The Spy Who

As we say goodbye to our series on Ursula Kuczynski (‘Agent Sonya’), we also say goodbye to a singular and formidable agent, who navigated the high-wire act of balancing life as a spy for the Soviet Union...and motherhood. And so, who better to talk to than a woman who's walked that fine line herself, Ann E. Butler. For almost 30 years, Ann juggled raising five children all while maintaining the responsibilities of working for the CIA. And now she's pulling the curtain back on the struggle of the juggle. Plus, whether she ever put the needs of her country, ahead of her family... See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

With the Nazis in retreat, the U.S. hopes to get spies on the ground in Berlin before the Soviets take the city. But Ursula Kuczynski has different plans. She’s going to co-opt the American mission to give Stalin an edge in the coming Cold War between capitalist and communism. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

With her operation in Japanese-occupied Manchuria now over, Ursula Kuczynski is awaiting fresh orders from Moscow. But the Centre’s new instructions are about to break her heart. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

“I am not Nicholas Rossi!” gasps Arthur Knight through an oxygen mask in March 2022. Recently discharged from a Covid ward in Glasgow, he's in a wheelchair. The police say he’s Nicholas Rossi, suspected of faking his death and wanted for rape in Utah. The story makes headlines globally.When journalist Jane MacSorley meets Arthur Knight and his wife Miranda, she thinks the police have made a mistake. She embarks on a yearlong investigation, making a unique discovery which changes everything. Listen to I Am Not Nicholas Season 1 on Audible or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes early and ad-free by joining Audible on the Audible App or on Apple Podcasts. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

To her fellow Westerners in colonial Shanghai, Ursula Kuczynski is just another devoted housewife and mother. But beneath the bourgeois exterior, she’s a vital cog in the communist insurgency and about to become one of the greatest spies of the 20th Century. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Just in time for America’s 250th birthday, follow Dan Taberski (Hysterical, 9/12, Missing Richard Simmons) as he sets off on his most complicated quest yet: to reclaim the manifesto and write his own. Dan attempts to rescue the manifesto as a form from the sweaty clutches of cynical politicians and mass shooters and return it to its rightful place: with the artists, the warriors, the visionaries, and the mildly crazy regular folks with something to say, the passion to say it, and the courage to do something about it. From Audible Originals and Please & Thanks Productions, this 6-part series explores the power of the manifesto and asks: Can we get inspired again… and can we do it without a bullet?Listen to Dan Taberski's Manifesto wherever you get your podcasts. Or binge all episodes of Manifesto ad-free right now on Audible. Start your Audible subscription in the Audible App or on Apple Podcasts. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Right on schedule for America's 250th birthday, we’ve wrapped our arc on Benedict Arnold - the American military officer who turned his back on his own country to spy for the British Army. Tucked away within this complex story, lives the unsolved identity (identities?) of Agent 355. The female spy who helped her country by gleaning military secrets from the British. In this episode, Charlie Higson explores just who this woman (or women) might have been, with ‘355: The Women of Washington's Spy Ring’ author, Kit Sergeant. Together, they break down this remarkable tale of betrayal and deception… all in the name of freedom. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

With his plot to hand West Point to the British unravelling fast, Benedict Arnold is running for his life. And if George Washington’s men can’t stop him in time, Benjamin Tallmadge’s New York spy ring will be in grave danger. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

With the French now helping the U.S. in its fight for independence, the tide’s turned against Britain. But disillusioned American hero Benedict Arnold is about to help the British Empire strike back. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

