From Intel Officer to White House Adviser: A Chat with The Museum’s Executive Director
SpyCast15 Juli 2025

From Intel Officer to White House Adviser: A Chat with The Museum’s Executive Director

This week we spoke with the International Spy Museum's Executive Director, Colonel Chris Costa. His decades-long career in the intelligence community spanned multiple continents, running sensitive operations in Panama, Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan, where he earned two Bronze stars for his human intelligence contributions. Later, Costa advised Navy Seals as a civilian and eventually assumed the role of Executive Director here at the International Spy Museum. In this interview, we zeroed in on 2017 when he was detailed to the White House as the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism. Looking for more thoughtful analysis of contemporary intelligence issues? Check out our program Spy Chat – Each month, Chris sits down with a special guest for a live online discussion of the latest intelligence, national security, and terrorism issues in the news. Check our program calendar to register! If you liked this episode, check out these links: Spy Chat with Chris Costa | Special Guest: Tal Sullivan An Evening with H.R. McMaster Operación Jaque - The Daring Rescue Mission That Freed 15 Hostages Prefer to watch your podcasts? Find us on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@IntlSpyMuseum/podcasts. 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 E-mail at SpyCast@Spymuseum.org. This show is brought to you from Goat Rodeo, Airwave, and the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC.

Avsnitt(732)

Covering Intelligence, Part 2: An Interview with Ali Watkins of the Huffington Post

Covering Intelligence, Part 2: An Interview with Ali Watkins of the Huffington Post

In Part 2 of this three-part series, SPY Historian Dr. Vince Houghton sat down with Ali Watkins, who covers intelligence and national security for the Huffington Post. Houghton and Watkins discuss the...

15 Sep 201545min

Covering Intelligence, Part 1: An Interview with Mark Mazzetti of the New York Times

Covering Intelligence, Part 1: An Interview with Mark Mazzetti of the New York Times

In Part 1 of this three-part series, SPY Historian Dr. Vince Houghton sat down with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Mark Mazzetti, who covers intelligence and national security for the New York Time...

8 Sep 201546min

Author Debriefing: Climate Change and Conflict Prevention

Author Debriefing: Climate Change and Conflict Prevention

SPY Historian Dr. Vince Houghton sat down with career US Foreign Service Officer J. Andrew Plowman to discuss his book, Climate Change and Conflict Prevention. Plowman uses the Darfur conflict as a ca...

1 Sep 201523min

Cuba Libre: An Interview with Intelligence Legend Felix Rodriguez (Part III)

Cuba Libre: An Interview with Intelligence Legend Felix Rodriguez (Part III)

SPY Historian Dr. Vince Houghton sat down with Cuban-exile-turned-CIA-officer Felix Rodriguez to discuss his extraordinary intelligence career. As a teenager, Rodriguez joined the effort to overthrow ...

25 Aug 20151h 8min

Cuba Libre: An Interview with Intelligence Legend Felix Rodriguez (Part II)

Cuba Libre: An Interview with Intelligence Legend Felix Rodriguez (Part II)

SPY Historian Dr. Vince Houghton sat down with Cuban-exile-turned-CIA-officer Felix Rodriguez to discuss his extraordinary intelligence career. As a teenager, Rodriguez joined the effort to overthrow ...

18 Aug 201538min

Cuba Libre: An Interview with Intelligence Legend Felix Rodriguez (Part I)

Cuba Libre: An Interview with Intelligence Legend Felix Rodriguez (Part I)

SPY Historian Dr. Vince Houghton sat down with Cuban-exile-turned-CIA-officer Felix Rodriguez to discuss his extraordinary intelligence career. As a teenager, Rodriguez joined the effort to overthrow ...

11 Aug 201539min

Author Debriefing: The Billion Dollar Spy

Author Debriefing: The Billion Dollar Spy

While getting into his car on the evening of February 16, 1978, the chief of the CIA's Moscow station was handed an envelope by an unknown Russian. Its contents stunned the Americans: details of top s...

16 Juli 20151h 5min

From the CIA to the Classroom: An Interview with Joe Wippl

From the CIA to the Classroom: An Interview with Joe Wippl

SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with Joe Wippl, the Director of Graduate Studies and Professor of the Practice of International Relations, Boston University Pardee School of Global Studies. Wipp...

30 Juni 201538min

Populärt inom Politik & nyheter

aftonbladet-krim
motiv
p3-krim
blenda-2
rss-krimstad
fordomspodden
flashback-forever
rss-viva-fotboll
rss-sanning-konsekvens
aftonbladet-daily
svenska-fall
svd-dokumentara-berattelser-2
rss-vad-fan-hande
rss-krimreportrarna
rss-frandfors-horna
grans
olyckan-inifran
rss-flodet
rss-expressen-dok
spar