SPYCRAFT 101

 Today, Justin is joined by Michael Lebowitz. Michael served as a paratrooper in the Army's 101st Airborne Division and later as a judge advocate in the US Army Reserve, currently at the rank of lieutenant colonel. As a civilian, he's worked as a trial attorney in private practice and as a prosecutor for the Department of Justice's National Security Division. Michael is here to discuss the investigations, arrests, and trials of ter...

Today Justin sits down with William Gage. Bill graduated from the Virginia Military Institute with a Bachelor's Degree in History and received his Master's Degree in Criminal Justice from Boston University. He worked for more than 11 years as a special agent in the US Secret Service, where he performed a wide variety of roles related to protecting US government senior leaders and counterfeiting investigations. Bill is here to discu...

This week's guest is John Ware. John is an award-winning investigative journalist with over four decades experience reporting on security, intelligence, and public accountability. He's a former BBC Panorama correspondent who has led major investigations into policing, national security, and state power, including extensive reporting on Northern Ireland. He's here to share the story of two of the most significant informants working ...

This week, Justin revisits episode 61 with trial lawyer Michael Pullara. Michael is a practicing trial lawyer from Texas who has spent more than 40 years representing an incredibly wide variety of clients. In the courtroom, he squared off against Italian mobsters, the U.S. Department of Defense, and giant telecom companies, among many others. He's here to talk about one of his most incredible endeavors: when he represented the fami...

Today, Justin sits down with Michael Walsh. Mike served in the US Navy for more than twenty-six years, most of it spent as a SEAL. He completed five tours of duty in Vietnam, including working on the Phoenix Program, running agents and targeting Viet Cong infrastructure. He also participated in the invasion of Grenada and was involved in Panama during the rein of Manuel Noriega. Mike spent years operating throughout Central and Sou...

Today's guest is Charles Finfrock. Charles served in the Navy for four years as a military policeman and investigator. He then joined the Central Intelligence Agency in the summer of 2001 and was in training when the September 11th attacks took place. He spent the next 18 years with the agency as a case officer working primarily overseas. After leaving the agency, he worked as a senior manager at Tesla's insider threat program for ...

Today's guest is

today is Dr. Greg Barnhisel. Greg is a graduate of Reed College, New York University, and the University of Texas at Austin. He is now a professor of English at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is the editor of The Bloomsbury Handbook to Cold War Literary Cultures, Pressing the Fight: Print, Propaganda, and the Cold War, and the scholarly journal Book History. Greg has written three books as well...

Today Justin talks with Josh Ireland. Josh has a master's degree in history from the University of York. After graduating, he worked as an editor at Headline and Quercus, two of Great Britain's leading publishing companies. Josh has ghostwritten numerous books for A-list celebrities, sports stars, politicians, oligarchs, and adventurers, including five Sunday Times bestsellers. He's also the author of two previous nonfiction titles...

Today Justin sits down with Sam McKnight. Sam is a graduate student at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. He's also the founder and director of Khthon, a non-governmental organization that uses open source intelligence, satellite imagery, and digital analysis to document war crimes and locate mass graves in conflict zones. Sam founded Khthon in 2022, and since then, it has grown to include more than 100 volunteers dedicated...

Today Justin sits down with Dr. Niccolò Petrelli. Niccolò is a research scholar at the Center for International and Strategic Studies at LUISS in Rome, Italy. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Political Science, his Master's degree in International Relations, and his PhD in Political Science, all from Roma Tre University. He has also published many papers and journal articles on counterterrorism, counterinsurgency, and intelligenc...

Today’s guest is Dr. Stephen Long. Stephen earned a PhD in US foreign policy and intelligence from the University of Birmingham and is an assistant professor of international relations at Shan Xiaotong Liverpool University. He's published articles in many professional journals, including Intelligence and National Security, International History Review, Cold War History, H-Diplo, and American History. He was also a lead contri...

 Today Justin speaks with Luis Baptistella. Luis is a specialist in intelligence and counterintelligence, and a retired officer of the Brazilian Navy, where he attained the rank of captain during a distinguished 35-year career. He also served on a US Navy ship in the late 1990s during the conflict in the Balkans, studied at the National Defense University in China, and served as a military attaché in West Africa.

In November 2020, ...

This week Justin talks with Rory Cormac. Rory is a professor of International Relations at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom, specializing in covert action and secret statecraft. He's also given presentations at Number 10 Downing Street, the UK Ministry of Defense, the US State Department, and the Pentagon. Besides his teaching career, he has authored or co-authored many books focusing on British history, covert ac...

Today Justin sits down with Kirillo Alexandrov. Kirillo grew up in the United States, but moved to Kherson, Ukraine in 2018. In April 2022, following the Russian invasion and occupation of eastern Ukraine, Kirillo was taken prisoner. He was held for 37 days on charges of espionage, but was rescued by a small privately funded team led by Brian Stern. After a harrowing 20-hour journey across Ukraine, Kirillo crossed into Poland befor...

Today’s guest is Dr. Emrah Safa Gürkan. Emrah received his bachelor's and Master's degree from Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey, and graduated with a PhD from Georgetown University in 2012. He's worked as a consultant for historical television series and co-hosted the Ottoman History Podcast with Chris Gian beginning in 2011. He also hosts the YouTube History Channel, Omnibus Live, which currently has nearly half a millio...

Today Justin sits down with Eduardo Barreto. Eduardo is a high school teacher at Gulliver Prep School and an adjunct professor of English composition at Miami-Dade College. He's married with five children and lives in Miami, Florida. Eduardo has published several books and various subjects, including both fiction and non-fiction. He's here to discuss the life and wars of his "uncle" Angel Benitez, who he has written about in his bo...

Justin's guest for today is Sean Wiswesser. Sean is a graduate of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, where he earned a Bachelor's degree in History and Russian and Slavic Linguistics. He also has a Master of Strategic Studies degree from the Air War College. Sean is a former senior operations officer and former Chief of Station with the Central Intelligence Agency and has served multiple overseas tours, including in war ...

Today Justin sits down with Mubin Shaikh. Mubin grew up in Toronto, Ontario in a family of Indian Muslim immigrants. As a young man, he was drawn down the path of radicalization after traveling to India and Pakistan and encountering Taliban fighters there. However, in 2004, he experienced a change of heart and soon began working with the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service to identify potential jihadis in Canada. In 2006, Mu...

Today Justin talks with Dr. Damien Van Puyvelde. Damien is an associate professor and head of the Intelligence and Security Group at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs at Leiden University, Netherlands. Before joining Leiden University, he led the Scottish Center for War Studies at the University of Glasgow. He is the author or co-author of several books, and co-editor. His work has also been featured in outlets such as L...