“The World’s Preeminent Collection of SPY Artifacts” – with Laura Hicken and Lauren VonBechmann

Intelligence historian Hugh Wilford reveals the surprising history of the CIA’s pro-Arab operations in the 1940s and 50s by tracing the work of the agency’s three most influential—and colorful—officers in the Middle East: Kermit Roosevelt, Archie Roosevelt, and Miles Copeland. With their deep knowledge of Middle Eastern affairs, the three men were heirs to an American missionary tradition that engaged Arabs and Muslims with respect and empathy. These “Arabists” propped up authoritarian regimes, attempted secretly to sway public opinion in America against support for the new state of Israel, and staged coups that destabilized the nations with which they empathized. They were fascinated by imperial intrigue, and were eager to play a modern rematch of the “Great Game,” the nineteenth century struggle between Britain and Russia for control over central Asia. This event took place January 7, 2014. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

4 Mars 201452min

Is cyber war really coming? Renowned scholar Thomas Rid of the Department of War Studies at Kings College London argues that the focus on war distracts from the real challenge of cyberspace: non-violent confrontation that may rival or even replace violence in surprising ways. In this provocative talk, the author will trace the most significant hacks and attacks and explore some key questions: What are cyber weapons? How have they changed the meaning of violence? How likely and how dangerous is crowd-sourced subversive activity? Why has there never been a lethal cyber-attack against a country's critical infrastructure? How serious is the threat of cyber-espionage? And who is most vulnerable in the cyber realm? This event took place on September 10, 2013 .http://www.spymuseumstore.org/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

5 Dec 201358min

Six months after the 9/11 attacks, New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly initiated a straightforward, yet audacious, antiterrorist plan to be implemented in the Big Apple, dispatching a vast network of undercover officers and informants to track suspected terrorists. In Enemies Within, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalists Matt Apuzzo and Adam Goldman for Associated Press reveal the effectiveness of the domestic spying plan. Based on hundreds of previously unpublished New York Police Department internal memos and exclusive interviews with intelligence sources, including 25-year FBI veteran Don Borelli who assisted with the book, they found that many of those strategies aren’t even close to being useful, functional, or successful. As Assistant Special Agent in Charge in the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), Borelli was responsible for top investigations and counterterrorism missions that spanned the globe. Join Apuzzo and Borelli for an unbridled look at the breathtaking race to avert a second devastating terrorist attack on American soil. This event took place September 26, 2013. Get the book: http://www.spymuseumstore.org/enemy-within-book.html#.Vz3rRfkrIdU Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

5 Dec 201352min

Historian Randall B. Woods of the University of Arkansas discusses his new biography of one of the most fascinating and controversial figures of the postwar period: William Egan Colby. World War II commando, Cold War spy, CIA station chief in Saigon, and ultimately CIA director under Presidents Nixon and Ford, Colby played a critical role in some of the most pivotal events in twentieth-century history. Despite his strong commitment to global democracy and economic and social justice, he was also drawn to the shadowy world of covert action… This event took place on April 18, 2013. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

19 Nov 201352min

In this continuation of the discussion with US Army Colonel James Cox, we hear about the day-to-day work of US military attachés: being military diplomats for the Defense Intelligence Agency. Colonel Cox tells SPY Historian Mark Stout what it was like working in Moscow after the failure of the 1991 coup. He also shares his experiences in Almaty, the capital of the newly independent country of Kazakhstan and later in Poland, a once-communist country, as it joined the NATO alliance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

27 Okt 201318min

When 26 Army nurses and medics boarded a transport plane in November, 1943, they never anticipated the crash landing in Nazi-occupied Albania that would lead to their months-long struggle for survival. The group dodged bullets and battled blinding winter storms as they climbed mountains and fought to survive, aided by courageous villagers who risked death at Nazi hands as well as Britain’s Special Operations Executive (SOE) and the American OSS. Listen to author Cate Lineberry, a former writer and editor for Smithsonian Magazine, tell this mesmerizing tale of World War II courage and heroism. This event took place August 13, 2013. Get the book: http://www.spymuseumstore.org/the-secret-rescue-book.html#.Vz3qN_krIdU Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

27 Okt 201337min

During the 1970s, Colonel Ryszard Kuklinski was a rising star in the Polish General Staff during the Cold War. He was also a spy for the CIA. Colonel Aris Pappas was a rising star in the CIA’s analytic ranks whose specialty was Poland. Pappas sat down with SPY Historian Mark Stout to discuss the Kuklinski case, the important information that Kuklinski passed about the Soviet and Warsaw Pact militaries and the imposition of martial law in Poland, and how he and Kuklinski eventually met and became friends. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

16 Sep 201352min

In the summer of 1991, US Army Colonel James Cox arrived in Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union, to serve as Assistant Army Attaché. Little did he know that Communist hardliners were about to launch a coup. When the coup started, the intelligence agencies in Washington immediately needed up-to-the-minute information on developments, so the attachés went out on the streets to get it. Hear Colonel Cox tell SPY Historian Mark Stout what it was like chasing tanks on the streets of Moscow and witnessing Boris Yeltsin make his stand at the Russian White House. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

3 Sep 201344min