Secrets and Spies Podcast: Current Affairs | Geopolitics | Intelligence

Secrets and Spies Podcast: Current Affairs | Geopolitics | Intelligence

Secrets and Spies sits at the intersection of intelligence, covert action, real-world espionage, and broader geopolitics in a way that is digestible but serious. Hosted by filmmaker Chris Carr and writer Matt Fulton, each episode unpacks global events through the lens of intelligence and geopolitics, featuring expert insights from former spies, authors, and analysts. Tune in for balanced, critical perspectives that will expand your understanding of our uncertain world, deciphering the most enigmatic professions, ideologies, and organizations that shape the global landscape. Subscribe to Secrets and Spies today on all major podcast streaming platforms. Our Hosts Host Chris Carr, driven by a teenage encounter with former KGB officer Oleg Gordievsky, brings a unique authenticity to the podcast. His deep-seated fascination with espionage is evident in his highly acclaimed short spy film The Dry Cleaner, available on Apple TV and Amazon Prime. Currently developing feature film and television scripts inspired by the podcast's themes, Chris aims to create realistic and compelling spy dramas. Joining him is Matt Fulton, a novelist and screenwriter who draws inspiration from masters of the spy genre like John Le Carré, Tom Clancy, and Graham Greene. Author of the Active Measures series of globe-trotting geopolitical thrillers, Matt brings his decades of extensive research and narrative prowess to the podcast, offering listeners a front-row seat to the thrilling world of covert operations.

Episodes

S9 Ep63: How Global Finance Influences Geopolitics with Emmanuel Daniel

August 9, 2025 • 58 mins
How does financial architecture shape the global order? Chris is joined by Emmanuel Daniel—author of The Great Transition and founder of TAB Global—for a sweeping look at how banking, capital markets, and emerging technologies are redefining geopolitics. They explore the evolution of the US dollar, the impact of digital currencies, and whether China can build a viable alternative to Western capital markets. Emmanuel explains h...
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S9 Ep62: The Information Animal: Humans, Technology, and the Competition for Reality with Alicia Wanless

August 5, 2025 • 81 mins
How do we make sense of truth in a world saturated with content? This week, Chris speaks with Alicia Wanless—director of the Information Environment Project at the Carnegie Endowment and author of The Information Animal—to explore how humans have always wrestled with information, long before the internet. They unpack the patterns that emerge when new technologies reshape how we communicate, why influence operations aren’t new,...
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S9 Ep53: Terror Without a Cause: Nihilism, Youth, and the New Extremist Threat with Jacob Ware

July 30, 2025 • 58 mins
This week, Matt is joined by terrorism researcher Jacob Ware to unpack the rise of nihilistic violent extremism—attacks carried out by disaffected young men radicalized online without any clear political goal. They explore how social media fuels this chaotic new threat, why the FBI created a new classification for it, and what makes networks like 764 and the Order of Nine Angles so dangerous. Then, they turn to the recent stri...
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S9 Ep60: QAnon and the Mainstreaming of Extremism with Mike Rothschild

July 30, 2025 • 47 mins
Author and conspiracy researcher Mike Rothschild joins Chris to unpack the rise, evolution, and enduring influence of QAnon. They explore its blend of old and new conspiracies, its gamified social appeal, and the algorithmic fuel behind its viral spread. Mike explains how QAnon adapted across borders, embedded itself into mainstream politics, and fostered real-world violence—culminating in the January 6 Capitol attack. They al...
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S9 Ep61: Epstein Spy Rumors, Arctic Power Plays, and Trump’s Ukraine Reversal | Espresso Martini

July 26, 2025 • 66 mins
The MAGA movement cracks as Trump’s name surfaces in the Epstein files and his administration fails to deliver the promised disclosures. We unpack the backlash, the conspiracies, and the lingering question of an intelligence connection to Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes. Plus: a bizarre UK spy case involving Russia, a USB stick, and a bicycle seat; the Arctic emerges as a flashpoint for missile defense, climate competition, and great...
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Service Announcement: Chris and Matt on DogShirtTV. No Espresso Martini this week, and a QAnon episode instead

