The Pink Smoke is coming in from the cold to debrief our listeners on 100 years worth of espionage thrillers. Starting in the 1920's, we chose one notable spy movie (as well as a few alternate picks) for each decade leading to our present day in order to decode how they reflect the history and pop culture of their respective epoch. From the years leading to World War II through the Cold War and up to the modern age of counterintelligence in the time of domestic terrorism and the internet, we recruited agents John Arminio (co-host of Popcorn Eschaton!) and Bill Scurry (co-host of I Don't Get It) to analyze these cloak-and-dagger tales and what they have to say about the excitement and morality of the spy profession.

In Part Two, we deal with the 1980's, an era of glorified excess in which the spy movie survived by integrating itself within other popular subgenres, and make our way up to the 2020's, a much quieter and retrospective period for espionage thrillers. In between, we discuss the most charmingly repugnant spy of them all, a rip-roaring roller coaster ride about the CIA's greatest asset with amnesia (no - not that one!), betrayals and double crosses set in the corporate world and plots critical of counterintelligence agencies that can't detect deception among their own ranks.

Popcorn Eschaton!:

https://soundcloud.com/zebras-in-america/popcorn-eschaton-1

I Don't Get It Podcast:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i-dont-get-it-podcast/id1205228194

The Pink Smoke site:

www.thepinksmoke.com

John Cribbs on Twitter:

twitter.com/TheLastMachine

The Pink Smoke on Twitter:

twitter.com/thepinksmoke

Intro music: Unleash the Bastards / “Tea for Two”

Outro music: Marcus Pinn / “Vegas"