Inside the CIA’s Book Club Designed to Bring Down Communism
SpyCast25 Nov 2025

Inside the CIA’s Book Club Designed to Bring Down Communism

The CIA’s book club, known by the codename QRHELPFUL, was a secret 35-year program born of the fear that communism would dominate the globe. About 10 million books were smuggled into the Soviet Union during the Cold War, transported by trucks and yachts, in tins and luggage, and even dropped from balloons. The agency believed that the literature could win hearts and minds, turning citizens of the Soviet Bloc into dissidents. It’s all documented in author Charlie English’s new book, The CIA Book Club, the first narrative account of this program. Subscribe to Sasha's Substack, HUMINT, to get more intelligence stories: https://sashaingber.substack.com/ And if you have feedback or want to hear about a particular topic, you can reach us by email at spycast@spymuseum.org, This show is brought to you from Goat Rodeo, Airwave, and the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC. This episode was produced by Flora Warshaw and the team at Goat Rodeo. At the International Spy Museum, Mike Mincey and Memphis Vaughan III are our video editors. Emily Rens is our graphic designer. Joshua Troemel runs our SPY social media. Amanda Ohlke is our Director of Adult Education and Mira Cohen is the Vice President of Programs.

Episoder(729)

The Hunt for China’s Spy Family

The Hunt for China’s Spy Family

For decades, California-based engineer Chi Mak quietly stole secrets on war-fighting technologies. He and his family members shared the intelligence with spies in China, giving Beijing astounding insi...

18 Nov 202538min

A Family of Spies and a Bloodline of Secrets

A Family of Spies and a Bloodline of Secrets

No other American has a family history quite like Christine Kuehn. Through years of doing painstaking interviews, hunting down letters, and pouring through FBI records, Christine learned that her Germ...

11 Nov 202534min

From the SpyCast Vault: The Lumumba Plot and The Station Chief's Story

From the SpyCast Vault: The Lumumba Plot and The Station Chief's Story

In our last episode, author Stuart Reid peeled back the curtain on 'The Lumumba Plot,' the CIA’s plan to assassinate Patrice Lumumba, the first democratically-elected Prime Minister of the Congo. Stat...

4 Nov 202530min

The Lumumba Plot: Cold War in the Congo

The Lumumba Plot: Cold War in the Congo

The Congo was just gaining its independence from Belgium in 1960 when its first democratically elected leader, Patrice Lumumba, faced an existential crisis: mutiny in his new army, followed by an unwe...

28 Okt 202534min

Russian Sabotage Operations and NATO’s Complex Alliance

Russian Sabotage Operations and NATO’s Complex Alliance

Russian drones and warplanes have been increasingly breaching the airspace of NATO countries. Admiral Joachim Rühle, (ret.) is the former Chief of Staff of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europ...

21 Okt 202529min

Opening the Foreign Influence Toolkit

Opening the Foreign Influence Toolkit

Jessica Brandt knows a lot about influence. She was the director of the Foreign Malign Influence Center, which served as intermediary between the U.S. intelligence community and the public. It alerted...

14 Okt 202532min

From the SpyCast Vault: An Assassination in Mexico

From the SpyCast Vault: An Assassination in Mexico

Keith Melton is a historian who’s been an advisor to the US Intelligence Community for decades. An avid collector and board member at The International Spy Museum, Keith has donated thousands of artif...

30 Sep 202530min

The Dark Web Broker

The Dark Web Broker

Vinny Troia is at home on the Dark Web. The veteran hacker has developed relationships with cyberactors who have quietly stolen sensitive data from the far corners of the world. Vinny sells that data ...

23 Sep 202535min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
aftenpodden-usa
forklart
stopp-verden
popradet
det-store-bildet
dine-penger-pengeradet
rss-gukild-johaug
bt-dokumentar-2
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
hanna-de-heldige
fotballpodden-2
nokon-ma-ga
e24-podden
frokostshowet-pa-p5
aftenbla-bla
rss-ness
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
rss-dannet-uten-piano