Covert Contact: The Blogs of War Podcast
94 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 6 years ago -Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
The Poisoning of Sergei Skripal | Episode 94
March 22, 2018 10:08 - 30 minutes - 26.7 MBFred Burton, former deputy chief of counterterrorism at the Diplomatic Security Service and the author of GHOST: Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent, Chasing Shadows: A Special Agent’s Lifelong Hunt to Bring a Cold War Assassin to Justice, and Under Fire: The Untold Story of the Attack in Benghazi joined me shortly after the attack on Sergei […]
Team Leadership & Ethics | Episode 93
February 05, 2018 13:22 - 39 minutes - 36.2 MBIn his 3+ years as Chief of the Analysis Bureau at New Jersey’s Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness Dean Baratta led a very capable team of intelligence analysts. Dean was a critical part of a small team that was widely recognized for its innovative approaches. Now, as he moves on to another project, he […]
The Jerry Chun Shing Lee Case | Episode 92
January 23, 2018 00:38 - 32 minutes - 30.4 MBWilliam J. Tucker, a regular contributor on counterintelligence and security topics for Blogs of War and Covert Contact, returns for a look at the Jerry Chun Shing Lee case. Jerry Chun Shing Lee, a former CIA case officer, is suspected by many to have compromised CIA activities in China but has only been charged with […]
North Korean Cryptocurrency Ops | Episode 91
January 10, 2018 05:37 - 30 minutes - 28.2 MBIn episode 91 security researcher and Stratfor Global Fellow Scot Terban (AKA Krypt3ia) joins me to discuss North Korea’s sophisticated exploitation of cryptocurrency.
Combatting Misinformation | Episode 90
January 02, 2018 01:55 - 31 minutes - 29.5 MBAndrew Trabulsi (entrepreneur, consultant, and co-editor of Warlords, Inc.: Black Markets, Broken States, and the Rise of the Warlord Entrepreneur) joins me to discuss misinformation, the technology and platforms facilitating it, and the challenges faced in combatting it.
Evaluating the North Korean Threat | Episode 89
December 19, 2017 02:30 - 31 minutes - 29.5 MBPhil Walter joins returns to the show to look at how the U.S. processes and evaluates the threat posed by North Korea. We try to separate the rhetoric and action to cut through the hype. We examine American concepts of security and risk and how emotional responses drive both. Is war with North Korea likely? […]
Protecting the British Royal Family | Episode 88
December 12, 2017 00:47 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBProtecting the British royal family is incredibly difficult. Fred Burton, former deputy chief of counterterrorism at the Diplomatic Security Service and the author of GHOST: Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent, Chasing Shadows: A Special Agent’s Lifelong Hunt to Bring a Cold War Assassin to Justice, and Under Fire: The Untold Story of the Attack in […]
Beyond Bitcoin: Cryptocurrency Investing | Episode 87
December 04, 2017 13:45 - 41 minutes - 38.2 MBAndrew Trabulsi (entrepreneur, consultant, and co-editor of Warlords, Inc.: Black Markets, Broken States, and the Rise of the Warlord Entrepreneur) joins me to discuss Cryptocurrency investing. We look at how blockchain and cryptocurrency models have evolved since the introduction of Bitcoin. For those new to the technologies and markets we share the easiest way to get started, important […]
Bullets of Palestine | Episode 86
November 29, 2017 07:36 - 32 minutes - 30.3 MBAuthor Howard Kaplan returns to Covert Contact to discuss Bullets of Palestine (the second novel in his Jerusalem Spy Series), chronic tensions in the Middle East, the prospect for reconciliation, Abu Nidal, and his approach to writing. Longtime listeners will recognize Howard from episode 21 where we discussed the first novel in the series.
