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 became known as the Halloween Massacre. Now, with Trump taking his own axe to Lan ... Show More
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
Jun 2023
Behind the Bamboo Curtain | CIA
When two CIA officers were captured in an ambush on Chinese territory, it seemed as though their story was over. In fact, their ordeal had only just begun. Two decades later, their fates still hung in the balance between the power-players of Beijing and Washington. Professor John ... Show More
50m 20s
May 2025
132. Former Head of MI6: Russia, China, and Trump (Sir Alex Younger)
What is the real job of a spy? What is the role of the UK’s intelligence community in Trump’s new world order? How does the relationship between politicians and intelligence services work? TRIP Plus: Become a member of The Rest Is Politics Plus to support the podcast, receive our ... Show More
1h 7m