True Spies: Espionage | Investigation | Crime | Murder | Detective | Politics

True Spies Classic: The Mouse at Pearl Harbor | WW2

17 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

A single spy can change the course of history - for better, or for worse. In this Classic episode of True Spies, you'll meet one of them - Takeo Y...

True Spies Debrief: Terry Stiastny on Britain's WW2 Propaganda Machine

10 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Terry Stiastny, award winning author and journalist, takes on a deep dive into the world of the British wartime propaganda machine. The ragtag grou...

Brief Histories: Spy Cities - London

05 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In a new season of Brief Histories, True Spies producer Joe Foley is your guide to the shadowy side of the world's Espionage capitals. In London, we...

Cold SNAP | CIA

03 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

High in the Himalayan mountains, a team of climbers are attempting to plant a device that will give them eyes on a growing threat. But they'll leave b...

True Spies Classic: Sister Spies | WW2

24 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In this classic episode of True Spies, Vanessa Kirby meets Pat and Jean Owtram, two British sisters who played crucial roles as Allied codebreakers du...

True Spies Debrief: Robert Hannigan on Work at Bletchley Park

17 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Robert Hannigan is the former director of the British Government Communications Headquarters or GCHQ, and the author of the recent book, Counterintel...

The Importance of Being Ernest | Historical

10 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In the heart of New York City, a secret campaign of influence and espionage aimed to bring America in to a generational conflict. It was helped along ...

True Spies Classic: The Boiling Frog | CIA

03 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

At the peak of his career, Jack Devine was one of the world's top spymasters. But everybody starts somewhere. In this classic, follow Vanessa Kirby...

True Spies Debrief: Gordon Corera on Vasili Mitrokhin

27 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Gordon Corera, veteran security journalist and co-host of The Rest is Classified, joins Morgan Childs to discuss the central figure in his latest book...

The Melville Collective | FBI

20 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

During the turbulent 1960s, New York City faced the most destructive wave of domestic terror since the Anarchist bombings of the early 20th century. ...

Tradecraft, Part 11

13 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The tools in a spy's arsenal are more varied than you might think. But they all come under one name: Tradecraft. In our eleventh round of insights fr...

Tradecraft, Part 10

06 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The tools in a spy's arsenal are more varied than you might think. But they all come under one name: Tradecraft. In our tenth round of insights from ...

True Spies Classic: The Real Sopranos | FBI

30 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

FBI agent Giovanni Rocco grew up playing in the back yards of New Jersey's criminal class. As an adult, he went undercover to take them down. In this ...

True Spies Debrief: Anthony Vinci on the Fourth Intelligence Revolution

23 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Anthony Vinci is a former DIA case officer who went on to serve at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency before entering the private sector. Hi...

The Wireless Operator, Part Two: The Derber Method | Historical

16 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When Dr David Tuch started investigating his family tree, he found much more than he bargained for. A distant cousin. A sailor. A man who led a life o...

True Spies - Brief Histories: Double Agents

11 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

From ancient Babylon to the darkest depths of the Cold War, Double Agents have fascinated us for centuries. In Brief Histories, the monthly special ...

The Wireless Operator, Part One: The Trouble With Hyman | Historical

09 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When Dr David Tuch started investigating his family tree, he found much more than he bargained for. A distant cousin. A sailor. A man who led a life o...

True Spies Classic: The Money Spy | FSB

02 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How do you flee your country and join the other side? In this classic episode of True Spies, a former Russian intelligence agent gives Vanessa Kirby a...

True Spies Debriefs: Dr Amy Zegart on Entertainment, Policy and AI

25 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Dr Amy Zegart works to bridge the divide between the worlds of policy and tech. In this Debrief, True Spies producer Morgan Childs joins Dr. Zegart T...

The Drunk in Department V | KGB

18 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Author and filmmaker Richard Kerbaj tells the story of Oleg Lyalin - the hard-living, womanising KGB officer whose defection changed the course of the...

True Spies - Brief Histories: Spychology

13 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

From the writing of Sun Tzu to the modern era, spies and spymasters have had insights into the mind that most of us don't. Now it's time to put espion...

