Jennifer Ewbank (LinkedIn) joins Andrew (X; LinkedIn) to discuss the integration of technology within intelligence. Jennifer recently retired from her role as Deputy Director of CIA for Digital Innovation.  

“Intelligence isn't about knowing exactly what's going to happen … It's about delivering a decision advantage to our policymakers. Decision advantage doesn't mean that I can tell you precisely what's going to happen and when. You never have perfect information, and you have to be able to move still. You can't be paralyzed by a desire to seek that last detail when, particularly in digital tech space, like the world is moving rapidly all around you.” – Jennifer Ewbank.

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Pete Langman and Nadine Akkerman join Andrew to discuss espionage in Elizabethan England. Pete and Nadine are authors of the new book Spycraft: Tricks and Tools of the Dangerous Trade from Elizabeth I to the Restoration. 

“Spies are involved with bribery. They cheat and they lie, so it’s immoral, and often there are things that are just illegal in other instances, such as forgery of documents. Other people would get their ears clipped or their noses slit if they forged documents.If you are a spy, you are being asked to do that on the job. So it's a dangerous game and the lines are very thin.” – Nadine Akkerman.

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Jason Barrett (LinkedIn) joins Andrew (X; LinkedIn) to discuss the integration of open-source intelligence into the American Intelligence Community. Jason is the first-ever OSINT Executive. 

“We're living in an age when credibility and trust is really important to build. This is an opportunity for the IC to really build that trust, I think in important ways. So, it's an area I think you will see more of us being more transparent in our work.” – Jason Barrett. 

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Tim Tate (Website) joins Andrew (X; LinkedIn) to discuss the Spycatcher Affair. Tim is a best-selling author and award-winning filmmaker. 

"[Wright] found truly acres of paperwork from old files which had been disregarded and hadn't been properly followed up on and leads that hadn't been properly followed. And when he pulled at them, those threads of evidence, and when he chased it down, what he found, as often as not, was genuine reason to suspect that the penetration, the widespread penetration, was real and serious.” – Tim Tate

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Summary

Rachel Noble joins Andrew to discuss her role as Director-General of the Australian Signals Directorate. Rachel is the first woman to hold this position.  

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

Reflections

And much, much more …

Quotes of the Week

“Women lead differently. We talk differently, we engage in different ways. And I've had to learn to own that about myself and not be tempted to try to be like the guys, compete with them on their own terms, or to adopt male behaviors in order to be heard … [Doing that] doesn't really help other women who might come after me.” – Rachel Noble.

Resources 

SURFACE SKIM

*SpyCasts*

*Beginner Resources*

DEEPER DIVE

Primary Sources 

*Wildcard Resource*

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Neil Bradbury (Website, LinkedIn) joins Andrew (X; LinkedIn) to discuss the deadly history of poison and espionage. Neil is an author and biochemist.  

“In order to counteract lots of the poisons, you have to know how they work, and you have to be able to develop your own. So, yes, undoubtedly, Western governments are just as actively involved in creating these chemicals and also the antidotes to them.” – Dr. Neil Bradbury.

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Jefferson Morley and Mark Zaid join Andrew in a debate over the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Mark and Jeff are longtime friends and colleagues with very different viewpoints of what truly happened on November 22nd, 1963. 

 ”That's why I think they probably have something to hide. Because it doesn't make sense otherwise … If they had access to that kind of straightforward story, we would get that.” – Jefferson Morley.

• Test how you would do in Kennedy’s shoes by playing 13 Days: The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 – A two-player board game that tests your quick-thinking strategy and conflict resolution skills. 

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Jefferson Morley and Mark Zaid join Andrew in a debate over the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Mark and Jeff are longtime friends and colleagues with very different viewpoints of what truly happened on November 22nd, 1963. 

 ”That's why I think they probably have something to hide. Because it doesn't make sense otherwise … If they had access to that kind of straightforward story, we would get that.” – Jefferson Morley.

• Test how you would do in Kennedy’s shoes by playing 13 Days: The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 – A two-player board game that tests your quick-thinking strategy and conflict resolution skills. 

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Henry Hemming (X, Website) joins Andrew (X; LinkedIn) to discuss the case of Frank Hegarty, a British spy operating within the IRA. Henry is a bestselling espionage author. 

“This is where it becomes, morally, much more complex. What’s difficult … is that most of the handlers who were faced with these decisions didn't have adequate training. They didn't know what the law said. They didn't know exactly what the limits were to what they could and could not do … And suddenly, as we're beginning to find out, mistakes were made.” – Henry Hemming.

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Brett Forrest and Warren Strobel join Andrew to discuss reporting intelligence. Brett and Warren are national security reporters for The Wall Street Journal. 

This week on SpyCast, Andrew was joined in the studio by Brett Forrest and Warren Strobel, intelligence correspondents at the Wall Street Journal. As SpyCast listeners will know, issues of intelligence and espionage are constantly going on all around us – But how does the public stay in the know and up to date on the latest cases and news from around the world? Well, that's where these two come in. 

“It's about knocking on every possible door that you can imagine, that you can come up with, that you can dig up. And, all you're hoping for is one of those doors to open. You know, you knock on a hundred doors, you get 99 doors to open. You just want that one door to open because that's where the information is. That's where the source is. So, I don't know if I would call that luck, I would call that persistence.” - Brett Forrest

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