Before Delta Force captured Nicolás Maduro, Bryan Stern went on a secret mission in Venezuela. The veteran and Purple Heart recipient was there to extract opposition leader María Corina Machado, who had been living in hiding for her own safety. Bryan was trying to get María to Oslo to accept her Nobel Peace Prize. This daring operation – named Operation Golden Dynamite after Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite – involved land, sea, and air. This is just one of many high-stakes evacuations Bryan has conducted through his nonprofit organization, Grey Bull Rescue. Sasha and Bryan sat down to discuss the operation, just a few days after he returned from Venezuela.

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This show is brought to you by N2K Networks, Goat Rodeo, and the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC. This episode was produced by Flora Warshaw and the team at Goat Rodeo. At the International Spy Museum, Mike Mincey and Memphis Vaughan III are our video editors. Emily Rens is our graphic designer. Joshua Troemel runs our SPY social media. Amanda Ohlke is our Director of Adult Education and Mira Cohen is the Vice President of Programs.