SpyCast

SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with author Peter Bergen to discuss his newest book, United States of Jihad: Investigating America's Homegrown Terrorists. Paced like a detective story, the book tells the entwined stories of the key actors on the American front. Drawing on his extensive network of intelligence contacts, from the National Counterterrorism Center and the FBI to the NYPD, Bergen also offers an inside look at the controversial tactics of the agencies tracking potential terrorists—from infiltrating mosques to massive surveillance; at the bias experienced by innocent observant Muslims at the hands of law enforcement; at the critics and defenders of U.S. policies on terrorism; and at how social media has revolutionized terrorism.

Get the book: http://www.spymuseumstore.org/united-states-of-jihad.html#.Vxk3s5MrJTY

In what will hopefully become a series of conversations here at the Spy Museum, all of the past and present SPY historians sat down to discuss a key issue in the world of intelligence – from a historical, but not-too-formal perspective. This week’s topic: who is your favorite spy? Join Alexis, Thomas, Mark, and Vince as they present their cases, and stick around to hear how you can find more information on each of our favorites.

SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with former NSA counterintelligence officer John Schindler to discuss his experiences in the Balkans, and his views on the current intelligence war against Russia. Houghton and Schindler also dive into Edward Snowden, WikiLeaks, and the unending battle against violent extremism.

SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with LTG (Ret) Michael Flynn, the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency from 2012-2014. Houghton and Flynn discuss the challenges DIA has faced in the last several decades, including the sharp transitions from the Soviet threat to the asymmetrical threats of the modern day. They also discuss the ways DIA, and the IC as a whole, must adapt to meet the uncertainty of the future. For information about LTG Flynn’s upcoming book, visit http://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250106223.

SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with Gary Powers, Jr., the son of the legendary U-2 pilot who was shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960. Vince and Gary discuss his father’s legacy, the incorrect assumptions about his father’s capture, and the retelling of his father’s story in the Spielberg movie Bridge of Spies, now available on Blu-Ray.

SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with USAF Colonel (Ret.) Buz Carpenter, who flew some of the most incredible aircraft ever developed. As an RF-4C pilot in Vietnam, Col. Carpenter flew low level reconnaissance missions over enemy territory. Later, as the pilot of the SR-71, Buz took aviation to speeds and heights that have yet to be equaled (except by other SR-71s). Finally, at the end of his Air Force career, Col. Carpenter worked with the USAF’s Blackworld program, helping to develop today’s most advanced aircraft.

SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with Farhana Qazi, a scholar and speaker on conflicts in the Islamic world, and the first American Muslim woman to serve in the National Counter-Terrorism Center. Houghton and Qazi discuss the role of women in radical Islam, the fight against ISIS, The changing status of women in the Muslim world, the Syrian refugee crisis, and the current state of Pakistan and Kashmir. As a Muslim woman, Qazi provides unique insight into political Islam and the impact of war on Muslim populations.

During a public program at the Museum, SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with Bruce Riedel, author of JFK's Forgotten Crisis: Tibet, the CIA, and Sino-Indian War. Riedel, who is a senior fellow and director of the Brookings Intelligence Project, joined Brookings following a thirty-year career at the Central Intelligence Agency, serving as a senior adviser to the last four U.S. presidents on South Asia and the Middle East. His book is a story of war, diplomacy, and covert action, told with authority and perspective. He draws on newly declassified letters between Kennedy and Indian leader Jawaharlal Nehru, along with the diaries and memoirs of key players and other sources, to make this the definitive account of JFK's forgotten crisis.

SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with Ken Vogel, Chief Investigative Reporter for POLITICO and author of the article, “The Koch Intelligence Agency.” Houghton and Vogel (who tracks the confluence of money, politics, and influence for POLITICO) discuss the use of use surveillance, propaganda, disinformation, deception, and even covert action in modern political campaigns.

SPY Historian Vince Houghton sat down with PW Singer, co-author of Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War (which he wrote with August Cole). In the spirit of early Tom Clancy (especially Red Storm Rising), Ghost Fleet is a imagining of how World War III might play out. But what makes it even more notable is how the book smashes together the technothriller and nonfiction genres.

It is a novel, but with 400 endnotes, showing how every trend and technology featured in book— no matter how sci-fi it may seem — is real. Singer, who is also a contributing editor at Popular Science, lays out the future of technology and war, while following a global cast of characters fighting at sea, on land, in the air and in two new places of conflict: outer space and cyberspace. For more on Ghost Fleet, check out ghostfleetbook.com.