July 18, 2025 • 1 min
Hi eveyone. Chris & Matt will be on Benjamin Wittes & Alicia Wanless's YouTube show "Dog Shirt TV", talking about Secrets & Spies, its origins, our interest in espionage and our thoughts on Spy Fiction. You can watch the show here: https://youtu.be/QVKAQf7p_Fs?si=TruFrM4-jsg0iQMq

There won't be an Espresso Martini this week and instead we will be sharing Chris's interview with author Mike Rothschild and di...
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S9 Ep59: The Mission: The CIA in the 21st Century with Tim Weiner

July 12, 2025 • 62 mins
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Tim Weiner joins Matt to discuss The Mission, his new history of the CIA in the 21st century. They explore the agency’s quiet successes and moral failings, from dismantling the AQ Khan network to abetting torture and losing its way in Iraq. Weiner recounts how the CIA reoriented after the 2016 Russian election interference, played a key role in supporting Ukraine, and tried to hold the line un...
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S9 Ep58: Iran’s Nuclear Future and Why Bombs Won’t Stop it with Joe Cirincione

July 9, 2025 • 47 mins
Matt is joined by nonproliferation expert Joe Cirincione to unpack what the recent US and Israeli strikes on Iran actually achieved—and what they didn’t. They discuss the extent of the damage to Iran’s nuclear program, why military action alone can’t stop a country from getting the bomb, and what a viable diplomatic path forward might look like. Joe breaks down the technical realities of uranium enrichment and covert weapons d...
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S9 Ep57: Espresso Martini | NATO Navigates Trump, Presidential War Powers, and Ukraine Under Strain

July 5, 2025 • 73 mins
This week, Matt and Chris break down the recent NATO summit, where Trump’s presence loomed large—even as the alliance bent over backwards to avoid a blow-up. Matt argues that NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte’s cringe-worthy text to Trump might’ve been politically shrewd, and the guys dive into Europe’s growing defense commitments, defense-industrial capacity, and public skepticism over military spending. Then, they take a har...
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S9 Ep56: The Iran Intel and Tulsi Gabbard’s Future as DNI with Shane Harris

July 2, 2025 • 49 mins
The U.S.  just carried out its most significant strikes on Iran in 45 years. President Trump declared victory, but his intelligence agencies aren’t so sure. This week, Matt is joined by The Atlantic’s Shane Harris to unpack what we actually know about the strikes’ effectiveness, the fractured intel picture behind them, and how DNI Tulsi Gabbard has navigated the fallout. They discuss her eroding influence, the internal backlas...
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S9 Ep55: Espresso Martini | Operation Midnight Hammer, Trump’s Claims, and What Comes Next

June 28, 2025 • 68 mins
This week, Chris and Matt return for an emergency deep dive on Operation Midnight Hammer, the largest US strike on Iran since 1979. They break down what the bombing raid and actually achieved, why initial White House claims of “obliterating” Iran’s nuclear program don’t hold up to scrutiny, and what the intelligence community’s more cautious battle damage assessments reveal. They also unpack the legal debate around preemptive ...
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S9 Ep54: Espresso Martini | Israel vs. Iran, Trump Wavers, and Moscow’s China Paranoia

June 21, 2025 • 76 mins
This week, Chris and Matt dive into the war between Israel and Iran, now entering its second week, with President Trump weighing a direct US strike on Iran’s deeply buried Fordow nuclear facility. They unpack how the conflict began, Mossad’s covert sabotage campaign, the mounting civilian toll, and the split between Israeli and US intelligence over Iran’s nuclear ambitions. They also explore how Trump’s political coalition is ...
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S9 Ep52: Espresso Martini | Operation Spiderweb, CIA’s Star Wars Fan Site, and the Mystery of RAT55

