16. Crossing the Iron Curtain: Escape From the KGB (Ep 3)
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Feb 3, 2025
Discover the high-stakes world of espionage in Cold War Moscow. A CIA spy grapples with the harrowing decision to use a suicide pill while facing the KGB's relentless pursuit. Tensions escalate as music from Western bands becomes a lifeline for an informant amid a repressive regime. Explore the ethical dilemmas of managing spies and the clever tradecraft utilized in the cat-and-mouse game of intelligence operations. With personal anecdotes and historical insights, this narrative captures the gripping reality of life undercover.
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Suicide Pill Fiction
David McCloskey reads an excerpt from his novel, "The Seventh Floor," about a Russian spy using a cyanide suicide pen.
This anecdote introduces the topic of suicide pills, which Tolkachev requested, and their rarity in espionage.
insights INSIGHT
Suicide Pill Rarity
Suicide pills are rare in real-world espionage, despite their dramatic portrayal in fiction.
Spy agencies avoid providing agents with self-destruction means.
insights INSIGHT
Tolkachev's Motivation
Tolkachev's request for a suicide pill reveals his intense drive and hatred of the Soviet system.
He preferred death over capture and public humiliation in a trial.
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The book narrates the extraordinary story of Adolf Tolkachev, a Soviet engineer who, from 1977 to 1985, supplied the CIA with a vast amount of top-secret data on the USSR’s military capabilities. Tolkachev, working in a top-secret design laboratory, risked his life to provide information on Soviet radar, aircraft, and weapons technology. The CIA valued his intel at billions of dollars, making him the agency's most valuable Soviet asset. The book details the intricate and dangerous operations involved in handling Tolkachev, including clandestine meetings, dead-drops, and the bureaucratic challenges faced by the CIA. Hoffman's meticulous research and vivid storytelling bring to life the high-stakes espionage and the personal motivations of Tolkachev, as well as the broader geopolitical implications of his actions[1][4][The Bookish Elf, Goodreads].
How would you disguise a cyanide pill for a CIA spy in Moscow during the Cold War? What risks could Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and The Beatles pose to Adolf Tolkachev’s mission against the Soviet state? And will the CIA’s mole in Moscow be discovered by the KGB?
It’s 1985, and for the past five years, Tolkachev has been providing the CIA with top secret documents detailing the intricacies of Soviet radar technology. He’s risked everything he knows and loves to help orchestrate the demise of the USSR, but is he teetering on the edge of discovery? Listen as David and Gordon share the third instalment of the story of Adolf Tolkachev as his health begins to decline and he realises a suicide pill might be his only way out.
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Pre-order a signed edition of David's latest book, The Seventh Floor, via this link.
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