Secrets and Spies Podcast: Current Affairs | Geopolitics | Intelligence

On this episode of Espresso Martini, Chris & Matt look at President Joe Biden’s historic trip to Ukraine, leaked documents showing how Russia plans to take over Belarus, and CIA director William Burns's secret trip to Libya and more! Links to articles discussed in this episode “Biden’s Surreal and Secretive Journey Into a War Zone” By Peter Baker and Michael D. Shear for the New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/20/us/politics/biden-kyiv-ukraine.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare “Revealed: Leaked document shows how Russia plans to take over Belarus” By Michael Weiss and Holger Roonemaa for Yahoo News https://news.yahoo.com/russia-belarus-strategy-document-230035184.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=ma “Russian state news accidentally publishes article saying Russia has defeated Ukraine and restored its 'historical borders” By Yelena Dzhanova for Yahoo News & Business Insider https://www.yahoo.com/news/russian-state-news-accidentally-publishes-181749627.html “LIBYA’S FRAGILE DEADLOCK” By JALEL HARCHAOUI for War on the Rocks https://warontherocks.com/2023/03/libyas-fragile-deadlock/ “Hive of spies’ trying to steal sensitive information removed from Australia, Asio chief says” by Daniel Hurst Foreign affairs and defence correspondent The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/feb/21/hive-of-spies-trying-to-steal-sensitive-information-removed-from-australia-asio-chief-says “The neo-Nazi movement behind the plot to blackout Baltimore” By Brenna Smith for Baltimore Banner https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/local-news/power-grid-plot-neo-nazi-R3R54GDYCBECDOOY3HA4NHVNII/ “Borderless Vigilantism: The Nativist US Militias Entering Mexico” By Avery Schmitz for Bellingcat https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2023/02/21/borderless-vigilantism-the-nativist-us-militias-entering-mexico/ Find out more about Matt and his book “Active Measures” https://mattfulton.net/ Music on this podcast is provided by Andrew R. Bird (Andy Bird) You can check out his work here: https://soundcloud.com/andrewbirduk For more information about the podcast, check out our website: https://secretsandspiespodcast.com/ Support Secrets and Spies   * Subscribe to our Youtube page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDVB23lrHr3KFeXq4VU36dg * Become a “Friend of the podcast”  on Patreon for £3 www.patreon.com/SecretsAndSpies * You can buy merchandise from our shop: https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/60934996?asc=u Connect with us on social media TWITTER twitter.com/SecretsAndSpies FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/secretsandspies SPOUTIBLE   https://spoutible.com/SecretsAndSpies Check out our short spy film “THE DRY CLEANER” which is now available to buy on Apple TV & Amazon Prime.  Watch the trailer here: https://youtu.be/j_KFTJenrz4 Secrets and Spies is part of the Spy Podcast Network. Check out our other excellent spy-related podcasts here: https://www.spypodcasts.com/ 

On today's podcast, I am joined by journalist John Sweeney, the author of “Killer in the Kremlin”. John joins me from Kyiv, and we reflect on the first anniversary of Russia’s war against Ukraine. You can get a copy of “Killer in the Kremlin” and find out more about John and his work here: https://www.johnsweeney.co.uk/ You can support his freelance work in Ukraine here: https://www.patreon.com/JohnSweeneyRoar You can follow John on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/johnsweeneyroar For more information about the podcast, check out our website: https://secretsandspiespodcast.com/  Music on this podcast is provided by Andrew R. Bird (Andy Bird) You can check out his work here: https://soundcloud.com/andrewbirduk You can support Secrets and Spies in a few ways:    * Subscribe to our Youtube page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDVB23lrHr3KFeXq4VU36dg * Become a “Friend of the podcast”  on Patreon for £3 www.patreon.com/SecretsAndSpies * You can buy merchandise from our shop: https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/60934996?asc=u Connect with us on social media  TWITTER twitter.com/SecretsAndSpies FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/secretsandspies SPOUTIBLE   https://spoutible.com/SecretsAndSpies Check out our short spy film “THE DRY CLEANER” which is now available to buy on Apple TV & Amazon Prime.  Watch the trailer here: https://youtu.be/j_KFTJenrz4 Secrets and Spies is part of the Spy Podcast Network. Check out our other excellent spy-related podcasts here: https://www.spypodcasts.com/ 

