SPYCRAFT 101 Justin Black

Today Justin chats with Rose Mary Sheldon. This is her third time on the podcast. Rose Mary taught history as a professor at Virginia Military Institute for more than 25 years, and is a world renowned expert on intelligence activities in the ancient world. She earned her PhD from the University of Michigan in 1987 and has published several books and many articles over the years, as well as serving as an editor for the International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence in Small Wars...

Justin talks with retired FBI special agent Raymond J. Batvinis. Ray served in the FBI from 1972 until 1997, working in counterterrorism and counterintelligence, including on the investigations into Ronald Pelton and the Walker spy ring. Shortly after 9/11, he returned to teach the basic counterintelligence course at the FBI Academy at Quantico. Since retiring, Ray has worked as a historian and author. He's published articles on intelligence history in scholarly journals and on his webs...

Today Justin chats with Charles Lachman. Since 1998, Charles has been the executive producer of the nationally syndicated news magazine Inside Edition. He has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, History Channel, Lifetime, C SPAN, and other local and national media. He's also the author of four non fiction books and one crime novel. Today he discusses the story of an almost impossible mission for the U. S. Navy to locate, disable, and capture a mostly intact U Boat in the middle of the Atlanti...

Today Justin sits down with Dr. Luca Trenta. Luca is an associate professor in international relations at Swansea University in Wales, and is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and of the Higher Education Academy. He's written extensively on the subjects of covert action and assassination as tools of foreign policy. He is the host of the Out of the Shadows podcast with eight episodes available now, and he has appeared on four episodes of the Secret Wars Uncovered series on the History C...

This weak Justin chats with Peter Butt. Peter is an author and award -winning documentary filmmaker. He is the founder of Blackwattle Films and his work has appeared on BBC, National Geographic, The History Channel and elsewhere. Peter has focused particularly on the Cold War, the nuclear arms race and espionage activities, particularly in Australia. Today he discusses his work investigating Frank Nugan and Michael John Hand, founders of the Nugan Hand Bank. Their small financial institution ...

This week Justin is joined by Ronald Drabkin. Ron earned his Bachelor's Degree from Duke University and his Master's from UC Berkeley. Since then, he's worked in the tech industry, first with Intel Corporation and later as an entrepreneur and investor. He's also written peer reviewed articles on espionage history in Japan. Today he discusses his first book, published earlier this year, titled Beverly Hills Spy. It's the story of Frederick Rutland, a veteran pilot and aviation pioneer, who lef...