John Kiriakou's Dead Drop

An assassination attempt in Athens leads to shocking revelations and personal turmoil for John. He contrasts the operational landscape of Athens with his routine, revealing how complacency can create deadly blind spots. A pivotal moment comes when he learns his wife has been unfaithful, thanks to a comment from his young son. The aftermath of an assassination includes confronting intelligence failures and grappling with diplomatic fallout. This tumultuous blend of professional and personal chaos sets the stage for a riveting narrative.

THE BLURB: The very things that made Athens a great counter-terrorism assignment also made it incredibly dangerous. John's intensive training was designed to make him paranoid. It succeeded. Not all threats were terrorism. Some were just local criminals being criminals. Still, living in Athens was mostly a joy. There was ample good food and culture. But the threat of violence was both persistent and pervasive. So was the paranoia.SHOW NOTESFor more great podcasts like Dead Drop, please visit https://costardandtouchstone.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

THE BLURB: When John turned his back on being a deskbound analyst in favor of risking his neck out in the field, he knew he'd made the right decision. Blowing things up - including cars - and playing spy games made him incredibly happy. Who wouldn't be happy? In this episode, John takes you way behind the scenes at the CIA's "James Bond Academy" - an actual place (just not with that name) where the CIA trains its agents how to be the best spies they can be.SHOW NOTESFor more great podcasts like Dead Drop, please visit https://costardandtouchstone.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

THE BLURB: On the one hand, being assigned to handle counter-terrorism in Athens was a dream job. On the other, it had nightmarish implications and very real dangers up to and including assassination. That's what happened to a former Athens station chief, the highly regarded Richard Welch. A Greek terrorist group assassinated Welch outside his residence after he attended a Christmas party. In this episode, John comes face to face with Welch's shadow - and begins to sense something of his own future in it. SHOW NOTESFor more great podcasts like Dead Drop, please visit https://costardandtouchstone.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

THE BLURB: Both spying and the subject of this episode - cemeteries - piqued John's youthful curiosity at roughly the same age. Spying, of course, became John's vocation. But John's love for cemeteries - especially for the people buried in them - became a very happy ridealong. Working around the world for the CIA meant visiting cemeteries around the world. In this episode, we preview "GRAVE CONCERNS", a new podcast series that we'll begin dropping in March 2026 (that's soon)! The podcast is based on a brand new book John's written - "REMAINS OF THE DAY: The Definitive Guide to the Historic Cemeteries of Washington, DC" which also will drop in March 2026. As we hope you'll agree, graveyards should have no secrets!SHOW NOTESIn this episode, John visits The Rock Creek Cemetery in northewest Washington, DC. Among the graves he'll visit: John Harlan Marshall, Alice Longworth, Arkady Nikolayevich Shevchenko and Gore Vidal.To pre-order "REMAINS OF THE DAY", please visit For more great podcasts like Dead Drop, please visit https://costardandtouchstone.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

THE BLURB: When his assignment to Bahrain ends, John finds himself back at CIA HQ in Langley, settling in to life as an analyst - a bored drone at a boring desk. It doesn't take long for John to hanker instead for something more satisfying: something in operations - out in the field. Something a little more dangerous... SHOW NOTESFor more great podcasts like Dead Drop, please visit https://costardandtouchstone.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

THE BLURB: In this episode, we preview a new podcast series that we'll start dropping in Spring 2026 - "A Spy's Guide To" which will look at the great cities of the world (and the not-so-great) entirely from the perspective of spies and spying. It'll be like a travel guide for spooks. Since spies have to live in these cities (in addition to working them), we'll approach and appreciate our first city guide - to SOFIA, BULGARIA - as we will all of these cities - like a spy would. A City is a place to recruit agents, locate safe houses and begin collecting secrets.SHOW NOTESFor more great podcasts like Dead Drop, please visit https://costardandtouchstone.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

THE BLURB: At first glance Bahrain was a good starting assignment. It was a veritable paradise, a great place to learn without much pressure. The US Navy was based there. And, it was a literal paradise. Working (on the surface) for the State Department, John pissed off Bahrain's Prime Minister while charming its Emir. The days of no pressure ended with a literal bang when terrorists blew up the Khobar Tower, a building housing US Air Force personnel in nearby Saudi Arabia, plunging John into action.SHOW NOTESFor more great podcasts like Dead Drop, please visit https://costardandtouchstone.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

THE BLURB: Among the things that make spies tick is fear. Fear of being caught - and then tortured and/or killed. Stories like Beirut Station Chief Bill Buckley's are what keep spies like John Kiriakou up at night. Buckley came to the CIA from the US Army where he was a highly decorated special forces officer. Once recruited by the CIA, Buckley served successfully in places like Cambodia, Egypt and Pakistan. Beirut was another story - a difficult one filled with questions.SHOW NOTESYou can find Fred Burton and Samuel Katz's Beirut Rules here -https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31019046-beirut-rules?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=wsCKRCuTSK&rank=1 For more great podcasts like Dead Drop, please visit https://costardandtouchstone.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

THE BLURB: From the time he was 5 or 6 and became aware of him, John always admired and wanted to know folk singer and activist Pete Seeger. In fact, John vowed to become friends with the legend - which, in fact, John did: he and Pete did become friends. How an event that echoed across Pete's life also echoed across John's. SHOW NOTESFor more great podcasts like Dead Drop, please visit https://costardandtouchstone.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.