Guyon Espiner

But the fact that Western media could openly question the way society was working, could point out the faults of the powerful and offer objective information to the public, that was something totally alien to KGB operatives.

But if the open society of the West created opportunities in terms of recruitment, it was still incredibly rare for Soviet intelligence officers to just walk in and genuinely offer themselves up.

And don't worry of your head spinning a little bit here.

I mean, the world of espionage is so full of mind games and double crosses that the former head of counterintelligence at CIA called it the wilderness of mirrors.

In fact, Kit Bennett, who thinks he's going hunting, is going to start to wonder whether he has become the hunted.

The Agency was produced, written and hosted by John Daniel and me, Guy Nespina.

Our executive producer for RNZ was John Hartevelt and our executive producer for Bird of Paradise Productions was Noel McCarthy.

The visual director at RNZ was Cole Easton-Farrelly and our camera operator was Jess Charlton.

Thanks also to Sarah Gaitanos for the article about Bill Such that appears on rnz.co.nz.

From the team that brought you this service, this is our new podcast about a spy game played for high stakes.

A story where we need to know what's happening.

From Bird of Paradise and RNZ, this is The Agency.

Available from April 7 on rnz.co.nz or wherever you get your podcasts.