SpyTalk

Fire and Ice

Apr 29, 2021

Lisa Curtis, former CIA expert on the region, discusses the CIA's eviction from Afghanistan. Alma Katsu, former CIA and NSA analyst, talks about her new thriller book 'Red Widow'. Topics include US troop withdrawal, challenges for CIA operatives, Taliban's resurgence, and gender equality in the intelligence community.

57:03

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Episode guests

Alma Katsu

Lisa Curtis

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Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Foreign assassinations are used by governments, like Russia, to send messages to their own intelligence services.

The withdrawal of the CIA from Afghanistan raises concerns about security, readiness of Afghan forces, and the potential for a Taliban comeback.

Deep dives

Manipulation and Message Sending at the CIA

Working at the CIA involves being skilled manipulators and sending messages through foreign assassinations, according to former intelligence officers. Case officers, who gather information, engage in sophisticated manipulation tactics. The recent poisoning of Navalny, a Russian opposition figure, was allegedly a message from Putin to his own intelligence services, reviving the ruthlessness associated with the old KGB. Former officials suggest the US should confront Russia and give them a stern warning about their malicious activities.

Introduction

2min

The Navalny Situation and Sending a Message

2min

Withdrawal of US Troops from Afghanistan: Challenges and Concerns

15min

The Concerns and Implications of US Troop Withdrawal from Afghanistan

12min

Discussing US and Afghanistan military presence and a new spy novel

2min

Reflections on a Career in Intelligence

6min

The Absence of Technology in 'Red Widow'

5min

Women at the Center: Gender Equality in the Intelligence Community

14min

In this week’s edition of the SpyTalk podcast, Jeff Stein goes deep on the CIA’s looming eviction from Afghanistan with Lisa Curtis, a longtime former CIA, State Department and White House National Security Council expert on the region. And then co-host Jeanne Meserve conducts a lively interview with a former senior CIA and NSA analyst, Alma Katsu, about her new, post-government-service thriller, Red Widow, which features a gutsy female spy heroine.

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