With the British advancing on Philadelphia, the American rebels face defeat. But new U.S. intelligence officer Benjamin Tallmadge is about to hit on a plan that’ll give the Continental Army the inside track on the King’s forces. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It’s 1775 and after years of rising tensions, rebellion is about to break out in British North America. The 13 rebel colonies want to shake off rule from London and form a new nation: The United States of America. But with their Patriot army no match for the might of the British Empire, they need to even the odds by turning to espionage. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What do you think of when someone mentions the word: spy? Thanks to James Bond, they're often thought of as sleek, sexy and thrill-seeking. But what really goes on in the mind of a secret agent like Václav Jelínek? Charlie Higson is joined author, lecturer, and advisor on handling human sources of secret intelligence, John Taylor. He's pulling the curtain back on the fraught psychology of spies. Including, what kind of agent poses the biggest threat to a mission. And, who he thinks makes for a better spy - men or women? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It’s the mid-1980s and the Czechoslovak spy living posing as Erwin van Haarlem has spent years convincing the mother of the real Erwin that he is her long-lost son. Now his deception faces a new threat: Britain’s Security Service MI5 are on his tail. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

After years of preparation, Czech deep-cover spy Václav Jelínek is in London and living as Erwin Van Haarlem. But now, the Dutch mother of the real child whose identity he’s using has found him. And her inquisitiveness could blow his whole mission. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When a teenager is made to give up her baby, Czechoslovak secret police service the StB spot a chance to create a rock-solid fake identity for one of its deep-cover 'illegal' spies. But its spy is about to end up on a collision course with a mother seeking her long-lost son. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Not many people can say they helped dismantle the most dangerous nuclear weapons network in history. Then again, not everyone is former CIA operative, Jim Lawler. Jim speaks to Raza Jaffrey about his CIA career (that almost wasn’t), bringing A.Q. Khan’s nuclear network to its knees, and whether he thinks a similar Khan-level threat is lurking in the shadows... See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

With A.Q. Khan now fully rogue and his network working to fast-track Libya’s nuclear weapons program, the CIA and MI6 need to find a way to shut his network down permanently. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dr. A.Q. Khan is making millions selling nuclear secrets but when he decides to sell the nuclear bomb to Libya’s renegade ruler Colonel Gaddafi, the CIA and MI6 realise they need to act against Pakistan’s real-life Dr. Strangelove. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

At a secure lab in Amsterdam, scientists are working on tech that can enrich uranium for nuclear bombs. But when India tests a nuke, employee Dr. A.Q. Khan, turns spy to help Pakistan get the bomb too. And soon he’ll spread atomic weapons worldwide. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How did someone so essential in war become so expendable in peace? In conversation with Charlie Higson, historian Clare Mulley explores the extraordinary life of Krystyna Skarbek - a woman more Bond than Bond girl. Together, they unpack her daring wartime exploits, the misogyny that shaped her postwar fate, and the unsettling truth of how a hero of such calibre was denied both the ending and the legacy she deserved. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Frozen out by the Special Operations Executive, Polish countess turned British spy Krystyna Skarbek is now stuck in the Middle East. But she’s determined to get back into the fight against the Nazis, no matter the personal cost. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As the Nazis exert control over Continental Europe, British spy Krystyna Skarbek needs to stay one step ahead of the enemy. But she’s about to discover that the Axis powers aren’t her only problem. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When Hitler invades her beloved homeland, Poland, Countess Krystyna Skarbek signs up to go behind enemy lines as Britain’s first female undercover agent. She outwits the Nazis again and again. Also known by the name Christine Granville, her beauty and daring heroism inspired the character of Vesper Lynd in the first James Bond novel, Casino Royale. But tragedy would see her fade into obscurity. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How did one CIA mole tip the scales of power between two superpowers? Investigative journalist Bethany Allen exposes the hidden world of Chinese espionage operations in America - from Larry Chin's decades-long infiltration of the CIA to the sophisticated intelligence network that emerged in its wake. In conversation with Bond author Charlie Higson, Bethany reveals how a single Cold War security breach evolved into a vast system of global influence, and examines the modern landscape of China's espionage capabilities today. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In Washington, D.C., Larry Chin grapples with retirement, but back in Beijing, a new CIA agent is about to set the FBI’s spy hunters on China’s super-spook. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.