Terrorists and Technology | Episode 85
November 21, 2017 03:05 - 46 minutes - 42.6 MBLevi West, Director of Terrorism Studies at Charles Sturt University in Canberra, returns to look at how terrorists leverage (or don’t leverage) emerging apps and platforms ranging from social media, to encryption, to cryptocurrencies. We do our best to cut through the hype and look at the very real limits and challenges terrorists face when […]
Economic Espionage: No One Is Immune | Episode 84
November 14, 2017 01:37 - 31 minutes - 29.2 MBWilliam J. Tucker, a regular contributor on counterintelligence and security topics for Blogs of War and Covert Contact, joins me for a deep dive on economic espionage. Organizations face far more risk from this threat than they realize, or want to realize, and most are no match for an interested foreign intelligence service. We discuss […]
Iraq’s Consolidation and the Kurds | Episode 83
November 06, 2017 12:53 - 36 minutes - 33.8 MBIraq has made surprising gains in its effort to undermine or eliminate Kurdish autonomy since mid-October when we first visited this issue. Phillip Smyth joins me again to look at recent developments and the potential implications. Phillip Smyth is a researcher at the University of Maryland who focuses on Iran-backed Shiite proxy groups. He is also […]
The Crypto Wars: Update from the Australian Front | Episode 82
October 30, 2017 11:23 - 31 minutes - 29.6 MBAustralian freelance journalist, commentator, and broadcaster Stilgherrian is back to discuss the battle over encryption and the seemingly irreconcilable differences between governments and privacy advocates. The Australian government has been particularly active in this space lately and Stil has a lot to say about their approach to the problem and how they could drive responses […]
From CIA Case Officer to Rookie Cop | Episode 81
October 23, 2017 12:10 - 40 minutes - 37 MBFormer CIA Case Officer Patrick Skinner has appeared on Covert Contact several times to discuss intelligence issues and break down significant terrorist attacks. Last year, driven by more than a little frustration and a desire to act locally, Patrick decided to make a fascinating career transition and become a local police officer. In episode 81 […]
The Kurdish Problem | Episode 80
October 18, 2017 02:58 - 32 minutes - 30.2 MBPhillip Smyth is a researcher at the University of Maryland who focuses on Iran-backed Shiite proxy groups. He is also widely known for his Hizballah Cavalcade project on Jihadology. Phillip joined me, with very short notice, to push out this look at the complexities surrounding the Kurdish drive for independence and how that looks to play out given […]
Propaganda, Influence, and Disruption | Episode 79
October 16, 2017 11:59 - 26 minutes - 24.7 MBAndrew Trabulsi, a strategy, technology, and intelligence consultant and co-editor of Warlords, Inc.: Black Markets, Broken States, and the Rise of the Warlord Entrepreneur, joins me in episode 79 to look at recent developments in the social media space of the investigation into Russian meddling in the U.S. election and what the evidence says about our ability (or […]
Australian Cyber Policy | Episode 78
October 09, 2017 12:00 - 41 minutes - 38.7 MBEpisode 78 wraps up a full month of focus on Australian defense perspectives with a look at
Australian Approaches to Counterterrorism | Episode 77
October 02, 2017 13:34 - 38 minutes - 35.8 MBThe third week of episodes focused on Australian security perspectives continues with a discussion about Australia’s approach to counterterrorism with Levi West. Levi is the Director of Terrorism Studies at Charles Sturt University in Canberra. Our discussion is wide ranging and spans how the university’s terrorism program is structured, the legal framework governing security operations […]
Australian Special Operations Forces | Episode 76
September 25, 2017 21:42 - 32 minutes - 30.4 MBI’m joined by Colonel Ian Langford, DSC (Two Bar), who has served the Australian Army and Special Operations Command, with distinction, for over two decades. He has served in the Solomon Islands, East Timor, Bougainville, Israel, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Afghanistan where he was recognized with the Distinguished Service Cross for distinguished command and leadership […]
Understanding and Developing Resilience To Information Warfare | Episode 75
September 18, 2017 16:41 - 30 minutes - 28.2 MBDr. Clint Arizmendi, an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow for the Australian Graduate School of Policing & Security’s Terrorism Studies program at Charles Sturt University, joins me to discuss information warfare in episode 75. Of course, we look at the subject primarily through the lens of current events. Russia is covered, as is the Trump administration, […]