On today podcast I am joined by Dr Taras Kuzio and we reflect on the first anniversary of Russia’s war against Ukraine and we discuss what to expect in the months ahead.  You can also visit Dr Kuzio’s website here: http://www.betweeneuropeandrussia.com/ You can connect with Dr.Kuzio on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/TarasKuzio For more information about the podcast, check out our website: https://secretsandspiespodcast.com/  Music on this podcast is provided by Andrew R. Bird (Andy Bird) You can check out his work here: https://soundcloud.com/andrewbirduk You can support Secrets and Spies in a few ways:    * Subscribe to our Youtube page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDVB23lrHr3KFeXq4VU36dg * Become a “Friend of the podcast”  on Patreon for £3 www.patreon.com/SecretsAndSpies * You can buy merchandise from our shop: https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/60934996?asc=u Connect with us on social media  TWITTER twitter.com/SecretsAndSpies  FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/secretsandspies  SPOUTIBLE https://spoutible.com/SecretsAndSpies Check out our short spy film “THE DRY CLEANER” which is now available to buy on Apple TV & Amazon Prime.  Watch the trailer here: https://youtu.be/j_KFTJenrz4 Secrets and Spies is part of the Spy Podcast Network. Check out our other excellent spy-related podcasts here: https://www.spypodcasts.com/ 

On todays Super Bowl Special, we are joined by author Kevin Bryant to discuss his book “Spies on the sidelines” which looks at espionage within the NFL.  Kevin’s book “Spies on the Sidelines” is available here: https://www.spiesonthesidelines.com/  Connect with Kevin via social media: Facebook: @kevinbryant.author  Instagram: @kevinbryant.author  Twitter: @kevbryantauthor  Linkedin: @kevinbryantauthor Music on this podcast is provided by Andrew R. Bird (Andy Bird) You can check out his work here: https://soundcloud.com/andrewbirduk For more information about the podcast, check out our website: https://secretsandspiespodcast.com/  Secrets and Spies is part of the Spy Podcast Network. Check out our other excellent spy-related podcasts here: https://www.spypodcasts.com/  You can support Secrets and Spies in a few ways:    * Subscribe to our Youtube page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDVB23lrHr3KFeXq4VU36dg * Become a “Friend of the podcast”  on Patreon for £3 www.patreon.com/SecretsAndSpies * You can buy merchandise from our shop: https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/60934996?asc=u Connect with us on social media  TWITTER twitter.com/SecretsAndSpies  FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/secretsandspies    Check out our short spy film “THE DRY CLEANER” which is now available to buy on Apple TV & Amazon Prime.  Watch the trailer here: https://youtu.be/j_KFTJenrz4

