Avi Loeb (Harvard Biography, Wikipedia) joins Andrew (X; LinkedIn) to discuss intelligence in outer space. He is a Professor in the Department of Astronomy at Harvard University. 

“And my hope is that realizing that we have a smart neighbor that we can learn from would convince us to change our priorities from fighting over territories on this small piece of rock, trying to kill each other, to something more noble, just looking up and having bigger aspirations because there is so much more real estate out there than you find here on Earth.” – Avi Loeb.

Angie Gad (LinkedIn, Website) joined Andrew (X; LinkedIn) to discuss her career in intelligence analysis. Angie is a first-generation Egyptian-American. 

“I think that's what drives me as an analyst. I love to understand why extremists do what they do, what leads them, what are the motivators and the driving force behind their actions and their thoughts and their radicalization.” – Angie Gad.

Mark Stout (X; LinkedIn) joins Andrew (X; LinkedIn) to discuss his new book, World War I and the Foundations of American Intelligence. Mark Stout is a former intelligence analyst and former SPY Historian. 

“[After World War I] there will never be a time again when the United States won't have squadrons in the Army Air Corps, later the U. S. Air Force, and similarly the Navy. We would never again be without aerial reconnaissance squadrons. There would never again be a time when the United States didn't have at least one code-breaking organization.” – Mark Stout.

Andrew Hampton joins Andrew (X; LinkedIn) to discuss intelligence in New Zealand. Andrew is the Director General of the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service. 

“I think for a long time there was a view that our geographical isolation protected us from a range of national security threats. But unfortunately, in the current world, geostrategic competition is playing out in our region. Going back to my old role, you’re only one click away from a cyber-attack … This and misinformation and violent extremism are permeating the whole world. ” – Andrew Hampton.

David Oranchak (X, LinkedIn) joins Andrew (X; LinkedIn) to discuss his work helping to solve the 340 Zodiac cipher. Dave is a software developer and avid puzzle solver. 

“It felt like we had gotten a brand new letter from the Zodiac Killer. You know, the case had been dormant for so long … We started to see the message coming through, it was like he was back to life so to speak, he was talking to us again after so many years of not saying anything. So that was kind of eerie to kind of hear the voice of a serial killer.” – David Oranchak.

• If you’re an amateur codebreaker and you feel inspired by this episode, try your hand at cryptanalysis with this FBI-created dot code. Erin tried, but could not begin to crack it – She’ll stick to podcasting. 

Mark Edlitz (X, LinkedIn) joins Andrew (X; LinkedIn) to discuss how James Bond lived on in literature after the death of Ian Fleming. Mark is an author and pop culture expert. 

Mark Zaid (X, LinkedIn) joins Andrew (X; LinkedIn) to discuss American intelligence and the law. You’ve heard of a “lawyer to the stars,” Mark is the “lawyer to the spies”

“I still love working every day, 30 years later, because there's still something new. As much as I fight for declassification and transparency, I will at times also see information and learn of events where I go, “Oh, I get it. Yeah, that stuff cannot be known. That's incredible what we did. That's pretty wild.” – Mark Zaid.

Dr. Sara Castro (LinkedIn, Bio) joins Andrew (X; LinkedIn) to discuss the history of US-China diplomacy. Sara is an Associate Professor of History at the United States Air Force Academy. 

Mike VanBlaricum (X; LinkedIn) joins Andrew (X; LinkedIn) to discuss his journey as a James Bond fanatic and collector. Mike is the President of the Ian Fleming Foundation.

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

Reflections

And much, much more …

Quotes of the Week

“I've always been fascinated about the study of creativity. And so, between wanting to understand spy craft and that whole human side as well as creativity, creativity like Fleming – How one person can change popular culture, you know, ultimately, something that came out of his mind can change popular culture is just fascinating to me.” – Mike VanBlaricum

Resources

SURFACE SKIM

*SpyCasts*

DEEPER DIVE

Books

• Who’s The Deadliest Bond? Pierce Brosnan – And by a high margin! Brosnan’s 007 had an average of 27 kills per movie. His runner-up, Roger Moore, clocked in an average of 16.6.

o Read the stats by movie here. License to Kill indeed...

Dr. Ursula Wilder (LinkedIn) joins Andrew (X; LinkedIn) to discuss the intersections between psychology and intelligence. Ursula is a clinical psychologist with over two decades of experience working at the Central Intelligence Agency. 

“Together, these documents are quite powerful. The psych assessments are very, very carefully, tightly held and are classified at a high level. Every intelligence officer has this fantasy about seeing the file that's kept on them by the opponents.” – Dr. Ursula Wilder.