SpyCast
SpyCast, the official podcast of the International Spy Museum, is a journey into the shadows of international espionage. Each week, host Sasha Ingber brings you the latest insights and intriguing tales from spies, secret agents, and covert communicators, with a focus on how this secret world reaches us all in our everyday lives. Tune in to discover the critical role intelligence has played throughout history and today. Brought to you from Airwave, Goat Rodeo, and the International Spy Museum. The Spy Museum does not endorse, approve, or support the opinions stated by guest speakers. Statements made by speakers do not represent the position or opinion of the International Spy Museum.
Episodes
May 6, 2025 • 32 mins
They were a spy cell like no other — operating from quiet British suburbs, hailing from Bulgaria, and working on behalf of Russia. Their handler dubbed them “The Minions,” and their plots stretched across Europe and spanned honeytraps, abductions, and murder. At the time of this recording, six have been convicted and await sentencing. To parse out the case, we spoke with Gordon Corera, a British author and co-host of The Rest is Cl...
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April 29, 2025 • 40 mins
The United States and Ukraine have had a long, complicated history that has been defined by just as much partnership and collaboration as hesitation and disagreement. This dynamic is laid bare in the 7-part podcast series ‘Escalation,’ produced by our partners at Goat Rodeo, with the national security publication Lawfare. In April 2025, The International Spy Museum hosted a panel discussion on the Washington-Kyiv relationship moder...
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April 22, 2025 • 34 mins
Why does Vladimir Putin often say that the West is conspiring to weaken Russia? Historian James Crossland traces this narrative back to a British intelligence officer and a failed assassination attempt on Vladimir Lenin in 1918.
The story is featured in his new book, Rogue Agent, from Secret Plots to Psychological Warfare, the Untold Story of Robert Bruce Lockhart. James takes us into Lockhart’s psyche and lays out how a single mo...
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April 15, 2025 • 33 mins
Government employees were dismissed with startling swiftness and sweeping in the midst of the Trump administration's relentless pursuit to pare down the federal workforce. The sheer number of fired personnel and the manner in which US officials let them go have led to concerns that disillusioned former employees may share what they know with foreign intelligence services, jeopardizing the very security they once sought to protect. ...
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April 8, 2025 • 32 mins
It's no secret that China has recently stepped up political and military pressure on the democratically governed island of Taiwan. But then, there are the Chinese Communist Party's covert efforts: Recruiting from the inside, gathering intelligence, and exerting influence. Executive Director of the Global Taiwan Institute Russell Hsiao breaks down Beijing Shadow Games in Taiwan.
If you liked this episode, check out these links:
Sp...
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April 2, 2025 • 33 mins
Targeted uncovers harrowing stories of people who have been singled out and systematically dismantled—whether for political reasons, personal vendettas, or simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Each episode deep dives into the tactics used against someone, the devastating consequences, and the remarkable lessons they’ve learned in their fight to survive. Targeted gives listeners the tools to recognize and resist be...
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April 1, 2025 • 31 mins
Nicholas Eftimiades’ 34 year career in government spanned the CIA, State Department and the Defense Intelligence Agency. He's published three books that examine the structure, methodology and operations of China's intelligence services. This, he says, led a Chinese communist newspaper to declare him an enemy of the state in the ‘90s. Now, Nick is retired, and he's been building an unusual database tracking some 900 cases of Chinese...
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March 25, 2025 • 33 mins
Sidney Gottlieb was one of the CIA’s star chemists during the Cold War. As head of MKUltra, he ran a brazen—and deadly—program aimed at mind control.
Gottlieb and fellow scientists tried to keep the work secret by destroying files, but historian John Lisle has new details from the six boxes that remained untouched. He shares insights and reflections straight from the mouths of MKUltra’s perpetrators and victims.
John’s new book...
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March 18, 2025 • 32 mins
Valerie Plame’s clandestine life made headlines in 2003 after her CIA cover was leaked to the press. Her husband, an ambassador, had gone to Niger to investigate whether yellowcake uranium had been transferred to Iraq to make weapons of mass destruction.
He publicly challenged the Bush administration on what we now know was false intelligence. Valerie’s unmasking was seen as retaliation. Now, over 20 years later, she reflects on t...
