True Spies: Espionage | Investigation | Crime | Murder | Detective | Politics
True Spies takes you inside the world's greatest espionage and detective operations. Our hosts Hayley Atwell, Vanessa Kirby, Sophia Di Martino, Daisy Ridley and Rhiannon Neads talk to the real spies behind the missions. What do they know? What are their skills? And what would you do in their position? We explore and investigate real life thrillers, mysteries and crimes - stories that prove truth is stranger than fiction! These stories cover lies, murder, theft, sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll. You’ll meet experts from the top intelligence agencies including FBI, CIA, MI5, MI6 (SIS), KGB, GRU, Mossad and many others. You’ll discover characters who spied because of money, ideology, coercion or just plain old ego. And, if you’d like to dig deeper into the world of secrets, and test your own secret intelligence skills, head over to spyscape.com for articles, games, experiences, puzzles and videos. For episodes first and ad-free, subscribe to Spyscape+ at: plus.Spyscape.com A Cup & Nuzzle production. Series producers: Gemma Newby, Joe Foley. Music: Nick Ryan.
Episodes
December 9, 2025 • 53 mins
When Dr David Tuch started investigating his family tree, he found much more than he bargained for. A distant cousin. A sailor. A man who led a life of adventure - and changed the world of crime forever.
In Part One of this True Spies story, you'll meet him too - and discover the first steps on a dark, dangerous and fascinating journey.
Dr. David Tuch is the author of The Wireless Operator: The Untold Story of the British Sailo...
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December 2, 2025 • 33 mins
How do you flee your country and join the other side? In this classic episode of True Spies, a former Russian intelligence agent gives Vanessa Kirby a rare masterclass in international tradecraft. Janosh Neumann fled Moscow armed only with his wits, a suitcase and the names of Russia's most influential money launderers, to begin a dangerous journey to the other side of the world.
From SPYSCAPE, the home of secrets. A Cup And Nuzzl...
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November 25, 2025 • 37 mins
Dr Amy Zegart works to bridge the divide between the worlds of policy and tech. In this Debrief, True Spies producer Morgan Childs joins Dr. Zegart To hear her thoughts on spy entertainment, espionage in the age of AI, and the future of American intelligence policy.
From SPYSCAPE, the home of secrets. A Cup And Nuzzle production. Series producer: Joe Foley. Produced by Morgan Childs.
Dr. Zegart is a senior fellow at the Hoov...
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November 18, 2025 • 46 mins
Author and filmmaker Richard Kerbaj tells the story of Oleg Lyalin - the hard-living, womanising KGB officer whose defection changed the course of the Cold War, and shaped the future of intelligence agencies on both sides of the Atlantic.
From SPYSCAPE, the home of secrets. A Cup And Nuzzle production. Series producer: Joe Foley. Produced by Max Bower.
Richard Kerbaj is the author of The Defector: The untold story of the KGB agen...
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November 13, 2025 • 29 mins
From the writing of Sun Tzu to the modern era, spies and spymasters have had insights into the mind that most of us don't. Now it's time to put espionage itself on the analysts' couch.
In Brief Histories, the new monthly special from True Spies, series producer Joe Foley is your guide to this secret world - alongside a treasure-trove of stories and expert knowledge from our archive.
From SPYSCAPE, the home of secrets and skills. ...
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November 11, 2025 • 43 mins
In this classic episode of True Spies, Vanessa Kirby goes behind enemy lines with Virginia Hall, one of the bravest Allied heroines of WWII.
As part of ‘Churchill's Secret Army’, Virginia was sent into occupied France to organize resistance efforts and disrupt Nazi plans ‘by any means necessary’.
From SPYSCAPE, the home of secrets and skills. Featuring Sarah Megan Thomas as Virginia Hall. A Cup And Nuzzle production. Series pro...
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November 4, 2025 • 31 mins
True Spies producer Morgan Childs joins former CIA analyst, author and podcast host David McCloskey for a deep dive into his post-Agency career, and what he's learned along the way.
David McCloskey's latest novel, The Persian, is out now.
From SPYSCAPE, the home of secrets. A Cup And Nuzzle production. Series producer: Joe Foley. Produced by Morgan Childs.
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October 28, 2025 • 61 mins
Author Clare Mulley has built her formidable reputation on finding the remarkable stories that have been left out of the history books. This is one of them - the remarkable, heartstopping story of Elzbieta Zawacka, AKA Agent Zo, legend of the Polish resistance.
From SPYSCAPE, the home of secrets. A Cup And Nuzzle production. Series producer: Joe Foley. Produced by Frank Palmer.
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October 23, 2025 • 25 mins
From the lagoon of Venice to revolutionary Russia, counterintelligence has always been an important aspect of statecraft.
In Brief Histories, the new monthly special from True Spies, series producer Joe Foley is your guide to this secret world - alongside a treasure-trove of stories and expert knowledge from our archive.
