While we often take a long laughing look at how spies are depicted in fiction, some of the true stories are seriously wired. In this bite-size I Spied we look at the CIA’s operations in Moscow during the Cold War and some of the stranger devices they came up with to foil the KGB. How about a dog skin created by the CIA wig department? Or how rats were used to send messages. Fact is often stranger than fiction, and when it comes to US spies, a whole lot weirder!

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A special episode of the stuff we couldn’t fit into the interview with friend of the podcast and all-round intelligence security guru Neil Fergus. We look at his experience as the Head of Security for the Olympic Games, the terrorist threats we didn’t hear about during the Sydney Games, and the most awkward phone call Neil had when the President of the Brazil Olympic Committee called to offer him a job.

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Osama Bin Laden. The most recognisable name in terrorism and a major case study for all things ASIO and security. On this week’s snack-sized episode of I Spied, we unpack how Bin Laden came about, 9/11 and how he outsmarted the American Security System.

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Atomic Blonde. Does the hit movie accurately represent the intelligence industry and is everyone as badass as Charlize Theron? Welcome back to the snackable I Spied episodes to listen to over your Christmas break. Today on another bite-sized ep we analyse spy movies and investigate if the cookie-cutter plots are closely aligned to any possible truth of the real world spy industry.

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Would you believe that ASIO has a file on Santa? Welcome back to the snackable I Spied episodes to listen to over your Christmas break. 

When you consider Santa’s criminal abilities, technology, obviously far-reaching surveillance capabilities, constant flouting of sovereign borders and his obviously socialist ideology of giving every child a present, why wouldn’t they? We look at the most dangerous man in the world that every intelligence service would love to get their hands on.

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Tis the season for love, giving and your Uncle Barry’s wild conspiracy theories that he thinks are worth discussing over Christmas Dinner. Welcome to the bite-sized episodes of I Spied over the Christmas/New Year period. Today we unpack why your Uncle Barry can’t just shut his mouth and how you can avoid crazy conspiracy theories this Christmas.

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We've talked a lot about what it’s like to work for ASIO, but what is it like to be targeted by ASIO? This week we are joined by former politician, life-long activist and editor of Dirty Secrets: Our ASIO Files - an expose of the files of famous Australians - to talk about being followed by ASIO and the NSW Special Branch, the people ASIO targeted during the 60s and 70s and running onto the SCG pitch to protest apartheid during the 1971 Springbok tour.

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I Spied - the Twitter troll of Australian Intelligence - This week we take a long, hard look at power and pitfalls of social media - how intelligence services use it to gather information, how extremist organisations use it to recruit members, how terrorists use it to plan and carry out attacks. We examine how everything you post - from selfies to Fitbit data -  reveals far more than you think, and David talks about how a single incorrect keystroke on the ASIO internal messaging system led him into a romantic tryst with a real-life Bond girl.

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I Spied - the steamed tripe on the Yum Cha trolley of Australian intelligence.

With Australian trade taking a shellacking from China recently, we are joined by Neil Fergus, CEO of Intelligent Risks and security consultant to the IOC to take a deep dive into the Middle Kingdom and figure out just what is going on. From walking Olivia Newton John the length of the Great Wall to dealing with the MSS during the Beijing Olympics, Neil shows us that 

dealing with China is like playing a game of poker blindfolded, where you only have one card and they hold all the aces.

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I Spied - the podcast that is the embarrassing sext message on the iPhone of Australian intelligence. This week, with Australian political philandering being exposed on the ABC, we look at compromise: how it happens; how to avoid it; and what to do when you have been, and David reveals how he found himself in a rather compromising situation involving Shakespeare, the High Court, a vegemite jar and a large marijuana plant.

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