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March 11, 2025 • 31 mins
After the Taliban took back control of Afghanistan, the National Resistance Front rose up to defy them. We spoke with their leader Ahmad Massoud, who has overseen hundreds of military and intelligence-gathering operations. He’s following the footsteps of his father, who led his own resistance group, the Northern Alliance, until members of Al Qaeda assassinated him two days before they conducted the September 11 terrorist attacks.
...
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March 4, 2025 • 27 mins
He was an American spy before an American spy agency existed. NFL player Ernest Cuneo, a little known first generation Italian American, worked with British intelligence to convince the United States to join World War II, and helped lay the groundwork for modern day espionage. Thomas Maier traces Cuneo’s extraordinary life in his new book, The Invisible Spy, out March 25th.
If you liked this episode, check out these links:
Agent ...
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February 25, 2025 • 29 mins
A fourth year of war in Ukraine begins. But for Lt. Col. Kyrylo Berkal, who’s been fighting since Russia first invaded in 2014, the battle for his country has raged much longer. Now, he’s second in command of the elite Third Assault Brigade, which has played a major role in critical battles against Russia and continues to develop new technologies to both gather intelligence and enhance combat techniques.
Kirt spoke to us between m...
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February 18, 2025 • 32 mins
She’s known for helping to free people through the Underground Railroad, but Harriet Tubman was also a spy during the Civil War. And with the intelligence she collected, the Maryland native became the first woman to lead men into battle on gunboats down the Combahee River in South Carolina. The Combahee River Raid destroyed several vital Confederate rice plantations and liberated more than 750 people from enslavement.
Social his...
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February 11, 2025 • 32 mins
North Korea is growing more dangerous, but no U.S. administration has been able to crack the code on its leader Kim Jong Un. Now, there’s even less incentive for Kim to negotiate because of the support he’s getting from Russia. So what will Kim do next, and where is he vulnerable? Jung H. Pak, a former CIA analyst who served as the country’s top diplomat for North Korea, takes us inside the mind of one of the world's most opaque le...
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February 4, 2025 • 29 mins
For decades, colleges and universities have been a destination for espionage. Especially in recent years, the use of international students and faculty as spies on American campuses has been particularly daunting. Why do intelligence services, both foreign and domestic, target colleges and universities? And what is there to gain on these campuses? Award-winning journalist Daniel Golden, author of the book Spy Schools, describes the...
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January 28, 2025 • 30 mins
Agent Zo was the only female Polish resistance agent to reach London as a courier during WWII and the only female member of Poland's fabled 'Silent Unseen' paratroopers. Yet despite having researched Poland's wartime resistance movement, many of us have never heard of her. Why?
If you liked this episode, check out these links:
Agent Zo: The Extraordinary Woman Who Parachuted Into Nazi-Occupied Poland
Women Spies of WWII with Ellen...
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January 21, 2025 • 32 mins
Now that President Trump has been inaugurated, what can we expect for the intelligence community? On his first full day in his first term, he visited the CIA to voice support. But he has also displayed deep skepticism and accused spy agencies of undermining him. Beth Sanner is a highly decorated, retired career intelligence officer who briefed Trump with the President’s Daily Brief, a highly classified summary of the US most critic...
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January 14, 2025 • 28 mins
Former intelligence officer Bryan Stern describes the tradecraft he used on Russian intelligence and military services to rescue an American imprisoned in Russian-occupied Ukraine.
If you liked this episode check out these links to more hostage rescue stories:
SpyCast - James Foley: Journalist, ISIS Hostage, Son – with His Mother Diane Foley
Operación Jaque - The Daring Rescue Mission That Freed 15 Hostages
Spy Chat with Chris C...
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December 31, 2024 • 20 mins
Introducing the new host of SpyCast, Sasha Ingber! In this week’s episode, Sasha joined Erin in a conversation about her career and the future of the International Spy Museum’s flagship podcast. Now entering it’s 19th year, SpyCast will relaunch on January 14th with brand new episodes, featuring exciting spy stories and the latest intelligence from the shadowy world of espionage. Tune in to learn more about Sasha, our very first fe...
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December 17, 2024 • 72 mins
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 ...
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