True Spies Classic: The Limping Lady | WW2

11 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this classic episode of True Spies, Vanessa Kirby goes behind enemy lines with Virginia Hall, one of the bravest Allied heroines of WWII. As part...

True Spies Debriefs: David McCloskey On His Life After Espionage

04 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

True Spies producer Morgan Childs joins former CIA analyst, author and podcast host David McCloskey for a deep dive into his post-Agency career, and w...

The Many Lives of Agent Zo | WW2

28 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Author Clare Mulley has built her formidable reputation on finding the remarkable stories that have been left out of the history books. This is one of...

True Spies - Brief Histories: Counterintelligence

23 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

From the lagoon of Venice to revolutionary Russia, counterintelligence has always been an important aspect of statecraft. In Brief Histories, the new...

True Spies Classic: The Spy In The Cornfield | FBI

20 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the golden cornfields of rural Iowa, mysterious men are stealing seeds. Corn is big business - and the secret of growing good corn is priceless int...

True Spies Debriefs: Brett Janis on Economic Intelligence

13 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This time on the Debrief, Morgan Childs joins former CIA economic analyst Brett Janis to discuss the Agency's role in monitoring global financial tren...

Chasing Chi, Part Two: One Man's Trash... | FBI

06 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

By 2004, FBI Special Agent Jim Gaylord has seen a lot of counterintelligence operations go right. But he's also seen plenty go wrong, especially when ...

True Spies - Brief Histories: Women in Espionage

01 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

NEW from True Spies: Brief Histories. From 7th Century China to Nazi-occupied France, discover a selection of stories from the long history of female ...

Chasing Chi, Part One: The Engineer | FBI

30 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

By 2004, FBI Special Agent Jim Gaylord has seen a lot of counterintelligence operations go right. But he's also seen plenty go wrong, especially when ...

True Spies Classic: Blood on the Waterside | MI5

23 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this classic episode of True Spies, Vanessa Kirby meets a spy who infiltrated the political wing of the Irish Republican movement. Willie Carlin ri...

The Secret Policeman | MI6

16 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Lawyer and intelligence historian David Burke reveals a shadowy chapter in the story of Anglo-Irish relations in the 20th century. Irish police intel...

True Spies Debriefs - Andy Greenberg on Sandworm

09 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

WIRED journalist Andy Greenberg has spent years reporting from the murky world of hackers, spies, and cyber warriors. His 2019 book Sandworm tells the...

True Spies - Brief Histories: Tradecraft

04 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

NEW from True Spies: Brief Histories. From Egyptian codebreaking, to USB sticks with the power to cripple nuclear facilities, this week hear the long ...

True Spies Classic: The Sociopathic Spy | CIA

02 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Jim Lawler is one of the CIA's most successful recruiters of foreign spies. But even he had to start somewhere. In this classic episode of True Spies,...

True Spies Debriefs: John Taylor on the Psychology of Spies

26 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

John Taylor is an author, lecturer and advisor on handling human sources of secret intelligence. He joins True Spies producer Morgan Childs to discuss...

The Great Illegals, Part Two: The Ambassador | NKVD

19 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this two-part True Spies story, author and journalist Shaun Walker unmasks the greatest generation of Russian spies - the Great Illegals. In Par...

True Spies - Brief Histories: Information Warfare

13 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

NEW from True Spies: Brief Histories. From Ancient Roman propaganda apparatus to burgeoning MI6 operations, hear how the very information we consume h...

The Great Illegals, Part One: The Whistler | NKVD

12 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this two-part True Spies story, author and journalist Shaun Walker unmasks the greatest generation of Russian spies - the Great Illegals. In Par...

True Spies Classic: Exit Strategy | CIA

05 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this classic episode of True Spies, CIA analyst Sarah Carlson drops Vanessa Kirby into the pressure-cooker of post-revolutionary Libya. In 2011, ...

Introducing... True Spies: Brief Histories

01 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The history of espionage is long and shrouded in mystery... Hear it chronicled in True Spies: Brief Histories, the new monthly episodes of True Spi...

