SPYCRAFT 101

Today, Justin talks woth Nicholas Reynolds. Nick has had a very enviable career. After graduating from Oxford University in the 1970s, he served in the US Marine Corps as an infantry officer and later as a historian. He retired from the reserves as a colonel and the officer in charge of field history. He also served with the Central Intelligence Agency, including as the historian for the agency's museum at their headquarters in Langley. You might remember Nick from his first appearance on the podcast for episode 102 when we discussed his book Need to Know. Now he's back with...

Today Justin sits down with Kevin Riehle. Kevin earned his Bachelor's degree in Russian and Political Science at Brigham Young University, his Master's degree in Strategic Intelligence at the Joint Military Intelligence College, and his PhD in War Studies from King's College London. Kevin worked for more than 30 years in the US National Security Community, including for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the National Counterintelligence Center, and other organizations. He also served in the US Navy Reserve, retiring at the rank of commander. He's currently a lecturer in intelligence and security studies at Brunel University in London. He's here...

 Today, Justin is joined by Michael Lebowitz. Michael served as a paratrooper in the Army's 101st Airborne Division and later as a judge advocate in the US Army Reserve, currently at the rank of lieutenant colonel. As a civilian, he's worked as a trial attorney in private practice and as a prosecutor for the Department of Justice's National Security Division. Michael is here to discuss the investigations, arrests, and trials of terror suspects following the 9/11 attacks, which he wrote about in his new book, available this week from Diversion Books.

Today Justin sits down with William Gage. Bill graduated from the Virginia Military Institute with a Bachelor's Degree in History and received his Master's Degree in Criminal Justice from Boston University. He worked for more than 11 years as a special agent in the US Secret Service, where he performed a wide variety of roles related to protecting US government senior leaders and counterfeiting investigations. Bill is here to discuss his career and, in particular, his work on investigating ultra-high quality counterfeit $100 notes, known as Superbills, that originated in North Korea and which have circulated worldwide for nearly four decades.<...

This week's guest is John Ware. John is an award-winning investigative journalist with over four decades experience reporting on security, intelligence, and public accountability. He's a former BBC Panorama correspondent who has led major investigations into policing, national security, and state power, including extensive reporting on Northern Ireland. He's here to share the story of two of the most significant informants working for British intelligence during The Troubles in Northern Ireland

Connect with John:
Check out the book, Neither Confirm Nor Deny, here.
https://a.co/d/03hklpTn

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This week, Justin revisits episode 61 with trial lawyer Michael Pullara. Michael is a practicing trial lawyer from Texas who has spent more than 40 years representing an incredibly wide variety of clients. In the courtroom, he squared off against Italian mobsters, the U.S. Department of Defense, and giant telecom companies, among many others. He's here to talk about one of his most incredible endeavors: when he represented the family of Freddie Woodruff, a CIA case officer who was shot to death while on assignment in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia in 1993.

This became a personal crusade...

Today, Justin sits down with Michael Walsh. Mike served in the US Navy for more than twenty-six years, most of it spent as a SEAL. He completed five tours of duty in Vietnam, including working on the Phoenix Program, running agents and targeting Viet Cong infrastructure. He also participated in the invasion of Grenada and was involved in Panama during the rein of Manuel Noriega. Mike spent years operating throughout Central and South America, Europe, and the Middle East. He's here discuss his career and the lessons he learned along the way, which he wrote about in his autobiography...

Today's guest is Charles Finfrock. Charles served in the Navy for four years as a military policeman and investigator. He then joined the Central Intelligence Agency in the summer of 2001 and was in training when the September 11th attacks took place. He spent the next 18 years with the agency as a case officer working primarily overseas. After leaving the agency, he worked as a senior manager at Tesla's insider threat program for three years before he founded his own company in 2021, Vigilance. Charles join the podcast to discuss his career as a CIA officer and what it's like to...

