I Spy
44 episodes - English - Latest episode: 7 months ago - ★★★★★ - 2.7K ratingsSpies don’t talk—it’s the cardinal rule of the business. But on Foreign Policy’s podcast I Spy, we get them to open up. We hear from the operations people: the spies who steal secrets, kill adversaries, and turn agents into double agents. Each episode features one spy telling one dramatic story.
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Episodes
The Negotiators is Back!
September 28, 2023 10:00 - 30 minutesHey there I Spy listeners. Here at Foreign Policy, we’re dropping season 3 of our podcast, The Negotiators. On each episode, one former diplomat or troubleshooter tells the story of one dramatic negotiation. If the tagline sounds familiar, that's by design. We think of The Negotiators as the sister show of I Spy. We’re actually inserting the season 2 finale of The Negotiators into this feed because it’s especially I Spy like. It’s about a Texas rabbi who is taken hostage at his own synagogue—...
Introducing: Alphabet Boys
June 29, 2023 10:00 - 11 minutesThis week, we’re sharing an episode of Alphabet Boys. Alphabet Boys takes you inside secret investigations that the FBI, DEA, CIA, and other alphabet agencies never wanted the public to know about. These cases are both dangerous and absurd … and they raise a troubling question: Are America’s top cops catching criminals -- or creating them? In this episode, you’ll hear real audio from an illegal arms deal and meet our central character, who, despite being arrested, claims he works for the CIA....
The Skeptic
June 28, 2022 10:00 - 33 minutesLong before Joe Weisberg created the award-winning television show The Americans, he served in the CIA. His brief period in the agency informed story lines in the show and helped shape Weisberg's views on espionage. Eventually, he came to believe that spying does more harm than good in the world. Brought to you by: factormeals.com/ispy50 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Investigator
June 21, 2022 10:00 - 29 minutesThe Secret Service is known for its VIP protection unit but it also investigates international crimes, including hacking cases. On this episode, we feature a Secret Service agent who helped nab one of the biggest hackers in the world, Roman Seleznev. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Handler
June 14, 2022 10:00 - 33 minutesMichele Rigby Assad joined the CIA just weeks after the attacks of September 11, 2001, and spent much of the next decade working undercover in the Middle East. In 2007, she helped investigate an ambush in Iraq that killed an American woman. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Spycatcher Part 2
June 07, 2022 10:00 - 34 minutesThis is part two of Eric O'Neill's story. O'Neill was an FBI agent who went undercover to catch a suspected spy in the bureau: Robert Hanssen. If you haven't signed up for our newsletter yet, go to https://foreignpolicy.com/ispynewsletter/. Each week we'll send you bonus content you won't find anywhere else, including photos, illustrations, and expanded show notes—for free. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/ad...
The Spycatcher
May 31, 2022 10:00 - 31 minutesOn this episode, FBI agent Eric O'Neill goes undercover to catch a suspected spy in the bureau: Robert Hanssen. O'Neill is just 26 at the time. Hanssen turns out to be one of the most damaging spies in U.S. history. This is part one of a two-part story. If you haven't signed up for our newsletter yet, go to https://foreignpolicy.com/ispynewsletter/. Each week we'll send you bonus content you won't find anywhere else, including photos, illustrations, and expanded show notes—for free. Host...
The Trainer
May 31, 2022 10:00 - 35 minutesWell, listeners, it's taken us a while but here it is: the first episode of our fourth season. We begin with Ric Prado, a former CIA officer who trained the Contras in Central America in the 1980s. For those of you who don't remember, the Contras were trying to overthrow the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua. America's support for the group eventually led to the Iran-Contra affair, a government scandal that nearly brought down the Reagan administration. For more on the Contras, go back and liste...
