True Spies: Espionage | Investigation | Crime | Murder | Detective | Politics
Episodes
Russia's Laundromat, Part 2/3: The Godfather | Investigation
08 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
All around the world, dirty money pollutes public and private life. Those who wield it are a diverse cast of businessmen, politicians, and criminals -...
Russia's Laundromat, Part 1/3: The Minister of Thievery | Investigation
01 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
All around the world, dirty money pollutes public and private life. Those who wield it are a diverse cast of businessmen, politicians, and criminals -...
Special Relationships, Part 3/3: Hands Across Libya | CIA & MI6
25 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
After a shaky start, the friendship between Britain and America has blossomed in to one of the most important alliances on the world stage. In this an...
Special Relationships, Part 2/3: The Lisbon Connection | Historical
18 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
After a shaky start, the friendship between Britain and America has blossomed in to one of the most important alliances on the world stage. In this an...
Special Relationships, Part 1/3: The Zimmermann Telegram | Historical
11 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
After a shaky start, the friendship between Britain and America has blossomed in to one of the most important alliances on the world stage. In this an...
Team Alpha, Part 2/2: First Casualty | CIA
04 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
October 17, 2001. The dust of 9/11 has barely settled. America and the world are reeling. In Afghanistan, 8 CIA officers - a crack team of linguists, ...
Team Alpha, Part 1/2: The Tip of the Spear | CIA
27 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
October 17, 2001. The dust of 9/11 has barely settled. America and the world are reeling. In Afghanistan, 8 CIA officers - a crack team of linguists, ...
Sexpionage, Part 3/3: The Lover, the Ax, and Leon Trotsky | NKVD
20 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Throughout history, spies have used sex, seduction and emotional manipulation to achieve their shadowy aims. In this 3-part anthology, Vanessa Kirby j...
Sexpionage, Part 2/3: Russian Doll | SVR
13 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Throughout history, spies have used sex, seduction and emotional manipulation to achieve their shadowy aims. In this 3-part anthology, Vanessa Kirby j...
Sexpionage, Part 1/3: Operation Diamond | Mossad
06 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Throughout history, spies have used sex, seduction and emotional manipulation to achieve their shadowy aims. In this 3-part anthology, Vanessa Kirby j...
The Spy's Son, Part 2/2: Dark Inheritance | CIA
30 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When he was arrested in 1996, Jim Nicholson - nicknamed 'Batman' - was the highest-ranking CIA officer to be convicted of espionage for the Russian Fe...
The Spy's Son, Part 1/2: Bringing Down Batman | CIA
24 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When he was arrested in 1996, Jim Nicholson - nicknamed 'Batman' - was the highest-ranking CIA officer to be convicted of espionage for the Russian Fe...
Network Request | DIA
17 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
LinkedIn - the social network for professionals - is a part of working life for millions of people around the world. But do you really know who you're...
I Was Never Here | CSIS
10 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
True Spies work in all sorts of far-flung locales - but some assignments are closer to home. For Andrew Kirsch, a Special Operations officer with the ...
Hidden Hand | CIA
03 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Deep in the jungles of Central America, right-wing 'Contra' guerrillas face off against government forces. Major Alex, a Honduran army officer, trains...
Undercover In The Old West | Historical
26 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the Old West, money talks and six-guns shout. All too often, it's not a world that rewards subtlety. Enter Charlie Siringo - a detective with the w...
The Spy Who Couldn't Spell | FBI
19 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Some stories are too fascinating to go untold. Author and journalist Yudhijit Bhattacharjee tells them. When he heard about a dyslexic spy who came cl...
King of Scotland Yard | Metropolitan Police Special Branch
11 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It's 2003, and coalition forces have taken Baghdad. A conference is held to portion out the contracts that will sustain the occupation. The United Kin...
Pure Green Greed | FBI
05 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In 1992, the Cold War is all but over. But for Special Agent John Whiteside, the counter-espionage case of a lifetime is about to begin. An anonymous ...
The Man on the Mountain | USMS
29 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the remote mountains of Northern Idaho, there's no shortage of places to hide. Fortunately, Deputy US Marshal Marc Cameron is an expert seeker. It'...
Q, Followed by U | Historical
22 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It's World War One, and German submarine technology terrorises the British Navy. Fortunately, Captain Gordon Campbell is anything but traditional. He'...
Catching Noriega | DIA
15 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It's 1989, and the USA has invaded Panama. The country's corrupt leader, General Manuel Noriega, goes in to hiding. Martha Duncan of the Defense Intel...
Lord of the Highway | Naval Intelligence
08 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Uruzgan Province, Southern Afghanistan. An Army convoy rumbles in on the dangerous highway from Kandahar, bringing vital supplies to American troops. ...
