
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


Former diplomat and political insider Sam Guthrie joins Antonia Senior to talk about Chinese espionage, industrial spying and his debut Hong Kong–set thriller, The Peak. Blending politics, business and spycraft, the novel follows an unreliable narrator, a dangerous love triangle and a single act of compromise that changes everything.
Sam and Antonia dig into how modern China, ASIO-style counterintelligence, and the clash between national security and trade shaped the book. They explore honey traps, business delegations gone wrong, and why ordinary executives—not just spooks—are now targets for Chinese intelligence and industrial espionage.
The conversation ranges from Australia–China relations and foreign interference laws to AI, quantum computing and the future of great-power competition. Along the way, they discuss the human side of spying: flawed characters, loyalty, guilt, and how a 1990s mixtape becomes both a love letter and a vehicle for secret messages.
In this episode:
Chinese espionage, industrial spying and national security
Hong Kong, Australia and the new front line of geopolitics
Compromise, honey traps and how people get turned
Writing flawed, unlikeable but compelling characters
China’s rise, Western naivety and what might come next
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
By Antonia Senior5
33 ratings
Former diplomat and political insider Sam Guthrie joins Antonia Senior to talk about Chinese espionage, industrial spying and his debut Hong Kong–set thriller, The Peak. Blending politics, business and spycraft, the novel follows an unreliable narrator, a dangerous love triangle and a single act of compromise that changes everything.
Sam and Antonia dig into how modern China, ASIO-style counterintelligence, and the clash between national security and trade shaped the book. They explore honey traps, business delegations gone wrong, and why ordinary executives—not just spooks—are now targets for Chinese intelligence and industrial espionage.
The conversation ranges from Australia–China relations and foreign interference laws to AI, quantum computing and the future of great-power competition. Along the way, they discuss the human side of spying: flawed characters, loyalty, guilt, and how a 1990s mixtape becomes both a love letter and a vehicle for secret messages.
In this episode:
Chinese espionage, industrial spying and national security
Hong Kong, Australia and the new front line of geopolitics
Compromise, honey traps and how people get turned
Writing flawed, unlikeable but compelling characters
China’s rise, Western naivety and what might come next
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

84 Listeners

462 Listeners

989 Listeners

1,413 Listeners

29 Listeners

15,658 Listeners

2,964 Listeners

339 Listeners

793 Listeners

848 Listeners

124 Listeners

2,186 Listeners

1,032 Listeners

20 Listeners

262 Listeners