Episodes

  • 182. The Most Damaging Espionage Case in History with Joe Navarro
    Feb 3 2025

    Today Justin talks to retired Special Agent Joe Navarro. Joe spent 25 years with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, primarily working on counterintelligence investigations. He is also a founding member of the National Security Division Behavioral Analysis Program, which focused on the behavior of spies, terrorists, and criminals. During his career, Joe developed tremendous expertise in nonverbal communication and body language, and after retiring, went on to write the international bestseller, What Everybody Is Saying, which teaches anyone how to improve their own nonverbal communication skills and situational awareness. Since then, he's also written several other books on body language, interview techniques, and human psychology, among other subjects. He's here to discuss a case from his time with the FBI, on which he's also written a book. In 1988, an interview with a U.S. soldier named Rod Ramsey led Joe and his fellow agents deep into a case of Cold War espionage now known as the Conrad Spy Ring.


    Connect with Joe:

    jnforensics.com

    Check out the book, Three Minutes to Doomsday, here.

    https://a.co/d/gqKDCZH


    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.

    4min Podcast (English)

    Welcome to 4minEN – the English version of a multilingual podcast that delivers the...

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    43 mins
  • 181. From Anthropology to Espionage and Authorship with Kit Turner
    Jan 27 2025

    Today's guest is Kit Turner. Kit has worked as an anthropologist and archeologist in the U. S., Polynesia, and Southwest Asia. He later joined the Central Intelligence Agency where he spent 25 years working in East Asia, South Asia, and Europe, running sensitive operations against high priority objectives. He's been awarded the Intelligence Star, a commendation for valor after a dangerous deployment. He's also the author of a nonfiction book, four novels, and has published articles on intelligence activities which have appeared in The Journal of Intelligence, Propaganda, and Security Studies and The Cypher Brief. He's even been featured in an article from Watches of Espionage, one of my own favorite newsletters. I invited Kit onto the podcast to discuss his career along with his newest novel on the Cuban revolution.

    Connect with Kit:
    Check out his latest book, The Children of Outer Darkness, here.

    https://amzn.to/3WsDe6P

    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.

    4min Podcast (English)

    Welcome to 4minEN – the English version of a multilingual podcast that delivers the...

    Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

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    40 mins
  • 180. Evolution of Drone Warfare From Vietnam to the War on Terror with David Axe
    Jan 20 2025

    Today's guest is David Axe. David is a journalist and filmmaker. His work has appeared in The Daily Beast, Vice, Reuters, Wired.com, The Washington Post, Forbes, and many other publications. He's published several books including fiction, nonfiction, and graphic novels. He's also written, produced, or directed several independent films. David is here to discuss the origins of American battlefield drones and how their early successes and failures helped inform the continued development of drone warfare through the decades all the way to the global war on terror.

    Connect with David:
    forbes.com/sites/davidaxe
    Check out the book, Drone War Vietnam, here.

    https://amzn.to/4jnjhIC

    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.

    4min Podcast (English)

    Welcome to 4minEN – the English version of a multilingual podcast that delivers the...

    Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

    Grayman Briefing Classified
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    Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

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    38 mins
  • 179. Who Was D. B. Cooper? with Pat Boland
    Jan 13 2025

    This week Justin talks with Pat Boland. Pat has worked in several different positions in sales and marketing, including as a Portfolio Analyst, Consultant, and Senior Account Executive. She's currently working as a writer and researcher. But aside from her career, she's also devoted a great deal of time to investigating one of the most intriguing mysteries of the 20th century, the true identity of the famous skyjacker known as D. B. Cooper, who quite literally disappeared into thin air with $200,000 in ransom money in November 1971. Today, Pat shares her research and findings on this infamous story and the potential connections to other people and topics discussed here on the podcast in the past.

    Connect with Pat:

    negotiablecurrency.com
    Twitter/X: @PatBoland2
    facebook.com/groups/328076965475576/

    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.

