logo
episode-header-image
Dec 2024
10m 19s

48. CIA, Afghanistan, and The Rest Is Cl...

Goalhanger
About this episode
In 2021, US troops withdrew from Afghanistan, ending a conflict that had been brutally fought for almost 20 years. While the news dominated the headlines, fewer may have heard the story of when the CIA first entered Afghanistan in the aftermath of 9/11. Today Katty and Anthony are joined by former CIA analyst and host of Goalhanger’s latest podcast, The Rest ... Show More
Up next
Yesterday
Introducing The Book Club: The Great Gatsby
To listen to the full episode, search The Book Club. Was Daisy Buchanan, the object of Jay Gatsby’s obsessive love in the novel, inspired by the author’s own love life? What window does The Great Gatsby open onto 1920s America, with its Jazz, flappers, and bootlegging? Who was F. ... Show More
22m 30s
Mar 9
166. How Trump’s War is Costing America
What is Trump's Iran endgame? Will the oil price spike force Trump to end the war? And, who is ultimately calling the shots? Join Katty Kay and Anthony Scaramucci as they answer all these questions and more. Listen to “Becoming Trump”. Unpack how Donald Trump was made: hidden fam ... Show More
44m 48s
Mar 5
165. Why Trump Fired Noem and the Forever War Presidency
Will Trump put boots on the ground in Iran? Has JD Vance already made the mistake that will end his political career? And will this war become another tax on American citizens? Join Katty Kay and Anthony Scaramucci as they answer all these questions and more Listen to “Becoming T ... Show More
53m 25s
Recommended Episodes
Dec 2024
348. Syria, Afghanistan, and The Rest Is Classified
It has been thirteen years since Bashar al-Assad triggered a civil war which would kill hundreds of thousands of people and devastate Syria. Recent events have shown just how far his rule has shattered the nation. Today Alastair and Rory are joined by former CIA Syria Analyst Dav ... Show More
16m 33s
Dec 2024
3. CIA vs the Taliban: Behind Enemy Lines (Ep 1)
America knew Al-Qaeda were behind the 9/11 attacks before the day was out. They knew they were being sheltered by the Taliban in Afghanistan and so the CIA went after them. Small teams were dropped behind enemy lines with bags of cash and very little else, instructed to link up w ... Show More
45m 43s
Apr 2024
An Untold Story in Afghanistan
They were scenes of utter desperation and chaos: thousands of Afghans crowded outside Kabul’s airport, as American troops withdrew and the Taliban swept the country in August 2021. In a congressional hearing last month, former Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley blamed the ... Show More
59m 2s
Jun 2021
WTH is going on in Afghanistan? Gen. Jack Keane on the US withdrawal, Taliban takeover, and Biden’s failure to learn from history
Twenty years after 9/11, the US withdrawal from Afghanistan is moving faster than expected, and so is the Taliban’s takeover. The Taliban have already taken more than 50 of the country’s 400 districts since May, with the US intelligence community predicting that the Afghan govern ... Show More
51m 16s
Aug 2025
Mossad, Terrifying CIA Technology, Blackwater & The Most Secret CIA Unit | John Kiriakou
John Kiriakou served 15 years in the CIA as a Case Officer and as CIA's Head of Counterterrorism Operations in Pakistan where he lead the raid that captured Abu Zubaydah. After his CIA career, he blew the whistle on the CIA's Enhanced Interrogation Program.John’s Links:Substack: ... Show More
4h 18m
Sep 2025
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
Nov 2022
Episode 4 - Into the Archives: Why Does CIA Have Historians?
On this episode of The Langley Files, CIA's Chief Historian joins Walter and Dee to talk about the Agency's cadre of in-house historians. They'll discuss how these officers' work studying the past supports CIA's mission in the present, what it's like going through the Agency's ar ... Show More
31m 59s
Jun 2025
54. Bin Laden vs the CIA: 9/11 (Ep 4)
On a clear September morning, the American homeland was shattered, revealing a vulnerability unforeseen for nearly two centuries. But, how did Osama bin Laden, soon to become the world's most wanted terrorist, orchestrate the largest mass murder in American history? What was the ... Show More
42m 56s
Aug 2025
Replay | The Early Internet & 9/11 Conspiracies | Jordan Klepper Fingers the Conspiracy
Jordan Klepper has heard a lot of 9/11 conspiracy theories, including this shiny emerald: Osama bin Laden was a CIA operative named Tim Ossman. Together with Dr. Joan Donovan, research director of Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, Jordan unpacks h ... Show More
1h 18m
Jan 2025
Goodbye, Joe: Biden's Legacy (Part 1)
President Biden’s final week in the Oval Office coincided with an historic ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. Both he and President-Elect Donald Trump were quick to claim credit for the deal, with Biden beginning his farewell address by highlighting his administration’ ... Show More
40m 32s