True Spies Debriefs: Seth Thévoz on Espionage in London's Clubland

29 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

True Spies producer Morgan Childs joins researcher and author Seth Thévoz to discuss the origins of London's elite gentlemen's clubs - and the movers...

The Baltic Baron | MI6

22 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Author, historian and former British Foreign Office official Tim Willasey-Wilsey tells the incredible story of Wilhelm Von De Ropp - the high-born cha...

True Spies Classic: I Was Never Here | CSIS

15 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Rediscover a classic from the vaults with Andrew Kirsch - a Special Operations officer with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. True Spies w...

True Spies Debriefs: Douglas Waller on Frank Wisner

08 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Content Warning: This episode contains references to suicide. True Spies producer Morgan Childs sits down with author and journalist Douglas Waller t...

Cover of Darkness | CSIS

01 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Former Canadian Security Intelligence Service operative Neil Bisson delivers a compact masterclass in Human Intelligence gathering in this blow-by-blo...

True Spies Debriefs: Jane Bradley and Michael Schwirtz on Russia's Brazilian Illegals

24 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Investigative New York Times journalists Jane Bradley and Michael Schwirtz speak to True Spies producer Frank Palmer about the discovery of a Russian ...

True Spies Debriefs: Stephen Davis on Flight 149

17 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Journalist Stephen Davis has spent 30 years working to uncover the truth behind one of the most secretive chapters of the Gulf War. When British Airw...

Foxtrot in Kandahar, Part 2: Showdown in Takhteh-Pol | CIA

10 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In late 2001, veteran CIA Officer Duane Evans deployed to Afghanistan as part of the US response to 9/11. This is his story. In Part 2, Duane and Te...

Foxtrot in Kandahar, Part 1: Snakes and Lightning | CIA

03 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In late 2001, veteran CIA Officer Duane Evans deployed to Afghanistan as part of the US response to 9/11. This is his story. In Part 1, we find Duan...

True Spies Classic: The Ritchie Boys | WW2

27 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this True Spies Classic, you'll revisit the story of a true American hero. It's 1944 - 3 days after D-Day. 22-year old Guy Stern lands in Normandy...

True Spies Debriefs: Alexis Papahelas on Greece, Journalism and the CIA

20 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Veteran Greek journalist Alexis Papahelas tells Morgan Childs about the CIA's role in aiding Greece's military junta, which ruled between 1967 and 197...

Four Shots in the Night, Part 2: The Spymaster's Dilemma | Northern Ireland

13 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Author Henry Hemming tells the twisting tale of two very different British spies operating in Northern Ireland during the 30-year conflict known as Th...

Four Shots in the Night, Part 1: The Man From Derry | Northern Ireland

06 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Author Henry Hemming tells the twisting tale of two very different British spies operating in Northern Ireland during the 30-year conflict known as Th...

True Spies Classic: The Ace of Spies | Historical

29 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Who was Britain's Ace of Spies? The truth is, nobody really knows. But the name he used was Sidney Reilly - and nobody did it better. In this classic...

True Spies Debriefs: Prof. Hanna Diamond on Josephine Baker

22 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Celebrity, campaigner, national treasure... spy. This year, Josephine Baker's memoirs have been made available in English for the first time. The Un...

Britain's Agent | Historical

15 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Professor James Crossland of Liverpool John Moores University uncovers the extraordinary life of a British diplomat-cum-spy in Bolshevik Russia - Robe...

True Spies Classic: Her Majesty's Secret Service | Historical

08 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this historic True Spies Classic, Protestant England faces an existential threat from Catholic Spain. Queen Elizabeth calls on Sir Francis Walsingh...

True Spies Debriefs: Dr. Jenny Benham on Medieval Spycraft

01 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Historian Dr. Jenny Benham joins Morgan Childs to explore the murky world of medieval espionage. You'll learn about the real 'little birds' who inspir...

The Misadventures of Martha Dodd, Part 2: The Left Behind | KGB

25 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Content Warning: This episode contains adult themes throughout. When defense journalist Brendan McNally stumbled across a long-forgotten name in 1990...

