Episodios

  • S10 Ep26: Inside Operation Absolute Resolve with Jack Murphy

    S10 Ep26: Inside Operation Absolute Resolve with Jack Murphy
    Jan 14 2026

    n this conversation, Jack Murphy discusses his military background and transition into journalism, focusing on his reporting of Operation Absolute Resolve. He shares insights into the planning and execution of the operation, the legal and strategic implications, and the broader context of U.S. foreign policy. Murphy emphasizes the importance of understanding the consequences of military actions and the need for caution in future operations.

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    Read Jack’s reporting on the raid for The High Side: https://thehighside.substack.com/p/bold-delta-force-raid-leads-to-capture

    Subscribe to The High Side: https://thehighside.substack.com

    Follow Jack on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/jackmurphyrgr.bsky.social

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    Secrets and Spies is produced by F & P LTD.
    Music by Andrew R. Bird
    DoD Photo by Airman 1st Class Isabel Tanner

    Secrets and Spies sits at the intersection of intelligence, covert action, real-world espionage, and broader geopolitics in a way that is digestible but serious. Hosted by filmmaker Chris Carr and writer Matt Fulton, each episode examines the very topics that real intelligence officers and analysts consider on a daily basis through the lens of global events and geopolitics, featuring expert insights from former spies, authors, and journalists.
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    54 m
  • S10 Ep25: Espresso Martini | Maduro’s Capture, America’s Role Abroad, and Aldrich Ames’ Infamy

    S10 Ep25: Espresso Martini | Maduro’s Capture, America’s Role Abroad, and Aldrich Ames’ Infamy
    Jan 11 2026

    The U.S. capture of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro marks one of the most consequential unilateral actions Washington has taken in the Western Hemisphere in decades. Chris and Matt unpack what actually happened, why it matters, and how this operation tests long-standing assumptions about sovereignty, precedent, and America’s role abroad—especially in a world where rivals are watching closely. They then turn to the death of Aldrich Ames, reflecting on how the CIA’s most damaging traitor reshaped U.S. intelligence, shattered trust from the inside, and still serves as a cautionary tale about institutional blind spots, complacency, and the enduring cost of betrayal.

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    Articles discussed in today’s episode

    "Bold Delta Force raid leads to capture and arrest of Maduro" by Jack Murphy | The High Side: https://thehighside.substack.com/p/bold-delta-force-raid-leads-to-capture

    "A Close Call for US Commandos and an Emboldened Trump" by Eric Schmitt, Greg Jaffe | The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/07/us/politics/trump-venezuela-helicopter.html

    "Trump’s ‘American Dominance’ May Leave Us With Nothing" by Anne Applebaum | The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/01/trumps-american-dominance-may-leave-us-with-nothing/685503/

    "Trump's seizure of Maduro raises thorny legal questions" by Kayla Epstein | BBC News: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr4krkz7242o

    DOJ Indictment of Maduro: https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1422326/dl

    "Aldrich Ames, C.I.A. Turncoat Who Helped the Soviets, Dies at 84" by Tim Weiner | The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/06/obituaries/aldrich-ames-dead.html

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    Secrets and Spies is produced by F & P LTD.

    Music by Andrew R. Bird

    Photo by Adam Gray/Reuters

    Secrets and Spies sits at the intersection of intelligence, covert action, real-world espionage, and broader geopolitics in a way that is digestible but serious. Hosted by filmmaker Chris Carr and writer Matt Fulton, each episode examines the very topics that real intelligence officers and analysts consider on a daily basis through the lens of global events and geopolitics, featuring expert insights from former spies, authors, and journalists.
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    1 h y 17 m
  • S10 Ep24: From CIA to CEO with Rupal Patel

    S10 Ep24: From CIA to CEO with Rupal Patel
    Jan 3 2026
    Former CIA analyst-turned-entrepreneur Rupal Patel joins Chris for a candid conversation about reinvention, resilience, and what it takes to build a life that actually fits. Rupal talks about identity shifts after leaving the intelligence world, why self-reflection matters more than motivation, and how community can make or break big transitions. She shares practical frameworks she uses with clients—including her unique approach to time management—and introduces the idea of “tactical ignorance”: cutting through noise, protecting your mental bandwidth, and focusing on what truly moves the needle. Rupal’s definition of success is simple, and tougher than it sounds: liking who you are.