Today's guest is

today is Dr. Greg Barnhisel. Greg is a graduate of Reed College, New York University, and the University of Texas at Austin. He is now a professor of English at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is the editor of The Bloomsbury Handbook to Cold War Literary Cultures, Pressing the Fight: Print, Propaganda, and the Cold War, and the scholarly journal Book History. Greg has written three books as well, including Cold War Modernists: Art, Literature, and American Cultural Diplomacy, and James Laughlin: New Directions and the Remaking of Ezra Pound. He's here discuss...

Today Justin talks with Josh Ireland. Josh has a master's degree in history from the University of York. After graduating, he worked as an editor at Headline and Quercus, two of Great Britain's leading publishing companies. Josh has ghostwritten numerous books for A-list celebrities, sports stars, politicians, oligarchs, and adventurers, including five Sunday Times bestsellers. He's also the author of two previous nonfiction titles under his own name. Josh is here todY to discuss his third and newest book,The Death of Trotsky: The True Story of the Plot to Kill Stalin's Greatest Enemy which is available now from...

Today Justin sits down with Sam McKnight. Sam is a graduate student at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. He's also the founder and director of Khthon, a non-governmental organization that uses open source intelligence, satellite imagery, and digital analysis to document war crimes and locate mass graves in conflict zones. Sam founded Khthon in 2022, and since then, it has grown to include more than 100 volunteers dedicated to uncovering and reporting mass graves. He's here to discuss Khthon’s work worldwide, their successes, and their plans for the future.

Today Justin sits down with Dr. Niccolò Petrelli. Niccolò is a research scholar at the Center for International and Strategic Studies at LUISS in Rome, Italy. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Political Science, his Master's degree in International Relations, and his PhD in Political Science, all from Roma Tre University. He has also published many papers and journal articles on counterterrorism, counterinsurgency, and intelligence matters. He's here to discuss the relationship between US and Italian intelligence during the Cold War, and in particular, the Gladio operation, which armed, trained, and funded personnel intended to operate behind enemy lines in...

Today’s guest is Dr. Stephen Long. Stephen earned a PhD in US foreign policy and intelligence from the University of Birmingham and is an assistant professor of international relations at Shan Xiaotong Liverpool University. He's published articles in many professional journals, including Intelligence and National Security, International History Review, Cold War History, H-Diplo, and American History. He was also a lead contributor to the BBC Radio 4 program, "The Albania Operation," for the BBC's Document series. He's here today discuss the story of one of the CIA's first covert action operations performed jointly with MI6 in the late 1940s an...

 Today Justin speaks with Luis Baptistella. Luis is a specialist in intelligence and counterintelligence, and a retired officer of the Brazilian Navy, where he attained the rank of captain during a distinguished 35-year career. He also served on a US Navy ship in the late 1990s during the conflict in the Balkans, studied at the National Defense University in China, and served as a military attaché in West Africa.

In November 2020, he founded Bravus Consultoria, a consulting firm focused on business intelligence and corporate counter intelligence for the Brazilian market. He’s here to discuss his career in th...

This week Justin talks with Rory Cormac. Rory is a professor of International Relations at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom, specializing in covert action and secret statecraft. He's also given presentations at Number 10 Downing Street, the UK Ministry of Defense, the US State Department, and the Pentagon. Besides his teaching career, he has authored or co-authored many books focusing on British history, covert action, and statecraft. You might remember Rory from his first appearance here on the podcast when we discussed his book Disrupt and Deny. Now, Rory is back to talk about his newest book...

Today Justin sits down with Kirillo Alexandrov. Kirillo grew up in the United States, but moved to Kherson, Ukraine in 2018. In April 2022, following the Russian invasion and occupation of eastern Ukraine, Kirillo was taken prisoner. He was held for 37 days on charges of espionage, but was rescued by a small privately funded team led by Brian Stern. After a harrowing 20-hour journey across Ukraine, Kirillo crossed into Poland before safely returning to the United States. He’s here to discuss his capture, detention, and rescue, which resulted in indictments of four Russian service members by the Department of Justice on...

