I Spy: Recent Episodes
Foreign Policy
Spies don’t talk—it’s the cardinal rule of the business. But on Foreign Policy’s podcast I Spy, we get them to open up. We hear from the operations people: the spies who steal secrets, kill adversaries, and turn agents into double agents. Each episode features one spy telling one dramatic story.
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Our friends at Yahoo News produce this seasonal show about conspiracies, real and imagined. We liked season 4 so much, we decided to share the first episode with our listeners.
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Hey there I Spy listeners. Here at Foreign Policy, we're about to release season 2 of our podcast, The Negotiators. On each episode, one former diplomat or troubleshooter tells the story of one dramatic negotiation. If the tagline sounds familiar, that's by design. We think of The Negotiators as the sister show of I Spy.
We're releasing the first episode of the season here in this feed. It's part one of a dramatic story about Danny Fenster, an American journalist sentenced in 2021 to 11 years in prison in Myanmar. Mickey Bergman, a negotiator with the Richardson Center for Global Engagement, describes the grueling process of gaining Fenster's release. Like the episodes of I Spy, this one is non-narrated. You'll hear our host, Jenn Williams, introduce the story, followed by nothing but Bergman.
To hear part two of the story, find The Negotiators in your favorite podcast app. The show is a collaboration between Doha Debates and Foreign Policy.
We're also working on more episodes of I Spy, so keep watching this space.
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Long before Joe Weisberg created the award-winning television show The Americans, he served in the CIA. His brief period in the agency informed story lines in the show and helped shape Weisberg's views on espionage. Eventually, he came to believe that spying does more harm than good in the world.
The Secret Service is known for its VIP protection unit but it also investigates international crimes, including hacking cases. On this episode, we feature a Secret Service agent who helped nab one of the biggest hackers in the world, Roman Seleznev.
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Michele Rigby Assad joined the CIA just weeks after the attacks of September 11, 2001, and spent much of the next decade working undercover in the Middle East.
In 2007, she helped investigate an ambush in Iraq that killed an American woman.
This is part two of Eric O'Neill's story. O'Neill was an FBI agent who went undercover to catch a suspected spy in the bureau: Robert Hanssen.
If you haven't signed up for our newsletter yet, go to https://foreignpolicy.com/ispynewsletter/. Each week we'll send you bonus content you won't find anywhere else, including photos, illustrations, and expanded show notes—for free.
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On this episode, FBI agent Eric O'Neill goes undercover to catch a suspected spy in the bureau: Robert Hanssen. O'Neill is just 26 at the time. Hanssen turns out to be one of the most damaging spies in U.S. history.
This is part one of a two-part story.
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Each week we'll send you bonus content you won't find anywhere else, including photos, illustrations, and expanded show notes—for free.
Well, listeners, it's taken us a while but here it is: the first episode of our fourth season.
We begin with Ric Prado, a former CIA officer who trained the Contras in Central America in the 1980s.
For those of you who don't remember, the Contras were trying to overthrow the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua. America's support for the group eventually led to the Iran-Contra affair, a government scandal that nearly brought down the Reagan administration.
For more on the Contras, go back and listen to season one's The Jumper. Eugene Hasenfus, who helped deliver arms to the Contras, describes parachuting from a burning plane and getting captured by Nicaraguan forces. We spent several years tracking down Hasenfus and getting him to tell his story.
Also, our show now has a newsletter! Sign up for free to get bonus material after each episode, including photos, illustrations, and other content you won't find anywhere else. https://foreignpolicy.com/ispynewsletter/
I Spy is produced by the podcast team at Foreign Policy, the premiere website for intelligent news and analysis from around the world. The best way to support the show—and keep those episodes coming—is by subscribing to Foreign Policy.
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Okay, enough verbiage. Enjoy the show.
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Hey there I Spy listeners, here's the trailer for season 4. We'll have new episodes starting May 31. More spies, more Margo Martindale.
This season, we'll also have an I Spy newsletter, with photos, very cool illustrations, and a bunch of other bonus content you won't find anywhere else. Yes, it's free. Sign up at foreignpolicy.com/ispynewsletter.
While you wait for more episodes of I Spy, enjoy this new show from Foreign Policy and Doha Debates called... The Negotiators. The format might sound familiar. We think of it as a kind of sister show to this podcast.
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While we're working on our new season, we wanted to share with you an episode of another podcast we're enjoying: Cautionary Tales. On the show, host Tim Harford tells stories of awful human error, tragic catastrophes, daring heists and hilarious fiascos. In this episode, Tim describes the trial of an art forger who fooled revered art connoisseurs... and even the Nazis. You can hear more episodes of Cautionary Tales on your favorite podcast app.
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This is part 2 of Frank Snepp's story. Snepp was a CIA analyst based in Saigon during the Vietnam War. In April of 1975, he discovered that Communist forces were preparing a large-scale attack on Saigon—but the higher ups refused to believe it. When the attack began later that month, the Americans conducted a frenzied evacuation, leaving behind many Vietnamese allies.
