Ira Glass

Did you know he worked for the CIA?

No.

Where'd you think he worked?

But now, on this sheet of paper, listed all the different countries that Pete had lived with his parents, Germany and the Netherlands and Jamaica, countries where Pete had always thought that his dad was going off to an embassy or consulate every day to work for the State Department.

This stunned him.

His daddy could kind of see.

His daddy was quiet, like somebody who keeps secrets.

And were they the kind of CIA employees who, you know, analyze data and sit at a desk, work a desk?

Or were they like out in the field, you know, like spying, like pretending to be people who they aren't, you know, like carrying a gun?

Were they that kind of CIA employees?

Pete says before this, he just hadn't really thought much about his parents and their wives and their jobs.

He was a kid.

He once asked his mom, like, what do you actually do at your government job all day long?

Which I have to say, I bet there were meetings and memos, so it's like that isn't a 100% lie.

It's just leaving some stuff out.

In retrospect, Pete says, there were clues that he could have maybe picked up on.

His mom spoke several languages.

The family lived most of his life in other countries.

His dad owned a 9mm pistol and was always up at 4 in the morning to go running on a track.

It was the fact that his parents didn't have friends and never had anybody over to the house, which of course doesn't mean that you're a spy, but still.