I Spy Season 4—Coming May 31
May 18, 2022 14:56 - 1 minuteHey there I Spy listeners, here's the trailer for season 4. We'll have new episodes starting May 31. More spies, more Margo Martindale. This season, we'll also have an I Spy newsletter, with photos, very cool illustrations, and a bunch of other bonus content you won't find anywhere else. Yes, it's free. Sign up at foreignpolicy.com/ispynewsletter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Introducing: The Negotiators
October 20, 2021 16:19 - 29 minutes - 26.9 MBWhile you wait for more episodes of I Spy, enjoy this new show from Foreign Policy and Doha Debates called... The Negotiators. The format might sound familiar. We think of it as a kind of sister show to this podcast. Check out I Spy's merch by going to https://store.dftba.com/collections/i-spy Save 15% on FP subscriptions. Visit https://foreignpolicy.com/subscribe/ and enter code ISPY at checkout to claim this offer. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Introducing: Cautionary Tales
May 07, 2021 10:45 - 35 minutesWhile we're working on our new season, we wanted to share with you an episode of another podcast we're enjoying: Cautionary Tales. On the show, host Tim Harford tells stories of awful human error, tragic catastrophes, daring heists and hilarious fiascos. In this episode, Tim describes the trial of an art forger who fooled revered art connoisseurs... and even the Nazis. You can hear more episodes of Cautionary Tales on your favorite podcast app. Check out I Spy's merch by going to https://st...
The Cassandra part 2
March 09, 2021 11:00 - 27 minutesThis is part 2 of Frank Snepp's story. Snepp was a CIA analyst based in Saigon during the Vietnam War. In April of 1975, he discovered that Communist forces were preparing a large-scale attack on Saigon—but the higher ups refused to believe it. When the attack began later that month, the Americans conducted a frenzied evacuation, leaving behind many Vietnamese allies. Check out I Spy's merch by going to https://store.dftba.com/collections/i-spy Save 15% on FP subscriptions. Visit https://fo...
The Cassandra
March 02, 2021 11:00 - 28 minutesFrank Snepp was a CIA analyst based in Saigon during the Vietnam War. In April of 1975, he discovered that Communist forces were preparing a large-scale attack on Saigon—but the higher ups refused to believe it. When the attack began later that month, the Americans conducted a frenzied evacuation, leaving behind many Vietnamese allies. Check out I Spy's merch by going to https://store.dftba.com/collections/i-spy Save 15% on FP subscriptions. Visit https://foreignpolicy.com/subscribe/ and en...
The Special Agent
February 23, 2021 11:00 - 33 minutesThe FBI's Ali Soufan specialized in Al Qaeda investigations both before and after the attacks of September 11th. In 2002 he was sent to question Abu Zubaydah, a high-level jihadi captured in Pakistan. But after several rounds of interrogation at the secret site, he was sidelined by a CIA contractor who had helped develop a new torture program for the agency. Check out I Spy's merch by going to https://store.dftba.com/collections/i-spy Save 15% on FP subscriptions. Visit https://foreignpolic...
The Hellraiser
February 16, 2021 12:52 - 35 minutesJay Dobyns was a special agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. In 2002, he infiltrated the Hells Angels biker gang and spent two years undercover—a period in which he says he worried every single day about getting exposed and killed by the group. Check out I Spy's merch by going to https://store.dftba.com/collections/i-spy Save 15% on FP subscriptions. Visit https://foreignpolicy.com/subscribe/ and enter code ISPY at checkout to claim this offer. Learn more abo...
The Infiltrator
February 09, 2021 18:25 - 32 minutesThe British spy agency MI5 recruited Willie Carlin to infiltrate Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland. He spied on the group for 11 years until his cover was blown. Check out I Spy's merch by going to https://store.dftba.com/collections/i-spy Save 15% on FP subscriptions. Visit https://foreignpolicy.com/subscribe/ and enter code ISPY at checkout to claim this offer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Interrogator
February 02, 2021 13:25 - 30 minutesFBI special agent George Piro spent seven months interrogating deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, establishing a rapport and then getting him to reveal the truth about the country's weapons of mass destruction. Check out I Spy's merch by going to https://store.dftba.com/collections/i-spy Save 15% on FP subscriptions. Visit https://foreignpolicy.com/subscribe/ and enter code ISPY at checkout to claim this offer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Narc part 2
