Podcast Nuggets Episode 11

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We're back with Podcast Nuggets, but this time only two podcasts due to some radio silence. You're nevertheless in for a treat. The first one is from Katerina Urban Richterova, the Slovak award-winning radio journalist and reporter who also worked for the New York Times, CNN, BBC, ARTE, and many more. She's well informed and a joy to listen to. Unlike usual, we don't suggest an episode, but recommend listening to her full podcast series. Somehow, I managed to miss the start of this series in 2020 but it's never too late to discover podcast gems. There's also the fascinating Spycraft 101 episode on Area 51.

The Secret Struggle for Cold War Dominance is a Cold War podcast series, but not about the usual main opponents, although they might be involved in some cases. If we talk about the Cold War, most people know the rivalry between the Unites States, Russia, and later China. However, many lesser known Asian, African and South American countries were also affected and, willingly or not, actively involved in the Cold War. Yet they are barely mentioned in the archives. Katarina interviews researchers about those unknown people and their stories. You can listen to the complete series, including bonus episodes, on Apple Podcast, Spotify or Katarina's podcast page, but make sure to go back to the Episode 1 introduction, and start with the first interviews of the series. Bonus episodes are also available, and it took a while, but Season 2 is underway...

SPYCRAFT 101 The Real Secrets of Area 51. Peter Merlin is an author, historian, freelance researcher, and writer. He also worked as historian and archivist at NASA for more than 30 years and has been researching and writing about Area 51 for many years and compiled all his knowledge in his book Dreamland: The Secret History of Area 51, a massive 560 pages work with more than 700 images. In the podcast he talks about the early beginnings of the CIA's Area 51, the development of cutting-edge aircraft technology, and some of the most iconic airplanes ever built. Peter also debunks some of the conspiracy theories. He documented Area 51 from its early beginnings, when it was little more than a dry lakebed, through its growth as CIA facility to develop and test cutting-edge aircraft technology. Great interview with new insights and facts.

Podcast Nuggets Episode 10

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After a long break, we resume the Podcast Nuggets series, covering a selection of excellent talks about signals, intelligence, wars and espionage. In other words, ordinary everyday life. Some of the podcast pages provide additional information, photos or videos. We start with a fascinating career in SIGINT, prisoners in Hanoi Hilton with a direct line to the CIA, the SAS raising hell in North Africa, how to steal paintings, and working for the CIA or FBI, or maybe not, who knows? If you want more podcast introductions, just click the above Podcast Nuggets icon.

COLD  WAR Conversations - Uncovering Cold War Soviet secrets with the USAF and NSA. In 1975, Tim joined the US Air Force to see the world. He hoped for a job in electronics but was redirected to the field of communications analysis. After basic training, he was sent to the Joint Cryptologic school at Goodfellow AFB (Air Force Base). He served at the Air Force Electronic Warfare Center at Kelly AFB in Texas, RAF Chicksands in the UK, working on SIGINT collection of USSR targets, the Cryptologic Support Group, Strategic Air Command HQ, and Offutt AFB in Nebraska, providing SIGINT briefings to US Strategic Air Command. In 1983, Tim transferred to the NSA, and was later posted at GCHQ, the British Government Communications Headquarter. An amazing career and lots of stories to tell.

SPYCRAFT 101 - POW Spy Ring in Vietnam with Jim Stockdale. Jim is the son of US Navy aviator, Admiral James Stockdale, who was shot down over North Vietnam in 1965. His father was  imprisoned in the Hualap prison, a.k.a. Hanoi Hilton, where the prisoners were interrogated and turtured. Despite the harsh prison regime, het set up a communications network within the prison to secretly collect information, and support and encourage fellow prisoners. From within the prison, they also established a covert communications channel with the CIA.

HISTORY HACK - SAS Forged in Hell. When David Sterling founded the Special Air Service in 1941, he described it as forged in hell, and they definitely raised hell in the deserts of North Africa. They were the pioneers of unconventional warfare, and to operate behind enemy lines, they had to cross thousands of miles in the Sahara desert. You simply could not order regular soldiers to carry out such suicide missions, but the SAS members were volunteers, despite all odds against them. This was thanks to officers like Paddy Mayne, because the soldiers knew he would never ask them things he would not do himself, and he often lead from the front. Following the capture of Sterling in 1943, Major Payne became commander of the SAS, the unit that, according to Field Marshall Rommel, caused more trouble than any other unit. A fascinating story about a brave man.

