26 episodes

Season 2 is the unbelievable but true story of the greatest spy of World War II. The Nazis don't know her name, but they want this woman dead. A mysterious agent is strategically dismantling their violent grasp on France and not only leading her own resistance factions but inspiring others. The Gestapo sends their devious double-agent, the priest Robert Alesh, to hunt down The Limping Lady before she threatens their entire push for Western Europe. But Virginia Hall was tougher and more resilient than they ever expected. Season 1 was a Top 10 hit with millions of listeners, making it one of the Top 20 new podcasts of 2021. Bestselling author and journalist Stephan Talty returns with Season 2 of Good Assassins: the dramatic story of a different kind of spy. Written by CD Carpenter (“American Hostage”) and produced by the award-winning team at Diversion Audio.

Good Assassins iHeart True Crime

    • True Crime
    • 4.8 • 3.3K Ratings

Season 2 is the unbelievable but true story of the greatest spy of World War II. The Nazis don't know her name, but they want this woman dead. A mysterious agent is strategically dismantling their violent grasp on France and not only leading her own resistance factions but inspiring others. The Gestapo sends their devious double-agent, the priest Robert Alesh, to hunt down The Limping Lady before she threatens their entire push for Western Europe. But Virginia Hall was tougher and more resilient than they ever expected. Season 1 was a Top 10 hit with millions of listeners, making it one of the Top 20 new podcasts of 2021. Bestselling author and journalist Stephan Talty returns with Season 2 of Good Assassins: the dramatic story of a different kind of spy. Written by CD Carpenter (“American Hostage”) and produced by the award-winning team at Diversion Audio.

    1. The Greatest Spy of WWII (Season 2)

    1. The Greatest Spy of WWII (Season 2)

    The story of one of the most consequential spies in American history. Her name was Virginia Hall, and she was known to the Nazis as "The Limping Lady." The Nazis called her “the most dangerous of all Allied spies.” From spy to resistance leader, her story is a thrilling tale of a woman whose efforts in the face of fascism, racism, sexism, and ableism saved thousands of lives.

    • 33 min
    2. The Death of Old Lives (Season 2)

    2. The Death of Old Lives (Season 2)

    Virginia Hall enlists in France's organization that provided medical assistance to French soldiers on the battlefield. It would be a grueling endeavor. Virginia is given basic medical training, learning how to apply tourniquets and bandages on some of the worst wartime injuries recorded in human history. They were supposed to work in the echoes of gunfire, long after the battle was over, but she often found herself closer to firefights and exploding shells than she expected. Virginia was given a job as an ambulance driver and stationed near the Maginot Line. She was to witness hell.

    • 25 min
    3. The Priest (Season 2)

    3. The Priest (Season 2)

    A Nazi spy is tasked with uncovering underground Allied resistance networks. He was favored by the SS as a top hunter. Robert Alesh was a Luxembourger priest better known in France by his alias: "Father Robert Ackuin." The raids, arrests, and executions that Alesh’s treacherous work made possible set British intelligence back months. Alesh’s time as a priest served him well in his search for Jews and the Allied spies. Alesh begins working for one of the most evil men in history: the head of the Nazi Gestapo in Lyon, France: Klaus Barbie. Alesh receives his first hard evidence of the existence of “The Limping Lady,” the Allied spy running prison breaks and sabotage operations. So Robert Alesh and Virginia Hall begin a game of cat and mouse.

    • 32 min
    4. Spy Games (Season 2)

    4. Spy Games (Season 2)

    Virginia Hall joins the UK's spy agency, the Special Operations Executive. The SOE was created to "set Europe ablaze" and wreak havoc on the battlefield: sabotage plus a little espionage, paramilitary operations, make things blow up.

    • 36 min
    5. Enemy Territory (Season 2)

    5. Enemy Territory (Season 2)

    Robert Alesh’s hunt for “The Limping Lady” brings him to the doorstep of Resistance operative Dr. Jean Rousset. Alesh tricks the doctor into believing he is a new courier for the French Resistance. In reality, he was a Nazi spy working directly for infamous SS officer Klaus Barbie.

    • 29 min
    6. Spy Versus Spy (Season 2)

    6. Spy Versus Spy (Season 2)

    Virginia Hall had been expecting company. One of the Resistance leaders in France had informed her of a new courier that could be of use to HECKLER, Virginia’s faction of the Resistance. But what Virginia didn’t know was that the courier was Robert Alesh—a Nazi operative who had managed to infiltrate the Resistance while posing as a priest. Right away, Virginia suspected something was off.

    • 27 min

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5
3.3K Ratings

3.3K Ratings

BritBrit48 ,

Great production and story telling

I really enjoyed the writing and the production. It felt more like listening to a story than just history.

Paul----- ,

Nice Presentation & great story telling

Narrator is excellent & keeps the story on track & interesting.

Juniordog2 ,

Great Story, Mediocre Podcast

I wanted to like this podcast, because I was riveted by the first season, the narrator is excellent, and Virginia Hall’s story truly is incredible.

But:

1) It’s hyperbole to call her the greatest spy of the war - the Frenchwoman Marie-Madeleine Fourcade ran an incredible network of spies and Resistance members, for just one example;

2) The narrator should have trusted himself to tell more of the story instead of using recreated conversations, which are mostly just annoying and which feature some cartoonish French accents;

3) Odd mistakes crop up, such as saying that she had difficulty using her left leg (which was wood below the knee) on the accelerator of an ambulance when in fact it was the clutch pedal, not the accelerator. Those mistakes left me wondering what others there are in the podcast.

The podcast is still worth listening to, however. The narrator is excellent, several experts appear on the podcast, and background information on the was is provided in order to put Virginia Hall’s experience in context.

There are multiple books on Virginia Hall’s life, and there are multiple podcasts that devote a single episode to her. If you don’t have the time or interest to read one of the books but want more information than a single podcast episode can provide, this series is worthwhile despite its flaws.

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