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    Learn more about Rupal: https://www.rupalypatel.com

    Order From CIA to CEO: https://www.rupalypatel.com/from-cia-to-ceo.html

    Follow Rupal’s Substack: https://rupalypatel.substack.com

    Please share this episode using these linksAudio: https://pod.fo/e/371b55
    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94-vBjgdNzA

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    Secrets and Spies is produced by F & P LTD.
    Music by Andrew R. Bird
    Photo by Rupal Patel & CIA

    Secrets and Spies sits at the intersection of intelligence, covert action, real-world espionage, and broader geopolitics in a way that is digestible but serious. Hosted by filmmaker Chris Carr and writer Matt Fulton, each episode examines the very topics that real intelligence officers and analysts consider on a daily basis through the lens of global events and geopolitics, featuring expert insights from former spies, authors, and journalists.
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    1 h
  • S10 Ep23: Watching Putin's Shadow Fleet with Remy Osman

    S10 Ep23: Watching Putin's Shadow Fleet with Remy Osman
    Dec 27 2025
    Remy Osman joins Chris to unpack the strange, high-stakes world of Putin’s “shadow fleet”—the tankers and ghost ships helping Russia move oil and dodge sanctions. Remy traces how he got into ship-spotting during quarantine in Singapore, then explains how open-source sleuths identify suspicious vessels: “zombie” identities, odd tracking behavior, evasive paperwork, and patterns that don’t match legitimate trade. They dig into why Singapore sits at the center of global maritime traffic, what makes these aging tankers an environmental time bomb, and why enforcement is so legally and politically messy even when everyone can see what’s happening in plain sight.

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    Please share this episode using these links Audio: https://pod.fo/e/36dfd8
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    Secrets and Spies is produced by F & P LTD.
    Music by Andrew R. Bird
    Photo by Remy Osman

    Secrets and Spies sits at the intersection of intelligence, covert action, real-world espionage, and broader geopolitics in a way that is digestible but serious. Hosted by filmmaker Chris Carr and writer Matt Fulton, each episode examines the very topics that real intelligence officers and analysts consider on a daily basis through the lens of global events and geopolitics, featuring expert insights from former spies, authors, and journalists.
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    58 m
  • S10 Ep22: John le Carré and the Russian Mafia with Federico Varese

    S10 Ep22: John le Carré and the Russian Mafia with Federico Varese
    Dec 24 2025
    Criminologist Federico Varese joins Chris to talk John le Carré—David Cornwell—and what his fiction got right about power, corruption, and the criminal underside of the modern Russian state. Varese, a co-curator of Oxford’s Tradecraft exhibition at the Bodleian, shares how he first met Cornwell in the early 1990s and later advised him on Our Game and Our Kind of Traitor, drawing directly on his research into Russian organized crime. From there, Varese unpacks the post-Soviet trajectory he traces in Russia in Four Criminals—how “free markets” without a strong rule-of-law state produced predation, oligarchic capture, and ultimately what he calls a “mafia state,” where independent organized crime is squeezed out by a system that fuses political and economic power. The conversation also gets into how Russian security services use criminals for deniable operations abroad and how cybercrime functions as a tolerated ecosystem—until the state needs it—turning hackers into a ready-made tool of hybrid warfare.

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    Learn more about Federico and his work: https://federicovarese.com

    Order Russia in Four Criminals: https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=russia-in-four-criminals--9781509563609

    Visit the Bodleian Libaries’ John le Carré: Tradecraft exhibition: https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/lecarre

    Please share this episode using these links Audio: https://pod.fo/e/36c963
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    Secrets and Spies is produced by F & P LTD.
    Music by Andrew R. Bird
    Photo by Bodleian Libraries & Federico Varese

    Secrets and Spies sits at the intersection of intelligence, covert action, real-world espionage, and broader geopolitics in a way that is digestible but serious. Hosted by filmmaker Chris Carr and writer Matt Fulton, each episode examines the very topics that real intelligence officers and analysts consider on a daily basis through the lens of global events and geopolitics, featuring expert insights from former spies, authors, and journalists.
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    1 h y 9 m
  • S10 Ep21: Myths and Realities of Russian Intelligence with John Sipher

    S10 Ep21: Myths and Realities of Russian Intelligence with John Sipher
    Dec 20 2025
    Former senior CIA officer John Sipher joins Chris to break down what Western audiences get wrong about Russian intelligence—starting with what it’s actually like to operate inside one of the world’s most hostile counterintelligence environments. Sipher explains the KGB-to-Putin throughline, why Moscow treats intelligence as a frontline tool of regime survival, and how “active measures” and reflexive control shape Russia’s political warfare abroad. He also pushes back on myths of intelligence work, digs into how the West misread Russia’s strength and Ukraine’s will to fight, and lays out what containment—and a post-Putin future—might realistically look like. The conversation closes with a sharp look at disinformation, conspiracy culture, and why Hollywood keeps getting espionage wrong.