Today’s guest is Dr. Emrah Safa Gürkan. Emrah received his bachelor's and Master's degree from Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey, and graduated with a PhD from Georgetown University in 2012. He's worked as a consultant for historical television series and co-hosted the Ottoman History Podcast with Chris Gian beginning in 2011. He also hosts the YouTube History Channel, Omnibus Live, which currently has nearly half a million subscribers. He's here today to discuss Ottoman intelligence operations throughout the Mediterranean.

Today Justin sits down with Eduardo Barreto. Eduardo is a high school teacher at Gulliver Prep School and an adjunct professor of English composition at Miami-Dade College. He's married with five children and lives in Miami, Florida. Eduardo has published several books and various subjects, including both fiction and non-fiction. He's here to discuss the life and wars of his "uncle" Angel Benitez, who he has written about in his book. Eduardo was also joined during this interview by Mercedes Benitez, Angel's wife of more than 60 years. You may hear her contribute to the conversation here and there.

Justin's guest for today is Sean Wiswesser. Sean is a graduate of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, where he earned a Bachelor's degree in History and Russian and Slavic Linguistics. He also has a Master of Strategic Studies degree from the Air War College. Sean is a former senior operations officer and former Chief of Station with the Central Intelligence Agency and has served multiple overseas tours, including in war zones during his career. He's here to discuss his career with CIA, working inside and against the Russian Intelligence Services, which he has written about in his...

Today Justin sits down with Mubin Shaikh. Mubin grew up in Toronto, Ontario in a family of Indian Muslim immigrants. As a young man, he was drawn down the path of radicalization after traveling to India and Pakistan and encountering Taliban fighters there. However, in 2004, he experienced a change of heart and soon began working with the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service to identify potential jihadis in Canada. In 2006, Mubin was the key witness in Canada's biggest ever homegrown terror investigation, which resulted in nearly 20 convictions. He's here today to discuss his experiences undercover with a terror group that...

Today Justin talks with Dr. Damien Van Puyvelde. Damien is an associate professor and head of the Intelligence and Security Group at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs at Leiden University, Netherlands. Before joining Leiden University, he led the Scottish Center for War Studies at the University of Glasgow. He is the author or co-author of several books, and co-editor. His work has also been featured in outlets such as Le Monde and The Washington Post. He's here to discuss his newest book, The DGSE: A Concise History of France's Foreign Intelligence Service, which is available now from G...

Today Justin sits down with Janosh Neumann, known as Jay. Jay was born in Russia under a different name and joined the Federal Security Service, known as the FSB ,as a counterintelligence officer in 1996. Over the next few years, he investigated international money laundering and other crimes. In 2008, he and his wife, Victoria, who was also an FSB officer, traveled to the Dominican Republic where they walked into the US Embassy and offered to defect to the United States. This was the start of a years long relationship with the US government, which helped relocate the couple to the...

Today Justin is joined again by Zach Dorfman. Zach is a national security reporter whose work has appeared in Politico, The Atlantic, Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, and many other publications. He received his vachelor's degree from Skidmore College and a Master's degree in International Relations and Affairs from the University of Chicago. Zach is a former senior fellow at the Carnegie Council for Ethics and International Affairs. He's also the host of the Spy Valley Podcast from Project Brazen about a Cold Wars era spy in the heart of Silicon Valley. You might remember Zach from...

Today Justin sits down with Allie Mellen (@hackerxbella). Allie is a leading industry analyst who advises global 2000 organizations on cybersecurity policy and practice with a focus on detecting and responding to nation state attacks. Previously she held engineering and research roles at multiple early stage technology startups. She's also spent years conducting research at MIT and Boston University and supported the University of Oxford Business Leaders Program as a cybersecurity expert. Allie is here today discuss the ever-shifting balance of power online, which she has written about in her new book.

