'Spy mania' was at its height in the early 1960s when a junior clerk in the Admiralty was revealed to be spying for the Soviet Union, after he had been drugged and then secretly photographed by KGB agents in Moscow while being raped by at least two men. At a time when sexual relationships between men were illegal, John Vassall was jailed and publicly humiliated, while tabloid newspaper ran stories such as ‘How to Spot a Homo’.Writer Alex Grant joins Andrew and Phil to discuss his book on John Vassall, and what his life story tells us about both espionage and the social history of the 1960s. You can buy Alex's book, and books from the other authors we feature here, in our own Scandal Mongers bookshop - along with thousands more. Andrew’s own book on the spy Guy Burgess is also available here. https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/sex-spies-and-scandal-the-john-vassall-affair-alex-grant/7392845?aid=12054&ean=9781785907883&Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you’d like to get scandalous with? We’re here to help.https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalMongers*** If you enjoy our work please consider clicking the YouTube subscribe button, even if you listen to us on an audio app. It will help our brand to grow and our content to reach new ears.The Scandal Mongers Podcast is also available to watch on YouTube...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJgy7_rHwpE&t=23sAndrew Lowniehttps://twitter.com/andrewlowniePhil Craighttps://twitter.com/philmcraigScandal Mongershttps://twitter.com/MongersPodcastYou can get in touch with the show hosts [email protected] (place 'Scandal Mongers' in the heading please).This show is part of the PodcastWorld.org network. For your own show please get in contact via the email address above.Production byTheo XKerem Isik Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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