On today's episode of Espresso Martini, Chris & Matt take a look at the Chinese “weather balloon” (Spy Balloon), Israel's drone strike on an Iranian missile facility and a Russian spy in the ranks of the BND, Germany’s foreign intelligence service Topics covered Chinese Spy Balloon & Chinese electronic espionage in the west https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/chinas-spy-balloon-over-montana-is-part-of-a-larger-more-troubling-pattern https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/our-first-look-chinese-spy-balloon-debris-being-recovered https://inews.co.uk/news/hidden-chinese-tracking-device-government-car-national-security-2070152 https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/dec/22/tiktok-bytedance-workers-fired-data-access-journalists Iran Drone strike https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/29/world/middleeast/iran-drone-strike-israel.html Russian Spy in the BND German BND officer caught spying for Russia named https://www.politico.eu/article/russia-spy-arrest-germany-foreign-intelligence-agency-treason/ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11712829/Youth-football-coach-unmasked-Putin-spy-passed-Germanys-secrets-Moscow.html https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/hackers-spies-and-contract-killers-how-putin-s-agents-are-infiltrating-germany-a-2cc6c24c-16ac-43d4-97fa-103081414acc Other Stories of note: Suspected Neo Nazi Attacks on US power-grids https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/whos-attacking-our-power-grid/ Russia paying EU MPs https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/kremlin-linked-group-arranged-payments-to-european-politicians-to-support-russias-annexation-of-crimea Active duty Marines with intelligence roles arrested for connection to Jan 6th https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/01/19/3-active-duty-marines-who-work-intelligence-arrested-alleged-participation-jan-6-riot.html Find out more about Matt and his book “Active Measures” https://mattfulton.net/ Music on this podcast is provided by Andrew R. Bird (Andy Bird). You can check out his work here: https://soundcloud.com/andrewbirduk For more information about the podcast, check out our website: https://secretsandspiespodcast.com/  Secrets and Spies is part of the Spy Podcast Network. Check out our other excellent spy-related podcasts here: https://www.spypodcasts.com/  You can support Secrets and Spies in a few ways:    * Subscribe to our Youtube page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDVB23lrHr3KFeXq4VU36dg * Become a “Friend of the podcast”  on Patreon for £3 www.patreon.com/SecretsAndSpies * You can buy merchandise from our shop: https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/60934996?asc=u Connect with us on social media  TWITTER twitter.com/SecretsAndSpies  FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/secretsandspies    Check out our short spy film “THE DRY CLEANER” which is now available to buy on Apple TV & Amazon Prime.  Watch the trailer here: https://youtu.be/j_KFTJenrz4

On today's podcast, I am joined by former CIA analyst Yaya J Fanusie. Yaya was my third guest on the podcast back in 2016, and he returns today to tell us about his exciting new podcast called “The Jabbari Lincoln Files”. “The Jabarri Lincoln Files” is a CIA-based espionage thriller that partly takes a look at the world of Financial intelligence. Yaya and I talk about the real-world inspiration for his podcast, and we also discuss his writing process and artistic influences. You can listen to “The Jabarri Lincoln Files” here: https://podfollow.com/the-jabbari-lincoln-files And you can read The Jabbari Lincoln blog here: https://www.jabbarilincoln.com The podcast is available via the following links: On Apple Podcasts: (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-jabbari-lincoln-files/id1663688674) On Amazon/Audible: (https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Jabbari-Lincoln-Files-Podcast/B0BQWH3Q1S?action_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp), On Google Podcasts:(https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5saWJzeW4uY29tLzQ1MjQ1NC9yc3M) On Spotify: (https://open.spotify.com/show/2zqiUvQFEUkeOCzAJtZDdz?si=1accb9d9d9db4f10). On the Libsyn Podcast Site: (https://sites.libsyn.com/452454) Secrets and Spies is part of the Spy Podcast Network. Check out our other excellent spy-related podcasts here: https://www.spypodcasts.com/ Music Andrew R. Bird (Andy Bird) provides music on this podcast. You can check out his work here: https://www.monsteromnibus.com/?fbclid=IwAR0%E2%80%A6BdNQbuCvt9KWU You can support Secrets and Spies in a few ways: - [ ] Subscribe to our Youtube page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDVB23lrHr3KFeXq4VU36dg - [ ] Become a “Friend of the podcast”  on Patreon for £3 www.patreon.com/SecretsAndSpies - [ ] You can buy merchandise from our shop: https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/60934996 - [ ] Connect with us on social media TWITTER twitter.com/SecretsAndSpies FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/secretsandspies  Check out our short spy film “THE DRY CLEANER” which is now available to buy on Apple TV & Amazon Prime. Watch the trailer here: youtu.be/j_KFTJenrz4 

Hi everyone, I just wanted to let you know this month's Espresso Martini has been delayed by a week. It will return on Saturday 11th Feb. See you then.