Havana Syndrome Special | Analysis
01 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
2 years after the USA resumed diplomatic relations with Cuba, American intelligence officers on the island began experiencing strange and debilitating...
The Ace of Spies | Historical
22 Feb 2022
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. Vanessa Kirby fo...
Operation: Black Biscuit | ATF
15 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Undercover ATF Agent Jay Dobyns was shot during his first week of work. He went on to spend 27 years in the field. That should tell you something abou...
The Mole | Investigation
08 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When health issues ended Ulrich Larsen's career in the kitchen, the Danish chef embarked on an altogether more dangerous livelihood - spying on North ...
Operation: Goldenrod | FBI
01 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
During the 1980s, a rash of hostage situations in the Middle East threatened American lives. in response, President Reagan authorised new legislation ...
Hunting The Wolverine | CIA
25 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the desert of Southern Afghanistan, CIA Case Officer Douglas Laux is on the hunt. He's traced a number of deadly IED attacks to a shadowy figure wi...
The Consultants | Special Forces
18 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jeff Miller and Nick Brockhausen are two ex-Green Berets who share a brotherhood forged in battle. Their philosophy? Where there's war, there's money ...
Undercover With The Nipsters | Investigation
11 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Writer and researcher Julia Ebner makes a living out of infiltrating extremist groups. In the divided political landscape of the 21st century, some of...
Tradecraft, Part 4
04 Jan 2022
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 fourth round of insights from ...
Tradecraft, Part 3
28 Dec 2021
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 third round of insights from t...
Stalin's Romeo Spy | Historical
21 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the fall of 1973, journalist Emil Draitser met an ageing Soviet super-spy. His name was Dmitri Brystrolyotov, and for him, sex and secrets went han...
White Traitor | ANC
14 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
To her colleagues, South African journalist Sue Dobson appeared to be a pro-Apartheid conservative. Nothing could have been further from the truth. In...
Asset Terminated | CIA
07 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Today, veteran CIA operative Doug Patteson is an expert in his field. But as a rookie Case Officer in South-East Asia, he still had a lot to learn. Wh...
Moonlight Maze | DoD
30 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It's 1999, and DoD intelligence officer Bob Gourley is at the vanguard of the US Government's defence against cyber-espionage. He's joined a taskforce...
Monkey Business | Historical
23 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Spy. Counterspy. Mercenary. Informant. Ricardo 'Monkey' Morales was all these things and more. Rising from humble beginnings in Cuba, he served within...
Me and the Mullah | DIA
16 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It's 2011, and the hunt for Osama Bin Laden is intensifying. Shawnee Delaney, a case officer for the Defense Intelligence Agency, is determined to be ...
The War Driver | Investigation
09 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When it comes to cyber-espionage, white-hat hacker Matt Devost is someone you want on your side. When a corporate client reported extortionate emails ...
Allied with Al-Qaeda | CIA
02 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
CIA Operations Officer Doug London had one shot to recruit one of Al-Qaeda's key facilitators. Doug has to find common ground with a man with a vastl...
The Reluctant Narco | DEA
26 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When banker Keith Bulfin went to prison, he entered a waking nightmare. When he got out, things only got worse. As a reluctant agent of the DEA, he wa...
The Digital Silk Road | Investigation
19 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Linguist and intelligence analyst Charity Wright has spent her career monitoring China. But as the country expands its influence around the globe, she...
The Real Sopranos | FBI
12 Oct 2021
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. Vanessa ...
The Code Clerk | FBI
05 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In Atlanta, a woman is found murdered. The suspect? An employee of a hostile Embassy, responsible for monitoring secret communications. He's also a sp...
The Philadelphia Wire | FBI
28 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Northern Philadelphia, 1989. FBI agent Judy Tyler is on the hunt. Her target? A local entrepreneur with a lucrative side-line as a cocaine kingpin. Fr...
The Gadget Master | MI6 | WW2
21 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Missionary. Agent. Inventor. Charles Fraser-Smith fought his war from a workshop, creating the real-life equipment that would inspire one of Ian Flemi...
A Spy Amongst Skinheads | FBI
14 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It's the early-90's, and the USA is still reeling from the LA Race Riots. A paranoid Far Right are preparing for all-out war. With his blonde hair and...
The Armageddon Papers | FBI
07 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What secrets do you give away with the twitch of an eyelid - the tap of a finger? Joe Navarro knows. As an FBI agent, he developed an innate gift for ...
Rise and Kill First | Mossad
31 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ronen Bergman is comfortable in the company of spies. As one of Israel's foremost investigative journalists, he's been privy to the inner workings of ...