January 28, 2021 03:32 - 28 minutesThis is part 2 of the story with DEA special agent Steve Murphy, who goes to Bogota, Colombia, to hunt for the head of the Medellin Cartel, Pablo Escobar. Check out I Spy's merch by going to https://store.dftba.com/collections/i-spy Save 15% on FP subscriptions. Visit https://foreignpolicy.com/subscribe/ and enter code ISPY at checkout to claim this offer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Narc
January 19, 2021 11:00 - 29 minutesWelcome to Season 3 of I Spy. On this episode, DEA special agent Steve Murphy is sent to Bogota, Colombia to hunt for the head of the Medellin Cartel, Pablo Escobar. Check out I Spy's merch by going to https://store.dftba.com/collections/i-spy Save 15% on FP subscriptions. Visit https://foreignpolicy.com/subscribe/ and enter code ISPY at checkout to claim this offer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
I Spy Season 3—Coming January 19
January 12, 2021 11:00 - 2 minutesMore spies, more Margo Martindale. Hey there I Spy listeners, here's the trailer for season 3. We'll have eight new episodes starting January 19. Check out I Spy's merch by going to https://store.dftba.com/collections/i-spy Save 15% on FP subscriptions. Visit https://foreignpolicy.com/subscribe/ and enter code ISPY at checkout to claim this offer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Analyst
June 16, 2020 10:00 - 30 minutesCIA analyst Sarah Carlson spent a year at the U.S. Mission in Libya after the attack that killed four Americans in Benghazi. When battles between rival Libyan militias edged closer and closer to the U.S. compound, she and the other personnel there were forced to flee the country in a harrowing overland journey. Carlson’s story wraps up Season 2 of I Spy. We’ll be back soon with more episodes. Check out I Spy's merch by going to https://store.dftba.com/collections/i-spy Save 15% on FP subscr...
Hear More about 'The Operative' with I Spy Plus
June 15, 2020 15:58 - 1 minuteThis season, there’s more I Spy with I Spy Plus. Get ad-free episodes and access to weekly bonus material right in your favorite podcast app. This week, Amy Mackinnon discusses the episode with Anne Speckhard, an adjunct associate professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University who specializes in understanding the motivations of terrorists. Listen to an excerpt of the episode and subscribe to I Spy Plus at foreignpolicy.com/ispy.
The Operative
June 09, 2020 10:00 - 35 minutesMubin Shaikh poses as a Muslim extremist to nab Canadians who planned to stage large-scale attacks on government targets. The group he infiltrated would come to be known as the Toronto 18. This season, there’s more I Spy with I Spy Plus. Get ad-free I Spy episodes and access to weekly bonus episodes right in your favorite podcast app, plus more exclusive espionage content. Subscribe to I Spy Plus today at foreignpolicy.com/ispy. Check out I Spy's merch by going to https://store.dftba.com/col...
Hear More about 'The Bookseller' with I Spy Plus
June 08, 2020 10:00 - 1 minuteThis season, there’s more I Spy with I Spy Plus. Get ad-free episodes and access to weekly bonus material right in your favorite podcast app. This week, Amy Mackinnon talks to Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins. Listen to an excerpt of the episode and subscribe to I Spy Plus at foreignpolicy.com/ispy.
The Bookseller
June 02, 2020 10:00 - 32 minutesNaveed Jamali worked at his parents’ specialty book business, a little company that counted among its regular customers one very unusual client: a Russian spy. Jamali hatched a plan to nab the Russian that turned into a three-year odyssey, requiring him to work as an FBI informant and pose as a Russian asset. This season, there’s more I Spy with I Spy Plus. Get ad-free I Spy episodes and access to weekly bonus episodes right in your favorite podcast app, plus more exclusive espionage content...
Hear More about 'The Widow Spy' with I Spy Plus
June 01, 2020 06:00 - 1 minuteThis season, there’s more I Spy with I Spy Plus. Get ad-free episodes and access to weekly bonus material right in your favorite podcast app. This week, a former CIA officer gives Amy Mackinnon a tour of Washington DC's most iconic spy sites. Listen to an excerpt of the episode and subscribe to I Spy Plus at foreignpolicy.com/ispy.
The Widow Spy
May 26, 2020 10:00 - 32 minutesMartha Peterson handled one of the most valuable Soviet spies of the Cold War, code-named TRIGON—until the KGB got wind of the operation. Peterson was a young undercover officer working at the American embassy in Moscow in the mid-70s. She was the first female operations officers assigned the Soviet Union for the CIA. This season, there’s more I Spy with I Spy Plus. Get ad-free I Spy episodes and access to weekly bonus episodes right in your favorite podcast app, plus more exclusive espionage...
