logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2024
42m 4s

The new Dark Age of Espionage

PODMASTERS
About this episode
The spying game was supposed to fade into history with the Cold War. But Vladimir Putin’s historic grievances, obsession with Ukraine and need to placate his own intelligence agencies have sent a new wave of espionage across the world. The West thinks we’re at peace. The Russians know we’re at war. So what are Western intelligence agencies going to do about ... Show More
Up next
Oct 29
How Putin is playing Trump’s chaotic Ukraine “diplomacy” – with Oz Katerji
Trump’s erratic actions around Ukraine look less and less like sincere bids to end the war and more like attempts to cosy up to Putin, sell out Ukraine and save himself in the midterms. And Putin is using his increased impunity. Within hours of any meeting between Trump’s envoy S ... Show More
35m 23s
Oct 22
Cold War – The new battle for the Arctic
A new Great Game is under way. As the frozen poles start to melt, a new “ice silk road” is emerging in the newly-navigable Arctic Ocean – and it’s subject of intense commercial and military competition between China, Europe, the US and Russia. Trump’s on-off threats to Greenland ... Show More
28m 13s
Oct 15
What Trump’s latest gift to Putin means for Ukraine
Trump’s sanction-busting diesel deal with Vladimir Putin has sent shockwaves across the world. As Ukraine braces for a Russian winter offensive, have US threats to withhold intelligence and access to weapons sold out the Ukrainian people? Gavin Esler is joined by Steven Pifer, se ... Show More
30m 45s
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2024
Philby, Fleming and Putin: A History of Spies
<p>Ed Vaizey interrogates the past, present and future of espionage, from moments that could have come from fiction to the reality of spying in the modern world. He speaks to former GCHQ director Sir David Omand and Lord Robin Renwick, former UK ambassador to the United States an ... Show More
43m 29s
Feb 2024
The Intelligence: Redoubled agents
A slew of spycraft mishaps might suggest Russia’s once-great intelligence services have hopelessly decayed. Do not be fooled: the spooks are back, and better. We ask why a “supercycle” commodities boom might not come to pass, even though the conditions are ripe for one (10:04). A ... Show More
23m 29s
Feb 2024
The Intelligence: Redoubled agents
<p>A slew of spycraft mishaps might suggest Russia’s once-great intelligence services have hopelessly decayed. Do not be fooled: the spooks are back, <a href="https://www.economist.com/international/2024/02/20/russian-spies-are-back-and-more-dangerous-than-ever?utm_campaign=a.io& ... Show More
23m 29s
Aug 2023
Spies: The Epic Intelligence War Between East and West
Michael’s guest this week is Calder Walton, Assistant Director of the Belfer Center's Applied History Project and Intelligence Project at the Harvard Kennedy School and author of the book, “Spies: The Epic Intelligence War Between East and West. Michael and Calder discuss the his ... Show More
1h 7m
Mar 2025
31. Putin’s War: The Secret Plot to Invade Ukraine (Ep 1)
How did western intelligence services learn of Putin's plan to invade Ukraine? 2021 is drawing to a close and the CIA is becoming increasingly concerned that Putin is going to invade Ukraine. He's made it clear he sees it as part of Russia and so Bill Burns, CIA director, is goi ... Show More
46m 26s
Nov 2018
Is the West at War with Russia?
There’s talk of a new Cold War between Russia and the West. What responsibility does the West carry for the dismal state of relations?Russian leaders say Nato has expanded far beyond the borders that were agreed when the Soviet Union collapsed and a new European order was thrashe ... Show More
23m 10s
May 2025
47. The Leak That Changed The World: Spying on the World (Ep 5)
Stories continue to flood out of the Snowden leaks and it's not just American doing the spying. How were the British 'Mastering the Internet'? Should we be surprised that America are spying on their allies? And what damage will these revelations do? Listen as David McCloskey and ... Show More
38m 38s
Mar 2022
Russia’s Dirty Tricks
“Maverick strategist” Sean McFate, a former private mercenary, talks about the Ukraine deployment of Russia’s paramilitary Wagner Group, while ex-senior CIA ops officer Gregory Sims says US security officials should “expect the unexpected” not to be caught flat-footed by a corner ... Show More
48m 50s