SPYCRAFT 101

This week, Justin has a conversation with Nicholas Reynolds. After graduating from Oxford University in the 1970s, he served in the US Marine Corps as an infantry officer, and later as a historian. Nick retired from the Reserves as a colonel and the officer in charge of field history. He also served with the Central Intelligence Agency, including as the historian for the Agency's museum at their headquarters in Langley. Today, Nick dives into the origins of the modern intelligence community in the months leading up to, and then during American's involvement in WWII He gives an overview of the key decisions made along the way and the key personalities that would shape the intelligence community for decades to come.Connect with Nick:nicholasreynoldsauthor.comCheck out Nick's book, Need to Know, here.https://www.amazon.com/Need-Know-World-American-Intelligence/dp/0062967479Connect with Spycraft 101:Check out Justin's latest release, Covert Arms, here.spycraft101.comIG: @spycraft101Shop: spycraft-101.myshopify.comPatreon: Spycraft 101Find Justin's first book, Spyshots: Volume One, here.Download the free eBook, The Clandestine Operative's Sidearm of Choice, here.SLNTProtect your data and devices. Use code SPYCRAFT101 to save 10% off your order.Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show

In a special retrospective for episode 101 of the podcast, Justin discusses the lessons he's learned along the way. From getting into contact with incredible guests to growing an audience to some of his favorite episodes, we take a look back at how Spycraft 101 got where it is today.Connect with Spycraft 101:Check out Justin's latest release, Covert Arms, here.spycraft101.comIG: @spycraft101Shop: spycraft-101.myshopify.comPatreon: Spycraft 101Find Justin's first book, Spyshots: Volume One, here.Download the free eBook, The Clandestine Operative's Sidearm of Choice, here.Clandestine LaboratoriesYour new favorite fragrance is here. I'm partial to Novochoc.SLNTProtect your data and devices. Use code SPYCRAFT101 to save 10% off your order.Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show

This week, Justin sits down with Barry Meier. Barry is a veteran reporter who has written for the New York Times and received the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting, along with other members of the New York Times staff. He's also the first journalist to bring significant attention to the dangers of abuse of the prescription drug, Oxycontin, with his book Pain Killer, which was first published in 2003. Today, Justin and Barry discuss the story of a former FBI agent turned private investigator named Robert Levinson, who went missing in 2007 while on an assignment on Kish Island in the Persian Gulf, and the years long ordeal his family went through as they sought answers from both the American and Iranian governments.Connect with Barry:barrymeierbooks.comCheck out Barry's book, Missing Man, here.https://amzn.to/3NwlwdJConnect with Spycraft 101:Check out Justin's latest release, Covert Arms, here.spycraft101.comIG: @spycraft101Shop: spycraft-101.myshopify.comPatreon: Spycraft 101Find Justin's first book, Spyshots: Volume One, here.Download the free eBook, The Clandestine Operative's Sidearm of Choice, here.SLNTProtect your data and devices. Use code SPYCRAFT101 to save 10% off your order.Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show

Today, Justin speaks with Aaron Stark. Aaron served in the US Army as an Apache helicopter pilot, including on two tours in Afghanistan. He finished his term of service teaching at his alma mater, West Point Military Academy, as an assistant professor of economics after completing his Master's in Business administration at Harvard University, and he now works as a chief of staff at a Fortune 500 tech company. Today, Aaron is discussing the story of the Waltham Watch Company, headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, and how they were targeted by the Swiss watch industry at a time when Waltham was poised to dominate the global market through its development and use of cutting edge technology, leaving the antiquated Swiss industry far behind. A pair of Swiss spies infiltrated the company in a last ditch effort to save their own nation's failing industry and succeeded beyond anyone's expectations.Connect with Aaron:aaronstarkbooks.comLinkedIn: Aaron StarkTwitter: @DisruptingTimeDownload a free sample of Aaron's book here: https://disruptingtime.subscribemenow.com/Check out Aaron's book, Disrupting Time, here.https://amzn.to/42G6aINConnect with Spycraft 101:Check out Justin's latest release, Covert Arms, here.spycraft101.comIG: @spycraft101Shop: spycraft-101.myshopify.comPatreon: Spycraft 101Find Justin's first book, Spyshots: Volume One, here.Download the free eBook, The Clandestine Operative's Sidearm of Choice, here.SLNTProtect your data and devices. Use code SPYCRAFT101 to save 10% off your order.Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show

Today, Justin chats with author, veteran, and former CIA case officer James Stejskal. James enlisted in the US Army in 1973 and served for more than 20 years, including with the now famous Special Forces Detachment A in Berlin in the 1970s and 80s. Among other assignments, he was severely wounded in Somalia in 1992 and medically retired from the Army in 1996, after which he joined the CIA as a case officer, where he spent nearly another 15 years. Now fully retired from government service, James has written several non-fiction books.Connect with James:Facebook: James Stejskal WriterCheck out James' book, Special Forces Berlin, here. https://amzn.to/42ioGqsConnect with Spycraft 101:Check out Justin's latest release, Covert Arms, here.spycraft101.comIG: @spycraft101Shop: spycraft-101.myshopify.comPatreon: Spycraft 101Find Justin's first book, Spyshots: Volume One, here.Download the free eBook, The Clandestine Operative's Sidearm of Choice, here.Support the show

