The Sunday Read: ‘The Spy Who Called Me’
The Daily9 Jul 2023

The Sunday Read: ‘The Spy Who Called Me’

The wave of scandals that would engulf Spain began with a police raid on a wooded property outside Madrid. It was Nov. 3, 2017, and the target was José Manuel Villarejo Pérez, a former government spy. Villarejo’s name had been circulating in the Spanish press for years. He was rumored to have had powerful friends and to have kept dirt on them all. The impressive variety of allegations against him — forgery, bribery, extortion, influence peddling — had earned him the nickname “king of the sewers.”

For many decades, Villarejo’s face had been known to almost no one. He was, after all, a spy — and not just any spy, but one who had started his career in the secret police of the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco. In those years, he would dress in overalls from Telefónica, the national telephone company, as he conducted surveillance operations in the mountains, and on several occasions he even wore a priest’s collar in order to infiltrate the Basque separatist group ETA. More recently, Villarejo had taken to simply introducing himself as a lawyer who ran a private-investigation firm, offering those he met to dig up compromising material on their enemies. His formal connection to the government was increasingly ambiguous. Of all of the identities he assumed over the years, this was perhaps the most powerful one. It made him rich through the hefty fees he charged, and it opened a door into the worlds of business tycoons, government ministers, aristocrats, judges, newspaper editors and arms traffickers — all of whose trust he gained, all of whose private words he taped.

Villarejo was handcuffed and taken to Madrid. But as he sat in jail awaiting trial, the question left hanging over Spain was this: What happens to a country’s secrets when they have all been recorded by one man? And what happens when that man finds himself suddenly backed into a corner?

This story was recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Episoder(2699)

Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017

Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017

Its de facto capital is falling. Its territory has shriveled to a handful of outposts. Its surviving leaders are on the run, and its fighters are surrendering. Is the Islamic State losing its war, or starting a new one? Guests: Rod Nordland, The Times’s bureau chief in Kabul, Afghanistan; Rukmini Callimachi, who covers terrorism and the Islamic State. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

19 Okt 201721min

Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017

Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017

Shannon Mulcahy’s job at an Indiana steel plant moved to Mexico. Donald Trump vowed to keep factory jobs inside the United States. We discuss how the president’s promise of “America First” has met the realities of American manufacturing. Guests: Farah Stockman, a national correspondent for The New York Times; Shannon Mulcahy, a former factory worker. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

18 Okt 201736min

Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017

Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017

As a candidate for president, Donald J. Trump called Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl a “dirty rotten traitor” for walking off his base in Afghanistan in 2009, and said,”I don’t want him. Maybe we can send him back.” On Monday, with President Trump now commander in chief, Sergeant Bergdahl pleaded guilty to desertion and to endangering the American troops sent to search for him. An Army judge will determine his punishment. Guests: Matthew Rosenberg, who covers intelligence and national security for The Times; Richard A. Oppel Jr., the Times reporter covering the trial. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

17 Okt 201723min

Monday, Oct. 16, 2017

Monday, Oct. 16, 2017

President Trump has disavowed the Iran nuclear deal, and he has threatened to leave it altogether if Congress does not amend it to permanently block Tehran from building nuclear weapons. Today, a top negotiator in the Obama administration talks about how the deal was reached and what it feels like to watch Mr. Trump threaten to undo it. Guests: Jake Sullivan, a negotiator for the Iran deal; Peter Baker, chief White House correspondent for The Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

16 Okt 201718min

Friday, Oct. 13, 2017

Friday, Oct. 13, 2017

“I’m not quitting today. I don’t believe — and I just talked to the president — I don’t think I’m being fired today,” John F. Kelly, President Trump’s chief of staff, said at a surprise news conference. Hours later, President Trump unexpectedly released a statement aiming at destabilizing Obamacare. And a survivor from the Rohingya, one of the most persecuted ethnic groups in the world, told one of our correspondents her story. Guests: Glenn Thrush, a White House correspondent for The Times; Jeffrey Gettleman, The Times’s South Asia bureau chief. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

13 Okt 201724min

Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017

Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017

The United States sees North Korea as an existential threat: a hostile nation that is dangerously deluded and ready for war. But how does North Korea see the United States? We took a rare look inside the country. Guest: Nicholas Kristof, a New York Times columnist. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

12 Okt 201720min

Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017

Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017

More women are coming forward with their accounts of sexual harassment and assault in Hollywood, accusing the film producer Harvey Weinstein. Today, we hear one of those stories. Guests: Jodi Kantor, a New York Times reporter; Katherine Kendall, an actress who told The Times that Mr. Weinstein harassed her in his apartment in 1993. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

11 Okt 201727min

Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017

Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017

The Trump administration has rolled back two of President Barack Obama’s signature achievements. The repeal of the Clean Power Plan was billed as the end of a “war on coal.” And the end of a federal requirement that employers include birth control coverage in their health plans followed up on President Trump’s promise that “we will not allow people of faith to be targeted, bullied or silenced anymore.” Guests: Lisa Friedman, who covers climate and environmental policy for The Times; Gail Collins, a Times Op-Ed columnist. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

10 Okt 201723min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

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