Deep State Conspiracies | Episode 74
September 11, 2017 13:08 - 28 minutes - 26.5 MBAlex Finley, a former officer of the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, joined me to discuss the rise of deep state conspiracies that often feature a monolithic, highly partisan, intelligence community at their center. Much of Alex’s work (see the hilarious Victor in the Rubble and The Intelligence Community: Smart People Looking at Computers) demystifies the […]
Data, AI, and Ethics | Episode 73
September 05, 2017 01:50 - 27 minutes - 25.1 MBEntrepreneur Evanna Hu joins me to discuss our rapidly evolving relationship with data. The explosion of data streams and technologies that offload challenging analysis to machines are creating interesting national security challenges and opportunities at lightening speed. Evanna, and her company Omelas, seek to leverage these technologies to address hard national security problems (such as […]
Beyond Russia: Overlooked Counterintelligence Threats | Episode 72
August 28, 2017 22:34 - 28 minutes - 26.5 MBRussian intelligence presents a significant challenge for the United States but it is far from the only threat. There are dozens of nations and non-state actors actively collecting against us at any given time. There are countless companies engaging in corporate espionage. Every organization has a hostile insider – or will soon enough. Threats are […]
System Failure: It Only Gets More Difficult from Here | Episode 71
August 21, 2017 05:10 - 25 minutes - 23.2 MBWhat if Charlottesville and the dysfunction in Washington are not aberrations? What happens if the challenges facing society and governance only get more difficult for our current failing systems and leaders to tackle? Authoritarianism is on the rise. The threat of fascism is no longer mere hyperbole. There’s a growing sense that profound trouble lies […]
Iran in the Age of Trump | Episode 70
June 18, 2017 19:19 - 27 minutes - 25.5 MBPhillip Smyth is a researcher at the University of Maryland who focuses on Iran-backed Shiite proxy groups. He is also well-known for his Hizballah Cavalcade project on Jihadology. In episode 70 Phillip joins me for a quick look at how the change in U.S. leadership is impacting the balance of sectarian power and our policy toward Iran. Are […]
Securing Data, Communications, and Identity with Keybase | Episode 69
June 08, 2017 12:18 - 35 minutes - 32.7 MBKeybase is a small but ambitious company that aims to make cyrpto available and virtually seamless for everyone. Their approach to this problem, a massively challenging one that hasn’t really been cracked to date, has been creative. However, the flexibility and scope of potential applications hasn’t always been obvious as they’ve slowly scaled up from […]
Egyptian, Muslim, American | Episode 68
June 06, 2017 00:00 - 29 minutes - 27.3 MBMy friend Angie Gad joins me for episode 68 of Covert Contact to discuss growing up as a first generation Egyptian-American Muslim. We cover a lot of ground in this episode including her family’s struggle to maintain and establish roots in two very different worlds, her own challenges doing the same, her efforts to find […]
The Manchester Attack | Episode 67
May 30, 2017 00:50 - 28 minutes - 25.9 MBCovert Contact returns from hiatus with William J. Tucker, a regular contributor on counterintelligence and security topics for Blogs of War and Covert Contact, joining me for a look at the Manchester attack. This episode was recorded shortly after a suicide bomber struck an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England on May 22nd and the […]
Intelligence Analysis: Feedback, Bias, and Other Challenges | Episode 66
March 10, 2017 12:30 - 23 minutes - 21.9 MBDean Baratta, Chief of the Analysis Bureau at New Jersey’s Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, joins me to discuss how bias can impact both the production and consumption of intelligence products. NJOHSP also produces a significant amount of unclassified material so we discuss how that can be interpreted (or misinterpreted) and how his office […]
Counterintelligence in the Trump Era | Episode 65
February 25, 2017 01:13 - 29 minutes - 26.8 MBWilliam J. Tucker, regular contributor on counterintelligence topics for Blogs of War and Covert Contact, joins me to discuss the unprecedented challenge the Trump presidency poses to both U.S. counterintelligence and the intelligence community as whole. You can follow William on Twitter @tuckerwj.
