SpyCast

SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with historian Bryan Gibson to discuss the tumultuous history of US foreign policy in Iraq. From the end of the Second World War through today, Iraq has remained a key component in the American security calculus. Houghton and Gibson take a deep dive into this period, and Gibson demonstrates how Iraq should be considered an integral Cold War environment alongsi...

SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with Paddy Hayes to discuss his book Queen of Spies: Daphne Park, Britain's Cold War Spy Master. Hayes recounts the fascinating story of the evolution of the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) from World War II to the Cold War through the eyes of Daphne Park, one of its outstanding and most unusual operatives. He gives one of the most intimate narrative...

SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with former Arabic speaking naval intelligence counter-terrorism and intelligence officer Malcolm Nance. After spending 35 years participating in field and combat intelligence activity including both covert and clandestine anti counter-terrorism support to national intelligence agencies, he is now a member of the Board of Advisors here at the International Spy...

SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with former SEAL Team 6 member Clinton Emerson to discuss the role of special operations forces in modern intelligence activities. Houghton and Emerson delve into Clint’s life as a SEAL, his work with the National Security Agency, and his new book 100 Deadly Skills: The SEAL Operative's Guide to Eluding Pursuers, Evading Capture, and Surviving Any Dangerous Si...

SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with Mark Lowenthal, former Assistant Director of Central Intelligence for Analysis and Production and Vice Chairman for Evaluation on the National Intelligence Council – and the man who (literally) wrote the book on intelligence analysis. Drs. Houghton and Lowenthal discuss the current state of intelligence education, the successes and failures of post-9/11 i...

SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with current Army G-2 LTG Mary Legere to discuss the current role and mission of Army Intelligence. LTG Legere, who has spent her entire career as an intelligence officer, also provides some historical context on how the dynamic environment of military intelligence has changed since the beginning of the “War on Terror.” Finally, LTG Legere provides invaluable...

SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with author Peter Bergen to discuss his newest book, United States of Jihad: Investigating America's Homegrown Terrorists. Paced like a detective story, the book tells the entwined stories of the key actors on the American front. Drawing on his extensive network of intelligence contacts, from the National Counterterrorism Center and the FBI to the NYPD, Bergen...

In what will hopefully become a series of conversations here at the Spy Museum, all of the past and present SPY historians sat down to discuss a key issue in the world of intelligence – from a historical, but not-too-formal perspective. This week’s topic: who is your favorite spy? Join Alexis, Thomas, Mark, and Vince as they present their cases, and stick around to hear how you can find more infor...

SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with former NSA counterintelligence officer John Schindler to discuss his experiences in the Balkans, and his views on the current intelligence war against Russia. Houghton and Schindler also dive into Edward Snowden, WikiLeaks, and the unending battle against violent extremism.

SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with LTG (Ret) Michael Flynn, the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency from 2012-2014. Houghton and Flynn discuss the challenges DIA has faced in the last several decades, including the sharp transitions from the Soviet threat to the asymmetrical threats of the modern day. They also discuss the ways DIA, and the IC as a whole, must adapt to meet the unc...

SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with Gary Powers, Jr., the son of the legendary U-2 pilot who was shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960. Vince and Gary discuss his father’s legacy, the incorrect assumptions about his father’s capture, and the retelling of his father’s story in the Spielberg movie Bridge of Spies, now available on Blu-Ray.

SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with USAF Colonel (Ret.) Buz Carpenter, who flew some of the most incredible aircraft ever developed. As an RF-4C pilot in Vietnam, Col. Carpenter flew low level reconnaissance missions over enemy territory. Later, as the pilot of the SR-71, Buz took aviation to speeds and heights that have yet to be equaled (except by other SR-71s). Finally, at the end of his...

SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with Farhana Qazi, a scholar and speaker on conflicts in the Islamic world, and the first American Muslim woman to serve in the National Counter-Terrorism Center. Houghton and Qazi discuss the role of women in radical Islam, the fight against ISIS, The changing status of women in the Muslim world, the Syrian refugee crisis, and the current state of Pakistan an...