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    More about John and Spycraft Entertainment: https://spycraftentertainment.com/john-sipher

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    Secrets and Spies is produced by F & P LTD.
    Music by Andrew R. Bird
    Photo by Spycraft Entertainment

    Secrets and Spies sits at the intersection of intelligence, covert action, real-world espionage, and broader geopolitics in a way that is digestible but serious. Hosted by filmmaker Chris Carr and writer Matt Fulton, each episode examines the very topics that real intelligence officers and analysts consider on a daily basis through the lens of global events and geopolitics, featuring expert insights from former spies, authors, and journalists.
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    1 h y 10 m
  • S10 Ep20: Espionage and Drug Trafficking: The Life of Harold Derber with David Tuch

    S10 Ep20: Espionage and Drug Trafficking: The Life of Harold Derber with David Tuch
    Dec 17 2025
    David Tuch, author of The Wireless Operator, joins Chris to tell the stranger-than-fiction story of Harold Derber—a wartime wireless operator who later ran blockade-busting weapons to Israel before reinventing marijuana smuggling in the 1970s. David explains how a loophole created by the 1970 Controlled Substances Act briefly made it legal to hold drugs in international waters—and how Derber exploited it with a “mothership” fleet, offloading tons of marijuana at sea. They break down why Deber’s flagship, the Night Train, became law enforcement’s obsession, built on counter-surveillance and tradecraft designed to keep informants out. The conversation then moves into Miami and Wall Street—money laundering, the Gambinos, and First Jersey Securities—alongside Derber’s documented ties to Cuban intelligence.

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    Learn more about David and his work: https://davidtuch.com

    Order The Wireless Operator: https://www.iconbooks.com/ib-title/the-wireless-operator/

    Please share this episode using these links Audio: https://pod.fo/e/3681a7
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    Secrets and Spies is produced by F & P LTD.
    Music by Andrew R. Bird
    Photo by David Tuch, Ted Akey, Wolfson Archives & Icon Books

    Secrets and Spies sits at the intersection of intelligence, covert action, real-world espionage, and broader geopolitics in a way that is digestible but serious. Hosted by filmmaker Chris Carr and writer Matt Fulton, each episode examines the very topics that real intelligence officers and analysts consider on a daily basis through the lens of global events and geopolitics, featuring expert insights from former spies, authors, and journalists.
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    59 m
  • S10 Ep19: The Fourth Intelligence Revolution with Anthony Vinci

    S10 Ep19: The Fourth Intelligence Revolution with Anthony Vinci
    Dec 13 2025
    Former chief technology officer of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Dr. Anthony Vinci, joins Matt to explain why intelligence has broken out of the classified world—and why everyday citizens are now on the front lines. Anthony walks through three past “intelligence revolutions” and argues we’ve entered a fourth, driven by China and AI: intelligence expanding beyond war and politics into economics and tech, a “whole-of-society” competition that pulls in companies and universities, and a shift from targeting governments to targeting entire populations. They discuss “inanity of evil” disinformation operations, China’s push toward a global panopticon, the case for treating economic espionage as tier-one national security, and the coming collision of AI, autonomy, and trust—ending with what it means to “think like an intelligence officer” without becoming the thing we’re fighting.

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    Order The Fourth Intelligence Revolution: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250370907/thefourthintelligencerevolution/

    Learn more on Anthony’s website: https://www.anthonyvinci.com/

    Subscribe to Anthony’s Substack: https://anthonyvinci.substack.com/

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    Secrets and Spies is produced by F & P LTD.
    Music by Andrew R. Bird
    Photo by Joy Asico

    Secrets and Spies sits at the intersection of intelligence, covert action, real-world espionage, and broader geopolitics in a way that is digestible but serious. Hosted by filmmaker Chris Carr and writer Matt Fulton, each episode examines the very topics that real intelligence officers and analysts consider on a daily basis through the lens of global events and geopolitics, featuring expert insights from former spies, authors, and journalists.
    Más Menos
    55 m
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