June 7, 2025 • 72 mins
Ukraine’s audacious drone assault on Russian airbases, codenamed Operation Spiderweb, leads this week’s episode, as Chris and Matt break down how Kyiv may have just kneecapped Russia’s strategic bomber fleet in a single strike. They dig into what it means for Russia’s nuclear deterrent, the future of force protection, and the broader trajectory of the war. Then, a Star Wars fan site turns out to be a front for CIA covert commu...
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S9 Ep51: The Rise of the Greek Far Right with Patrick Strickland

June 4, 2025 • 59 mins
In this conversation, Patrick Strickland discusses his experiences as a conflict reporter, particularly focusing on the refugee crisis in Greece and the rise of the neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn. He shares insights into the socio-political landscape that allowed Golden Dawn to thrive, their violent tactics, and their connections with international far-right movements. Strickland emphasizes the importance of understanding these dy...
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Service Announcement | Chris is ill. No Espresso Martini this weekend.

May 31, 2025 • 46 secs
Chris is feeling a bit under the weather, so unfortunately, there’s no Espresso Martini this weekend. However, on Wednesday, we’ll release his interview with journalist Patrick Strickland on the rise and fall of the Greek far-right. Then, either the following Saturday or Wednesday, Matt will welcome back Jacob Ware to discuss his recent article for Just Security on "nihilistic violent extremism" and the awful attack on two Isr...
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S9 Ep50: Pagan Extremism, Warrior Myths, and the Culture Wars of Russia and Ukraine with Ross Downing

May 24, 2025 • 75 mins
Chris speaks with researcher and author Ross Downing about his book Germanic and Slavic Paganism: Security Threats and Resiliency. Ross, who works with a network of scholars and specialists focused on minority religions and extremism, explores how modern pagan traditions, particularly those rooted in Germanic and Slavic identity, are increasingly weaponized by extremist movements on both sides of the Ukraine War. From the myth...
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Service Announcement | Next show Saturday 24th

May 21, 2025 • 1 min
There will be no show today. Our next show will be on Saturday 24th May, which will be an interview with Ross Downing, looking at Pagan Extremism, Warrior Myths, and the Culture Wars of Russia and Ukraine.

Our next Espresso Martini will be on Saturday 31st May.

Please send us your listener questions by Wednesday 28th May. Please send us an email to secretsandspiespodcast@gmail.com or DM us on our social chann...
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S9 Ep49: Espresso Martini | India and Pakistan Pull Back, A Warning on Loyalty Over Expertise, and Trump’s Flying Palace

May 17, 2025 • 61 mins
This week, Chris and Matt break down the uneasy truce reached between India and Pakistan after weeks of escalating violence, with the Trump administration stepping in late to help broker a ceasefire and avert a possible nuclear crisis. Then, former NSA and CIA director Gen. Michael Hayden issues a stark warning about the dangers of personal loyalty tests in national security—raising concerns about competence, dissent, and deci...
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S9 Ep48: Putin’s Sledgehammer: The Wagner Group and Russia’s Collapse into Mercenary Chaos with Candace Rondeaux

May 14, 2025 • 62 mins
Candace Rondeaux joins Chris to unpack the dark mythology and hard realities behind the Wagner Group, drawing from her investigative book Putin’s Sledgehammer. They explore Wagner’s roots in post-Soviet chaos, its fusion of state power and criminal underworlds, and its critical role in Russia’s foreign policy ambitions from Syria to Africa to Ukraine. Candace explains how Wagner became a key tool for circumventing sanctions, s...
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S9 Ep47: Espresso Martini | Farage Surges, Allies Reject Trumpism, and Waltz’s Ouster

May 10, 2025 • 81 mins
In this week’s Espresso Martini, Chris and Matt dig into a wave of elections across the UK, Canada, and Australia, exploring what they signal for populist movements, center-left parties, and Trump-style politics beyond US borders. They break down the rise of Reform UK, growing concerns over Nigel Farage’s influence, and why British voters seem caught in a cycle of backlash politics. Then, a pair of liberal wins in Canada and A...
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