In The East Wing

In this episode, Abdullah expresses his gratitude to WKNC and the fans for their support of the podcast. He also goes over a couple of things about his background, how the podcast started, and some of his favorite conversations.

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Abdullah is Joined by Gentry Smith, A former police officer, special agent for diplomatic security, and director of the office of foreign missions. Smith shares with us many stories about his postings abroad as well as some of the lessons that he learned from diplomacy and travel.

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Joseph Kyrlow is a philosophy professor at NC State University. Before his academic career, Joe was in the US military, where he enlisted in the Marines straight after high school. In this episode, Joe shares with us a few stories about his military career, his transition to philosophy, as well as his faith journey. This is a raw and unfiltered conversation with my good friend Joe.

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This is A short interview with Special operator Bob Burton, who was a green beret in the US military. Bob shares with us a few lessons about what it takes to make it to this special operations unit and why he ended up choosing to join the army and serve his country.

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This is A conversation with Patrick Weninger, an NC State University alum and a former Case Officer for the CIA. Patrick shares stories from his experience as a case officer, how he became involved with the CIA, and what it is like to engage with people as an undercover officer.

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 Lindsay Moran joins Abdullah Najjar to discuss her work in the Clandestine Service at the CIA. Her work involved the recruitment of Human intelligence, otherwise known as spies. After Leaving the agency in 2003, Lindsay started writing and published her memoir, Blowing My Cover (attached below), which details her time in the agency. She currently works as a freelance writer, whose articles have appeared at the New York Times, The Washington Post, and USA Today.

Link to Blowing My Cover: My Life as A CIA Spy.

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Toby Harnden is an Author and War Correspondent. He spent almost 25 years working for British newspapers, mainly as a foreign correspondent. He has reported from different places around the world, including London, Belfast, Washington, Jerusalem, and Baghdad. In 2012, he was awarded the Orwell Prize for books. He has written three non-fiction books, which are linked below. Our conversation primarily focused on foreign correspondence, though viewer discretion is advised. I hope you would enjoy this episode, and please be sure to purchase Toby’s books.

First Casualty: The Untold Story of the CIA Mission to Avenge 9/11.

Dead Men Risen: The Welsh Guards and the Defining Story of Britain's War in Afghanistan

Bandit Country: the IRA and South Armagh.

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In Part 2, Jason Riddle Walks us through some of the changes in US administrations that impacted his military career at the air force. Jason shares with many stories - some are serious, and some are quite hilarious.

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Jim Lawler, a former CIA officer, walks us through his days in the agency and his recruitment of foreign spies. Mr. Lawler shares with us many insights about human nature and what it takes for someone to betray a trust and commit treason. In addition, Mr. Lawler and I discuss the pagers' attack conducted by Israel against Hezbollah, and devote the last bit of our conversation to his espionage novels. Links to these novels are attached below. Be sure to also attend Mr. Lawler's book talk, where he will be discussing his third novel, The Traitor's Tale. Time and place are attached below.

Living Lies
In The Twinkling of an Eye

Book Talk on The Traitor's tale:
the American Legion Hall, 111 The Plains Road, Middleburg, VA 20117 at 6:00PM on Tuesday 18 February. Hosted by former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell

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Hollie Mckay, a war journalist, joins Abdullah Najjar for a conversation on passion, the realities of war, giving a voice to the voiceless, and much more. Hollie shares a few of the lessons learned from her experiences in different countries and the balance she has to draw between family and the work she's engaged in.

Be sure to Get Hollie's recent publication, a novel called "The Dictator's Wife". Be sure to also check out her new podcast, "Dispatches on Parenting Across Cultures", which is available on all platforms.

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