Malcolm Nance joins us on our first special podcast looking at Ukraine as we get close to the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion. Malcolm visited Ukraine before the war, joined the Ukrainian army and fought on the front line against Russian forces. Malcolm is an American author and media commentator on terrorism, intelligence, insurgency, and torture. He is a former United States Navy senior chief petty officer specializing in naval cryptology. He is the author of several books, including the New York Times bestseller “The Plot to Hack America” and his latest book “They Want To Kill Americans”. “They Want To Kill Americans” You can purchase it here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250279002/theywanttokillamericans TAPSTRI Malcolm mentions TAPSTRI, in which you can directly donate to the international legion fighting in Ukraine here: https://tapstri.org/ Malcolm’s Substack Subscribe here: https://malcolmnance.substack.com/ Malcolm’s Twitter https://twitter.com/MalcolmNance Music  Andrew R. Bird (Andy Bird) provides music on this podcast. You can check out his work here:  https://www.monsteromnibus.com/?fbclid=IwAR0%E2%80%A6BdNQbuCvt9KWU You can support Secrets and Spies in a few ways: - [ ] Subscribe to our Youtube page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDVB23lrHr3KFeXq4VU36dg - [ ] Become a “Friend of the podcast”  on Patreon for £3 www.patreon.com/SecretsAndSpies - [ ] You can buy merchandise from our shop: https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/60934996 - [ ] Connect with us on social media TWITTER twitter.com/SecretsAndSpies FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/secretsandspies  Check out our short spy film “THE DRY CLEANER” which is now available to buy on Apple TV & Amazon Prime. Watch the trailer here: youtu.be/j_KFTJenrz4  Secrets and Spies is part of the Spy Podcast Network.  Check out our other excellent spy-related podcasts here: https://www.spypodcasts.com/

On today's podcast, I am joined by Sam Lichtenstein.  Sam is a Director of Analysis at RANE, which stands for Risk Assistance Network and Exchange.  In this episode, we will look at world events for the year ahead with RANE’s annual Global forecast for 2023. 2023 looks to be another challenging year, and I think you will want to check it out. It’s a deep episode, so pour yourself your favourite drink, sit back, and I hope you find it informative. To find out more about RANE and its annual global forecast, please visit their website here: https://www.ranenetwork.com/ Secrets and Spies is part of the Spy Podcast Network.  Check out our other excellent spy-related podcasts here: https://www.spypodcasts.com/ Music  Andrew R. Bird (Andy Bird) provides music on this podcast. You can check out his work here:  https://www.monsteromnibus.com/?fbclid=IwAR0%E2%80%A6BdNQbuCvt9KWU You can support Secrets and Spies in a few ways: - [ ] Subscribe to our Youtube page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDVB23lrHr3KFeXq4VU36dg - [ ] Become a “Friend of the podcast”  on Patreon for £3 www.patreon.com/SecretsAndSpies - [ ] You can buy merchandise from our shop: https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/60934996 - [ ] Connect with us on social media TWITTER twitter.com/SecretsAndSpies FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/secretsandspies  Check out our short spy film “THE DRY CLEANER” which is now available to buy on Apple TV & Amazon Prime. Watch the trailer here: youtu.be/j_KFTJenrz4 

On today's podcast, I am joined by Bernd von Koska, who is the curator of the Allied Museum in Berlin and co-author of the excellent book Capital of Spies. In this episode, we discuss Capital of Spies which takes a look at the history of Cold War Berlin.  You can get a copy of Capital of Spies here: https://www.casematepublishing.co.uk/capital-of-spies.html And you can find out more about the Allied Museum here: https://www.alliiertenmuseum.de/en/ Music on this podcast is provided by Andrew R. Bird (Andy Bird) You can check out his work here: https://soundcloud.com/andrewbirduk For more information about the podcast, check out our website: https://secretsandspiespodcast.com/  Secrets and Spies is part of the Spy Podcast Network. Check out our other excellent spy-related podcasts here: https://www.spypodcasts.com/  You can support Secrets and Spies in a few ways:  Subscribe to our Youtube page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDVB23lrHr3KFeXq4VU36dg Become a “Friend of the podcast”  on Patreon for £3 www.patreon.com/SecretsAndSpies You can buy merchandise from our shop: https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/60934996?asc=u Connect with us on social media  TWITTER twitter.com/SecretsAndSpies  FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/secretsandspies    Check out our short spy film “THE DRY CLEANER” which is now available to buy on Apple TV & Amazon Prime.  Watch the trailer here: https://youtu.be/j_KFTJenrz