The History of Intelligence and Espionage

Summary

Dr. Alexis Albion (LinkedIn, Twitter) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss amazing artifacts with amazing stories from SPY’s newest pop-up exhibit: “Secrets Revealed: Highlights from the Grant Verstandig Collection.”

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• Casablanca’s spy connection
• Lasting effects of the Rosenberg trial
• Women in Intelligence
• WWII covert operations

Reflections

• What makes a story timeless?
• The human dimension of history

And much, much more …

Quote of the Week

“To us, that might be the Rosenbergs – These sort of incredible historic figures from the Cold War Intelligence. But to Mike Meeropol, it's his mom and dad. So, I think it's a really human story as well. This letter makes recommendations about their sentencing, about life and death, and again, for me it evokes that really human dimension about whether or not this mother might have lived.” – Dr. Alexis Albion.

Resources 

*SpyCasts*

• Hitler’s Trojan Horse – Nazi Intelligence with Nigel West (2023)
• Honey Trapped: Sex, Betrayal & Love – with Henry Schlesinger (2022)
• Amazon to Darien, Atlantic to Pacific – Intelligence in Colombia with former Head of its Navy Admiral Hernando Wills (2022)
• My Life Looking at Spies &the Media with Paul Lashmar (2021)

*Beginner Resources*

• Soviet Spy Scandal: Who Were the Rosenbergs?, L. Davidson, HistoryHit (2022) [Article]
• Casablanca in 2 Minutes, YouTube (2019) [Video]
• Who was the real Mata Hari?, N. Barber, BBC Culture (2017) [Article]
• How D-Day Was Fought From The Sea, Imperial War Museum (n.d.) [Article]

*Artifacts Discussed*

• Mata Hari Pencil Sketch (ca. 1905)
• German Bombing Map, WWII (1941)
• Victor Lazlos Prop Passport (ca. 1942)
• The Neptune Monograph (ca. 1944)
• J. Edgar Hoover Letter, FBI (1951)

*Primary Resources*

• Letter from Sophie Rosenberg to Mamie Eisenhower, Eisenhower Presidential Library (1953)
• Letter from Clyde Miller to Dwight Eisenhower Urging Clemency for the Rosenbergs, Eisenhower Presidential Library (1953)
• Response from Dwight Eisenhower to Clyde Miller, Eisenhower Presidential Library (1953)
• The Clydebank Blitz, National Records of Scotland (1941)

*Wildcard Resource(s)*

• The classic quote from Casablanca, “Here’s looking at you, kid” is ranked #4 on the American Film Institute’s Top 100 Movie Quotes. In fact, four quotes from the movie made it onto the list – Can you guess what the others are?

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