Connect with Allie:
hackerxbella.xyz<...

This week continues our tribute to Lee Gossett with his second Spycraft 101 episode. Not only did he appear on the podcast twice, but he and Justin were regularly in contact via email from 2021 and on. He was an avid listener to the podcast and on many occasions had some inside knowledge of the events that we discussed. Today's interview originally aired as episode 75. In late 2022, Lee came back to discuss life after Laos, including his time in Central America and Somalia, and his work with early UAV programs. Even with the many stories he has shared, we likely  only k...

This week, Spycraft 101 returns to the archives to say goodbye to one of our earliest guests. Lee Gossett got his start as a smoke jumper with the US Forest Service in the late 1950s and later served with Air America and Continental Air Services during the Secret War in Laos. He worked and flew all over the world for the Central Intelligence Agency and various special operations units. He appeared twice on the podcast. Although these interviews were recorded several years ago, Lee and Justin stayed in touch on at least a monthly basis, and he's been a regular...

This week Justin sits down with Shane Osborn. Shane is a veteran of the US Navy and a graduate of the University of Nebraska Lincoln. From 2007 until 2011, he served as the treasurer for the State of Nebraska. He's also the founder of the Nebraska Soldiers Foundation, which helps soldiers and their families cope with post-traumatic stress disorder. In early 2001, Shane was serving as a pilot with Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron one based in Okinawa on April 1st of that year while flying a mission over the Pacific Ocean. His EP3E Orion was involved in a mid-air collision with...

Justin's guest for today is Julian Fisher, a former British intelligence operative espionage specialist and author of Think Like A Spy. Following a stint in government service, Julian headed up Africa operations for a private military company and then founded his own intelligence boutique specializing in Africa. In 2017, he was the lead trainer on the Channel Four reality series Spies, which put 16 ordinary members of the public through a series of challenges to find out if they had what it takes to be a spy. Julian has led an unusual life in his time. He's seen off camel wrestlers...

Today's guest is Paula May. Paula graduated from Appalachian State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice, and later a Master's degree in Public Administration. She worked for more than 35 years in law enforcement, primarily in Waga County and then in King, North Carolina. She spent more than 20 of those years in major crime investigations, and the last 10 as Chief of Police directing major criminal incident response and investigations in King. Since retiring, she has also served on the board of directors and as the interim director of the North Carolina Association of Chiefs of Police...

Today Justin talks with Michael Hershman. Michael served as a special agent with US Army Intelligence beginning in the late 1960s. He then went to work as an investigator for New York City, New York State, and then as a senior staff investigator for the Senate Watergate Committee led by US Senator Sam Ervin. Later, he joined the Federal Election Commission as chief investigator and was responsible for audits and investigations of candidates and their campaign committees.

After leaving government service, Michael founded the Fairfax Group. For the past 40 years, Fairfax Group has helped tackle complex and...

Today Justin sits down with Lisa Story. Lisa graduated from the University of Nevada - Las Vegas, where she studied Communications and Journalism. Since then, she has worked in and around Nevada as a public relations professional. She's the author of two books, both of which focus on her uncle Walter Reca. Walt was an airborne soldier, professional, skydiver, occasional criminal, and conman possible CIA operative, and one of the primary candidates suspected to be D.B. Cooper, the infamous American skyjacker. She's discuss her latest book covering Walt's life, his exploits, and the evidence against him.

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Today Justin talks with Tim Scherrer. Tim earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in History from Truman State University and is a Distinguished Military Graduate of the Army ROTC program. He served as a military intelligence officer in the Army Reserve for 28 years. His assignments included an intelligence briefer to the commander in chief of US Transcom during Operation Desert Storm, basic training company commander and chief of the asymmetric threat division at US Transcom. After the 9/11 attacks, he later taught at the Army Reserve Command and General Staff College until he retired in 2015. Tim is now the Dean...

