 and MI6 played, to the Force Research Unit and the RUC Special Branch, through to how the IRA played the counterintelligence game and the role that informers, agents and moles, such as the notorious “Stakeknife,” played. 

Thomas is the author of the Intelligence War Against the IRA, while Eleanor is a doctoral candidate comparing intelligence use during the Northern Irish and Colombian conflicts. 

And…

The head of the Republic of Ireland’s police and security intelligence force, the Garda Síochána, is Drew Harris. Drew Harris was a career Royal Ulster Constabulary officer whose father, also a career RUC officer, was killed by the IRA in 1989. He was the first external appointee from outside the Garda.

Quote of the Week

"What's their [IRA] main role in this intelligence conflict?...one of the key points here…the IRA was quite highly regional regionalized. That's actually quite key to explain why British intelligence had some difficulties against them…Initially, it was set up similar to armed forces. It would have brigades, battalions and companies…the IRA operated this kind of army structure up to 1975…the IRA then switched to this new strategy…And part of this was to prevent mass infiltration, which had started to become a problem, particularly in Belfast pre-1975. So, what it adopted in Belfast and Derry was a cell structure." – Thomas Leahy

Resources

Books

• The Intelligence War Against the IRA, T. Leahy (CUP, 2020)
• Britain’s Secret War Against the IRA, A. Edwards (Merrion, 2021)
• Thatcher’s Spy, W. Carlin (Merrion, 2019)
• The Accidental Spy, S. O’Driscoll (Mirror, 2019)
• Snitch! S. Hewitt (Continuum, 2010)
• Infiltrating the IRA, R. Gilmour (LB&C, 1998)
• Fifty Dead Men Walking, M. McGartland (Blake, 1997)
• Best Books on the Troubles (Five Books)

Articles

• The Murky World of Spying During the Troubles, J. Ware, Irish Times (2017)
• Alternative Ulster: How Punk Took on the Troubles, T. Heron, Irish Times (2016)

Audio

• 70-dennis-mcfadden-the-mi5-chameleon-who-infiltrated-the-new-ira-41322330.html">MI5 Chameleon Infiltrated New IRA

Documentary

• Spotlight on the Troubles: A Secret History, BBC (2019)
• The Spy in the IRA, BBC (2017)

Web 

• Operation Kenova
• MI5 in Northern Ireland 

Primary Sources

• IRA-MI6 Intermediary: Interviews with Brendan Duddy (2009)
• Good Friday Agreement (1998)
• Downing Street Declaration (1993)
• Anglo-Irish Agreement (1985)
• Thatcher Speech at Airey Neave Memorial (1979)
• IRA Green Book (1977)
• 3f71d0fe2b653c4f00f32175760e96e7.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/29D303F6511D439598762543AD6E880E.pdf">PM Wilson & Thatcher discuss N. Ireland (1975)
• Secret Meetings Between Government and IRA (1972)
• Senator E. Kennedy, Ulster is Britain’s Vietnam (1971)
• 6fdc69c6d57b6654c3d1ed0f46215416.pdf">IRA Reports on Intelligence Informants (1922) 
• W.B. Yeats, “Easter: 1916” (1921)

Oral Sources

• Duchas Oral History Archive (2014)

Wildcard Resource

• “Murals of Northern Ireland” (4500+ Photographs)

Summary

Sean Maloney (Website) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss the secret history of emergency war plans and the nuclear doomsday machine. He was the first Canadian civilian historian to go into combat since WWII. 

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• Top secret emergency war plans for WWIII
• The role of human intelligence operations in nuclear doomsday planning
• Some key terms you need to understand the nuclear issue
• The policy of “massive retaliation” versus “flexible response”