CIA Files: True Stories of U.S Intelligence

Brandon Givens & Topher M. Ford
  • 3.7 (66)
  • HISTORY

We explore the history of the Central Intelligence Agency by telling the stories of the individuals who lived through it. We'll discuss the villains, the victims, and the heroes. We'll uncover the motivations and the ideals of the people who set into motion world-changing events that have steered global politics along the course that has led us to where we are today.

  1. Episode 27: People know about Donald but wait until you hear about Melinda. Donald and Melinda Maclean the KGB Power couple of the Cambridge 5

    08/14/2023

    Episode 27: People know about Donald but wait until you hear about Melinda. Donald and Melinda Maclean the KGB Power couple of the Cambridge 5

    British aristocrat Donald Maclean, as a member of the Cambridge 5, worked his way to the top of the British Foreign Office while secretly working as KGB spy. His wife was in on it the whole time. How did an extremely wealthy and noticeable couple successfully spy for so long, and why? Learn about their backgrounds, deeds, and fates. This is the fourth episode to deal with the Cambridge 5. The other episodes are: Episode 7: Secret Agent Super Spy: Harold Kim Philby: The 1st in a series on the Cambridge 5, Episode 10: Kim Philby Part 2: I Really Must Be Going; The second episode on our series on the Cambridge 5, & Episode 11: Guy Burgess: I Gotta Be Me! This is the third episode in our series on the Cambridge 5. (First 2 are episodes 7 & 10)

    35 min
  2. Episode 26: The Life of CIA Director John Brennan: News: The American NCO/Pro-Putin podcaster, The Prankster tricking Russians into torching recruitment offices, A Chinese police station on US soil.

    06/22/2023

    Episode 26: The Life of CIA Director John Brennan: News: The American NCO/Pro-Putin podcaster, The Prankster tricking Russians into torching recruitment offices, A Chinese police station on US soil.

    This is our third episode in a three part series on CIA Directors who shaped US policy towards the Soviet Union and now Russie. I give an overview of the life of John Brennan, a straight talking Irishman from New Jersey. The episode ends with anecdotes about a stateside former American sailor pretending to be in the Donbass while promoting pro-Kremlin propaganda, a Ukrainian operation to trick Russians into burning down their own recruitment stations, a hacker who steals from the FSB and gives to Ukraine and the FBIs prosecution of alleged Chinese agents on US soil. The agents allegedly have set up a covert police station and are harassing dissidents. *Correction: NAFO=North Atlantic Fella Association

    37 min

  3. 04/17/2023

    Episode 25: The Life of CIA Director Robert Gates; News: The Imprisoned Accused Russian Spy Mad He Can't Pay His Bills, Wagner in Sudan

    This is our second episode in a three part series on CIA Directors who shaped US policy towards the Soviet Union. I give an overview of the life of Robert Gates a proverbial and literal boyscout. We also give a brief news update about Wagner in Sudan and Armenia's frustration with Russia.

    27 min

  4. 03/25/2023

    Episode 24: The Life of CIA Director William Casey and an Interview with Ukrainian Volunteer Medic Rebecca Maciorowski

    From the OSS to CIA Director William Casey is the CIA Director who shaped America's Cold War policy and indirectly gave us GPS. Find out how. This is the first episode in a three part series on CIA Directors who influenced our present policy towards Russia. Though a sober man Casey was not without controversy. At minute 19:00 there is an interview with Rebecca Maciorowski. She is an American nurse who is volunteering as a medic in Ukraine. You may donate to her via paypal at bechendry@gmail.com, or at www.bymeacoffee.com/bekamaciorowski Rebecca Maciorowski mentioned the need for the following items: Gas Masks including theyse types-M50 Joint Services General Purpose Mask, Mestel Safety SGE 400/3 Gas Mask, Mestel Safety Multipurpose Filter 203 A2B2E2K2P3 RD Medical Equipment: Chest seals and vents, chest shears, IFAKs-Individual First Aid Kits, oxygen tanks, and oxygen compressors This podcast was written and read by Brandon Givens

    47 min

  5. 09/29/2022

    Announcement

    We're taking a break from our weekly conversations to focus on our proper episodes. Look out for Frank Wisner, part 2 in two weeks. Then we're taking a short break to get things prepped for what we're generously calling Season 2 of CIA Files. Meanwhile, for international news, check out This Week Explained, which does a great job of covering current events around the globe. And we're working hard on our upcoming show, Rise of Mammon, wherein we will discuss the rise of Christo-fascism and America's new Nationalist Christians, or Nat-Cs for short. You can follow us at these links: https://www.instagram.com/riseofmammon/ https://www.facebook.com/riseofmammon https://twitter.com/riseofmammon

    4 min
  6. Episode 23: Paul Bennewitz and "Aliens," the Story of a Government Psy-op.