The Misadventures of Martha Dodd, Part 1: The Pink Lady | KGB

18 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Content Warning: This episode contains adult themes throughout. When defense journalist Brendan McNally stumbled across a long-forgotten name in 1990...

True Spies Classic: Operation Inter | StB

11 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this True Spies Classic, it's the late 1980s, and change is in the air in Eastern Europe. For a young journalist like Mark Baker, Czechoslovakia is...

True Spies Debriefs: Dr. Daniela Richterova on the Jackals in Prague

04 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Daniela Richterova joins host Morgan Childs to discuss the relationship between Cold War intelligence agencies and non-state actors like the infam...

MI9 Unmasked, Part 2: Italian Jobs | WW2

25 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Hear again from British historian Helen Fry, joining Rhiannon Neads for the second and final installment of a two-part dive into one of the most cruci...

MI9 Unmasked, Part 1: Escape and Evasion | WW2

18 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

British historian Helen Fry joins Rhiannon Neads for the first installment of a two-part dive into one of the most crucial, but little-known intellige...

True Spies Classic: Blinking Red | CIA

11 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this True Spies Classic, CIA analyst Gina Bennett shows Vanessa Kirby the origins of America's most infamous enemy. Throughout the 1990s, Osama bin...

True Spies Debriefs: Gina Bennett on the new paradigm for national security

04 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Former CIA counterterrorism analyst, hunter of Bin Laden, author and proud mother - hear from the fantastic Gina Bennett in this week's Debrief. Benn...

Spying On The Reich | Historical

29 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

International Relations journalist and author, R.T Howard, reveals the tensions, subterfuge and devastating errors that marked the first Cold War. I...

True Spies Classic: The Nuclear Superhighway | CIA

21 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this classic episode of True Spis, undercover CIA agent James Olson takes Vanessa Kirby on a nail-biting mission behind the Iron Curtain. In the ...

True Spies Debriefs: Bob Dougherty on transnational repression

14 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Do you know about the rising threats posed by transnational repression? Hear from Bob Dougherty, veteran of 26 years as a CIA undercover operations o...

Digging for Gold | Cold War

07 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Journalist and author Steve Vogel unravels the unlikely tale of George Blake, the cunning Cold War double-agent who betrayed one of the most ambitious...

Tradecraft, Part 9

31 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The tools in a spy's arsenal are more varied than you might think. But they all come under one name: Tradecraft. In our ninth round of insights from t...

True Spies Classic: Undercover Jihadi | CSIS

24 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this True Spies Classic, Hayley Atwell tells the story of Mubin Shaikh, an Islamist extremist turned undercover agent for the Canadian Security Int...

True Spies Debriefs: Mubin Shaikh on the Psyche of an Extremist

17 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What can drive an ordinary person to extremist ideology?  Hear from former security intelligence and counter terrorism operative, Mubin Shaikh, on h...

The Spy With No Name | CIA

10 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

National security journalist Zach Dorfman returns to True Spies with the tantalising tale of one of the War on Terror's most secretive undercover oper...

True Spies Classic: True Narcos | DEA

03 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this True Spies Classic, Hayley Atwell tells the story of the capture of Pablo Escobar, with the DEA agents who helped bring him down and inspired ...

True Spies Debriefs: Tim Tate on the Spycatcher Scandal

26 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Hear from Tim Tate, best-selling author, award-winning documentary filmmaker and investigative journalist, as he dives into a scandal born deep in the...

To Catch a Spy | Investigation

19 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Veteran journalist Tim Tate tells the story of Peter Wright, the crusading MI5 whistleblower who humiliated the Thatcher government in the 1980s. As t...

True Spies Classic: Shadow Games | Special Forces

12 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this Classic True Spies episode, learn the details of an elite clandestine unit, Special Forces Berlin, with the help of former operative James Ste...

True Spies Debriefs: James Stejskal in Berlin as The Wall fell

05 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

James Stejskal, ex-special forces, tells of the jubilant and vitriolic scenes, as the Berlin Wall came down. November 9th 1989 - the Iron Curtain des...

