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John Kiriakou's Dead Drop
S3E7 An Enemy Within: Cold Warriors
Season 3, Ep. 7
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IN THIS EPISODE As the hot war - WW2 - ended, a "cooler" but equally fervent Cold War replaced it. The stay-behind networks described in episode one quickly became a whole subset of cold warriors. How the Cold War happened - and why - and how that set the stage for the life and death struggle that would pit old allies against each other. Walking onto that stage as Sweden's Prime Minister, Olof Palme (judging by his social class) should have been a safe bet. He was anything but. A committed socialist, Palme drove Sweden to the left - making it both prosperous and happpy. But he also wanted to negotiate with the Soviets and halt all nuclear proliferation. That made some Western leaders nervous. It made others angry enough to do something about it. Like set an assassination plot in motion.
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S1E0 Coming Very Soon
05:54||Season 1, Ep. 0THE BLURB: Enjoy this brief preview of "John Kiriakou's Dead Drop: What Makes A Spy Tick" - a brand new podcast that will take you deep inside the mind of one of the best known spies in the whole world: former CIA officer John Kiriakou. You've heard former spies talk about spying, but you've never heard a spy go this deep into a spy's psyche - starting with his own.SHOW NOTESFor more information and an even deeper dive into the show - jkdeaddrop.com
1. S1E1 What Makes THIS Spy Tick
57:38||Season 1, Ep. 1THE BLURB: John Kiriakou knew when he was 9 years old that he wanted to be a spy. Plenty of people want to be spies but only a few ever actually become spies. In E1, John tells his origin story. Where he and his family came from had a lot to do with his success as an intelligence officer working in dangerous places. From wanting to be James Bond to actually becoming something a lot like Bond. It's "How To Be A Spy, Part 1".SHOW NOTESFor more great podcasts like Dead Drop, please visit https://costardandtouchstone.com/To listen to Just The Photographer, please visit Just The Photographer with David Swanson - Hosted by David Swanson
2. S1E2 The New Recruit
36:25||Season 1, Ep. 2THE BLURB: After a graduate class professor recruits John, he throws himself into a mystifying series of tests all seemingly designed to trip up his desire to become a spy for America. How exactly does an institution like the CIA train people to spy for it? Welcome to your first class! SHOW NOTESFor more great podcasts like Dead Drop, please visit https://costardandtouchstone.com/
2.5. Mini Episode 1: Sadam's Shrink
07:18||Season 1, Ep. 2.5THE BLURB: Talk about getting thrown into the deep end of the pool! When Iraq and Kuwait - John's new "area of expertise" - suddenly go to war (Iraq invaded Kuwait), John unexpectedly finds himself called to the White House - where, as a 25 year old newbie - he's asked to brief President George H W Bush, Vice President Dan Quayle and the the intelligence chiefs on what Saddam will do next. That's what happens when you become the CIA's Sadam Whisperer. Or his shrink.SHOW NOTESFor more great podcasts like Dead Drop, please visit https://costardandtouchstone.com/
3. S1E3 Golden Boy
48:00||Season 1, Ep. 3THE BLURB: Having been recruited into the CIA by legendary CIA officer Jerry Post - and by applying himself completely - John's CIA career took off with a bullet. If ever there was a CIA Golden Boy, John was it. That fact that he came up as a golden boy would prove ironic in the end. In this episode, John goes from briefing the President in the Oval Office to the theatre of war itself: Iraq. It's good to be a "Golden Boy". But it isn't all good.SHOW NOTESFor more great podcasts like Dead Drop, please visit https://costardandtouchstone.com/You can find "Just The Photographer with David Swanson" here - https://shows.acast.com/just-the-photographer-with-david-swanson
3.5. Mini Episode 2: Pete Seeger, American Hero
12:07||Season 1, Ep. 3.5THE 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/
4. S1E4 Good Spies, Bad Endings
42:55||Season 1, Ep. 4THE 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/
5. S1E5 Singin' In Bahrain
39:22||Season 1, Ep. 5THE 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/
Mini Episode 3: A Spy's Guide To... Sofia
13:39||Season 1THE 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/