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Frank Snepp was a CIA analyst based in Saigon during the Vietnam War. In April of 1975, he discovered that Communist forces were preparing a large-scale attack on Saigon—but the higher ups refused to believe it. When the attack began later that month, the Americans conducted a frenzied evacuation, leaving behind many Vietnamese allies.
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The FBI's Ali Soufan specialized in Al Qaeda investigations both before and after the attacks of September 11th. In 2002 he was sent to question Abu Zubaydah, a high-level jihadi captured in Pakistan. But after several rounds of interrogation at the secret site, he was sidelined by a CIA contractor who had helped develop a new torture program for the agency.
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Jay Dobyns was a special agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. In 2002, he infiltrated the Hells Angels biker gang and spent two years undercover—a period in which he says he worried every single day about getting exposed and killed by the group.
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The British spy agency MI5 recruited Willie Carlin to infiltrate Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland. He spied on the group for 11 years until his cover was blown.
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FBI special agent George Piro spent seven months interrogating deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, establishing a rapport and then getting him to reveal the truth about the country's weapons of mass destruction.
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This is part 2 of the story with DEA special agent Steve Murphy, who goes to Bogota, Colombia, to hunt for the head of the Medellin Cartel, Pablo Escobar.
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Welcome to Season 3 of I Spy. On this episode, DEA special agent Steve Murphy is sent to Bogota, Colombia to hunt for the head of the Medellin Cartel, Pablo Escobar.
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More spies, more Margo Martindale.
Hey there I Spy listeners, here's the trailer for season 3. We'll have eight new episodes starting January 19.
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CIA analyst Sarah Carlson spent a year at the U.S. Mission in Libya after the attack that killed four Americans in Benghazi. When battles between rival Libyan militias edged closer and closer to the U.S. compound, she and the other personnel there were forced to flee the country in a harrowing overland journey. Carlson’s story wraps up Season 2 of I Spy. We’ll be back soon with more episodes.
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This season, there’s more I Spy with I Spy Plus. Get ad-free episodes and access to weekly bonus material right in your favorite podcast app. This week, Amy Mackinnon discusses the episode with Anne Speckhard, an adjunct associate professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University who specializes in understanding the motivations of terrorists. Listen to an excerpt of the episode and subscribe to I Spy Plus at foreignpolicy.com/ispy.
Mubin Shaikh poses as a Muslim extremist to nab Canadians who planned to stage large-scale attacks on government targets. The group he infiltrated would come to be known as the Toronto 18.
This season, there’s more I Spy with I Spy Plus. Get ad-free I Spy episodes and access to weekly bonus episodes right in your favorite podcast app, plus more exclusive espionage content. Subscribe to I Spy Plus today at foreignpolicy.com/ispy.
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This season, there’s more I Spy with I Spy Plus. Get ad-free episodes and access to weekly bonus material right in your favorite podcast app. This week, Amy Mackinnon talks to Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins. Listen to an excerpt of the episode and subscribe to I Spy Plus at foreignpolicy.com/ispy.
Naveed Jamali worked at his parents’ specialty book business, a little company that counted among its regular customers one very unusual client: a Russian spy. Jamali hatched a plan to nab the Russian that turned into a three-year odyssey, requiring him to work as an FBI informant and pose as a Russian asset.
This season, there’s more I Spy with I Spy Plus. Get ad-free I Spy episodes and access to weekly bonus episodes right in your favorite podcast app, plus more exclusive espionage content. Subscribe to I Spy Plus today at foreignpolicy.com/ispy.
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This season, there’s more I Spy with I Spy Plus. Get ad-free episodes and access to weekly bonus material right in your favorite podcast app. This week, a former CIA officer gives Amy Mackinnon a tour of Washington DC's most iconic spy sites. Listen to an excerpt of the episode and subscribe to I Spy Plus at foreignpolicy.com/ispy.
Martha Peterson handled one of the most valuable Soviet spies of the Cold War, code-named TRIGON—until the KGB got wind of the operation. Peterson was a young undercover officer working at the American embassy in Moscow in the mid-70s. She was the first female operations officers assigned the Soviet Union for the CIA.
This season, there’s more I Spy with I Spy Plus. Get ad-free I Spy episodes and access to weekly bonus episodes right in your favorite podcast app, plus more exclusive espionage content. Subscribe to I Spy Plus today at foreignpolicy.com/ispy.
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This season, there’s more I Spy with I Spy Plus. Get ad-free episodes and access to weekly bonus material right in your favorite podcast app. This week, Amy Mackinnon and Dan Ephron discuss 'The Whistleblower' with Irvin McCullough, the deputy director of legislation at the Government Accountability Project. Listen to this excerpt of the episode and subscribe to I Spy Plus at foreignpolicy.com/ispy.
