Spy Story

These episodes explore the remarkable transformation of Josephine Baker (1906-1975) from world-famous entertainer to French Resistance operative during World War II. Born Freda Josephine McDonald in St. Louis, Missouri, Baker became an international sensation in 1920s Paris before dedicating herself to intelligence work and humanitarian efforts during the Nazi occupation of France.

The episodes detail Baker's evolution from celebrity performer to covert operative, examining how she used her fame, international connections, and theatrical skills to gather and transmit crucial military intelligence for the French Resistance and Free French forces. Her story demonstrates how entertainment industry figures could...

These episodes explore the remarkable transformation of Josephine Baker (1906-1975) from world-famous entertainer to French Resistance operative during World War II. Born Freda Josephine McDonald in St. Louis, Missouri, Baker became an international sensation in 1920s Paris before dedicating herself to intelligence work and humanitarian efforts during the Nazi occupation of France.

The episodes detail Baker's evolution from celebrity performer to covert operative, examining how she used her fame, international connections, and theatrical skills to gather and transmit crucial military intelligence for the French Resistance and Free French forces. Her story demonstrates how entertainment industry figures could...

This episode explores the establishment and operations of England's first systematic intelligence service under Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth government (1649-1660). The "Black Chamber" represents a crucial turning point in the history of espionage – the transition from ad hoc intelligence gathering to a permanent, bureaucratic intelligence apparatus capable of systematic mail interception, cryptanalysis, and counterintelligence operations.

The episode focuses on John Thurloe (1616-1668), Cromwell's Secretary of State and spymaster, who created an intelligence network that extended across England and into European courts. Thurloe's organization successfully penetrated and neutralized numerous threats to the Commonwealth, most notably the Sealed Knot conspiracy of...

This episode focuses on Stieber's most sophisticated intelligence operation: his preparation for and conduct of espionage during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. The episode demonstrates how Stieber's methods revolutionized warfare by proving that information could be as decisive as military force in determining conflict outcomes.

Years before hostilities began, Stieber established a comprehensive intelligence network throughout France that included military officers, government clerks, telegraph operators, and household servants. His use of "sleeper agents" – operatives who established legitimate careers while secretly reporting to Prussian intelligence – represented a significant innovation in espionage tradecraft.

The epis...

This episode explores the early life and career of Wilhelm Johann Carl Eduard Stieber (1818-1882), who became Otto von Bismarck's chief intelligence officer and architect of Prussia's first organized intelligence service. Born to modest circumstances in Merseburg, Prussian Saxony, Stieber's path to espionage began when financial necessity forced him to work for the Berlin Police while studying law at Friedrich Wilhelm University.

The episode details how Stieber's natural talent for surveillance and information gathering caught the attention of Prussian authorities during the revolutionary upheavals of 1848. His meeting with Otto von Bismarck marked the beginning...

Erskine Childers: From Author to Revolutionary

This episode chronicles Childers' dramatic transformation from British establishment figure to Irish revolutionary martyr. By 1913, his political evolution from imperialist to Irish nationalist was complete, leading him to conceive the audacious Howth gun-running operation of July 1914. Using his yacht Asgard, Childers and his American wife Molly smuggled 1,900 German rifles and 49,000 rounds of ammunition to Irish Volunteers, demonstrating how his fictional expertise in coastal operations translated into real-world revolutionary activity.

The episode explores the apparent contradiction of Childers serving Britain with distinction during World War I despite his gun-running activities...

Erskine Childers: The Man Who Created the Modern Spy Novel

This episode explores the early life and literary career of Robert Erskine Childers (1870-1922), whose novel "The Riddle of the Sands" (1903) essentially created the modern spy thriller genre. Born to an English father and Irish mother, Childers was orphaned at six and raised by relatives in County Wicklow, Ireland, developing the deep attachment to Ireland that would later shape his political destiny.

After a privileged education at Haileybury College and Trinity College, Cambridge, Childers entered the British Civil Service as a parliamentary clerk. His service...

Francis Walsingham: Defeating the Spanish Armada

This episode examines Walsingham's intelligence campaign against the Spanish Armada of 1588, demonstrating how information warfare could be as important as naval battles in determining national survival. Facing the largest invasion force in European history, Walsingham deployed a comprehensive intelligence strategy that combined information gathering, economic warfare, and psychological operations.

The episode details how Walsingham's agents in Spain, including Anthony Standen (code name "Pompeo Pellegrini") and the mysterious figure known as "Usual," provided crucial intelligence about Spanish naval preparations and invasion plans. This information allowed English commanders to understand Spanish...

Francis Walsingham: The Babington Plot and the Fall of Mary Queen of Scots

This episode focuses on Walsingham's most famous intelligence operation: uncovering and manipulating the Babington Plot of 1586, which led to the execution of Mary Queen of Scots. The operation demonstrated Walsingham's sophisticated understanding of counterintelligence and his willingness to use deception and entrapment to protect Elizabeth's reign.

The episode details how Walsingham allowed the conspiracy to develop while carefully monitoring and documenting the plotters' activities. Through his agent Gilbert Gifford and the cooperation of Mary's custodian, Sir Amias Paulet, Walsingham intercepted and decoded...

Francis Walsingham: The Birth of English Intelligence

This episode explores the early life and career of Sir Francis Walsingham (c.1532-1590), who established England's first professional intelligence service under Queen Elizabeth I. Born into a Protestant family during the religious upheavals of the Tudor period, Walsingham witnessed the persecution of Protestants under Queen Mary I, which shaped his lifelong commitment to protecting Protestant England from Catholic threats.

After studying at King's College, Cambridge, and Gray's Inn, Walsingham served as England's ambassador to France, where he observed the brutal St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre of French Protestants...

They operated in the shadows. They changed the course of wars, toppled governments, and shifted the balance of global power – often without firing a shot. From Francis Walsingham, who created England's first intelligence network in Elizabethan times, to Josephine Baker, who traded the spotlight of Paris stages for the dangerous world of wartime espionage. These are the true stories of history's most remarkable spies.

Beginning this June, Spy Story takes you into the hidden world of intelligence operations that shaped our past and continue to influence our present. Each episode reveals the extraordinary individuals behind history's most co...