State Secrets

By The Cipher Brief

What's State Secrets about?

State Secrets is a weekly interview podcast featuring Cipher Brief experts and national security leaders.

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State Secrets episodes:

04.09.2024
UKRAINE’S BRIGHT HOPE TO BUILD BACK STRONGER
The Cipher Brief made its first reporting trip to Ukraine in February of 2022. That’s when we first met Tymofiy Mylovanov, the President of the Kyiv School of Economics. When we sat down with him then, Ukraine was preparing...
03.25.2024
From Special Operations to the CIA: Assessing the Complexity of the Global Environment
Dave Pitts was the CIA’s last man on the ground in Afghanistan as U.S. troops pulled out of the country in 2021. Even though he began his career as a humble private in the U.S. military, he quickly moved into...
03.17.2024
Live from Taiwan :A Debrief with RADM Mike Studeman (Ret)
Retired Rear Admiral Mike Studeman is the former Commander of the Office of Naval Intelligence. He has extensive experience in intelligence, foreign policy, defense and China. So, it wasn’t a surprise when Taiwan’s Vice President-Elect Hsiao – someone he had...
02.19.2024
Villains, Victims and Vendors in Cyberspace
Former Director of CIA’s Center for Cyber Intelligence (and Cipher Brief Expert) Andrew Boyd talks to State Secrets about the dynamic relationship between villains, victims and vendors operating in cyberspace. The CIA, he says, has been paying close attention to...
02.11.2024
Iran's Proxy War Against The U.S.
Recent U.S strikes against Iranian proxy groups in Syria and Iraq may be just the beginning of a multi-tier response by the U.S. after the killing of three service members in Jordan last month and it’s raising questions about just...
02.04.2024
Gen Z and CIA is a Relationship in Need of Counseling
Former CIA officer Marc Polymeropoulos recently wrote an article exploring the intriguing dynamics of Gen Z in the CIA workplace, sparking a controversial debate. While research suggests Gen Z may display slower independence behaviors and cause tension with older workers...
01.30.2024
The Innovation Gap
Former NSA Chief of Innovation Kevin Keaton left his government job last year – before the age of retirement - to accept a role as a founding partner at a venture capital firm. Today, he’s focused on closing a gap...
01.28.2024
The Innovation Gap
Former NSA Chief of Innovation Kevin Keaton left his government job last year – before the age of retirement - to accept a role as a founding partner at a venture capital firm. Today, he’s focused on closing a gap...
01.21.2024
Secrets of Espionage
Alan Kohler spent 27 years at the FBI, where his priority for decades, was hunting down spies who were operating in the United States. As Assistant Director of the Bureau’s Counterintelligence Division, Kohler had a hand in nearly every espionage...
01.14.2024
A Seasoned former CIA Officer Shares Stories of War & Espionage
In his first-ever podcast interview, former 6-time CIA Chief of Station and 35-year CIA veteran Ralph Goff talks with Cipher Brief CEO & Publisher Suzanne Kelly about what’s happening now in the Middle East and the likelihood that the war...
11.03.2023
Israel, Hamas and the Path to War
In this episode Cipher Brief COO Brad Christian talks with former CIA officer and Cipher Brief Expert Marc Polymeropoulos. Marc served 26 years in the CIA before retiring from the Senior Intelligence Service in June 2019. His positions included field...
09.30.2023
The Future of Open Source - A View from the CIA
Welcome to a special episode of the State Secrets podcast. Cipher Brief CEO & Publisher Suzanne Kelly recently welcomed the Director of CIA’s Open Source Enterprise Randy Nixon, to the virtual studio for a special briefing to talk how CIA uses...
08.04.2023
Putting the National Cybersecurity Strategy into Practice
Cyber Initiatives Group (CIG) Principal and former Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Cyber, Risk, Resilience and Infrastructure Matt Hayden sits down with CISA’s Executive Director Brandon Wales to dig in on just how the government will implement the new...
07.10.2023
The Hunt for Spies in the U.S.
Earlier this month, the National Counterintelligence & Security Center - better known in the Intelligence world as the NCSC – along with the FBI - issued a joint bulletin warning stakeholders in US companies, journalists, academics and researchers who work...
06.26.2023
An Overture of the Next Phase of US-China Relations
In this episode of the State Secrets Podcast Brad speaks with Cipher Brief Expert Ambassador Joe Detrani. Ambassador Joseph DeTrani is the former Special envoy for Six Party Talks with North Korea, as well as former CIA director of East...
06.19.2023
A Life of Secrets
A new memoir by former Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Dr. Michael G. Vickers offers incredible insights into some of the most consequential intelligence and special operations missions of our time. From the killing of Osama bin Laden to his...