SPYCAST - The Most Famous Art Detective in the World. Andrew Hammond interviewed retired Special Agent Robert Wittman about the creation of the FBI Art Crimes Team, a special unit, tasked to locate and recover stolen works of art. Not quite the career you might expect when working in the FBI, but Bob quickly came to appreciate both the job and the artwork. He explains how art thieves operate, the inside jobs and how the Art Crimes Team uses intelligence tradecraft to locate stolen paintings. Robert also talks about working and living undercover abroad and how they brought home many priceless pieces of art, worth millions of dollars.

ALPHABET BOYS - Season One: Troyan Hearse. In two seasons, journalist Trevor Aaronson reveals secret investigations from the FBI, CIA, DEA, ATF, and other so-called alphabet agencies. He exposes secret undercover recordings that the government never wanted you to hear. Make sure to check out all the FBI documents, photos and undercover videos. In the first season, you learn how a mysterious antifa warrior in military fatigues arrives into town, driving a hearse filled with guns. Who is the man that infiltrates the 2020 protests, and who are the bad guys?

ALPHABET BOYS - Season Two: Up in Arms. The story of an undercover operation with a fake arms dealer and Colombian rebels. But who are the bad guys? The weapons dealer of course, but didn't he work for the CIA, or was it the FBI? No, of course he's a criminal, or a spy, but for whom? It's confirmed, and denied. One thing's for sure, it's a big mess. Two excellent seasons, well told, with audio interviews and covert recordings. Highly recommended!

Podcast Nuggets Episode 9

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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)

Podcast Nuggets Episode 8

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Time to spoil the ears again with another selection of podcast nuggets from across the Internet. We start with a man who knows the Soviet Union inside out. Next, a stupendously dangerous extortion that ends spectacular, how to catch a most damaging spy in your own ranks and finally the struggle between government and public for right to digital privacy.

COLD WAR CONVERSATIONS - A UK Journalist in the Soviet Union & the GDR is an interview with Mark Brayne who studied in 1972 two years in Moscow and traveled around Russia. He returned to the Soviet Union in 1974 as Reuters reporter and befriended Andrei Sakharov, the nuclear scientist who eventually became a Soviet dissident. After Russia he became correspondent for Reuters in East Berlin and later for BBC in Beijing and the BBC World Service. Also listen to Brayne under Stasi Surveillance and his Reporting the 1989 Romanian Revolution. So many fascinating stories about the many people Brayne got to know. The interview show notes contain photos and videos of Brayne's trips.

DAMN INTERESTING - The Zero-Armed Bandit brings the stunning story of  John Birges who lost a lot of money in Harvey’s Wagon Wheel Casino. He got the brilliant idea to extort three million dollars from the casino by planting a 1000 pounds dynamite bombe in Harvey's Resort Hotel. The bombe had a complex tamper-proof detonation mechanism and once the ransom was paid, Birges would provide the instructions to disarm the bombe. He warned the FBI not to disarm the bombe but they decided to let the bombe technicians have a go at it.

SPYCAST - Cuban Intelligence and the Ana Montes Spy Case interview with Scott Carmichael, a senior counterintelligence investigator of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). Carmichael was the man who identified Ana Belen Montes, one of the most damaging spies in recent U.S. history. Montes joined the DIA in 1985 and quickly became a rising star and later DIA's most senior and distinguished Cuba analyst. In reality, she worked for the Cuban intelligence service.

DARKNET DIARIES - Crypto Wars Jack Rhysider talks with Cindy Cohn, Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the well known non-profit digital rights group. For many decades, cryptography was in the hands of governments and their military. That changes in the 1980s when the Internet arrived and ordinairy people began to use cryptography to protect their communications and data. Since then, governments have tried to restrict or weaken publicly available encryption.

Podcast Nuggets Episode 7

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We're back with another selection of excellent podcasts to spoil the ears.  The first one is a fascinating two-part insight in the recruiting, training and deep cover life of former KGB illegal Jack Barsky in the United States. Next is a national bank robbery that counts, literally, into to billions. Finally, the story of project Cybersyn, the creation of Cybernet to modernise Salvador Allende's Chile.