From SPYSCAPE, the home of secrets and skills. A Cup And Nuzzle production. Series producer: Joe Foley.
Learn ...
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October 20, 2025 • 46 mins
In the golden cornfields of rural Iowa, mysterious men are stealing seeds. Corn is big business - and the secret of growing good corn is priceless intellectual property. But is this a simple case of corporate theft, or foreign espionage in a vital strategic battle between nations? Vanessa Kirby joins Special Agent Mark Betten, FBI, on his mission to find out.
From SPYSCAPE, the home of secrets. A Cup And Nuzzle production. Serie...
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October 13, 2025 • 29 mins
This time on the Debrief, Morgan Childs joins former CIA economic analyst Brett Janis to discuss the Agency's role in monitoring global financial trends, Ukraine, and the future of the USA's place at the heart of the world economy.
From SPYSCAPE, the home of secrets. A Cup And Nuzzle production. Series producer: Joe Foley. Produced by Morgan Childs.
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October 6, 2025 • 40 mins
By 2004, FBI Special Agent Jim Gaylord has seen a lot of counterintelligence operations go right. But he's also seen plenty go wrong, especially when it comes to the People's Republic of China. But now, he has a chance to take down one of China's most prolific collectors of US military tech - and he's determined to take it.
In Part Two, Jim's team makes a breakthrough - and the net begins to close around Chi Mak.
From SPYSCA...
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October 1, 2025 • 28 mins
NEW from True Spies: Brief Histories. From 7th Century China to Nazi-occupied France, discover a selection of stories from the long history of female spies.
In Brief Histories, the new monthly special from True Spies, series producer Joe Foley is your guide to this secret world - alongside a treasure-trove of expert knowledge from our archive.
From SPYSCAPE, the home of secrets and skills. A Cup And Nuzzle production. Series prod...
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September 30, 2025 • 44 mins
By 2004, FBI Special Agent Jim Gaylord has seen a lot of counterintelligence operations go right. But he's also seen plenty go wrong, especially when it comes to the People's Republic of China. But now, he has a chance to take down one of China's most prolific collectors of US military tech - and he's determined to take it.
In Part One, Jim sets out to take down Chi Mak - an engineer with access to top secret Naval technology.
F...
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September 23, 2025 • 48 mins
In this classic episode of True Spies, Vanessa Kirby meets a spy who infiltrated the political wing of the Irish Republican movement. Willie Carlin risked his life in Derry, Northern Ireland, on a daily basis to provide the UK with intelligence.
From SPYSCAPE, the home of secrets and skills. A Cup And Nuzzle production. Series producer: Gemma Newby. Produced by Joe Foley. Music by Nick Ryan
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September 16, 2025 • 68 mins
Lawyer and intelligence historian David Burke reveals a shadowy chapter in the story of Anglo-Irish relations in the 20th century.
Irish police intelligence analyst Patrick Crinnion was a man of rare intelligence. He had also been groomed from a young age to spy for the United Kingdom. When the Troubles in Northern Ireland broke out, he was feeding information on the IRA to Westminster. But the IRA had its own, highly effective sp...
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September 9, 2025 • 34 mins
WIRED journalist Andy Greenberg has spent years reporting from the murky world of hackers, spies, and cyber warriors. His 2019 book Sandworm tells the true story of the Kremlin-backed cyber criminals that became one of the most destructive hacking groups in history. This week, True Spies producer Morgan Childs sits down with Andy to talk about the Sandworm group - and what their campaigns reveal about the future of warfare itself. ...
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September 4, 2025 • 29 mins
NEW from True Spies: Brief Histories. From Egyptian codebreaking, to USB sticks with the power to cripple nuclear facilities, this week hear the long evolution of tradecraft.
In Brief Histories, the new monthly special from True Spies, series producer Joe Foley is your guide to the evolution of this secret world - alongside a treasure-trove of expert knowledge from our archive.
From SPYSCAPE, the home of secrets and skills. A Cup...
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September 2, 2025 • 43 mins
Jim Lawler is one of the CIA's most successful recruiters of foreign spies. But even he had to start somewhere. In this classic episode of True Spies, Vanessa Kirby joins Jim on his first foreign posting. His mission? To enlist a crucial intelligence asset for the USA. To do it, he'll stop at nothing to manipulate, subvert, and seduce his target.
From SPYSCAPE, the home of secrets. A Cup And Nuzzle production. Series producer: Ge...
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August 26, 2025 • 42 mins
John Taylor is an author, lecturer and advisor on handling human sources of secret intelligence. He joins True Spies producer Morgan Childs to discuss the psychology of those who play the espionage game - agent and handler alike.
From SPYSCAPE, the home of secrets. A Cup And Nuzzle production. Series producer: Joe Foley. Produced by Morgan Childs.
John Taylor is a senior Research Fellow at Kings College London and the author of T...
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