Hear More about 'The Whistleblower' with I Spy Plus
May 25, 2020 10:00 - 1 minuteThis season, there’s more I Spy with I Spy Plus. Get ad-free episodes and access to weekly bonus material right in your favorite podcast app. This week, Amy Mackinnon and Dan Ephron discuss 'The Whistleblower' with Irvin McCullough, the deputy director of legislation at the Government Accountability Project. Listen to this excerpt of the episode and subscribe to I Spy Plus at foreignpolicy.com/ispy.
The Whistleblower
May 19, 2020 10:00 - 26 minutesThomas Drake joined the NSA in 2001 to help deal with the glut of data created by the huge rise of Internet use around the world. But he grew increasingly troubled by something else: the way the U.S. government was targeting its own citizens for surveillance after the attacks of September 11. This season, there’s more I Spy with I Spy Plus. Get ad-free I Spy episodes and access to weekly bonus episodes right in your favorite podcast app, plus more exclusive espionage content. Subscribe to I ...
Hear More about 'The Chaperone' with I Spy Plus
May 15, 2020 10:00 - 1 minuteThis season, there’s more I Spy with I Spy Plus. Get ad-free episodes and access to weekly bonus material right in your favorite podcast app. This week, Dan Ephron and Amy Mackinnon discuss 'The Chaperone' with Joseph Augustyn, a CIA veteran who headed the agency's defector resettlement center. Listen to this excerpt of the episode and subscribe to I Spy Plus at foreignpolicy.com/ispy.
The Chaperone
May 12, 2020 10:00 - 32 minutesOn this episode, CIA officer Milt Bearden helps a KGB defector make a new life in the United States. But the Russian, Vitaly Yurchenko, discovers America can be a strange and lonely place. This season, there’s more I Spy with I Spy Plus. Get ad-free I Spy episodes and access to weekly bonus episodes right in your favorite podcast app, plus more exclusive espionage content. Subscribe to I Spy Plus today at foreignpolicy.com/ispy. Check out I Spy's merch by going to https://store.dftba.com/col...
Hear More about 'The Targeter' with I Spy Plus
May 05, 2020 10:00 - 1 minuteThis season, there’s more I Spy with I Spy Plus. Get ad-free episodes and access to weekly bonus material right in your favorite podcast app. This week, Dan Ephron and Amy Mackinnon discuss 'The Targeter' with Joby Warrick, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS. Listen to this excerpt of the episode and subscribe to I Spy Plus at foreignpolicy.com/ispy.
The Targeter
May 05, 2020 10:00 - 29 minutesOn this episode, CIA targeting officer Nada Bakos leads a two-year hunt for one of the most dangerous militants in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. This season, there’s more I Spy with I Spy Plus. Get ad-free I Spy episodes and access to weekly bonus episodes right in your favorite podcast app, plus more exclusive espionage content. Subscribe to I Spy Plus today at foreignpolicy.com/ispy. Check out I Spy's merch by going to https://store.dftba.com/collections/i-spy Save 15% on FP subscriptions. ...
Hear More about 'The Survivor' with I Spy Plus
April 29, 2020 15:19 - 1 minuteThis season, there’s more I Spy with I Spy Plus. Get ad-free I Spy episodes and access to weekly bonus episodes right in your favorite podcast app, plus more exclusive espionage content. This week's episode, Amy Mackinnon and Dan Ephron discussing the making of the show and talk to Stephen R. Weissman about his book American Foreign Policy in the Congo, 1960-1964. Subscribe to I Spy Plus today at foreignpolicy.com/ispy.
Bonus Episode 1, Trailer
April 29, 2020 12:19 - 1 minuteFor access to bonus episodes, subscribe to I Spy Plus at foreignpolicy.com/ispy. This week, Amy Mackinnon and Dan Ephron discussing the making of the show and talk to Stephen R. Weissman about his book American Foreign Policy in the Congo, 1960-1964.
The Survivor
April 28, 2020 10:00 - 37 minutesWelcome to Season 2 of I Spy. On this episode, CIA officer Richard Holm is sent to Congo in 1965 to organize local agents against an anti-government rebellion. But a fiery plane crash leaves him in hostile territory, fighting for his life. This season, there’s more I Spy with I Spy Plus. Get ad-free I Spy episodes and access to weekly bonus episodes right in your favorite podcast app, plus more exclusive espionage content. Subscribe to I Spy Plus today at foreignpolicy.com/ispy. Check out I ...