COLD WAR CONVERSATIONS - I was a deep cover KGB spy Part 1 is an interview with Jack Barsky about his remarkable career as a spy. In this first part he talks about his early childhood and life in East Germany. As a bright student at the university of Jena he was scouted by the Stasi and recruited by the KGB. After two years of training in Berlin he was sent to Moscow to be trained as a deep cover illegal and develop his new identity. The legendary Soviets spies Morris and Lona cohen, also known as Peter and Helen Kroger, helped him to become American.

COLD WAR CONVERSATIONS - I was a deep cover KGB spy - Part 2 continues with Jack Barsky's arrival in the United States. He had to build a new fictitious life and a succesful career. He regularly received encrypted radio messages from the KGB. His assignment was to develop contacts with people of interest. Ten years later, married and having a daughter, he decided to break with the KGB. It took the FBI almost ten years to catch him. To learn more about Jack Barsky's life and spy career I can highly recommend his book Deep Undercover with a very detailed account of his life and work as a KGB spy in the United States.

DARKNET DIARIES - Bangladesh Bank Heist is a guide to rob a billion dollars without anyone ever noticing. At least, that's the plan. Jack Rhysider interviewed investigative journalist Geoff White about the National Bank of Bangladesh who had a foreign currency reserve in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. To work with that reserve, the bank used SWIFT, an international bank transfer network to send payment orders between banks all over the world. This is where the troubles start.

DAMN INTERESTING - Nineteen Seventy Three brings the story of Chilean president Salvador Allende and British theorist Stafford Beer. The world-renowned cybernetician proposed to develop a network with thousands of terminals that feed the complete Chilean economy and industry into a central mainframe computer with software that would optimize the country's resources and economy. However, this promising boost for Allende's socialist economy was not met with enthusiasm by U.S. president Nixon and the CIA.

Podcast Nuggets Episode 6

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It's podcast time again, but these ones will spoil the ears for many hours, or rather weeks. The Cold War is an historically important period. Much has been written about it in books and on the Internet, but there are also some excellent podcasts. Today we have three podcast series that delve deeper into the entire Cold War period. One advice before you hit the play button, scroll down to their first podcast episode to discover the history of the Cold War chronologically.

Cold War Conversations by Ian Sanders are interviews and discussions with guests who lived through and experienced the Cold War first hand. Instead of focussing on the well known events, he brings the personal stories and lesser known aspects of the Cold War. The podcasts also shows how the Cold War affected the lives of ordinary people. Truly fascinating accounts. Also available at Player FM and more at facebook.

The Cold War Vault by DJ Kinney, another one of my favorites. He holds a PhD in history with specializations in the history of science and the Cold War, as you will notice in his podcasts. Start with his Introduction podcast, View from Ground Zero and The Last of the Cold War Kids which explains his fascination with the Cold War and why he created this podcast. Also available at Player FM and more at facebook. Highly recommended!

The History of the Cold War by Jeff Hogue, who has a BA and Masters in history. His series focusses more on the countries involved, their culture, politics and ideology, and how this influenced their positions in the Cold War. He also bring the story of the protagonists, how and why they came to power and how they determined the course of the Cold War. Also available at Player FM. and more at facebook.

More Cold War posts on SIGINT Chatter.

Podcast Nuggets Episode 5

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After a long break, we're at it again. Three podcast nuggets to spoil the ears and mind. Recent news as a starter. The renowned company Crypto AG that turned out to be a CIA & BND subsidiary. Next stop, a talk about how you make it possible for U.S. spooks to operate in Moscow, and finally the former CIA chief of station Moscow about handling their top Russian spy. Almost three hours of fascinating spy mania. Get your headphones, listen very carefully... and watch your back!

NPR - Uncovering The CIA's Operation To Steal State Secrets. Washington Post reporter Greg Miller was one of the investigative journalists who uncovered the truth about the highly respected Swiss company Crypto AG, once world leader of encryption equipment with customers in more than 120 countries. CIA documents revealed that Crypto AG was joint-purchased by the CIA and BND, the West-German Federal Intelligence, as early as 1970. It was the start of the largest ever worldwide compromise of secure communications for many decades. See also my previous posts Crypto AG Fallout and Crypto AG Alternatives.