During a public program at the Museum, SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with Bruce Riedel, author of JFK's Forgotten Crisis: Tibet, the CIA, and Sino-Indian War. Riedel, who is a senior fellow and director of the Brookings Intelligence Project, joined Brookings following a thirty-year career at the Central Intelligence Agency, serving as a senior adviser to the last four U.S. presidents on So...

SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with Ken Vogel, Chief Investigative Reporter for POLITICO and author of the article, “The Koch Intelligence Agency.” Houghton and Vogel (who tracks the confluence of money, politics, and influence for POLITICO) discuss the use of use surveillance, propaganda, disinformation, deception, and even covert action in modern political campaigns.

SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with PW Singer, co-author of Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War (which he wrote with August Cole). In the spirit of early Tom Clancy (especially Red Storm Rising), Ghost Fleet is a imagining of how World War III might play out. But what makes it even more notable is how the book smashes together the technothriller and nonfiction genres. It is a novel,...

SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with Thomas Drake, former senior executive of the NSA – and whistleblower – who in 2010 was indicted on 10 felony counts; charges that would have carried decades of prison time had Drake been convicted. Instead, in early June 2011, the government dropped all of the charges and agreed not to seek any jail time in return for Drake's guilty plea to a misdemeanor...

SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with Captain Erich Telfer, the commanding officer of the Coast Guard Maritime Intelligence Fusion Center Atlantic in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Houghton and Telfer discuss the role of the Coast Guard in the broader American intelligence community, the professionalization of the Coast Guard intel branch, and CAPT Telfer’s research into the intelligence response...

SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with Tom Ryan, former intelligence professional for the Department of Defense and author of Spies, Scouts, and Secrets in the Gettysburg Campaign. The first book to offer a unique and incisive comparative study of intelligence operations during what many consider the war’s decisive campaign, Ryan’s study evaluates how Gen. Robert E. Lee used intelligence resou...

SPY Historian Vince Houghton talked to Morten Storm, who, after a decade of jihadi life, not only repudiated extremism but, in a quest for atonement, became a double agent for the CIA and British and Danish intelligence. He is now in hiding, fearful that some vengeful jihadist will try to kill him for his work with Western intelligence. However, this won’t stop him from providing SpyCast with his...

SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with Sheryl Shenberger, the Director of the National Declassification Center at the National Archives. President Obama pledged to preside over the most transparent government ever — a vow that included declassifying as many documents as possible. Houghton and Shenberger discuss the process behind declassification, as the NDC tries to honor the President’s prom...

SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with Vin Arthey, who has spent most of his adult life researching the life of KGB Colonel William Fisher – better known as Rudolf Abel. Working with secret sources and inside information, Arthey turned this lifelong study into a fascinating book, Abel: The True Story of the Spy They Swapped for Gary Powers. Houghton and Arthey trace the adventures (and misadve...

SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with author Doug Waller to discuss his new book Disciples: The World War II Missions of the CIA Directors Who Fought for Wild Bill Donovan. The author of the critically acclaimed bestseller Wild Bill Donovan, Waller tells Houghton the story of four OSS warriors of World War II. All four later led the CIA. They are the most famous and controversial directors th...

SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with University of Southern California history professor Steve Ross to discuss the ongoing research for his upcoming book Hitler in Los Angeles: How Jews and their Spies Foiled Nazi Plots Against Hollywood and America. Ross explains how a group of patriotic citizens refused to wait for the authorities to act on the Nazi menace in America, and instead took matt...

Professor David Barrett discusses his book Blind over Cuba: The Photo Gap and the Missile Crisis which he wrote with Max Holland. He describes to former SPY Historian Mark Stout how the Kennedy Administration impeded reconnaissance flights over Cuba in the weeks before the crisis and how the Administration successfully covered up that fact. From October 2012.