Sorry for the delay. We recorded this episode to release last week, but I (Topher) had a lot going on and neglected to edit and publish it on time. So here it is for this week. We hope you didn't miss us too much.

In this episode, we dive into the world of "signature reduction" -- which is made up of efforts to hide agents' true identities online in the world of social media and open-source intelligence. All of this is being produced by a massive network of military and private contractor efforts, which also include constructing fake digital personas for agents working under cover in the field. These secret keyboard warriors help produce fake credentials, like passports and drivers' licenses, and can even tap into official government databases to falsify records, enabling agents to pose as other people and to cross international borders without raising any eyebrows.

Sources

https://www.newsweek.com/exclusive-inside-militarys-secret-undercover-army-1591881

https://opticsmanagement.com/what-is-signature-reduction-and-how-can-it-help-you-protect-your-privacy/

https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/us-intelligence-is-more-privatized-than-ever-before/

https://www.salon.com/2007/06/01/intel_contractors/

This week, we review CIA Director Bill Burns' track record so far. 

Who is current CIA Director William J. Burns? Not a soldier, nor a lawyer, nor a long-time intelligence officer. Instead of the usual suspects for the role, Bill Burns is a legacy civil servant and a career diplomat. Under his direction, the CIA seems to be trying a few new things, like being transparent (or is he?!) and meeting face-to-face with world leaders instead of trying to overthrow them from behind a desk in DC.

We decided to take a quick look at this Bill Burns character to see where he came from and what he's done to become trusted with America's Premier Intelligence Agency™. In part one, we discuss his upbringing, his education, and his career as an ambassador, as well as his role in facilitating the now-lifeless Iran nuclear deal.

We also discuss the concept of the "Deep State" and what that actually looks like, as opposed to how it's portrayed by certain politicians who like to complain a lot and who don't like the concept of "Checks and Balances."

https://www.businessinsider.com/what-deep-state-is-and-why-trump-gets-it-wrong-2020-1?op=1

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/cumberlink/name/william-burns-obituary?pid=199107880

https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/105574.htm

https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/burns-william-joseph

https://eunacr.com/2021/03/20/who-is-william-j-burns-the-new-director-of-the-cia/

https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-iran-nuclear-deal

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nunn%E2%80%93Lugar_Cooperative_Threat_Reduction

The 1950s might be regarded by some as the salad days of the CIA. No ideas were too wacky, and the money was flowing into research and development like a cool, clean mountain spring. So when CIA mad scientist Dr. Sidney Gottlieb decided to hire an up-close magician to write some instruction manuals on how to perform their own sort of magic --  the kind that might involve slipping a drug into someone's champagne or pick someone's pocket, no one batted an eye.

Famed illusionist John Mulholland produced two top-secret manuals for the CIA, which were thought to be lost forever after Director Richard Helms ordered all material on MK Ultra destroyed. But a lucky CIA researcher named H. Keith Melton stumbled across old, forgotten Xerox copies of the manuals in 2007, and now we can get a glimpse at some of the inner workings of some of the CIA's operating procedures from the time.

You can purchase a physical copy of the book here on Amazon, or you can download a free digital copy at 

No episode this week, but we'll be back next week.

Julian Assange began hacking in the 80s when he was just 16 years old. Now he's perhaps the most famous whistleblower in the world. The United States wants to put him on trial for espionage, but his defenders say he was simply working as a journalist to uncover injustices committed by the U.S. military, and what U.S. officials actually want is to punish him for exposing American crimes and to scare other journalists from reporting on American misdeeds. As his extradition to the U.S. approaches, we decided to take a look into his past and get into the details of who he is and what he's done. 

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/06/07/no-secrets

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-47907600

https://news.yahoo.com/kidnapping-assassination-and-a-london-shoot-out-inside-the-ci-as-secret-war-plans-against-wiki-leaks-090057786.html

https://reason.com/2022/06/22/julian-assanges-case-frightening-omen-press-freedom/

https://www.newsweek.com/what-did-julian-assange-do-wikileaks-founder-faces-17-espionage-charges-1716860

That's right, folks. This is our last news episode. We will still be releasing proper episodes highlighting the lives of the people involved with the CIA. And we'll be releasing more short episodes as well. We will also be launching a new show soon, so keep an eye out for that. Updates to follow.

Jim Angleton dedicated his life to building and maintaining the CIA. He spent years manipulating people and policy from his self-labeled "wilderness of mirrors," motivated by his own paranoia, and informed by an opportunistic Russian defector named Anotoli Golytsin. Eventually, despite his monumental efforts to cover his tracks, Angleton's chickens came home to roost. 

Sources:

The Ghost: The Secret Life of CIA Spymaster James Jesus Angleton, by Jefferson Morley

https://amzn.to/3xgHDfS

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brookings-now/2015/05/06/40-years-ago-church-committee-investigated-americans-spying-on-americans/

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/church-committee-established-jan-27-1975-234079

https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2017/oct/19/angleton-return/

https://jfkfacts.org/what-angleton-told-jfk-investigators-behind-closed-doors/

https://www.thedailybeast.com/my-lunch-with-the-spider-who-nearly-wrecked-the-cia

https://spartacus-educational.com/SSangleton.htm

Chinese fighter pilots are full of beans. Are things looking up in Yemen? Because they aren't in Tigray. A CIA whistleblower dies. And if you're looking for classified tank information, you might want to check some online video game forums.

More news from around the world -- an update on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a look at Ethiopia's record number of displaced people, and a discussion about the decline of democracy and the rise of autocracy and authoritarianism.