06.12.2023
The Ukraine Debrief
We’re letting a secret out of the bag this week. The Cipher Brief traveled to Kyiv to host The Kyiv Economic & Security Forum on the eve of Ukraine’s counteroffensive. Cipher Brief CEO Suzanne Kelly, COO Brad Christian and a...
05.18.2023
Ukraine's New Cyber Force
One man knows better than most, just what cyber tactics Russia has been using to attack Ukraine – not just since the full invasion in February of 2022 – but since the war began in Crimea in 2014. Since then,...
05.12.2023
A Strategic View of Global Security
Cipher Brief CEO & Publisher Suzanne Kelly interviews the former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Lt. Gen Robert Ashley to discuss Ukraine, Russia, China, and the impact of technology on todays complicated world. Listen in on what Gen. Bob...
04.24.2023
The Basics of AI and how it’s Impacting U.S. National Security
State Secrets Host Suzanne Kelly is joined by co-host Brad Christian in this conversation with Lt. General Michael Groen (Ret.) on the basics of AI and how it’s impacting U.S. National Security.
03.29.2023
The DIA's Global Intelligence Picture
In this week’s State Secrets, host Suzanne Kelly talks with Dr. Trent Maul. Dr. Maul was appointed to Director of Analysis for the Defense Intelligence Agency in May 2021. Dr. Maul discusses the Defense Intelligence Agency’s global outlook on the...
03.16.2023
Which Cards Could Beijing Play on Ukraine, North Korea and Taiwan?
Ambassador Joe DeTrani has spent much of his career centered on China. He is not only a former Special Envoy for Six Party Talks with North Korea, he is also a former director of East Asia Operations at the CIA....
03.10.2023
What I Know About Havana Syndrome
Former Senior CIA Officer and Cipher Brief Expert Marc Polymeropoulos was in Moscow in late 2017, when he woke up in his hotel room with a blinding headache. It was the beginning of a 5-year journey that landed him in...
03.01.2023
The War in Ukraine is Changing the World
In this episode of State Secrets, Suzanne Kelly talks about the ways in which the war in Ukraine is changing the world with author Rajan Menon. Menon, a nonresident scholar in the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment...
02.21.2023
Ukraine’s Next Move with General Phil Breedlove (Ret.)
State Secrets host Suzanne Kelly and guest co-host Brad Christian talk with the former NATO Allied Supreme Commander (and former F-16 pilot) about what comes next in Ukraine and what is actually needed in order to win.
02.10.2023
China and the Ballooning National Security Threat
In this week’s State Secrets Podcast, Host Suzanne Kelly talks with The Hon. Susan M. Gordon, a career Intelligence Officer, former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence and current member of the Defense Innovation Board, about Balloons, China, Ukraine, Russia...
02.02.2023
The Classified Mess and How to Clean it Up
In this week’s State Secrets, host Suzanne Kelly talks with former Deputy Director of National Intelligence and Presidential Briefer, Beth Sanner about the discovery of classified documents in the homes and offices of former and current political leaders. Beth shares...
01.26.2023
NATO's Priorities for Intelligence and Security
In one of his very first public interviews as NATO Assistant Secretary General for Intelligence and Security, David Cattler sits down with State Secrets host Suzanne Kelly to talk about one of the most trying times in the alliance’s 74...
12.20.2022
Meet The ‘Apocaloptimist’ of National Security Dr. Jason Matheny, President & CEO of The RAND Corporation
This week, I’m talking with RAND CEO Dr. Jason Matheny about a host of threats to US national security – how technology is playing a role and why people call him an ‘apocaloptimist’. Dr. Matheny has been fascinated with existential...
11.22.2022
The Mission to Give Back
This week we're talking about the mission to give back and we're highlighting three organizations that are doing just that. Suzanne is joined by Brad for three conversations with charities that are making an impact. First up is the Special...
11.15.2022
Curator of Secrets
In 1972, former CIA Executive Director William Colby proposed that the spy agency set up an employee museum as a way to share the unique mission and the impact that CIA had around the world. It took 16 years for...
11.08.2022
Vice Admiral Frank Whitworth- Director, National Geospatial Intelligence Agency
In this State Secrets episode, Cipher Brief CEO & Publisher Suzanne Kelly sits down with the Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Vice Admiral Frank Whitworth at NGA Headquarters in Springfield, Virginia to talk about what’s going on in hot...
10.31.2022
Author and journalist Renee Dudley
In this episode, I’m talking with journalist and author Renee Dudley. Renee is a technology reporter at ProPublica who stumbled onto a band of what she describes as misfits while reporting on the rapid rise of ransomware. What she found...
10.25.2022
How close are we to war with China?
