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Real spies share the incredible stories of their greatest missions with Vanessa Kirby and Hayley Atwell.
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THE MONEY SPY
How do you flee your country and join the other side? A former Russian intelligence agent gives Vanessa Kirby a rare masterclass in international tradecraft. Janosh Neumann fled Moscow armed only with his wits, a suitcase and the names of Russia's most influential money launderers, to begin a dangerous journey to the other side.
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FREEING MEEK MILL
In 2017, superstar rapper Meek Mill was incarcerated - again. To free him, Tyler Maroney had to go back to the scene of Meek's first arrest, a decade earlier and use all his best tradecraft to contend with corrupt cops, biased judges and a broken prison system - with Vanessa Kirby.
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HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS AND STAGE COUPS
Damascus, 1949. Jazz musician and raconteur Miles Copeland Jr. is plotting to bring down the Syrian government. His son, musician Stewart Copeland (Sting’s drummer in The Police), shares the story - a tale of double agents, dangerous friendships and gunplay that shaped the unstable future of the Middle East - with Vanessa Kirby. Tune in to True Spies to hear this unlikely tale.
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TRADECRAFT PART 2
A good spy needs a very particular set of skills. But there's only so much that training can prepare you for. Tradecraft - the real business of spying - has to be learnt on the job. In this two-part special, Vanessa Kirby brings you the most cunning and courageous examples of tradecraft from the series so far. Could you make it in the field?
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TRADECRAFT PART 1
A good spy needs a very particular set of skills. But there's only so much that training can prepare you for. Tradecraft - the real business of spying - has to be learnt on the job. In this two-part special, Vanessa Kirby brings you the most cunning and courageous examples of tradecraft from the series so far. Could YOU make it in the field?
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THE IRISHMAN
Sean Hartnett grew up in Ireland during the 'Troubles'. His family was Republican so they were shocked when Hartnett talked about joining the British Armed Forces. In fact, Hartnett went a step further. He joined the British Army’s most secretive covert counterterrorist unit in Northern Ireland, Joint Communications Unit Northern Ireland aka ‘The Det’.
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OLYMPIC GAMES
Meet the men who uncovered a new era in global warfare. Eric Chien and Liam O'Murchu identified Stuxnet, the digital weapon designed to attack the physical world. To figure out its target, and its creators, they'd have to enter a dangerous world of international intrigue - involving two nuclear superpowers. How far would YOU go for answers?
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THE 'DREAMS COME TRUE' BUSINESS
Vanessa Kirby meets Barry Broman, a CIA case officer who recruited foreign spies for the USA. Working alongside a suave MI6 officer, Barry was tasked with bringing a high-ranking Communist over to the West. To succeed, they had to make him an offer he couldn't refuse. Could you get inside his head?
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BLOOD ON THE WATERSIDE
Vanessa Kirby meets a spy who infiltrated the political wing of the IRA. Willie Carlin risked his life in Derry, Northern Ireland, on a daily basis to provide the UK with intelligence that could help to end decades of violence and killing. How far would you go for peace?
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DRUG WARS
Vanessa Kirby goes undercover with a man who spent 14 years fighting the War on Drugs. Disguised as an addict, Neil Woods risked his life to infiltrate brutal narcotics gangs. The experience led him to question our whole approach to fighting drug use, and led him to a remarkable new strategy and life. How would YOU fight this war?
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HACKED
Vanessa Kirby meets Nick Davies, the reporter who used covert skills to break one of the most explosive stories of the Noughties. News of the World, a British tabloid, had been deliberately hacking the mobile phones of celebrities and public figures. Through a carefully-chosen network of sources, Nick launched an investigation that shook the foundations of the government, the police and the media establishment. Could YOU speak truth to power?
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BURGERS AND SPIES
Vanessa Kirby meets Naveed Jamali, an FBI Operative who worked his way into the world of espionage. Hoping to impress US Intelligence, Naveed used family connections to set himself up as a double agent, fooling the Russians into revealing their operations on American soil. Armed only with a secret recording device, an encyclopedic knowledge of spy movies and a high tolerance for fast food, he spent three years luring in one of Russia's most senior operatives. Could YOU make it up as you went along?
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CODENAME: MADELEINE
Vanessa Kirby lands in Nazi-occupied France with Noor Inayat Khan, the Allied spy who risked her life to aid the Resistance. Armed with a wireless radio, Noor relayed vital intelligence to the British Special Operations Executive, right under the nose of Hitler's secret police. The average life expectancy of a radio operator was just 6 weeks. Could YOU beat the odds?
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SISTER SPIES
Vanessa Kirby meets Pat and Jean Owtram, two British sisters who played crucial roles as Allied codebreakers during World War 2. Bound by the Official Secrets Act, neither knew that the other was a spy until decades later. Now in their 90s, they reveal their hidden hands in planning D-Day, aiding the Resistance, and cracking the Enigma code. Tune in to True Spies to hear their story. Would YOU have the skills to make a difference?