Thomas Drake joined the NSA in 2001 to help deal with the glut of data created by the huge rise of Internet use around the world. But he grew increasingly troubled by something else: the way the U.S. government was targeting its own citizens for surveillance after the attacks of September 11.
This season, there’s more I Spy with I Spy Plus. Get ad-free I Spy episodes and access to weekly bonus episodes right in your favorite podcast app, plus more exclusive espionage content. Subscribe to I Spy Plus today at foreignpolicy.com/ispy.
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This season, there’s more I Spy with I Spy Plus. Get ad-free episodes and access to weekly bonus material right in your favorite podcast app. This week, Dan Ephron and Amy Mackinnon discuss 'The Chaperone' with Joseph Augustyn, a CIA veteran who headed the agency's defector resettlement center. Listen to this excerpt of the episode and subscribe to I Spy Plus at foreignpolicy.com/ispy.
On this episode, CIA officer Milt Bearden helps a KGB defector make a new life in the United States. But the Russian, Vitaly Yurchenko, discovers America can be a strange and lonely place.
This season, there’s more I Spy with I Spy Plus. Get ad-free I Spy episodes and access to weekly bonus episodes right in your favorite podcast app, plus more exclusive espionage content. Subscribe to I Spy Plus today at foreignpolicy.com/ispy.
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On this episode, CIA targeting officer Nada Bakos leads a two-year hunt for one of the most dangerous militants in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. This season, there’s more I Spy with I Spy Plus. Get ad-free I Spy episodes and access to weekly bonus episodes right in your favorite podcast app, plus more exclusive espionage content. Subscribe to I Spy Plus today at foreignpolicy.com/ispy.
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This season, there’s more I Spy with I Spy Plus. Get ad-free I Spy episodes and access to weekly bonus episodes right in your favorite podcast app, plus more exclusive espionage content. This week's episode, Amy Mackinnon and Dan Ephron discussing the making of the show and talk to Stephen R. Weissman about his book American Foreign Policy in the Congo, 1960-1964. Subscribe to I Spy Plus today at foreignpolicy.com/ispy.
Welcome to Season 2 of I Spy. On this episode, CIA officer Richard Holm is sent to Congo in 1965 to organize local agents against an anti-government rebellion. But a fiery plane crash leaves him in hostile territory, fighting for his life. This season, there’s more I Spy with I Spy Plus. Get ad-free I Spy episodes and access to weekly bonus episodes right in your favorite podcast app, plus more exclusive espionage content. Subscribe to I Spy Plus today at foreignpolicy.com/ispy.
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Foreign Policy’s hit show returns Tuesday, April 28 with the first of eight new episodes. From a former CIA officer’s retelling of how he survived a plane crash in the Congo to the hunt for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq – tune in to hear more spies tell the stories of clandestine operations in their own words. And this season, there’s more I Spy with I Spy Plus. Get ad-free I Spy episodes and weekly bonus episodes right in your podcast feed, plus more exclusive espionage content. Subscribe to I Spy Plus today at foreignpolicy.com/ispy.
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A man jumps from a burning plane, exposing a covert U.S. operation and nearly bringing down the president. This week on I Spy, Eugene Hasenfus tells his story.
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Amaryllis Fox worked for a decade as an undercover agent at the CIA, cultivating arms merchants and preventing them from selling fissile material to terrorist groups. On this episode, she describes courting one particular dealer whose ties to terrorist groups in Indonesia and elsewhere raised alarm bells at Langley. Fox has changed some of the details of her story to avoid exposing the agency's assets and methods.
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The CIA thought it had thoroughly penetrated Cuban intelligence, with scores of agents and informants in Havana, until one day a Cuban officer walked into the U.S. Embassy in Vienna and broke the news—the agents were actually double agents.
James Olson was the CIA station chief in Vienna at the time. He would go on to serve as the agency’s head of counterintelligence.
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On this episode, the Israeli Mossad operative Mishka Ben-David is sent to the Jordanian capital of Amman to help assassinate Khaled Mashal, the political leader of the Palestinian Islamic group Hamas. But the mission doesn’t go quite as planned.
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On this episode, we talk to Albrecht Dittrich—aka Jack Barsky—who was born in East Germany, recruited by the KGB, and sent to the United States to influence U.S. policymaking. Barsky began his mission in 1978. He was one of hundreds of sleeper agents the Soviets planted in the United States over the years.
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On this first episode of I Spy, CIA agent Jonna Mendez is sent to a capital city in Asia to help steal a top-secret encryption machine from a Soviet Embassy. Mendez’s job in the operation is to fashion disguises for the team. She would go on to become the chief of disguise at the CIA’s Office of Technical Service.
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Spies don’t talk—it’s the cardinal rule of the business. But on Foreign Policy’s podcast I Spy, we get them to open up. We hear from the operations people: the spies who steal secrets, kill adversaries, and turn agents into double agents. Each episode features one spy’s most thrilling story. Coming November 13.
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