    4min Podcast (English)

    Welcome to 4minEN – the English version of a multilingual podcast that delivers the...

    Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

    Grayman Briefing Classified
    Use code GBCSpycraft to save 20% on your subscription.

    Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

    Support the show

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    1 hr and 18 mins
  • 178. Czechoslovakia's Cold War Liaisons with the Palestinian Liberation Organization with Dr. Daniela Richterova
    Jan 6 2025

     Today Justin sits down with Dr. Daniela Richterova. Daniela received her master's degree from King's College London and her PhD from the University of Warwick. She is an associate professor of intelligence studies at the department of war studies at King's College London, as well as the co director of the King's Center for the Study of Intelligence. Her work has been published in international affairs, foreign policy, and other major media outlets and journals. She's here to discuss the culmination of her research into the Czechoslovakian STB intelligence agency and its decades of collaboration with third world organizations, most notably within the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

    Connect with Daniela:

    BlueSky: @drichterova.bsky.social
    Twitter/X: @dRichterova

    Check out Daniela's book, Watching the Jackals, here on Amazon or here from Georgetown University Press.

    https://a.co/d/eKuKzUD

    https://press.georgetown.edu/Book/Watching-the-Jackals

    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.

    4min Podcast (English)

    Welcome to 4minEN – the English version of a multilingual podcast that delivers the...

    Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

    History by Mail
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    1 hr and 13 mins
  • 177. Traitor or CIA Double Agent? The Richard Craig Smith Story
    Dec 30 2024

    In this solo episode, Justin share some of his own research. Today he discusses the very unusual case of Richard Craig Smith. Craig was a former army counterintelligence agent who was arrested in April, 1984 for passing classified information to a KGB officer in Japan on several occasions. There are two very different versions of Craig's story. He did meet with a Soviet intelligence agent. He did give him information on American double agents and he was paid for this information. Craig did not dispute this during the trial, but his defense was that he'd done it at the behest of case officers from the CIA who had approached him and recruited him as a double agent against the KGB. If that was so, why was he ever brought to trial in the first place? Because the CIA did not claim him as one of their recruited agents. So, either he was a spy and a traitor... or he was a double agent left out in the cold by his own country.

    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.

    4min Podcast (English)

    Welcome to 4minEN – the English version of a multilingual podcast that delivers the...

    Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

    Grayman Briefing Classified
    Use code GBCSpycraft to save 20% on your subscription.

    Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

    Support the show

    Show more Show less
    35 mins
  • 176. First to Afghanistan: The Earliest Days of the War on Terror with David Tyson
    Dec 23 2024

    This week's guest is David Tyson. David served in the U. S. Army first as an enlisted artilleryman and later as an intelligence officer. During his time in the Army, he discovered he had an affinity for learning languages, and after leaving the service, he began working towards a graduate degree, focusing his studies on Central Asia.

    He was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency in 1996, and five years later, was one of the first Americans to enter Afghanistan in November 2001. David and the other members of his team worked side by side with members of the Northern Alliance as they fought their way through the country, culminating in the retaking of Kabul and a decisive battlefield victory over the Taliban within just a few weeks. Along the way, the team found themselves in serious danger, including the terrible and costly fight during the Kali Jangi prison uprising, which cost the life of Johnny Michael Spann, America's first casualty in Afghanistan.

    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.



    4min Podcast (English)

    Welcome to 4minEN – the English version of a multilingual podcast that delivers the...

    Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

    Support the show

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    1 hr and 56 mins
  • [BONUS] Espionage in TV: The Sandbaggers
    Dec 19 2024

    Join Justin for a special review episode of The Sandbaggers, a British television series that ran for three seasons between 1978 and 1980 following characters who worked at MI6. In Justin's opinion, this show is one of the best ever fictional portrayals of covert operations and the day-to-day running of an intelligence agency.

    You can find more reviews on Patreon, and catch The Sandbaggers on Prime Video.

    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

    Show more Show less
    17 mins