Exploring Divergent Options | Episode 64
February 17, 2017 00:16 - 24 minutes - 22.5 MBDivergent Options is a new effort to build a body of concise analysis (1,000 words or less) on national security topics from a global talent pool. The project was launched by Phil Walter and he joins me on Covert Contact to discuss the effort and the important gap that it is seeking to fill. Phil […]
Understanding the Pace and Scope of Technology Driven Change | Episode 63
February 06, 2017 23:59 - 32 minutes - 29.9 MBCovert Contact is back after a bit of break! Andrew Trabulsi, entrepreneur, consultant, and co-editor of Warlords, Inc.: Black Markets, Broken States, and the Rise of the Warlord Entrepreneur, joins me again for a discussion about the inherent challenges in understanding and forecasting technology-driven change. This interview was originally recorded in October of 2016 so […]
Russia, Trump, and Hillary | Episode 62
October 10, 2016 14:52 - 25 minutes - 23.7 MBIn episode 62 I look at what may have been the most bizarre presidential debate in U.S. history. Covert Contact regular William Tucker joins me later in the show to discuss the U.S. government’s formal acknowledgement that Russia is meddling in the U.S. election. Listener email makes its debut in this episode. If you’d like […]
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump – The First Debate | Episode 61
September 27, 2016 17:44 - 3 minutes - 3.62 MBI’m a little under the weather but here is a short wrap-up of last night’s debate. I’m thinking about producing more frequent, but shorter, episodes between the usual 30-45 minute long weekly interviews but I’d like to hear your thoughts on that idea.
Putin’s Struggle for Relevancy and Power | Episode 60
September 20, 2016 20:27 - 23 minutes - 21.2 MBCovert Contact regular William Tucker joins me for a quick look at Putin’s outlook and the challenges he faces despite domestic political wins, successful rounds of international meddling, and attempts to reshape Russia’s domestic security, military, and intelligence services. Putin appears to be working from a position of strength but appearances can often be deceiving […]
Citizen Soldiers: Service and Sacrifice with Wendy R. Anderson | Episode 59
September 11, 2016 22:11 - 38 minutes - 34.9 MBWendy R. Anderson, Managing Director of Military and National Security Initiatives at Strong Eagle Media, joins me to discuss her company’s amazing new documentary Citizen Soldier and her previous work inside senior levels of the Department of Defense and other components of the federal government. We discuss service, sacrifice, and leadership from both civilian and […]
Inside the President’s Daily Brief with David Priess | Episode 58
August 19, 2016 12:01 - 41 minutes - 38.1 MBDr. David Priess delivered the Presidents Daily Brief during the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations and has produced the definitive history on the subject with The President’s Book of Secrets: The Untold Story of Intelligence Briefings to America’s Presidents from Kennedy to Obama. David joined me to discuss the monumental challenge of structuring, […]
Fragmented Realities – AV and VR Update | Episode 57
August 12, 2016 23:49 - 33 minutes - 30.5 MBFreelance writer and Zam.com columnist Robert Rath joins me in episode 57 to review the latest advances in virtual and augmented reality. Augmented reality, in the form of Pokemon Go, has captured much of the attention but the virtual reality market will continue to mature. Neither technology will remain a fad despite several false or […]
Russia, Donald Trump, and the 2016 Election | Episode 56
August 01, 2016 03:30 - 25 minutes - 23.6 MBRegular Blogs of War and Covert Contact contributor William Tucker joins me to look at allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, Trump’s roll in the insanity, and the impact that it is having on American power and our allies in places like Estonia and other Baltic states.
Journalism and Conflict in East Africa | Episode 55
July 29, 2016 19:59 - 31 minutes - 28.5 MBIn episode 55 Amanda Sperber joins me to discuss her work as a journalist in East Africa. Amanda has covered the region for Foreign Policy, VICE News, Al Jazeera English, and others. We discuss the challenges inherent in covering a largely overlooked, and sometimes dangerous, part of the world.
