Free Daily Podcast Summary
SPYCRAFT 101: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Justin Black
Welcome to your clandestine classroom.
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The most recent episodes — sign up to get AI-powered summaries of each one.
- 4 days ago1h 25m
271. Escaping FARC: A Father Held Hostage by Columbian Rebels with Miles Hargrove
Today Justin talks with Miles Hargrove. Miles has worked for more than 20 years behind the scenes in the film industry as a cinematographer, editor, and camera operator, including on major feature films such as The Last Castle and the Harry Potter series. But long before his start in films, Miles was living with his family in Cali, Colombia, where his father, Thomas Hargrove, worked as a freelance journalist for the agriculture industry. In 1994, Thomas was kidnapped by FARC rebels and held for nearly a year. His wife, children, and friends banded together to negotiate with his captors for his release. Afterwards, their ordeal became the basis for the film Proof of Life, starring Russell Crowe and Dave Morse. Miles filmed everything that year using their home video camera, which he produced as the 2020 documentary Miracle Fishing: Kidnapped in Colombia. Connect with Miles: mileshargrove.com miraclefishing.com Rent or Buy Miracle Fishing on Prime Video or AppleTV, or watch with ads on Tubi. amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.bcee2db8-c610-4992-bdc6-2d309ef1317c?ref_=atv_cf_strg_wb tv.apple.com/us/movie/miracle-fishing-kidnapped-abroad/umc.cmc.71ptbkfw9kutqcx4rumz7zko2 tubitv.com/movies/100015448/miracle-fishing-kidnapped-abroad 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 Substack: spycraft101.substack.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. Kruschiki The best surplus military goods delivered right to your door. Use code SPYCRAFT101 for 10% off! https://kruschiki.com/ Clandestine Laboratories Your new favorite fragrance is here. https://www.clandestinelaboratories.com/fragrances Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
- 1 weeks ago59 min
270. A Stanford Student Targeted by China with Elsa Johnson
Today Justin talks with Elsa Johnson. Elsa is a student at Stanford University currently in her senior year. She is majoring in International Relations and East Asian Studies and is fluent in Mandarin Chinese. She is also the former managing editor of The Stanford Review. Two years ago, Elsa was approached online by someone she thought was a fellow student at Stanford. Those contacts quickly took a surprising and even dangerous turn as she realized she'd been identified and targeted by the Chinese Communist Party, which had a firm foothold on campus at Stanford. She worked closely with the FBI, wrote about those experiences in The Stanford Review, and even testified before Congress about foreign espionage activities on university campuses. Elsa is here discuss those experiences and how China has spent years infiltrating universities across the country. Connect with Elsa: Twitter/X: @elsajohnson stanfordreview.org 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 Substack: spycraft101.substack.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. Kruschiki The best surplus military goods delivered right to your door. Use code SPYCRAFT101 for 10% off! https://kruschiki.com/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
- 2 weeks ago47 min
269. Operation Sparrow: Deceiving Hitler in WWII with Dr. Jason Bell
Today's guest is Dr. Jason Bell. Jason is a professor of philosophy at the University of New Brunswick, who has served as a Fulbright professor in Germany and taught at universities in Belgium, the United States, and Canada. He's here to discuss one of the least known and most important deception operations of World War II, when three OSS officers parachuted into Hungary with one goal in mind: to be taken prisoner and interrogated by German forces. Connect with Jason: jasonbell.org Check out the book, Operation Sparrow: The Incredible True Story of the North American Spies Who Tricked Hitler and Won the War, here. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G4WK8WY6 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 Substack: spycraft101.substack.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. Kruschiki The best surplus military goods delivered right to your door. Use code SPYCRAFT101 for 10% off! https://kruschiki.com/ Clandestine Laboratories Your new favorite fragrance is here. https://www.clandestinelaboratories.com/fragrances Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
- 3 weeks ago53 min
268. China's Cyber Spies: The Cyber Espionage Frontier with Dr. Ahana Datta Fasel
Today Justin talks with Dr. Ahana Datta Fasel. Ahana graduated from University College London with a PhD and is the former cyber chief for the Financial Times media group in London. She has also held senior roles in the United Kingdom government, including with the Ministry of Justice, the Cabinet Office, and the National Cybersecurity Centre. Her editorials have been published in The Financial Times and Columbia Journalism Review. She's here to discuss her book, Full Stack Spies: Cyber Espionage in the Age of US-China Competition, which is available now from Hurst Publishers. In it, she covers the history of cyber espionage among the great powers, how it is being used right now, and what to expect in the near future. Connect with Ahana: Check out the book, Full Stack Spies, here. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0197871380 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 Substack: spycraft101.substack.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. Kruschiki The best surplus military goods delivered right to your door. Use code SPYCRAFT101 for 10% off! https://kruschiki.com/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