Special Forces Kinshasa | Green Berets

29 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Deep in the African rainforests, how do you hold together a decolonising nation in the wake of mass regional instability? James Stejskal, ex-CIA and ...

True Spies Classic: Gray Suit and The Ghost

22 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this classic True Spies episode, Eric O'Neill describes the hunt for the infamous FBI mole Robert Hanssen. This entire operation hinges around Eri...

True Spies: Debriefs - Eric O'Neill on the frontiers of cyberwarfare

15 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What will cost the global economy $20 trillion come 2026? In this latest Debrief, hear from author and famed security expert: Eric O'Neill. Eric disc...

Agent Garbo | WW2

08 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Hear the story of the extraordinary life of the spy with 29 names: Juan Pujol Garcia Born into a tumultuous Spain, Garcia, or Agent Garbo, was a natu...

True Spies Classic: The Rookie and Bin Laden | CIA

01 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this classic True Spies episode, Tracy Walder shares what went on during 9/11 inside The Vault, the CIA's top secret bunker. 9/11 was only the sec...

True Spies Debriefs: Tracy Walder on trauma

24 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Spying is stressful, often traumatic work - how do they cope? Former FBI and CIA employee Tracy Walder speaks to True Spies producer Morgan Childs abo...

The Traitor of Arnhem | WW2

17 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In the aftermath of D-Day, Hitler's armies were losing the Second World War. But in September of 1944, the Nazis enjoyed one final triumph over the Al...

True Spies: Classic - The Spycatcher | FBI

10 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this True Spies Classic episode, spy catcher Robert Booth recounts a mission to capture a Cuban agent who had infiltrated the State Department. Rob...

True Spies: Debriefs - Robert Booth on underestimating Cuba's spies

03 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Does the U.S continue to underestimate the threat the Cuban intelligence services carry? Robert Booth an ex-State Department counterintelligence offi...

Fringe Diplomacy | Investigation

26 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How does Mickey Bergman, expert political prisoner and hostage advocate, navigate the increasingly difficult waters of global engagements? Also a Nob...

True Spies: Classic - Fair Game | CIA

20 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Revisit this timely episode of True Spies, as we dive into the deadly conflict between espionage and politics with former CIA agent Valerie Plame. Va...

True Spies: Debriefs - Valerie Plame on the future of nuclear Non-Proliferation

13 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On this week's Debrief, catch up with the famously outed ex-CIA officer Valerie Plame. Hear from Valerie how her career has evolved since then, and t...

Operation Red Sox | CIA

06 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Writer, analyst and investigative journalist Casey Michel explores one of the early CIA's darkest moments. At the dawn of the Cold War, the USA sent ...

True Spies: Classic - The Illegal | KGB

30 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Revisit the story of a KGB agent embedded deeply, too deeply, in US life, with Jack Barsky, a.k.a. Albrecht Dittrich. After many years undercover in ...

True Spies: Debriefs - Jack Barsky on a career after the KGB

23 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this True Spies: Debrief, ex-KGB agent Jack Barsky reveals the lessons his espionage career taught him, which have proved fundamental to his later ...

The Gathering | FBI

16 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Hear how the fantastic FBI undercover agent Dana Ridenour went from not knowing what a vegan was, to infiltrating the most dangerous domestic eco-terr...

True Spies: Classic - Team Alpha

09 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome back to October 17, 2001. The dust of 9/11 has barely settled. America and the world are reeling. In this True Spies Classic, hear the story ...

True Spies: Debriefs - David Tyson on life for Afghans after The Taliban won

02 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

New from SPYSCAPE Studios - True Spies: Debriefs. In each of these new episodes, we'll dive back behind the scenes with some of our favourite True Spi...

Codename Tinsel Tyrant | FBI

25 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How does a San Francisco born Silicon Valley entrepreneur, "as American as apple-pie", become a vital intelligence asset for the Soviet Bloc? Hear th...

True Spies: Classic - Allied with Al-Qaeda

18 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Venture into the True Spies vaults, as we take a look back at the extraordinary story of CIA Operations Officer: Doug London. Doug only has one shot t...