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THE ARGONAUTS
Vanessa Kirby meets Mark and Cora Lijek, two ordinary American diplomats who took part in one of the most daring espionage operations in CIA history, dramatized in the Hollywood film, Argo. In 1979, the US embassy in Tehran was overrun by Iranian revolutionaries. To escape, Mark and Cora would need to master the art of spycraft - and fast. Tune in to True Spies to hear their story. Could YOU become a master of disguise?
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THE LIMPING LADY
Vanessa Kirby goes behind enemy lines with Virginia Hall, one of the bravest Allied heroines of WWII. As part of ‘Churchills' Secret Army’, Virginia was sent into German occupied France to organize resistance efforts and disrupt Nazi plans ‘by any means necessary’. As the Germans closed in, betrayal was a constant threat. Would you know who to trust?
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JUSTICE FOR LEON KLINGHOFFER
Vanessa Kirby follows CIA veteran Bob Dougherty as he seeks justice for the kidnap and killing of an American war veteran aboard a cruise ship in the Mediterranean. Bob had to wait nearly 20 years for his chance to capture Palestinian Liberation Front leader Abu Abbas. Could YOU play the waiting game?
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BLINKING RED
CIA analyst Gina Bennett shows Vanessa Kirby the origins of America's most infamous enemy. Throughout the 1990s, Osama bin Laden launched a series of attacks on American interests at home and abroad. Operating in the man's world of counterterrorism, Gina had to fight to have the threat he posed taken seriously. Would YOU trust your gut?
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The NUCLEAR SUPERHIGHWAY
Undercover CIA agent James Olson takes Vanessa Kirby on a nail-biting mission behind the Iron Curtain. In the late 1970s, James was tasked with tapping an underground communications line between Moscow and a top-secret nuclear weapons facility. Under constant surveillance from the KGB, he would need to use a combination of traditional spycraft and hi-tech gadgetry to intercept this priceless intel without risking a diplomatic catastrophe. Could YOU evade detection?
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EXIT STRATEGY
CIA analyst Sarah Carlson drops Vanessa Kirby into the pressure-cooker of post-revolutionary Libya. In 2011, the Arab Spring swept Colonel Gaddafi from office, leaving a deadly power vacuum in its wake. 3 years later, civil war engulfed the nation. Under a hail of rocket fire, Sarah had to figure out a way to extract 150 American personnel from the carnage. Could YOU get them to safety?
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Ten Episodes Not To Miss
Ready to unlock the secrets of the spying game? Here's a quick intro to our True Spies series.
Howard Hunt Unleashed, Part 1: The CIA & Animal Farm
In this special two-part True Spies miniseries, Daisy Ridley presents a dramatized encounter with Everette Howard Hunt Jr, based on our own historical research and Hunt's own writings. In Part 1, Hunt explains his role in one of the CIA's most unusual PsyOps - the backing of 1954's animated version of George Orwell's Animal Farm.
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HAVANA SYNDROME SPECIAL
Debilitating neurological symptoms have affected US officials worldwide. Former CIA officer Marc Polymeropoulos has been suffering since 2017 - he joins Russia expert and former CIA Station Chief John Sipher, and Dr. James Giordano to analyze Havana Syndrome.
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EPIDSODE HOMEPAGE
GRAY SUIT & THE GHOST
Eric O’Neill describes the hunt for the infamous FBI mole Robert Hanssen, who he was tasked with catching. Eric needs to get Hanssen into a hire car so his own car can be searched for evidence of his betrayal... but the hire car isn’t there and Hanssen is getting suspicious. What would you do in O'Neill's position?
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THE ILLEGAL
'Jack Barsky' was a New York computer programmer for a well-known insurance firm. In real life, he was Albrecht Dittrich, a highly-trained Soviet sleeper agent dropped behind enemy lines in 1970s America. When the KGB recalled him to Europe, Barsky had a difficult choice to make: Should he leave his wife and 18-month-old baby behind or betray his country?
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INSIDE NAMBLA
Bob Hamer had a colorful career as an undercover FBI agent but nothing prepared him for infiltrating Nambla, the North American Man/Boy Love Association. If he was going to put the pedophiles behind bars, Bob would have to hide his hatred and disdain - even if it ripped at the very fabric of his being. (Warning: This episode contains graphic details.)
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WHITE TRAITOR
Sue Dobson was a white woman who wanted to spy for the African National Congress - making her a minority within a minority in apartheid-era South Africa. Dobson spent seven months training in the USSR to learn her tradecraft. Now she wasn’t just a traitor, she was a turncoat with the training to kill.
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PSYCHIC SPIES
Dr. Edwin May is an unusual scientist, a physicist who researches psychic phenomena. For decades he worked with psychics who believed they could ‘foresee’ events like potential terrorist attacks, which raised an interesting question: If you can see the future, are you condemned to experience it?
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THE SOCIOPATHIC SPY
Working as a lawyer is one path to success, but Jim Lawler wanted adventure. He ditched his job in Texas and joined the CIA. On his first tour abroad, Jim had to recruit a spy working for a hostile government knowing she’d be killed if her cover was blown. That’s when Jim realized he was born with the type of sociopathic personality that would ensure success.
