I Spy

This is part two of Eric O'Neill's story. O'Neill was an FBI agent who went undercover to catch a suspected spy in the bureau: Robert Hanssen.

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On this episode, FBI agent Eric O'Neill goes undercover to catch a suspected spy in the bureau: Robert Hanssen. O'Neill is just 26 at the time. Hanssen turns out to be one of the most damaging spies in U.S. history.

This is part one of a two-part story.

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Each week we'll send you bonus content you won't find anywhere else, including photos, illustrations, and expanded show notes—for free.

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Well, listeners, it's taken us a while but here it is: the first episode of our fourth season.

We begin with Ric Prado, a former CIA officer who trained the Contras in Central America in the 1980s.

For those of you who don't remember, the Contras were trying to overthrow the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua. America's support for the group eventually led to the Iran-Contra affair, a government scandal that nearly brought down the Reagan administration.

For more on the Contras, go back and listen to season one's The Jumper. Eugene Hasenfus, who helped deliver arms to the Contras, describes parachuting from a burning plane and getting captured by Nicaraguan forces. We spent several years tracking down Hasenfus and getting him to tell his story.

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I Spy is produced by the podcast team at Foreign Policy, the premiere website for intelligent news and analysis from around the world. The best way to support the show—and keep those episodes coming—is by subscribing to Foreign Policy.

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Okay, enough verbiage. Enjoy the show.

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Hey there I Spy listeners, here's the trailer for season 4. We'll have new episodes starting May 31. More spies, more Margo Martindale.

This season, we'll also have an I Spy newsletter, with photos, very cool illustrations, and a bunch of other bonus content you won't find anywhere else. Yes, it's free. Sign up at foreignpolicy.com/ispynewsletter.

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This is part 2 of Frank Snepp's story. Snepp was a CIA analyst based in Saigon during the Vietnam War. In April of 1975, he discovered that Communist forces were preparing a large-scale attack on Saigon—but the higher ups refused to believe it. When the attack began later that month, the Americans conducted a frenzied evacuation, leaving behind many Vietnamese allies.

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Frank Snepp was a CIA analyst based in Saigon during the Vietnam War. In April of 1975, he discovered that Communist forces were preparing a large-scale attack on Saigon—but the higher ups refused to believe it. When the attack began later that month, the Americans conducted a frenzied evacuation, leaving behind many Vietnamese allies.

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The FBI's Ali Soufan specialized in Al Qaeda investigations both before and after the attacks of September 11th. In 2002 he was sent to question Abu Zubaydah, a high-level jihadi captured in Pakistan. But after several rounds of interrogation at the secret site, he was sidelined by a CIA contractor who had helped develop a new torture program for the agency.

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Jay Dobyns was a special agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. In 2002, he infiltrated the Hells Angels biker gang and spent two years undercover—a period in which he says he worried every single day about getting exposed and killed by the group.

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The British spy agency MI5 recruited Willie Carlin to infiltrate Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland. He spied on the group for 11 years until his cover was blown.  

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FBI special agent George Piro spent seven months interrogating deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, establishing a rapport and then getting him to reveal the truth about the country's weapons of mass destruction.

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