Today Justin talks to John Lechner. John graduated from Georgetown University with a master's degree in foreign service. He speaks several languages, including Russian, French, Turkish, and Georgian. He now works as an independent journalist and his reporting has been featured in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, BBC, and many more. He's here to discuss the story of the rise of the Wagner Group, aRussian mercenary private military company that grew in a few short years from just a handful of fighters to a combined arms force large enough to become a threat to the Russian government itself.

Connect with John:

johnlechnerauthor.com

IG: @johnalechner

Twitter/X: @JohnLechner1

Check out the book, Death is Our Business, here.

https://a.co/d/9kJATQD

Connect with Spycraft 101:
Get Justin's latest book, Murder, Intrigue, and Conspiracy: Stories from the Cold War and Beyond, here.
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Find Justin's first book, Spyshots: Volume One, here.
Check out Justin's second book, Covert Arms, here.
Download the free eBook, The Clandestine Operative's Sidearm of Choice, here.

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This week Justin talks with Rick Yell. Rick served as a civilian agent with the Naval Investigative Service, later renamed the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. In 1986, he was assigned to the resident agency at Fort Amador, Panama. He was present along with his family before, during, and after Operation Just Cause, when the U.S. military ousted Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega. Rick is featured as one of the primary subjects of the new book, Ghosts of Panama by Mark Harmon and Leon Carroll Jr and he's here today to discuss his time in Panama as relations with the United States deteriorated and both nations prepared for war, and what it is like to live through a chaotic invasion right in your own backyard.

Check out the book, Ghosts of Panama, here.

https://a.co/d/fVVKiAE

Connect with Spycraft 101:
Get Justin's latest book, Murder, Intrigue, and Conspiracy: Stories from the Cold War and Beyond, here.
spycraft101.com
IG: @spycraft101
Shop: shop.spycraft101.com
Patreon: Spycraft 101

Find Justin's first book, Spyshots: Volume One, here.
Check out Justin's second book, Covert Arms, here.
Download the free eBook, The Clandestine Operative's Sidearm of Choice, here.

Support the show

This week Justin interviews Andreas Krieg. Andreas is a senior lecturer at the School of Security Studies at King's College London and at the Royal College of Defense Studies. He spent more than 10 years living, studying, and working across the Middle East and North Africa, including in Lebanon, Syria, and Qatar. He is a co-author of the book, Surrogate Warfare: The Transformation of War in the 21st Century, which was published in 2019. He also works as a geo strategic consultant through his own private firm, Mina Analytica limited based in London. I invited Andreas onto the podcast to discuss his newest book, Subversion: She Strategic Weaponization of Narratives.

Connect with Andreas:

Check out the book, Subversion, here.

https://a.co/d/ca9MoIZ

Connect with Spycraft 101:
Get Justin's latest book, Murder, Intrigue, and Conspiracy: Stories from the Cold War and Beyond, here.
spycraft101.com
IG: @spycraft101
Shop: shop.spycraft101.com
Patreon: Spycraft 101

Find Justin's first book, Spyshots: Volume One, here.
Check out Justin's second book, Covert Arms, here.
Download the free eBook, The Clandestine Operative's Sidearm of Choice, here.

Support the show