China remains the top concern for long-term US national security and tensions over Taiwan have increased steadily over the past several months. Chinese President Xi Jinping used the 20th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party to cement his grip on power...
10.18.2022
China's Grand Ambitions
Chinese President Xi Jinping opened the 20th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in October - with a speech that makes clear where his party stands on its future ambitions, to include the reunification of the self-governing island of Taiwan....
09.29.2022
Investing in Future National Security
In this episode, Cipher Brief COO Brad Christian sits down with former CIA Officer Brett Davis and Entrepreneur Jeremy Hitchcock to talk about the future of US national security from an investor’s perspective. Brett is a former Senior Executive with...
09.19.2022
The Complicated Case of Taiwan
China’s Communist Party is deep into preparations for its 20th party Congress that begins October 16th in Beijing, where expert observers are expecting President Xi Jinping to be confirmed for an unprecedented third five-year term. Xi is also expected to...
09.14.2022
Terrorism and Special Operations
On the morning of July 31, al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who has been in hiding since 9/11, walked onto the balcony inside a compound in downtown Kabul. The Egyptian-born physician had taken over the leadership of the terrorist organization after...
09.06.2022
The Impact of JCPOA with Cipher Brief Expert Norm Roule
Suzanne talks with former National Intelligence Manager for Iran (NIM-I) at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) Norm Roule on the impact of a potential deal to restore the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear agreement...
08.25.2022
Lt. Gen Michael Groen USMC (Ret)
The former Director of the Pentagon’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center joins us in The Cipher Brief Studio to talk about why technology is not enough when it comes to maintaining a competitive edge in national security over China. If the...
08.01.2022
The Potential for Integrating Intelligence & Intuition
In this episode Suzanne talks with former CIA Deputy Director of Intelligence and founder of the Mossbridge Institute, Dr. Julia Mossbridge.
07.22.2022
Former CIA Officer and Author Alex Finley
This week Suzanne talks with former CIA officer and author of new book Victor in the Trouble Alex Finley. They talk about her career, her path to becoming an author and how she recenlty became an expert on oligarchs and...
06.06.2022
Author and Entrepreneur Steve Blank
This week, Suzanne talks with Steve Blank, the Silicon Valley Entrepreneur widely recognized as one of the most influential voices in technology today. Blank’s passion for US national security led him to co-launch two classes at Stanford, where he teaches. ...
05.23.2022
Admiral James Stavridis
In this episode Suzanne catches up with Cipher Brief Expert and author Admiral James Stavridis (Ret) to talk about his new book- To Risk It All: Nine Conflicts and the Crucible of Decision.
04.27.2022
The Life of a CIA Shadow Warrior
Former Chief of Counterterrorist Operations Ric Prado spent the bulk of his CIA career undercover, taking on the hardest challenges the Agency had, from Nicaragua to Afghanistan. Now, the Cuban refugee shares the secrets of why he did it, and...
04.19.2022
Living in a World of Open Source Secrets
Former Senior CIA Officer Kristin Wood shares her insights on secrets and the world of Open Source Intelligence. Now CEO of Grist Mill Exchange, Wood shares her insights on how businesses and the government can benefit the most from secrets...
04.12.2022
My Secrets for Briefing the President
Cipher Brief Publisher and CEO Suzanne Kelly talks with retired CIA Officer Beth Sanner, who spent 35 years in national security before recently retiring. Her responsibilities included serving as Deputy Director for National Intelligence, and as former President Trump’s Intelligence...
04.06.2022
How CIA is thinking about Open Source Intelligence and Data Analytics
Find out how CIA is thinking about Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) and Data Analytics in a conversation with Marie Falkowski, Director of Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics at CIA’s Directorate of Digital Innovation
03.07.2022
Sierra Six- A Gray Man Series Author Mark Greaney
This week with all of the heaviness with what’s happening in Ukraine and a new world order taking shape, we wanted to give you a break from the stress of reality, and focus on fiction. What we’re seeing today is...
02.07.2022
General Joseph L. Votel U.S. Army (Ret.) President & Chief Executive Officer BENS
In this episode Suzanne welcomes General Joseph L. Votel U.S. Army (Ret.) to the State Secrets podcast. Votel is now the President & CEO of the Business Executives for National Security (BENS) organization. This conversation covers General Votel's perspective on...