SPYCAST - Moscow Rules with Jonna Mendez. The story of CIA operations officer Tony Mendez (the real Argo) and his wife Jonna, both experts in disguise who were ground-breaking experts in developing techniques that enables American spies to operate under the noses of the almighty KGB’s countersurveillance. Cloak is the vital part of cloak and dagger. Tony sadly past away in 2019. The book is also a tribute to his work. I recently bought the book The Moscow Rules, and I can highly recommended.

SPYCAST- Conversation with David Rolph. This Former CIA Chief of Moscow station was one of the case officers that handled Adolf Tolkachev, probably the most valuable CIA assets ever in the Soviet Union. The CIA had to operate and have meetings with Tolkachev, despite overwhelming KGB surveillance. If you liked this podcast and want to know more about Tolkachev, you definitely have to read the book The Billion Dollar Spy from David Hoffman (see my book review).  There's More about Tolkachev on this blog.

Podcast Nuggets Episode 4

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We're back with another series of curious events from both sides of the Iron curtain. This time, we catch a spy that should have been catching spies and we take a detour around the moon with the Soviet Lunik 3 mission. There's also the spicy mix of sex and espionage and you can listen how the Russians, barely, managed to keep the Mir space station in orbit. Clean your ears and listen very carefully!

SPYCAST - The Robert Hansen Spy Case is one of the most damaging cases ever for U.S. intelligence operations. In 1979, FBI counter-intelligence agent Robert Hansen approached a Soviet GRU intelligence officer and offered his services. For two decades, Hansen provided the Soviets with crucial information about American intelligence operations and betrayed Russians that work for the CIA. Senior FBI Supervisory Special Agent David Major talks about Hansen and his motives.

DAMN INTERESTING - Faxes From The Far Side is the stunning story of U.S. spy balloons, the precursors of the spy satellite, and how the Soviets were able to capture some of these spy balloons. They removed the temperature-resistant and radiation-hardened photographic film to re-use it for their own Lunik 3 mission to capture the dark side of the moon. Recycling on a Cold War space level.

SPYCAST - Sexpionage tells the story of sexual entrapment and emotional blackmail by intelligence organisations. The Soviets and especially the East-German intelligence service HvA were very succesfull in the art of sexpionage. Keith Melton explains who did it, how they did it, and some of the great successes of the Russian KGB honey traps and the East German Stasi Romeo agents.

CURIOUS MINDS - The Awful and Wonderful History of Mir brings the chilling story of several near fatal accidents that occurred on the Russian space station Mir. Collisions, fires, power cuts, breaches. You name it, they had it. Mir was the first modular in space assembled space station, in orbit from 1986 to 1999. It stayed up eight years longer than the American Skylab but that also had its consequences.

Podcast Nuggets Episode 3

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This month another batch of treats for the ears from around the Internet. We have a CIA officer with an incredible career that spans three decades, a secret nuclear powered military base in Greenland and military missions in Germany that kept the Cold War from getting too hot.

SPYCAST - Cuba Libre Part I, Part II and Part III are a series of fascinating interviews with Felix Rodriguez, a former paramilitary operations officer of the CIA's Special Activities Division. In 1961 he was the leader of the CIA counter-intelligence operation and entered Cuba weeks before the Bay of Pig Invasion. In 1967 he headed and trained a team to track down Che Guevara. Two years later he enlisted in the US Army and flew countless intelligence mission in Vietnam for special CIA units and even got caught up in the Iran-Contra affair. No wonder that they needed three episodes to get his story recorded. Check out Part I, Part II and part III.

STUFF THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO KNOW - Project Iceworm is the construction of a secret U.S. military base on a remote icy plain in Greenland in 1960. The United States had obtained permission from the Danish government to build an arctic research complex to conduct experiments of construction under arctic conditions, the use of small nuclear power plants in remote environments and various other scientific experiments. A least, that was the official version. The real reason for this arctic adventure in the height of the Cold War was less scientific. Camp Century was part of the top secret Project Iceworm, the construction of an underground, or rather, under-ice network of nuclear missile launch sites. This would enable medium-range nuclear missiles to hit Moscow in the event of a nuclear war. See also Camp Century - Greenland Going Nuclear.

