The most played episodes among Podcast App listeners.

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   Number 1: Odette Sansom | The Unbreakable Spy of WW2

   Ways to support the podcast: Buy Me a Coffee: ☕ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bmc.link/philipthompson⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Donate via PayPal: 💸 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠paypal.me/PhilipT284⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Captured by the Gestapo. Tortured with a hot iron and steel pincers. Sentenced to death, twice. Odette Sansom gave her interrogators nothing, and became the most highly decorated woman spy of World War 2. A courier for the SOE's SPINDLE network in occupied France, betrayed, imprisoned, and sent to Ravensbrück, she survived to testify against the men who tried to break her. 📚 Sources & Further Reading (affiliate link): 📕 Code Name: Lise: The True Story of the Woman Who Became World War II's Most Highly Decorated Spy by Larry Loftis 📘Odette: World War Two's Darling Spy by Penny Starns 📕Odette by Jerrard Tickell

   August 13, 2026·34min
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   Number 2: Bridge of Spies | The Dramatic Spy Swap That Defined The Cold War

   Ways to support the podcast: Buy Me a Coffee: ☕ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bmc.link/philipthompson⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Donate via PayPal: 💸 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠paypal.me/PhilipT284⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ On 10 February 1962, two men stood on opposite ends of a bridge in Potsdam and waited for a signal. One was a Soviet illegal who'd spent nine years posing as a Brooklyn artist. The other was the American U-2 pilot shot down over Sverdlovsk two years earlier. This is the story of Rudolf Abel and Francis Gary Powers, the men who negotiated their exchange, and the third prisoner almost nobody remembers. 📚 Sources & Further Reading (affiliate links): 📕 Bridge of Spies by Giles Whittell - https://amzn.to/46BVhfB 📘 KGB Man: The Cold War's Most Notorious Soviet Agent and the First to be Exchanged at the Bridge of Spies by Cecil Kuhne - https://amzn.to/4ymmkrl 📕 Spy Pilot: Francis Gary Powers, the U-2 Incident, and a Controversial Cold War Legacy by Francis Gary Powers Jr. - https://amzn.to/3UxopSI 📘 Abel: The True Story of the Spy They Traded for Gary Powers by Vin Arthey - https://amzn.to/4cpMb98

   September 04, 2026·27min
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   Number 3: Project GENETRIX | The CIA's Army of Spy Balloons Over the Soviet Union

   Ways to support the podcast: Buy Me a Coffee: ☕ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bmc.link/philipthompson⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Donate via PayPal: 💸 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠paypal.me/PhilipT284 ⁠⁠In January 1956, the U.S. Air Force and CIA launched more than 500 unmanned balloons across the Soviet Union and China, each one carrying a camera, betting the jet stream could see what a spy plane couldn't. Project GENETRIX lasted 27 days before Soviet fighters, a public wreckage display in Moscow, and a furious Eisenhower shut it down. Only a fraction of the balloons ever produced usable photographs. But the wind data, a radar-detection accident, and a recovery technique it left behind fed directly into the U-2 and, later, the CORONA spy satellite. This is the story of the Cold War's strangest reconnaissance gamble, and the one that, in February 2023, came back around with the roles reversed.

   August 20, 2026·16min
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   Number 4: William Mackinnon Gray | The Spy Turned Wife Killer

   Ways to support the podcast: Buy Me a Coffee: ☕ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bmc.link/philipthompson⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Donate via PayPal: 💸 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠paypal.me/PhilipT284⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ In April 1941, MI6 station chief William Mackinnon Gray shot his wife dead in a British Army officers' mess, then turned the gun on himself. He survived. When Britain's Secret Intelligence Service learned who he really was, they moved to make sure the world never found out, and the truth stayed buried for over eighty years. Original John Lucas article: 🌐Crime Files: The Spy Who Killed: Investigating MI6's wartime wife killer

   August 06, 2026·18min
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   Number 5: John Walker | The Worst Spy Ring In US History

   Ways to support the podcast: Buy Me a Coffee: ☕ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bmc.link/philipthompson⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Donate via PayPal: 💸 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠paypal.me/PhilipT284⁠⁠⁠ John Anthony Walker Jnr. ran the largest and most damaging espionage ring in Cold War history. For nearly 18 years he and his co-conspirators sold US Navy secrets to the Soviets. Yet things inevitably got too big and too messy. John Walker’s contempt for his wife and those around him meant that it was only a matter of time before his house of cards went tumbling down. In the year of the spy, John Anthony Walker Jnr. was the spy of the decade. #philipthompson #truelifespystories #johnwalker Primary sources and further reading (afiiliate links): 📕 Family of Spies: Inside the John Walker Spy Ring, Pete Earley - Family of Spies: Inside the John Walker Spy Ring - https://amzn.to/4v0Sgjw 📘 Spy Hunter: Inside the FBI Investigation of the Walker Espionage Case, Robert W. Hunter - https://amzn.to/4ekCCYq 📕 Breaking the Ring, John Baron - https://amzn.to/3VgiKgo Media shown in this video (affiliate links): 🎞️ On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) - https://amzn.to/4b4L9vQ 🎞️ The Vietnam War (2017) - https://amzn.to/3VqClux

   June 12, 2026·42min
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