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.
676
Cyber Security and Covert Action
Dr. Herbert Lin is chief scientist at the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, National Research Council of the National Academies. An expert on cyber security, Herb discusses various aspects of cyber attacks, including ways in which cyber we...
24 min
677
Intelligence in a War Zone (Melissa Mahle)
Melissa Mahle served from 1988-2002 at the CIA, much of the time as a case officer dealing with terrorist issues in the Middle East, running agents and gathering intelligence. Today, she discusses with Peter her perspective on the recent suicide bombin...
28 min
678
The Terrorist Challenge
The U.S. authorities' failure to prevent a Nigerian suicide bomber from boarding a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day, and the suicide bombing at a CIA base in Afghanistan have roiled the intelligence community. International Spy Museum historian Dr....
17 min
679
Tales from the OSS, Part I
Elizabeth Macintosh served in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II. Today, she discusses her personal experience working for OSS, the role of women in it, as well as some of the agency’s most exciting operations.
23 min
680
The MI5 Centenary
This year, Britain’s domestic security service, MI5, celebrates its 100th anniversary. Cambridge University professor Christopher Andrew, the author of MI5’s official history, Defend the Realm, reveals the agency’s strengths and weaknesses, and relates...
26 min
681
Cyber Threats: Challenges and Solutions
Melissa Hathaway served as acting senior director for cyberspace for the National Security Council, heading a 60-Day Cyberspace Policy Review for President Obama that resulted in a comprehensive report with recommendations for action. Today, she discus...
29 min
682
The Changing Face of Al Qaeda
How has the sustained U.S. effort to destroy Al Qaeda affected the terrorist organization, and how important is the current struggle against the Taliban in Afghanistan for the future of Al Qaeda? A former Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Na...
25 min
683
Intelligence and 9/11 with Amy Zegart
Could intelligence have prevented the terrorist attacks of 9/11, and has the Intelligence Community been sufficiently reformed to deal with current and future threats? These are the questions that Amy Zegart discusses on the eighth anniversary of 9/11....
22 min
684
Sexpionage
Since biblical times, spies and intelligence services have used sexual entrapment and emotional blackmail to recruit agents and gather secret information. International Spy Museum advisory board member and espionage author H. Keith Melton discusses the...
23 min
685
The Cambridge Five
In the 1930s, five young Cambridge University students were recruited by Soviet intelligence to penetrate the British intelligence community. In the course of their decade-long espionage career, the Five did enormous damage to Western security. British...
24 min
686
Cold War Radio
Richard H. Cummings served for fifteen years as Director of Security for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). He reviews the propaganda activities of RFE/RL during the Cold War and describes Soviet bloc operations against the stations, including t...
26 min
687
Intelligence on Pakistan
"Pakistan is the most dangerous country in the world today," asserts Bruce Riedel, a 30-year CIA veteran and currently a senior fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. Bruce discusses the various threats emanatin...
26 min
688
Intelligence in Cyberspace
Cyber threats, information warfare, and internet espionage are growing challenges for business companies, private individuals, and the intelligence community alike. A former CIA operations officer and current president of the cyber intelligence company...
25 min
689
Inside the National Security Agency
The National Security Agency (NSA), America’s premier cryptanalytic organization, is the largest and most secretive member of the American intelligence community. Discussing NSA’s mission, capabilities, and past exploits, former NSA Chief of Informatio...
20 min
690
U.S. Military Intelligence—Past and Present
A West Point graduate, Brian G. Shellum was U.S. Army attaché in Germany, served in the armed forces during the first Gulf War, and worked for over a decade as historian for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). Today, Brian discusses the history and ...
25 min
691
U.S. Naval Intelligence in World War II
Rear-Admiral Donald Mac Showers joined the U.S. Navy’s codebreakers at Pearl Harbor in 1942 and went on to serve three decades in the American intelligence community. Today, he talks about the contribution of codebreaking to the defeat of Japanese nava...
29 min
692
Intelligence and Conspiracy Theories II
During the Cold War, Soviet intelligence used disinformation to malign the United States, for example, by spreading the rumor that AIDS resulted from U.S. Army bacteriological warfare experiments. U.S. State Department Counter-Misinformation officer To...
29 min
693
Intelligence and Conspiracy Theories I
What makes conspiracy theories so appealing, and why have they become so prevalent in this day and age? Do some of them contain a grain of truth? And who stands to gain from spreading these ideas? To answer these questions, Peter interviews Professor R...
25 min
694
Intelligence Lessons from Vietnam
Working for the Saigon Military Mission and the CIA, Rufus Phillips spent ten years in South East Asia during the Vietnam War. Drawing on this experience, Rufus talks about psychological warfare and counter-insurgency tactics in Vietnam, and lessons fo...
25 min
695
Robert De Niro on Intelligence
Today, Peter chats with actor and film producer Robert De Niro. De Niro talks about his long-standing interest in the world of intelligence and discusses his latest espionage movie The Good Shepherd about the early history of the CIA. He also provides ...
16 min
696
U.S. Intelligence in Decline?
A senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, Melvin A. Goodman served many years as an analyst at the CIA and the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research. A critical observer of the intelligence community, he elaborates on his...
26 min
697
The CIA and the End of the Cold War
As CIA station chief in Pakistan, Nigeria, Sudan, and Germany in the 1980s and early ‘90s, Milt Bearden observed—and influenced—the end of the Cold War from a unique vantage point. Today, he talks with Peter about U.S. support of Afghani mujahideen aga...
26 min
698
Woman in Disguise - Jonna Mendez
Jonna Hiestand Mendez began her CIA career as a secretary and ended it as head of the agency’s Office of Technical Services, overseeing the development of gadgets, disguises, and high-tech devices in support of espionage missions. Today, she discusses ...
24 min
699
Intelligence and the Presidential Elections II
Judge William H. Webster, the only person who directed both the FBI (1978-87) and the CIA (1987-91), taps into his vast expertise to discuss with Peter the guidance he would offer to the next U.S. president. In addition, he provides insight on the eve...
24 min
700
Inspecting the CIA
Peter’s guest today is Frederick Hitz, the CIA’s first inspector general subject to U.S. Senate Confirmation (1990-98) and now a lecturer on intelligence at the University of Virginia. In a wide-ranging discussion, Fred talks about intelligence oversig...
23 min