SpyCast

Summary Bryan Vorndran (Website, LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss how the FBI has adapted to the digital age. As Bryan says, “We are not your grandparents FBI.” What You’ll Learn Intelligence The evolution of the FBI and cyber  Weakening cyber adversaries  Motivations behind creating and distributing malware How to keep your information safe from cyber attacks Reflections Adap...

Summary Brian Vorndran (Website, LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss how the FBI has adapted to the digital age. As Brian says, “We are not your grandparents FBI.” What You’ll Learn Intelligence The evolution of the FBI and cyber  Weakening cyber adversaries  Motivations behind creating and distributing malware How to keep your information safe from cyber attacks Reflections Adap...

Summary Aynne Kokas (LinkedIn; Twitter) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss her book "Trafficking Data: How China is Winning the Battle for Digital Sovereignty."

Summary Bob Sutton (LinkedIn; Twitter) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss the mysterious intelligence site P.O. Box 1142. High-value Nazis were interrogated here during WWII. What You’ll Learn Intelligence The interrogation of top Nazis for intelligence  The analysis of literally tons of captured German documents  Refining ways to escape and evade Nazis in German occupied Europe The impor...

Summary Ryan Zimmerman (MLB Stats; Wikipedia) and Marc Polymeropoulos (Twitter; LinkedIn) join Andrew to discuss intelligence and America’s pastime. From the SpyCast Field of Dreams. What You’ll Learn Intelligence Sign-stealing and codebreaking Glue guys and teamwork Ethics in baseball and espionage Clutch and pinch hitters in espionage and baseball Reflections Daring to fail Stepping up to the pl...

Summary Ryan Zimmerman (MLB Stats; Wikipedia) and Marc Polymeropoulos (Twitter; LinkedIn) join Andrew to discuss intelligence and America’s pastime. From the SpyCast Field of Dreams. What You’ll Learn Intelligence Sign-stealing and codebreaking Glue guys and teamwork Ethics in baseball and espionage Clutch and pinch hitters in espionage and baseball Reflections Daring to fail Stepping up to the pl...

Andrew Hammond shares an encore episode From the Vault. From counternarcotics to counterterrorism, from Latin America to the Middle East, and from the back streets of a warzone to the center of events in Washington DC – Karen Schaefer has had, how should we say, an “eventful” career as an intelligence officer. Charming, smart, thoughtful, and you haven’t even met Karen yet…but seriously, it was a...

Summary   Eric Escobar (Twitter; LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss compromising networks and information security. He has a coveted DEFCON Black Badge.    What You’ll Learn  Intelligence  What keeps Eric up at night   Thinking like an ethical hacker (aka a “penetration tester)  Protecting your information (i.e., “Hardening the attack surface”)  Plain English explanations of key...

Summary   Eric Escobar (Twitter; LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss compromising networks and information security. He has a coveted DEFCON Black Badge.    What You’ll Learn  Intelligence  What keeps Eric up at night   Thinking like an ethical hacker (aka a “penetration tester)  Protecting your information (i.e., “Hardening the attack surface”)  Plain English explanations of key...

Summary Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones (Website; Wikipedia) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss his book. He has studied American intelligence for 50 years. What You’ll Learn Intelligence The CIA and the American presidents they served   The founding of the CIA just as America became a global superpower  Pearl Harbor, the USSR and covert action under Eisenhower Assassinations, controversy, the Chur...

Summary Robert Gates (Website; Website) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to reflect on the 75th Anniversary of the CIA. He served 8 U.S. presidents.  What You’ll Learn Intelligence His reflections on the CIA at 75 How the CIA’s story intersected with his own   His take on the organization’s strengths and weaknesses  The complex intl. environment the CIA must now help America navigate Reflections T...

Summary Alex Finley (Twitter; Website) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss life as a CIA Reports Officer turned author. She lives in Barcelona. What You’ll Learn Intelligence Her take on CIA analysts vs. case officers  Information and disinformation in fact and fiction  Ukraine, the 2016 election and the Russian historical playbook  The regularity even mundanity of much of daily intelligen...

Summary Dexter Ingram (LinkedIn; Website) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss his varied career. He has a very cool private collection of spy gadgets. What You’ll Learn Intelligence What spy gadget he would save if his house were on fire How the hunt for a spy artifact “gets his blood pumping” Using intelligence to achieve concrete policy objectives His preference for Open-Source Intellige...

