Podcast Nuggets Episode 9

Click for more

It's been quite a while since the last podcast nuggets, due to the move of our website and other time consuming stuff, but again we have a selection of amazing interviews.

Learn to fly with Air America (spoiler, not for faint-hearted), think twice before using a secure cell phone, how was British turncoat Kim Philby in private, and how good were the German codebreakers during the Second World War?

COLD WAR CONVERSATIONS - Flying for the CIA’s Air America in South East Asia is quite a story. Pilot Neil Hansen applied in 1964 for a job with an airliner called Air America. As most people, he had never heard of that company, and they apparently only had three airplanes. He soon learned it was the CIA and his first flight was with the Chinese flag on the plane's tail. The next flight was a plane with all markings stripped off, and soon also "black" flights. From then on, it only got more exciting and more dangerous. Flights over Vietnam, Laos, and often very risky places to land or drop cargo. Make sure to check the show notes and videos underneath the interview.

DARKNET DIARIES - Secret Cells Jack Rhysider talks with Joseph Cox about crypto phones. If you want to have a really private conversation, don't use your smartphone. Dive into the shady world of secure cell phones. It sounds a great idea to have a secure phone to protect your privacy, but organized crime also loves secure phones. When Australian and Canadian police discovered that Phantom Secure phones were used in an assassination plot, they could not read the communications. When those Phantom phones also turned up in the United States, the FBI got involved and that started quite an extraordinary operation.

COLD WAR CONVERSATIONS - Charlotte Philby about her grandfather Soviet spy Kim Philby. From 1934 until 1963, British intelligence officers Kim Philby worked for the Soviet secret service as double agent. Edith Tudor-Hart was an Austrian-British photographer who brought Philby in contact with the KGB. In this interview, granddaughter Charlotte Philby talks about the research she did for her book "Edith and Kim". This includes her own private archive with letters from Kim Philby and secret files on Edith Tudor-Hart. Charlotte's visits to Philby in Moscow also give an insight in the private life of probably the most notorious British spy ever. See also the show notes photos and videos underneath the podcast.

HISTORY HACK - German Code-Breaking in WW2 is the hardly known history of the German signals intelligence and codebreaking organizations before and during the Second World War. Christian Jennings' book "The Third Reich Is Listening" finally sheds light on an almost forgotten part of the war. We all know the famous British codebreakers that cracked the German Enigma machine, but the Germans also had their successes. However, they also suffered from conflicts and distrust among the many different cryptologic services. The interview is a perfect introduction to Christian's book (see also my website book review)