I Spy, Season 2 - Coming April 28
April 23, 2020 20:16 - 2 minutesForeign Policy’s hit show returns Tuesday, April 28 with the first of eight new episodes. From a former CIA officer’s retelling of how he survived a plane crash in the Congo to the hunt for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq – tune in to hear more spies tell the stories of clandestine operations in their own words. And this season, there’s more I Spy with I Spy Plus. Get ad-free I Spy episodes and weekly bonus episodes right in your podcast feed, plus more exclusive espionage content. Subscribe to ...
The Jumper
December 10, 2019 11:00 - 25 minutesA man jumps from a burning plane, exposing a covert U.S. operation and nearly bringing down the president. This week on I Spy, Eugene Hasenfus tells his story. Check out I Spy's merch by going to https://store.dftba.com/collections/i-spy Save 15% on FP subscriptions. Visit https://foreignpolicy.com/subscribe/ and enter code ISPY at checkout to claim this offer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Art Dealer
December 03, 2019 09:57 - 32 minutesAmaryllis Fox worked for a decade as an undercover agent at the CIA, cultivating arms merchants and preventing them from selling fissile material to terrorist groups. On this episode, she describes courting one particular dealer whose ties to terrorist groups in Indonesia and elsewhere raised alarm bells at Langley. Fox has changed some of the details of her story to avoid exposing the agency's assets and methods. Check out I Spy's merch by going to https://store.dftba.com/collections/i-spy ...
The Counterspy
November 26, 2019 10:16 - 34 minutesThe CIA thought it had thoroughly penetrated Cuban intelligence, with scores of agents and informants in Havana, until one day a Cuban officer walked into the U.S. Embassy in Vienna and broke the news—the agents were actually double agents. James Olson was the CIA station chief in Vienna at the time. He would go on to serve as the agency’s head of counterintelligence. Check out I Spy's merch by going to https://store.dftba.com/collections/i-spy Save 15% on FP subscriptions. Visit https://...
The Man With the Antidote
November 19, 2019 11:00 - 34 minutesOn this episode, the Israeli Mossad operative Mishka Ben-David is sent to the Jordanian capital of Amman to help assassinate Khaled Mashal, the political leader of the Palestinian Islamic group Hamas. But the mission doesn’t go quite as planned. Check out I Spy's merch by going to https://store.dftba.com/collections/i-spy Save 15% on FP subscriptions. Visit https://foreignpolicy.com/subscribe/ and enter code ISPY at checkout to claim this offer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit mega...
The Sleeper Agent
November 12, 2019 11:00 - 39 minutesOn this episode, we talk to Albrecht Dittrich—aka Jack Barsky—who was born in East Germany, recruited by the KGB, and sent to the United States to influence U.S. policymaking. Barsky began his mission in 1978. He was one of hundreds of sleeper agents the Soviets planted in the United States over the years. Check out I Spy's merch by going to https://store.dftba.com/collections/i-spy Save 15% on FP subscriptions. Visit https://foreignpolicy.com/subscribe/ and enter code ISPY at checkout to c...
The Master of Disguise
November 12, 2019 11:00 - 33 minutesOn this first episode of I Spy, CIA agent Jonna Mendez is sent to a capital city in Asia to help steal a top-secret encryption machine from a Soviet Embassy. Mendez’s job in the operation is to fashion disguises for the team. She would go on to become the chief of disguise at the CIA’s Office of Technical Service. Check out I Spy's merch by going to https://store.dftba.com/collections/i-spy Save 15% on FP subscriptions. Visit https://foreignpolicy.com/subscribe/ and enter code ISPY at check...
Trailer: I Spy
October 03, 2019 19:20 - 2 minutesSpies don’t talk—it’s the cardinal rule of the business. But on Foreign Policy’s podcast I Spy, we get them to open up. We hear from the operations people: the spies who steal secrets, kill adversaries, and turn agents into double agents. Each episode features one spy’s most thrilling story. Coming November 13. Check out I Spy's merch by going to https://store.dftba.com/collections/i-spy Save 15% on FP subscriptions. Visit https://foreignpolicy.com/subscribe/ and enter code ISPY at checkout...