Spy Cities

TANGIER: SHADY PEOPLE IN A SUNNY PLACEGibraltar’s southern twin among WWII espionage hubs, this ancient Moroccan port city has seen it all. One OSS officer branded it a “nest of vipers,” and Ian Fleming stayed at the El Minzah Hotel in 1941 while planning Operation Goldeneye. A visit to the chaotic Grand Socco is a must: this was the beating heart of the Tangier International Zone (1924–1956), where spies of every stripe operated with impunity.For further background on this and all episodes of Spy Cities please check out https://www.spycities.com/EpisodesWe’d love to hear your feedback. Please drop us a message - coded or not - to Control@spycities.com’This has been a Chatterbox Audio Production https://chatterboxaudio.com/

GIBRALTAR: SPIES ON THE ROCKGuarding the Strait of Gibraltar — the all-important sea lane linking the North Atlantic to the Mediterranean — this tiny relic of the British Empire hides a labyrinth of wartime secrets in its tunnels and fortifications. A WWII espionage playground for British SOE commandos, German Abwehr agents and daring Italian frogmen, the narrow streets beneath the towering Rock of Gibraltar are still redolent of intrigue, sabotage and deception.For further background on this and all episodes of Spy Cities please check out https://www.spycities.com/EpisodesWe’d love to hear your feedback. Please drop us a message - coded or not - to Control@spycities.com’This has been a Chatterbox Audio Production https://chatterboxaudio.com/

LONDON: THE DOWNFALL OF THE CAMBRIDGE FIVE75 years on from the flight of Donald Maclean and Guy Burgess to the Soviet Union, we follow their alcohol fuelled final days in London. From upmarket hotels to station bars; from sophisticated gentlemen's clubs to louche night clubs. A tale of conspicuous consumption...For further background on this and all episodes of Spy Cities please check out https://www.spycities.com/EpisodesWe’d love to hear your feedback. Please drop us a message - coded or not - to Control@spycities.com’This has been a Chatterbox Audio Production https://chatterboxaudio.com/

WASHINGTON DC: INTO THE WILDERNESS OF MIRRORSFormer CIA case officer turned intelligence historian Professor David Gioe joins us to uncover the secret side of Washington DC. Bringing an insider's perspective, he takes us to locations where some of America's most notorious traitors sold out their country.For further background on this and all episodes of Spy Cities please check out https://www.spycities.com/EpisodesWe’d love to hear your feedback. Please drop us a message - coded or not - to Control@spycities.com’This has been a Chatterbox Audio Production https://chatterboxaudio.com/

ISTANBUL: SPIES AT THE CROSSROADS OF THE WORLDByzantium. Constantinople. Stamboul. Istanbul. A city with many names to match its long history. Straddling Europe and Asia, spies have competed in the city over millennia. As we discover, rival empires have left their stamp on both espionage fact and fiction.For further background on this and all episodes of Spy Cities please check out https://www.spycities.com/EpisodesWe’d love to hear your feedback. Please drop us a message - coded or not - to Control@spycities.com’This has been a Chatterbox Audio Production https://chatterboxaudio.com/

LISBON 1940: THE WINDSORS - A DEADLY FARCEIntelligence historian, and well known local guide, Marisa Filipe joins us to explore the story of a top secret tug of war between Hitler and Churchill in neutral Portugal. We follow in the footsteps of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, plus their German, British and Portuguese watchers. And enjoy a cocktail in a hotel frequented by Ian Fleming which would later feature in a Bond movie.For further background on this and all episodes of Spy Cities please check out https://www.spycities.com/EpisodesWe’d love to hear your feedback. Please drop us a message - coded or not - to Control@spycities.com’This has been a Chatterbox Audio Production https://chatterboxaudio.com/

The Spying Starts HereWhere the modern game was invented and professionalised.Our first visit to London focuses on the origins of the British intelligence agencies - MI5, MI6 and GCHQ - in the early 20th century. Mansfield Cumming - the original 'C' - and Vernon Kell take the helm at the Secret Service Bureau as spy mania mounts in the United Kingdom. We'll be back in London before too long!For further background on this and all episodes of Spy Cities please check out https://www.spycities.com/EpisodesWe’d love to hear your feedback. Please drop us a message - coded or not - to Control@spycities.com’This has been a Chatterbox Audio Production https://chatterboxaudio.com/

We’re Angus Blair and David Ludlow. We met at Cambridge at a time when a discreet chat over a sherry with a well connected tutor or an intriguing letter in your pigeon hole were still key entry points to the secret world.We chose a safer life… and then decided to spend it retracing the footsteps of people who didn’t.In this series, we’re travelling to the world’s great espionage capitals visiting the real bars, hotels, safe houses and backstreets where spies lied, flirted, betrayed and occasionally changed history.From the Cambridge Five to Mata Hari, from double agents to double-crosses we’re meeting them where it all happened.Pull up a chair. Just don’t say who sent you.