This week, Justin chats with Olga Sheymov. Olga has worked in high technology, on arts projects, and as a television producer. Her TV credits include the Long-Running series Russia Today, produced from 1997 until 2015, and Your Source TV among other projects. But long before she began her media career, Olga and her husband Victor Sheymov defected to the US and were smuggled out of the Soviet Union and into the Carpathian Mountains by a team from the Central Intelligence Agency in 1980. Victor was a high ranking member of the KGB and proved to be an incredibly valuable source of information for the US government for years to come, although their relationship with the CIA and FBI encountered many problems, to say the least. Tower of Secrets: A Real Life Spy Thriller - https://amzn.to/3owC6BDTower of Secrets II: Tiebreaker: https://amzn.to/3OF9HUrConnect with Olga:olgaarts.comallegoryofnature.comConnect with Spycraft 101:Check out Justin's latest release, Covert Arms, here.spycraft101.comIG: @spycraft101Shop: spycraft-101.myshopify.comPatreon: Spycraft 101Find Justin's first book, Spyshots: Volume One, here.Download the free eBook, The Clandestine Operative's Sidearm of Choice, here.SLNTProtect your data and devices. Use code SPYCRAFT101 to save 10% off your order.Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show

Today Justin sits down with Jon and Alex from Fenrir Group. They're licensed private investigators based in Atlanta, Georgia, who offer a wide range of services, including skip tracing, process, serving bond recovery, and boutique litigation support. Not only have they successfully closed hundreds of cases of all types, but they've also developed a very large online following and have been featured in articles with Vox, Vice, and the Discovery Plus series Secrets, Lies and Private Eyes. This episode is meant to emphasize how much crossover there is between the tradecraft we normally associate with espionage and the tactics and techniques private investigators use on a daily basis in their own line of work.Connect with Alex and Jon:fenrir-group.comJon's IG: @unique_skillsetAlex's IG: @w.aspPodcast IG: @wantedpodcastConnect with Spycraft 101:Check out Justin's latest release, Covert Arms, here.spycraft101.comIG: @spycraft101Shop: spycraft-101.myshopify.comPatreon: Spycraft 101Find Justin's first book, Spyshots: Volume One, here.Download the free eBook, The Clandestine Operative's Sidearm of Choice, here.SLNTProtect your data and devices. Use code SPYCRAFT101 to save 10% off your order.Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show

Today Justin sits down with Sue Dobson. Sue grew up in Pretoria, South Africa during the apartheid era and witnessed firsthand the brutality and oppression of the government at that time. As a young woman, she decided to take action and join the outlawed African National Congress to do her part to improve the lives of Black South Africans. She was eventually sent to Moscow for nearly a year of training in surveillance, intelligence gathering, and weapons before returning to South Africa as a spy for the ANC. Once there, she lived a cover as an apolitical journalist while building relationships and reporting back to her handler in the ANC. In the end, her cover was blown and she barely escaped the country with her life. Download a free sample of Sue's book, Burned: The Spy South Africa Never Caught, here: https://burned-suedobson.subscribemenow.com/Or purchase a copy in paperback or Kindle format here: https://amzn.to/3p9gkUv Connect with Spycraft 101:Check out Justin's latest release, Covert Arms, here.spycraft101.comIG: @spycraft101Shop: spycraft-101.myshopify.comPatreon: Spycraft 101Find Justin's first book, Spyshots: Volume One, here.Download the free eBook, The Clandestine Operative's Sidearm of Choice, here.Support the show

Today Justin sits down with Marine Corps and US Army Intelligence veteran Erick Miyares. Erick spent nearly 30 years in the US service, deployed to some of the most dangerous corners of the world. Now that he's transitioned out of the military, he has found a new mission helping members of the very same units he served with face the personal challenges brought on by so many years of unrelenting combat and separation from their families. Today he shares his experiences in the War on Terror, and the effect it had on him, his family, and his fellow service members.Connect with Erick:IG: @erick.miyaresLinkedIn: Erick MiyaresConnect with Spycraft 101:Check out Justin's latest release, Covert Arms, here.spycraft101.comIG: @spycraft101Shop: spycraft-101.myshopify.comPatreon: Spycraft 101Find Justin's first book, Spyshots: Volume One, here.Download the free eBook, The Clandestine Operative's Sidearm of Choice, here.Support the show

In this solo episode, Justin dives into a failed professional hit on a businessman in Irvine, California in the 1980s. The botched job involved the CIA, FBI, ATF, and the Apartheid government of South Africa and ultimately uncovered a cache of buried machine guns, stockpiles of biological weapons, and a conspiratorial relationship between an American doctor and South Africa's illicit biological warfare program known as Project Coast.Connect with Spycraft 101:Check out Justin's latest release, Covert Arms, here.spycraft101.comIG: @spycraft101Shop: spycraft-101.myshopify.comPatreon: Spycraft 101Find Justin's first book, Spyshots: Volume One, here.Download the free eBook, The Clandestine Operative's Sidearm of Choice, here.Clandestine LaboratoriesYour new favorite fragrance is here. I'm partial to Novochoc.SLNTProtect your data and devices. Use code SPYCRAFT101 to save 10% off your order.Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show