Summary James Brundage (LinkedIn; Twitter) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss prisoners-of-war and intelligence. He is the Curator at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library in Chicago.  What You’ll Learn Intelligence The intelligence dynamics of “prisoners-of-war” Tap codes and other ways to covertly communicate Using POWs for propaganda Debriefing POWs after their release  Reflections Co...

Summary   Seth Abramovitch (Twitter; LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss the British war-hero who spied on behalf of the Japanese during Hollywood’s Golden Age. This is a story-and-a-half, by jingo!  What You’ll Learn Intelligence How a British war-hero became a spy for the other side Japanese espionage in Tinseltown  How the story involves Boris Karloff, Charlie Chaplin and Yoko...

Summary Bill Parquette (LinkedIn; Website) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss Denial and Deception. They discuss examples such as D-Day, the Yom Kippur War, and the Persian Gulf War. What You’ll Learn Intelligence Denial and deception – what it is and why it matters Key examples of denial and deception Detecting denial and deception operations How to avoid seeing monsters everywhere Refle...

Summary David McCloskey (Twitter; Website) and James Stejskal (Twitter; LinkedIn) join Andrew to discuss writing about espionage. They are both former intelligence officers.   What You’ll Learn Intelligence What it is like writing spy fiction as a former practitioner How fact informs fiction Writing as a former analyst compared to as a former operator (James)  Reactions by the intelligence communi...

Summary Janosh Neumann (LinkedIn; Website) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss life in the FSB. He was born in the Soviet Union to parents in the “business.”  What You’ll Learn Intelligence Why Jan defected to the United States How you get recruited and trained as a Russian intelligence officer What it is like to recruit and run agents in Moscow His take on what he did for the Russian stat...

Summary Chris Costa (LinkedIn; Website) and John Quattrocki (LinkedIn; Website) join Andrew to discuss coming in from the Cold War. They both had long illustrious careers in intelligence. What You’ll Learn Intelligence Two Cold War intelligence experiences Two perspectives on the U.S. intel. community in the 80’s & early 90’s Two reflections on the art and science of counterintelligence Two perspe...

Summary Alexis Albion (LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss Kim Philby using some of his personal belongings as prompts. This episode on the Soviet mole inside MI6 coincides with SPY’s 20th Anniversary. What You’ll Learn Intelligence Why Philby has been called “The Spy of the Century” Philby the man, the ideologue, the spy, and the traitor Philby’s corrosive effect on Cold War Bri...

Summary Jim Olson (Website) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss Putin and Russia. He had a 31-year career with the CIA including a tour in Moscow. What You’ll Learn Intelligence His views on Russia and its trajectory since the Cold War’s end His frank assessment of Putin and admiration for the Russian people His time in Moscow with 3 rotating KGB teams surveilling him His time as Chief of...

Summary John Gise joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss the Wall of Spies Experience. It features over 200 stories of espionage and sabotage in America since 1776. What You’ll Learn Intelligence America’s first Spymaster The Founding Father of American Counterintelligence  The New Yorker who adopted a Southern accent so she could spy on the Confederacy  The escaped enslaved man who was descr...

Summary Vikram Sood (Twitter, Blog) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss intelligence in the world’s largest democracy. He was the chief of India’s Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW).  What You’ll Learn Intelligence The intelligence landscape in India  China, Pakistan, and the intelligence challenges in the region The founding and evolution of the Research and Analysis Wing  The pressure invol...

Summary Ellen McCarthy (Twitter; LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss her career and time as head of the State Department’s intelligence agency. INR is one of the 18 U.S. intelligence agencies. What You’ll Learn Intelligence Her start as a Soviet submarine analyst in the Office of Naval Intelligence  Bringing the U.S. Coast Guard intel. program into the Intelligence Community (IC)...

Summary Ellen McCarthy (Twitter; LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss her career and time as head of the State Department’s intelligence agency. INR is one of the 18 U.S. intelligence agencies. What You’ll Learn Intelligence Her start as a Soviet submarine analyst in the Office of Naval Intelligence  Bringing the U.S. Coast Guard intel. program into the Intelligence Community (IC)...