An Interview with the CIA’s Former “Q”
SpyCast2 Dec 2025

An Interview with the CIA’s Former “Q”

Bob Wallace was appointed Deputy Director of the CIA’s Office of Technical Service in 1995 and became its director three years later. In other words, he was the CIA’s “Q.” The storied office dealt in microdots and secret writing, creating innovations that spanned concealments, forged documents, surveillance equipment, covert communications, and special weapons. In this interview, Sasha and Bob sit down to discuss the tactics and innovations he has never shared before, ranging from the low-tech to the Internet Age, to the devices and techniques used in the Global War on Terrorism. 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.

Avsnitt(728)

The Cambridge Five

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 intelligence author Nigel West examines their motivations and activities, and reveals new evidence he has unearthed in Soviet intelligence archives.

15 Aug 200926min

Cold War Radio

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 the 1978 murder of RFE scriptwriter Georgi Markov in London, and the 1981 bombing of RFE/RL headquarters in Munich by the terrorist Carlos the Jackal.

1 Aug 200928min

Intelligence on Pakistan

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 emanating from Pakistan, including the rise of the Taliban, the security of the country’s nuclear weapons, the murky role of its Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI), and the precarious relationship with neighboring India.

1 Juli 200928min

Intelligence in Cyberspace

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 Cyveillance, Dr. Terry Gudaitis discusses specific examples of cyber threats as well as techniques to counter them.

15 Juni 200927min

Inside the National Security Agency

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 Information Policy Mike Levin reveals some of the mysterious agency’s secrets.

1 Juni 200921min

U.S. Military Intelligence—Past and Present

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 purpose of American military intelligence, describing the DIA and the role of the military attachés posted abroad.

1 Maj 200926min

U.S. Naval Intelligence in World War II

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 naval forces at Midway in 1942, and he reveals how cryptanalysts helped U.S. forces locate and kill Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the mastermind of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

14 Apr 200930min

Intelligence and Conspiracy Theories II

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 Todd Leventhal discusses some of the most notorious Soviet-inspired conspiracy theories and explains how the United States sought to counter them.

1 Apr 200930min

Populärt inom Politik & nyheter

p3-krim
rss-krimstad
svenska-fall
flashback-forever
rss-viva-fotboll
motiv
aftonbladet-daily
rss-sanning-konsekvens
aftonbladet-krim
rss-vad-fan-hande
olyckan-inifran
grans
rss-krimreportrarna
dagens-eko
fordomspodden
rss-frandfors-horna
spar
krimmagasinet
blenda-2
rss-flodet