The Nice, France Attack: How Can Counterterrorism Evolve with the Threat | Episode 54
July 17, 2016 00:49 - 40 minutes - 37 MBIn episode 54 I’m joined again by Patrick Skinner, Director of Special Projects for The Soufan Group. Patrick is a former CIA case officer, with a background in federal law enforcement, who specializes in counterterrorism issues. His background, and current work, allow him to look at these events from related, but different, perspectives. Our focus […]
Building an Intel Shop from the Ground Up | Episode 53
July 05, 2016 18:01 - 28 minutes - 26 MBIn this episode Dean Baratta, Chief of the Analysis Bureau at New Jersey’s Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, joins me to discuss how he and his leadership rebuilt their intelligence operation from the ground up. Their radical restructuring touched every facet of their operations and included substantial changes in how they classified and distributed […]
Russian Hackers Run Wild on the DNC | Episode 52
June 21, 2016 05:18 - 29 minutes - 26.9 MBRegular Blogs of War and Covert Contact contributor William Tucker joins me to discuss the apparent Russian state-sponsored hack of the DNC. We also spend quite a bit of time discussing the sorry state of security. We’re talking about cyber issues constantly but the intrusions, threats, and vulnerabilities seem to be mounting. There is a […]
The Orlando Shooting and Our Struggle to Make Sense of the Senseless | Episode 51
June 14, 2016 04:48 - 34 minutes - 31.2 MBIn episode 51 I’m joined again by Patrick Skinner, Director of Special Projects for The Soufan Group. Patrick is a former CIA case officer, with a background in federal law enforcement, who specializes in counterterrorism issues. This episode is not a rigorous analysis of the attack in Orlando. Most of the discussion focuses on how […]
Victor in The Rubble: Tackling Intelligence Community Bureaucracy Through Satire | Episode 50
June 13, 2016 02:49 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MBFormer CIA Reports Officer Alex Finley joins me in episode 50 to discuss her first novel and the business of intelligence. Victor in the Rubble is a satirical look at the CIA and the War on Terror. The book is insanely funny, and worth reading for the entertainment value alone, but Alex’s insight and ability […]
Developing and Leveraging Strategic Foresight | Episode 49
June 11, 2016 14:58 - 33 minutes - 31 MBI was recently in Washington D.C. and one of the highlights of the trip was meeting Dr. Mat Burrows. Dr. Burrows is the Director of the Strategic Foresight Initiative in the Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security. Dr. Burrows spent many years at the CIA and National Intelligence Council where he was the […]
Intelligence at the State and Local Level | Episode 48
June 06, 2016 17:20 - 31 minutes - 28.7 MBI attended a domestic terrorism conference hosted by the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness in May and came away very impressed with how they’re approaching the business of intelligence. They have built a great team of analysts and are aggressively pushing high-quality unclassified products directly to the public. In this episode Dean […]
Lockpicking 101 (And Why Your Locks Are Useless) | Episode 47
June 02, 2016 02:31 - 34 minutes - 31.9 MBI recently ran into Daniel Crowley at the BSides San Antonio security conference. He, and other members of Longhorn Lockpicking Club, had several tables covered with what could have easily been two hundred or more locks and they were teaching anyone who wandered by how to pick them. Daniel did such a great job introducing […]
Cutting Through the Hybrid Warfare Hype | Episode 46
May 30, 2016 16:00 - 29 minutes - 26.6 MBThe conflict in Ukraine sparked a huge surge in interest in hybrid warfare. Phil Walter joins me in this episode to look at the less helpful aspects of that surge, discuss why the concept still matters, and to propose actions that could put us on better footing to deal with what promises to be an […]
How Will ISIS Evolve and How Will Our Response Evolve with Them? | Episode 45
April 25, 2016 00:51 - 25 minutes - 23.4 MBIn episode 45 I’m joined again by Patrick Skinner, Director of Special Projects for The Soufan Group. Patrick is a former CIA case officer, with a background in federal law enforcement, who specializes in counterterrorism issues. In this episode we discuss the danger of an Islamic State under pressure and what that threat will look […]