- Sep 28, 202654 min
267. Behind Enemy Lines: Real Life in the CIA with Thomas Pecora
This week Justin talks with Tom Pecora. Tom spent 24 years as a security officer with the Central Intelligence Agency. He served in hotspots all over the world, including Somalia, Iraq, the Philippines, and Pakistan. Tom was the chief of security for CIA operations in Iraq in 2004 and 2005, and later the deputy chief of security for the Counterterrorism Center. He's been awarded the Intelligence Star and the Career Intelligence Medal. He's here to discuss his career with CIA, which he wrote about in his book. Connect with Tom: LinkedIn: Thomas Pecora, SAS-MP Check out the book, Guardian: Life in the Crosshairs of the CIA's War on Terror, here. https://a.co/d/01FzYWf7 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 Substack: spycraft101.substack.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. Kruschiki The best surplus military goods delivered right to your door. Use code SPYCRAFT101 for 10% off! https://kruschiki.com/ Clandestine Laboratories Your new favorite fragrance is here. https://www.clandestinelaboratories.com/fragrances Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
- Sep 21, 20261h 4m
266. Brian Franks: The Man Who Shaped Modern Special Forces with Tim Spicer
Today, Justin welcomes back Tim Spicer. Tim served for 20 years in the British Army, where he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel and saw active service in Northern Ireland, The Falklands Campaign, The Gulf War, and the Balkans, as well as serving in the Far East, Cyprus, and Germany. This is Tim's third appearance on the podcast. Today, he's back to discuss the story of Brian Franks, one of the original officers of the Special Air Service who served behind enemy lines during World War II and who continued to support British covert operations long after the war ended Check out Tim's first appearance on ep 200: From Biffy to Bond: The Real Spy Who Inspired “From Russia, with Love” and his latest sharing the stories of his own career on ep 206: Behind the Lines from Belfast to Sierra Leone. Connect with Tim: timspicerauthor.com IG: @timspicerauthor Check out the book, An Axe and Four Balloons, here. https://amzn.eu/d/03uFZnJn 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 Substack: spycraft101.substack.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. Kruschiki The best surplus military goods delivered right to your door. Use code SPYCRAFT101 for 10% off! https://kruschiki.com/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
- Sep 14, 20261h 15m
265. From Israel's Spycraft to Hollywood's Spotlight: The Arnon Milchan Saga with Joseph Gelman
This week Justin sits down with Joseph Gelman. Joe served for three years in the Israeli army as a paratrooper. He's also worked as a private consultant on political campaigns, speech writing, government relations, international marketing, and as a columnist. He's here today to discuss his book: Confidential. It's the story of Arnon Milchan, who went from the owner of a struggling chemical business in Israel to a major procurer of advanced weaponry, an agent of Israel's Lakam Bureau, and later a billionaire Hollywood film producer. Connect with Joe: Check out the book, Confidential, here. https://www.gefenpublishing.com/products/confidential 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 Substack: spycraft101.substack.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. Kruschiki The best surplus military goods delivered right to your door. Use code SPYCRAFT101 for 10% off! https://kruschiki.com/ Clandestine Laboratories Your new favorite fragrance is here. I'm partial to Novochoc. https://www.clandestinelaboratories.com/fragrances Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
- Sep 7, 20261h 16m
264. CIA in Moscow: Behind Russian Lines with Gene Coyle
Today, Justin talks with Gene Coyle. Gene graduated from Indiana University in Bloomington with a Bachelor's degree in 1973, followed by a Master's degree in 1974. He then joined the Central Intelligence Agency, where he served for 30 years, including in six overseas assignments. After retiring from CIA, Gene returned to Indiana University as an adjunct professor of intelligence studies. He has also written a series of spy novels in recent years. He's here to discuss his assignment to Moscow in the mid-1980s, where he took part in one of the most high-risk, high-reward operations of the entire Cold War, tapping underground communications cables in Moscow while dodging surveillance by the KGB, for which he received the CIA's Intelligence Medal of Merit. 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 Substack: spycraft101.substack.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. Kruschiki The best surplus military goods delivered right to your door. Use code SPYCRAFT101 for 10% off! https://kruschiki.com/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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