logo
episode-header-image
Nov 2024
36m 40s

‘I gave my life to the CIA. They betraye...

THE TIMES
About this episode

On Sept 12, 2001, Blerim Skoro was approached by a man and a woman while he was in prison. They turned out to be CIA agents. That one meeting would change the course of his life and lead him on a journey across countries, inside terrorist groups, as he tried to make it home to his family.

This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory

Guest: Josie Ensor, US Correspondent, The Times and The Sunday Times.

Host: Luke Jones.

Producer: Taryn Siegel.

Clips: Video filmed by Blerim Skoro, provided by ‘The Accidental Spy’, directed by Anthony Wonke.

Photo: John Beck for The Times.

Further reading: I gave my life to the CIA. They betrayed me

Get in touch: thestory@thetimes.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Today
The forgotten postmaster ‘hounded to death’ by investigators
<p>Of the thirteen sub-postmasters thought to have taken their own lives because of the Post Office scandal, only two have been named publicly. Michael Mann was one of them. Our reporter has spoken to his family, former partner and ex-colleagues to tell his story for the first ti ... Show More
33m 17s
Yesterday
A new peace plan, and a critical moment for Zelensky
<p>The prospect of peace in Ukraine may be edging closer, after the leak of a controversial 28-point plan to end the war prompted Ukrainian and Western officials to meet for ‘productive’ talks in Geneva. Is this the beginning of the end? And how does the latest proposal ensure th ... Show More
30m 48s
Nov 24
Porn, strangulation and the law
<p>A recent survey revealed that more than half of 16 to 34-year-olds have taken part in strangulation during sex, despite the risks of a loss of consciousness and stroke. Many feel a rise in choking in pornography is to blame, a practice the UK government is set to ban. Baroness ... Show More
31m 8s
Recommended Episodes
May 2025
#198 Blerim Skoro - CIA & FBI Asset / Al-Qaeda Infiltrator
Blerim Skoro is a Kosovo-born former CIA operative whose life took a dramatic turn after deserting the Yugoslav army in the 1990s. Arriving in New York as an asylum seeker, Skoro’s journey led him from a drug trafficking conviction to becoming a key informant for the FBI and CIA ... Show More
3h 59m
Aug 2024
In The Boys' Club. Life As A Female CIA Operative. Uncut with Brittany Butler
Brittany Butler spent nine years as a targeting officer within the CIA's Directorate of Operations, Counterterrorism Center. Brittany has worked both at Langley and in the Middle East and has first-hand knowledge of how the CIA recruits spies and how intelligence organisations di ... Show More
54m 28s
Aug 28
Former CIA Spies: "The CIA Tried To Ban This Story!" We're Leaving The US by 2030!
Ex-CIA spies Andrew and Jihi Bustamante expose the TOP SECRET mission the CIA don’t want you to hear on uncovering a traitor, and the spy hacks that could change your life. Andrew Bustamante is a former CIA officer who spent 7 years in covert operations. He co-founded 'EverydaySp ... Show More
2h 33m
Mar 2025
25. Trump vs the CIA: The Halloween Massacre (Ep 2)
When the CIA is forced to downsize, who gets cut? What happens to the intelligence left behind? And how does political control change the way spies operate? In the late 1970s, Jimmy Carter’s CIA director launched a brutal purge, firing hundreds of intelligence officers in what b ... Show More
41m 49s
Nov 2024
2. The First CIA Coup: Turmoil in Tehran (Ep 2)
The first coup attempt has failed. The Shah has fled to Baghdad. The CIA have told Kermit he can leave if he's in a jam, but he chooses not to. He wants to finish the job. The streets of Tehran are chaos; protesters against the Shah are out in their thousands and things are getti ... Show More
31 m
Oct 2021
‘The Americans’ Creator: Being in the CIA Made Me Empathize with the KGB
In this bonus episode of The New Abnormal, Joseph Weisberg explains how his time in the CIA made him see the KGB and Russia in an entirely new light (“They weren't like evil, cold-blooded killers.”) Plus, he tells Molly Jong-Fast all about his new show that’s about a serial kille ... Show More
15m 42s
Mar 2025
24. Trump vs the CIA: Purging the Deep State (Ep 1)
How do politicians control the CIA? What happens when politics affects the way it is run? And how often does the White House clash with Langley? Trump is trying to bring the CIA more directly under his control. He wants to reduce the size of it and re-order it's priorities. But ... Show More
52m 13s
Apr 2025
37. CIA Mind Control: Sex, Drugs, and Mysterious Deaths (Ep 3)
From LSD-fuelled hallucinations to medically-induced comas, the CIA explored every avenue in their search for mind control. But how did they justify these gross violations of human rights? And what does it reveal about the hidden history of the Cold War? In the clandestine world ... Show More
48m 29s
Jun 2025
53. Bin Laden vs the CIA: The Great Escape (Ep 3)
"The walls of oppression and humiliation cannot be demolished except in a rain of bullets." These chilling words from Osama bin Laden's 1996 fatwa declared war on the United States. How did this Saudi Arabian millionaire transform into a global terrorist leader, openly inviting m ... Show More
59m 15s
Sep 23
The 9/11 Files: The CIA’s Secret Mission Gone Wrong | Ep 1
A former FBI agent who was embedded in the CIA’s Bin Laden unit, Mark Rossini, claims the CIA was fully aware that the 9/11 hijackers were in the United States planning an attack. Rather than inform the FBI, the CIA tried to recruit two of the hijackers for a “false-flag” operati ... Show More
26m 30s
Listen to millions of songs and podcasts on Anghami