Today Justin sits down with Matthew John Heath. Matthew served in the US Marine Corps from 1999 until 2003, including a combat deployment to Iraq. Afterwards, he worked with the US State Department as a private contractor in Afghanistan. In 2020, Matthew was arrested inside Venezuela, near the Colombian border, and charged with multiple false offenses, including treason and arms trafficking. He spent more than two years captive in prison in Caracas before he was released in a prisoner exchange in October, 2022 along with several other American citizens. He's here today to discuss his service in the Marine Corps, his time working...

Today Justin sits down with Dr. Brian J. Ellison. Brian has a Master's degree in International Security from American University and a PhD in War Studies from King's College London. He's worked as a senior research scientist at the Center for Naval Analysis and at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory where he has specialized in Chinese strategic affairs, naval warfare and intelligence. His work has led to significant policy, operational, and institutional changes within the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Navy, the Marine Corps, and the overall intelligence community. In 2014, Brian was awarded the commendation...

This week Justin talks with Mike Yeagley. Mike is a graduate of St. Lawrence University and is currently the Chief Strategy Officer for cohort.ID. For the past decade, Mike has been working in a variety of positions to understand and reveal how advertising and marketing data can be both an asset and a detriment in intelligence and targeting operations. He's here today to discuss his work regarding the many ways that data can be bought, sold, and used worldwide, and how anyone can effectively understand change and reduce their own data profiles.

Connect with Mike and...

This week Justin sits down with Ana Margarita Martinez. Ana fled to the states at age six as a Cuban political refugee, and settled in South Florida as part of the Cuban Exile community. In 1992, she met Juan Pablo Roque, a Cuban Air Force pilot, who had recently arrived in Miami after defecting. They dated for three years and then married in 1995. A year later, Juan Pablo suddenly disappeared and Ana discovered that he had really been a spy for the Cuban government all along. She's here today to discuss her life, her marriage, and the shocking betrayal that...

Today Justin talks to retired FBI Special Agent Sheldon Fung. Sheldon has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biochemistry from the University of California Davis, and a Master's Degree in Criminology and Weapons of Mass Destruction from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. spent more than 21 years with the FBI as a bomb technician and a WMD coordinator. He's here to discuss one of the biggest WMD cases he ever worked on, which began in Irvine, California in March, 2000, after a local man named Dr. Larry Ford attempted to have his business partner killed in a professional hit. Sheldon and his...

Today, Justin welcomes retired FBI supervisory special agent James Gaylord. Jim spent nearly 32 years with the FBI, including six years supervising a counterintelligence squad at the Los Angeles Field Office's Santa Ana Resident Agency. If you're a longtime listener of the podcast, you might remember Jim as one of our earliest guests from episode 12, recorded nearly four and a half years ago. Today he's back to talk about two of the most famous cases he ran as case agent. It's the story of The FBI's hunt for China's most prolific spy family. Chi Mak, his family, and Greg Chung...

Today Justin sits down with Gregg Bergersen. Gregg spent 19 years in the Department of Navy's office of Naval Intelligence as an intelligence research specialist. He was then asked to join the Department of Defense as a weapons systems policy analyst at the Defense Security Cooperation Agency in Arlington, Virginia, where he oversaw complex command control, communication, computer intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance foreign military sales programs managed by the Army, Navy, and Air Force. In February, 2008, Gregg was arrested on charges of espionage for which he was later sentenced to 57 months in prison. 

While serving his sentence, Gregg d...

Today Justin sits down with Sam Farran. Sam moved to United States from his birth place in Lebanon and joined the US Marine Corps in 1978. He was later trained as an interrogator and worked on orders with the Defense Intelligence Agency and as an at attache officer. After retiring from the Marine Corps, he worked as a civilian contractor all over the Middle East and in particular in Yemen. In 2015, Sam was captured by Houthis Fighters in Sanaa shortly after they took over the capital city. He was held for nearly six months before finally being released to return...