SPYCAST - The US Military Liaison Mission in East Germany was one of four Liaison Mission, established after the Second World War. The British, American, Soviet and French allies agreed to accredit military liaison missions near the headquarters of each others occupation zones in Germany. These military liaison missions continued throughout the Cold War until 1990. Initially implemented for economical monitoring and a communications channel between the different allied powers in occupied Germany, the liaison's mission gradually changed into a military intelligence mission when tension rose between the West and the Soviet Union. Major General Michael Ennis, a specialist on the Soviet Union, was one of the officers who spied in East Germany as part of the US Military Liaison Mission. See also The Military Liaison Mission for more information.

MALICIOUS LIFE - Seasons 1, 1.5 and 2 are Ran Levi's fascinating series of podcasts about malware, hacking, cyber crime and war. Season 1 covers the early hackers, spamming and state actors. The whole season 1.5 is dedicated to Stuxnet, the virus that crippled Iran's nuclear gas centrifuges by infecting their control systems with a highly sophisticated worm virus. Season 3 is all about the state actors and cyber war, whistleblowers, propaganda and fake news, North Korean hackers and hacking as a weapon.

Podcast Nuggets Episode 2

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This month we have another selection of great podcasts, all related to the Cold War. How to become a KGB sleeper agent, how U.S president Reagan stoked up the Cold War with his space program and a spy mission on a Soviet cruiser that ended in disaster and embarrassment.

SPY CAST - Deep Undercover: Interview with Jack Barsky, a former KGB illegal. Born as Albrecht Dittrich in East-Germany, he was recruited in 1970 by the KGB, trained in Moscow and sent the the United States in 1978 under a false identity. He lived the American dream and made a career, for both the KGB and unaware American companies, but was eventually caught by the FBI.

CURIOUS MINDS - Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative scared the hell out of the Soviets. As if branding them as the Empire of Evil wasn't enough, his plans for a space defence system, a.k.a. the Star Wars Initiative, would render Soviet intercontinental ballistic missiles useless. It made the Kremlin fear the worst. Did Reagan's wild plans eventually lead to the collapse of the Soviet Union?

STUFF THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO KNOW - Commander Crabb, the curious case of the frogman that disappeared. Lieutenant Commander Lionel Crabb was a highly decorated combat diver. Crabb was recruited in 1956 by the British Foreign Intelligence organisation MI6 to spy on the Soviet cruiser Ordzhonikidze in Portsmouth Harbour. The cruiser had Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev aboard for a diplomatic mission. Crabb never resurfaced from his underwater mission and MI6 tried to cover up his mission that eventually would embarrass the British government.

Podcast Nuggets Episode 1

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As a regular listener of intelligence and history podcasts, I discovered many fascinating podcasts that deserve to be highlighted. Let's kick off this series with a first batch of podcasts. Keep your ears open, as there will be many more to follow...

DAMN INTERESTING - The Spy who Loved Nothing is the story of U.S. Sgt Robert Lee Johnson who became a KGB spy and stole in 1962 lots of most sensitive U.S. and NATO cryptographic and military information from the high security vault of the Armed Forces courier center in Orly, France. The vault and its content had risen to a holy grail status within the KGB. Johnson succeeded and many documents, some of them classified higher than top secret, ended up in Moscow (hit the website's "Narrate" button to listen).

SPYCAST - Able Archer 83 Interview with Nate Jones about the large 1983 NATO Command Post Exercise that nearly triggered World War III. The exercise was a simulation of a conflict that culminated in a nuclear war. It was a communications only exercise with signals troops all across Western Europe, sending coded messages, lead from a NATO nuclear bunker in Belgium. The scenario included a gradually escalating situation, with communications between heads of states, periods of total radio silence and eventually a DEFCON1 alert, indicating an imminent nuclear attack. The only problem was that the Soviets believed it to be an actual NATO preemptive first strike against the USSR. More about exercise Able Archer and a video is found on my previous post.

STUFF THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO KNOW - Operation Gladio is the commonly used name for the highly secretive stay-behind organisations that were established during the Cold War in many European countries. Gladio's mission in an event of Soviet invasion was to pass strategic information to their governments in exile, establish resistance groups and carry out sabotage activities across Europe. As Churchill would put it: set Europe ablaze. They were so secret that, apart from a few intelligence officers, even some countries own government didn't know of their existence. Some stay-behind cells however had quite shady links to extremist and criminal organisations.