    09/22/2022

    Episode 23: Paul Bennewitz and "Aliens," the Story of a Government Psy-op.

    Picture this: You're a high-ranking Air Force official overseeing research and development of new, top-secret aircraft. Your job is Operational Security, which is to say, keeping it secret. Then one day, a civilian who's an expert on radio waves, as well as a bit of a photography buff, comes to you with a massive collection of pictures and data related to the top-secret aircraft you're supposed to be keeping secret. Not ideal, right? But then this civilian explains that he's pretty sure what he has is evidence of an alien invasion. So you look him in the eye and you tell him he's onto something. He's definitely discovered aliens zipping around your military base. Then the fun begins. This is the story of Paul Bennewitz, a man subjected to what some might describe as a intimate, one-on-one psy-op. After stumbling upon government secrets, he is led into a crazy world involving a variety of aliens and rumors of a secret underground base where these aliens live and work. And Brandon updates us on current events surrounding Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the CTSO.  https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/why-are-armenia-azerbaijan-fighting-again-why-does-it-matter-2022-09-13/ https://www.livescience.com/ukraine-ufo-uap-report https://arxiv.org/pdf/2208.11215.pdf https://www.snopes.com/news/2022/09/14/ufos-over-kyiv/ http://www.greatdreams.com/Falcon-Richard-Doty.htm https://supernaturalmagazine.com/articles/the-strange-saga-of-paul-bennewitz-and-the-undergruond-alien-base-at-dulce https://www.openminds.tv/william-moore-ufo-opportunist-agent-disinformation/29056 Mirage Men Documentary

    1h 16m
  7. Episode 22: Profile: Clifford Stoll, the First Master of Cybersecurity

    09/13/2022

    Episode 22: Profile: Clifford Stoll, the First Master of Cybersecurity

    In 1986, computers were still the domain of the wily nerd. They wouldn't become cool until the World Wide Web was invented. And even then, computers weren't really that much cooler until DSL connections came along. But Clifford Stoll, an unemployed astronomer, took an IT job at a university, where his superior nerdity would lead him to be the first IT person to discover and track down a computer hacker. That hacker was sniffing around private U.S. military and national defense databases, selling whatever information he could find to the KGB. Also, this week, Josh, whom you may recognize as the voice of our quotes, joins us to contribute to the commentary. It's a fun, light-hearted episode this week.  https://www.wired.com/story/meet-the-mad-scientist-who-wrote-the-book-on-how-to-hunt-hackers/

    49 min

  8. 08/25/2022

    Episode 20: CIA Files: Wherein Brandon helps us suss out the finer points of Russia's culture war shenanigans in America

    Brandon walks us through some of the misunderstood, overblown, and under-reported aspects of Russia's long-term efforts to sow derision and division among Americans. How involved was Russia with the NRA? Has the Kremlin been stirring up secessionist movements? And what's up with those crazy Russian dashcam videos? We don't really talk about that last question, but we're still curious. NRA Infiltrated https://www.thedailybeast.com/kremlin-used-nra-to-help-trump-in-2016-says-senate-intelligence-committee?fbclid=IwAR0qMckztLmcsp7TzK0bmwVl5n3J_dSppQZwfsNp0mKd8ukEe7ykb8tHh74 https://www.npr.org/2019/09/27/764879242/nra-was-foreign-asset-to-russia-ahead-of-2016-new-senate-report-reveals https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/01/nra-russia-investigations-gun-lobby Maria Butina https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Butina https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-sioux-falls-maria-butina-us-news-russia-bc8e1858b424ca5d5d6119a53facfcdd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Erickson_(activist) CALEXIT infiltrated https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article264043131.html Texas too (Troll Factory) https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-41853131 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62359884 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_J._Marinelli#Life_in_Russia Elena Branson https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/russian-american-charged-with-acting-as-spy-in-u-s-1318658/ Republican asked for Russian Help https://www.newsweek.com/russell-taub-2016-election-rhode-island-russia-intelligence-fec-trump-1681742 Russian Open support for succession movements https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/what-s-behind-russian-support-world-s-separatist-movements-n614196 Bots misinformation https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/russian-trolls-flood-twitter-after-parkland-shooting-n848471

    59 min
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About

We explore the history of the Central Intelligence Agency by telling the stories of the individuals who lived through it. We'll discuss the villains, the victims, and the heroes. We'll uncover the motivations and the ideals of the people who set into motion world-changing events that have steered global politics along the course that has led us to where we are today.

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