Operation: Bullwinkle | FBI
24 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Robert Wittman was a special kind of Special Agent. During his long career with the FBI, he went undercover to retrieve millions of dollars worth of s...
Psychic Spies | DoD
17 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As head of the STARGATE programme, sponsored by the US Department of Defense, his job was to prove the existence of psychic phenomena - and then use t...
The Ritchie Boys | WW2
10 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It's 1944 - 3 days after D-Day. 22-year old Guy Stern lands in Normandy. Unlike many of his comrades in the US Army, it's not his first time in Europe...
You Me, Same Same | CIA
03 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan Hillsberg can be whoever you want him to be. As a CIA case officer, he recruited assets for the Agency by transforming himself into their ideal c...
Mission in the Dog Meat Valley | Investigation
27 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
CW: Animal cruelty. In South Korea, dog meat is a controversial delicacy. The farming of dogs for meat is largely unregulated, and animals are kept in...
The ATHAR Project | Investigation
20 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Across the ravaged towns and cities of Syria, looters are trafficking the country's rich reserves of priceless antiquities. Amr Al-Azm and Katie A. Pa...
CIA? More Like CON | Investigation
13 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Wayne Simmons was the toast of cable news. A former CIA officer with a storied operational history, he was called upon to comment on matters concernin...
Catch Me If You Can | BRIXMIS
06 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the divided Germany of the 1980s, spying was a way of life. Dave Butler knows - he was there. As part of BRIXMIS, a British military liaison unit w...
The Mouse at Pearl Harbor | WW2
29 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A single spy can change the course of history - for better, or for worse. Takeo Yoshikawa was one such spy. Stationed in Honolulu, Yoshikawa's intelli...
The Sociopathic Spy | CIA
22 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Location - unknown. Time period - classified. Hero? You decide. Jim Lawler is one of the CIA's most successful recruiters of foreign spies. But even h...
The Destroyed Man | Investigation
15 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Betrayal. It's an important theme in spy fiction. But Steve Chao, investigative journalist, has seen it up close - and the price of betrayal is all to...
Trade Secrets | Investigation
08 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Once, money made the world go round. Today, it's semiconductors. They're the hardware that enables global communications, nuclear weapons systems and ...
Making Jack Falcone | FBI
25 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
CW: Violence, Suicide, Strong Language Undercover FBI agent Joaquin 'Jack' Garcia spent more than 20 years in disguise as various drug dealers, gangba...
The Boiling Frog | CIA
18 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
At the peak of his career, Jack Devine was one of the world's top spymasters. But everybody starts somewhere. Vanessa Kirby follows Jack to Chile on h...
Her Majesty's Secret Service | Historical
11 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Protestant England faces an existential threat from Catholic Spain. Queen Elizabeth calls on Sir Francis Walsingham, the Royal spymaster, to undermine...
Searching For The Soldier | NSA
04 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
From the Australian outback, a top-secret NSA signals station intercepts intelligence concerning America and her allies. It's 1995, and a US fighter p...
Russia's Most Wanted | Investigation
27 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Bill Browder's fund made billions in the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse. But in the new Russia, the cost of doing business could be counted in mo...
Operation Game Over | Investigation
20 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Vanessa Kirby meets Andrea Crosta, a dotcom tycoon turned undercover activist and elephant saviour. Confronted with the brutality of the illegal ivory...
Indian Actors | Investigation
13 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Meet the EU Disinfo Lab, the open-source investigators exposing disinformation at the heart of Europe's most important institutions. In 2019, they dis...
Operation Zulu Cricket | Detective
06 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What do you get if you combine a huge quantity of heroin, a terrorist organisation, and an undercover agent? Operation Zulu Cricket. Peter Bleksley sp...
New Russia, New Rules | CIA
30 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It's 1993, and Russia is tearing itself apart. A violent coup is threatening to derail Boris Yeltsin's fragile post-Soviet government. Rolf Mowatt-Lar...
The Spy In The Cornfield | FBI
23 Mar 2021
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...
Bring Down The Big Man | Detective
16 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
From London to Lagos, a web of corruption is spreading. At its center is James Ibori, AKA The Big Man - a Nigerian politician with a taste for the hig...
Surviving NXIVM | Investigation | Spy Sisters
09 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In 2005, actress Sarah Edmondson joined NXIVM, a company offering 'personal development' coaching. 12 years later, she realized that she had been brai...
The Profiler | FBI
02 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
July 20th, 1993. White House Counsel Vince Foster is found dead, apparently by his own hand. Rumours of foul play are circulating - and some very famo...
The Not-So-Beautiful Game | Detective
23 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It's high summer in the Italian beach resort of Rimini. But Garry Rogers isn’t on holiday. He’s working undercover, infiltrating some of Britain's...
