10 episodes

A charismatic Russian woman arrives in the US on a mission to improve relations between the two countries, and she soon makes some powerful friends. But who is Maria Butina? And who is she working for? As Maria gets closer to the rich and connected she also attracts the attention of the FBI. In the politically charged world of US-Russia relations, everyone has secrets and almost nothing is what it seems. From Wondery, the makers of The Shrink Next Door and Dr. Death comes SPY AFFAIR a story about deception, appearances and betrayal. Hosted by Celia Aniskovich.

Available exclusively on Wondery+ or on Amazon Music with a Prime membership or Amazon Music Unlimited subscription.

Spy Affair Wondery

    • True Crime
    • 3.9 • 1.6K Ratings

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

A charismatic Russian woman arrives in the US on a mission to improve relations between the two countries, and she soon makes some powerful friends. But who is Maria Butina? And who is she working for? As Maria gets closer to the rich and connected she also attracts the attention of the FBI. In the politically charged world of US-Russia relations, everyone has secrets and almost nothing is what it seems. From Wondery, the makers of The Shrink Next Door and Dr. Death comes SPY AFFAIR a story about deception, appearances and betrayal. Hosted by Celia Aniskovich.

Available exclusively on Wondery+ or on Amazon Music with a Prime membership or Amazon Music Unlimited subscription.

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

    I Just Met a Girl Named Maria

    I Just Met a Girl Named Maria

    Graduate student. Gun enthusiast. Political activist. There are several sides to this mysterious Russian woman who arrives in America. But soon, her connections with powerful politicians and wealthy businessmen will begin to raise suspicions. 

    Spy Affair is available exclusively on Wondery+ or on Amazon Music with a Prime membership or Amazon Music Unlimited subscription. Join Wondery+ to binge now: https://wondery.app.link/spyaffair

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    • 31 min
    Russian Roulette

    Russian Roulette

    Sign up on wonderyplus.com/applepodcasts and stay up-to-date on the latest new podcasts and more from Wondery.

    As Patrick and Maria grow closer, someone else begins to take a closer look at the young Russian: the FBI. They dig into her background in Russia as a gun rights activist, and her strange connection to a top Russian official with close ties to Putin.

    Hello, Uncle Sam

    Hello, Uncle Sam

    Sign up on wonderyplus.com/applepodcasts and stay up-to-date on the latest new podcasts and more from Wondery.

    Patrick invites Maria to a party but he has an ulterior motive. Maria is enjoying American student life but a knock at the door will spell trouble for her and Paul.

    Loose End

    Loose End

    Sign up on wonderyplus.com/applepodcasts and stay up-to-date on the latest new podcasts and more from Wondery.

    Maria meets Patrick in his hotel to share some good news and some troubling news. Patrick advises her to talk to Uncle Sam but as political tensions rise in Washington DC, it’s not clear who is friend and who is foe.

    The Byrne Ultimatum

    The Byrne Ultimatum

    Sign up on wonderyplus.com/applepodcasts and stay up-to-date on the latest new podcasts and more from Wondery.

    As the walls close in on Maria, Patrick believes he holds information that might turn Maria’s case around. But will it be enough?

    Truth is in the Eye of the Beholder

    Truth is in the Eye of the Beholder

    Sign up on wonderyplus.com/applepodcasts and stay up-to-date on the latest new podcasts and more from Wondery.

    Patrick gets closer to the highest office in the land than Maria ever did as tensions in Washington DC reach breaking point.

Customer Reviews

3.9 out of 5
1.6K Ratings

1.6K Ratings

Not available xx ,

Well done, thoughtful

This documentary film maker turned podcaster did a great job revealing how corrupt maria butina and her old white men are.
Let no one be fooled by the subject’s deception, while she may not have been trained by the fsb she meant harm to the USA.
She deserved her punishment.

Herrow herrow how low ,

PAYWALLED

This podcast is far too good for me to put 1-star to make a point about how UNETHICAL and greedy it is to suddenly PAYWALL Spy Affair on Wondery+. You just gave the OVERSTOCK GUY another win because now NO ONE can hear what he did because you REMOVED IT!!!

Remove the paywall and actually make NEW content for Wondery+ “exclusives.” This is wholly unfair and wrong. Now I’m panic downloading and archiving hundreds of episodes of every single Wondery podcasts. You’ve removed SO MANY of the most important and OLDEST Wondery podcasts.

Do the right thing and let this critical podcast be heard by everyone again! It’s political to paywall this podcast, which is EVIDENCE in a criminal case and the Jan 6th Committee right now.

El Skid ,

WOW - Peter Strzok is an expert…not interested

I was listening with an open mind until the host introduced her “expert” from the FBI, “Pete Strzok”. How in the world can anyone believe a word out of this guys mouth? I stopped listening right then. This guy is ten miles of bad road and immediately makes the whole podcast tainted.

Top Podcasts In True Crime

Three
Wavland
Crime Junkie
audiochuck
Dateline NBC
NBC News
Morbid
Morbid Network | Wondery
20/20
ABC News
SERIALously
10 to LIFE

You Might Also Like

True FBI Spy Missions | Espionage | Detective |...
SPYSCAPE
True Spies: Espionage | Investigation | Crime | Murder | Detective | Politics
SPYSCAPE
True Russian Spy Missions: Espionage | Investigation | Historical
SPYSCAPE
American Scandal
Wondery
The Devil Within
Cloud10
Against The Odds
Wondery

More by Wondery

Dr. Death
Wondery
American Scandal
Wondery
American History Tellers
Wondery
This Is Actually Happening
Wondery
The Vanished Podcast
Wondery
Against The Odds
Wondery