#espionage
24 episodes
#3135: What Submarines Actually Do Underwater
Attack subs hunt ships, tap cables, and launch strikes. The nuclear deterrent is just one mission.
#3096: How Encrypted Plots Actually Get Busted
Encrypted phones don't stop arrests. Here's how intelligence agencies actually catch terror cells.
#3061: How Polygraphs Actually Work (And Why They Fail)
The DOE is phasing out polygraphs. Here's why the "lie detector" has never actually worked.
#3046: The Ghosts in the Force: Inside Long-Term Undercover Police Work
How police build fake identities, infiltrate gangs, and protect officers who can never go home again.
#2876: When Iran Recruits Your Iran Experts
How a DIA contractor with top secret clearance gave Iran dossiers on US intelligence officers — and why cultural expertise can be a vulnerability.
#2760: How China's Overseas Police Stations Actually Work
MI5 footage confirms what investigators have tracked for years: a global network of unregistered Chinese police stations.
#2696: How Pegasus Silently Hijacks Your Phone's Microphone
How NSO's Pegasus achieves silent mic access on Android through zero-click exploits, kernel privilege escalation, and DMA buffer reading.
#2416: Ghost Murmur: Heartbeat Detection or Disinformation?
Did the CIA locate an airman by his heartbeat from 40 miles away? We examine the physics and the story.
#2225: The Physics of Eavesdropping: Nation-State Listening in 2026
From laser microphones to keystroke acoustics to the Great Seal Bug, what remote listening actually looks like when physics becomes the bottleneck—...
#2215: How Spies Publish Secrets
Sherman Kent built a field around classified information—then published it. How intelligence studies became a rigorous academic discipline while ke...
#2131: The CIA Is on GitHub
In-Q-Tel is on GitHub. Explore the IC's strategic investment arm and its use of open-source AI for wargaming.
#1886: Spies Are Middle Managers, Not Action Heroes
Forget Bond and Bourne—real espionage is a logistical nightmare of spreadsheets, coffee, and psychological manipulation.
#1785: The FBI's Dual Identity: Cop and Spy
The FBI is unique among global intelligence agencies, blending high-stakes spy work with federal law enforcement in a single hybrid model.
#1623: Why Israel Is Doubling Down on Human Spies
Beyond the high-tech satellites, Israel’s Unit 504 is using old-school psychology and "social OpSec" to win the ground war.
#1368: When Spy-Catchers Go Dark
As global threats rise, why are elite spy-catching units being dismantled? Explore the fragile state of counterintelligence in 2026.
#1316: The Gig Economy Spy: Crowdsourcing Modern Espionage
Forget James Bond. Today’s spies are ordinary citizens earning crypto for smartphone photos. Discover how the IRGC is crowdsourcing intelligence.
#1280: Laptop Farms: North Korea’s Invisible Hardware Backdoor
Discover how North Korean operatives use "laptop farms" and IP-KVM hardware to bypass security and infiltrate the US workforce.
#1018: The Spy Myth vs. Reality: Life Beyond James Bond
Forget the martinis and car chases. Discover why real espionage is more about spreadsheets and "friend-making" than gadgets and shootouts.
#1015: Why IRGC Bunkers Became High-Tech Death Traps
How did Israel bypass the world's most paranoid security? Explore the "Fortress Paradox" and the technical myths of the air-gap.
#984: The Paper Trip Paradox: The Art of Building a Legend
How do intelligence agencies create a human life from thin air? Discover the meticulous tradecraft behind building a "deep legend."
#975: The Architecture of Deception: Inside Intelligence Fronts
Explore how intelligence agencies build real businesses, from luxury resorts to shipping firms, to hide high-stakes operations in plain sight.
#969: The Intelligence Marketplace: Beyond the Spy Superpowers
Forget James Bond. Discover how countries like Ireland and Jordan navigate the high-stakes world of global intelligence and secret diplomacy.
#967: Tehran Access: The High-Stakes Tradecraft of Journalism
CNN is back in Tehran. Explore the high-stakes tradecraft and digital security journalists use to survive and report from inside a hostile state.
#950: The LinkedIn-ification of Modern Espionage
From CIA resumes to LinkedIn branding, explore how modern intelligence agencies are fighting Big Tech for the world’s top digital talent.