Putin's Palace? | Investigation
16 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny believes the Russian state poisoned him in August 2020. In January 2021, he released a film that sent shockwa...
Inside NAMBLA | FBI
09 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
CW: This episode contains details relating to the sexual abuse of children. In 26 years undercover with the FBI, Bob Hamer developed a thick skin. He'...
Seven Female Spies | WW2 | Spy Sisters
02 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
CW: This episode contains descriptions of Nazi war-crimes that some listeners may find upsetting. During the Second World War, Vera Atkins sent hundre...
Mandela's Spy | ANC
26 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As an undercover officer in South Africa, Bradley Steyn played his part in a deadly culture of racial oppression - Apartheid. After meeting an inspira...
The Money Spy | FSB
19 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
How do you flee your country and join the other side? A former Russian intelligence agent gives Vanessa Kirby a rare masterclass in international trad...
Freeing Meek Mill | Detective
12 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In 2017, superstar rapper Meek Mill was incarcerated - again. To free him, Tyler Maroney had to go back to the scene of Meek's first arrest a decade e...
How To Make Friends and Stage Coups | CIA
05 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Damascus, 1949. A plot to bring down the Syrian government is brewing. Stewart Copeland voices the jazz musician, raconteur, and CIA agent pulling the...
Tradecraft, Part 2
29 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A good spy needs a very particular set of skills. But there's only so much that training can prepare you for. Tradecraft - the real business of spying...
Tradecraft, Part 1
22 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A good spy needs a very particular set of skills. But there's only so much that training can prepare you for. Tradecraft - the real business of spying...
The Irishman | JCUNI
15 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Ever get the feeling you're being watched? Vanessa Kirby meets the spy behind the camera. Sean Harnett worked at one of the British Army's most secret...
Olympic Games | Investigation
08 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Meet the men who uncovered a new era in global warfare. Eric Chien and Liam O'Murchu identified Stuxnet, the digital weapon designed to attack the ...
The 'Dreams-Come-True' Business | CIA
01 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Vanessa Kirby meets Barry Broman, a CIA case officer who recruited foreign spies for the USA. Working alongside a suave MI6 officer, Barry was tasked ...
Blood On The Waterside | MI5
24 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Vanessa Kirby meets a spy who infiltrated the political wing of the Irish Republican movement. Willie Carlin risked his life in Derry, Northern Irelan...
Drug Wars | Detective
17 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Vanessa Kirby goes undercover with a man who spent 14 years fighting the War on Drugs. Disguised as an addict, Neil Woods risked his life to infiltrat...
Hacked | Investigation
10 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Vanessa Kirby meets Nick Davies, the reporter who used covert skills to break one of the most explosive stories of the Noughties. The News of the Worl...
Burgers & Spies | FBI
03 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Vanessa Kirby meets Naveed Jamali, an FBI operative who worked his way into the world of espionage. Hoping to impress US Intelligence, Naveed used fam...
Codename: Madeleine | WW2 | Spy Sisters
27 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Vanessa Kirby lands in Nazi-occupied France with Noor Inayat Khan, the Allied spy who risked her life to aid the Resistance. Armed with a wireless rad...
Sister Spies | WW2
19 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Vanessa Kirby meets Pat and Jean Owtram, two British sisters who played crucial roles as Allied codebreakers during World War 2. Bound by the Official...
The Argonauts | CIA
12 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Vanessa Kirby meets Mark and Cora Lijek, two ordinary American diplomats who took part in one of the most daring espionage operations in CIA history, ...
The Limping Lady | WW2 | Spy Sisters
05 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Vanessa Kirby goes behind enemy lines with Virginia Hall, one of the bravest Allied heroines of WWII. As part of ‘Churchill's Secret Army’, Virgin...
Justice For Leon Klinghoffer | CIA
28 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Vanessa Kirby follows CIA veteran Bob Dougherty as he seeks justice for the kidnap and killing of an American war veteran aboard a cruise ship in the ...
Blinking Red | CIA | Spy Sisters
21 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
CIA analyst Gina Bennett shows Vanessa Kirby the origins of America's most infamous enemy. Throughout the 1990s, Osama bin Laden launched a series of ...
The Nuclear Superhighway | CIA
14 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Undercover CIA agent James Olson takes Vanessa Kirby on a nail-biting mission behind the Iron Curtain. In the late 1970s, James was tasked with tappin...
Exit Strategy | CIA | Spy Sisters
07 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
CIA analyst Sarah Carlson drops Vanessa Kirby into the pressure-cooker of post-revolutionary Libya. In 2011, the Arab Spring swept Colonel Gaddafi fro...