What's State Secrets about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

State Secrets episodes:

UKRAINE’S BRIGHT HOPE TO BUILD BACK STRONGER

From Special Operations to the CIA: Assessing the Complexity of the Global Environment

Live from Taiwan :A Debrief with RADM Mike Studeman (Ret)

Villains, Victims and Vendors in Cyberspace

Iran's Proxy War Against The U.S.

Gen Z and CIA is a Relationship in Need of Counseling

The Innovation Gap

The Innovation Gap

Secrets of Espionage

A Seasoned former CIA Officer Shares Stories of War & Espionage

Israel, Hamas and the Path to War

The Future of Open Source - A View from the CIA

Putting the National Cybersecurity Strategy into Practice

The Hunt for Spies in the U.S.

An Overture of the Next Phase of US-China Relations

A Life of Secrets

The Ukraine Debrief

Ukraine's New Cyber Force

A Strategic View of Global Security

The Basics of AI and how it’s Impacting U.S. National Security

The DIA's Global Intelligence Picture

Which Cards Could Beijing Play on Ukraine, North Korea and Taiwan?

What I Know About Havana Syndrome

The War in Ukraine is Changing the World

Ukraine’s Next Move with General Phil Breedlove (Ret.)

China and the Ballooning National Security Threat

The Classified Mess and How to Clean it Up

NATO's Priorities for Intelligence and Security

Meet The ‘Apocaloptimist’ of National Security Dr. Jason Matheny, President & CEO of The RAND Corporation

The Mission to Give Back

Curator of Secrets

Vice Admiral Frank Whitworth- Director, National Geospatial Intelligence Agency

Author and journalist Renee Dudley

How close are we to war with China?

China's Grand Ambitions

Investing in Future National Security

The Complicated Case of Taiwan

Terrorism and Special Operations

The Impact of JCPOA with Cipher Brief Expert Norm Roule

Lt. Gen Michael Groen USMC (Ret)

The Potential for Integrating Intelligence & Intuition

Former CIA Officer and Author Alex Finley

Author and Entrepreneur Steve Blank

Admiral James Stavridis

The Life of a CIA Shadow Warrior

Living in a World of Open Source Secrets

My Secrets for Briefing the President

How CIA is thinking about Open Source Intelligence and Data Analytics

Sierra Six- A Gray Man Series Author Mark Greaney

General Joseph L. Votel U.S. Army (Ret.) President & Chief Executive Officer BENS