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ME AND THE MULLAH
Shawnee Delaney was a key part of the US team hunting Osama bin Laden in the wake of 9/11. One of her contacts was a Mullah with close ties to al-Qaeda but how could she win his trust? There was a language barrier and the Mullah refused to accept money for intelligence. This was shaping up to be Shawnee’s most challenging assignment yet.
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THE IRISHMAN
Sean Hartnett grew up in Ireland during the 'Troubles'. His family was Republican so they were shocked when Hartnett talked about joining the British Armed Forces. In fact, Hartnett went a step further. He joined the British Army’s most secretive covert counterterrorist unit in Northern Ireland, Joint Communications Unit Northern Ireland aka ‘The Det’.
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EPISODE HOMEPAGE
And, if you're into covert operations and intelligence gathering, check out these episodes:
EPISODE 71
RISE AND KILL FIRST
Ronen Bergman is an investigative journalist specializing in the dark arts of espionage and Mossad. In the early ‘80s, he stumbled on the scoop of a lifetime involving PLO chairman Yasser Arafat.
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TEAM ALPHA PART 1: THE TIP OF THE SPEAR
October 17, 2001. The dust of 9/11 has barely settled. America and the world are reeling. In Afghanistan, eight CIA officers - a crack team of linguists, tribal experts, and paramilitaries - are the first Americans to infiltrate Taliban territory after the attacks. Their mission is to ensure that al-Qaeda does not strike again.
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EPISODE 87
STALIN'S ROMEO SPY
As a young Soviet journalist, Emil Draitser stumbled on a story that changed his life. He was summoned by Dmitri Bystrolyotov to hear the deep secret that he was a ‘Stasi Romeo’ spying on Germany for Moscow, taking advantage of vulnerable women to steal state secrets. It was a fascinating tale, but it could also land Draitser in prison.
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ALDRICH AMES PART 1: THE ULTIMATE DOUBLE AGENT - SELLING SECRETS
The CIA is only as strong as the weakest link. And in the waning years of the Cold War, weak links were in ready supply. A number of trusted Agency officers were caught selling secrets to the Russian regime. And the most notorious traitor? Aldrich Hazen Ames.
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EPISODE 43
PUTIN'S PALACE?
Former Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny released a film in 2021 that sent shockwaves through the country. Part exposé, part-psychological portrait, his investigation claimed to reveal a culture of corruption within the Kremlin - with President Putin at its heart. The Kremlin and Putin deny everything.
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LISTEN TO ALL TRUE SPIES EPISODES Find us on Apple Podcasts
See all episodes here
Spy Sisters
See all episodes here
CIA Secrets
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FBI Secrets
See all episodes here
Russian Secrets
True Russian Spy Missions - Teaser
Peek behind an Iron Curtain of secrecy with hosts Hayley Atwell and Vanessa Kirby, as they enter a world of KGB sleeper agents, FSB defectors, and American infiltrators in this curated selection of True Spies stories. If you’d like to dig deeper into the world of secrets, and test your own secret intelligence skills, head over to spyscape.com for articles, games, experiences, puzzles and videos. A Cup & Nuzzle production. Series producers: Gemma Newby, Joe Foley. Music: Nick Ryan.
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Episode 1
THE ILLEGAL | KGB
Jack Barsky was a New York computer programmer for a well-known insurance firm. In real life, he was Albrecht Dittrich, a highly-trained Soviet sleeper agent dropped behind enemy lines in 1970s America. When the KGB recalled him to Europe, Barsky had a difficult choice to make: Should he leave his wife and 18-month-old baby behind or betray his country?
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Episode 2
THE BILLION-DOLLAR SPY | CIA
Hayley Atwell tells the story of how Soviet engineer Adolph Tolkachev became one of the Cold War's most prolific turncoats. For nearly a decade, CIA Operations Officer David Rolph was tasked with keeping the information flowing, right under the nose of the KGB. What would YOU do in David's position?
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Episode 3
N IS FOR NOVICHOK | Investigation
Vanessa Kirby gets Christo Grozev, a modern Sherlock Holmes, to share the secrets of how he solved one of the most notorious assassination attempts of the 21st century - the poisoning of retired Russian double-agent Sergei Skripal, hospitalized by a mysterious nerve agent on British soil. Would YOU have the skills to do the same?
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Episode 4
The NUCLEAR SUPERHIGHWAY | CIA
Undercover CIA agent James Olson takes Vanessa Kirby on a nail-biting mission behind the Iron Curtain. In the late 1970s, James was tasked with tapping an underground communications line between Moscow and a top-secret nuclear weapons facility. Under constant surveillance from the KGB, he would need to use a combination of traditional spycraft and hi-tech gadgetry to intercept this priceless intel without risking a diplomatic catastrophe. Could YOU evade detection?
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Episode 5
THE MONEY SPY | FSB
How do you flee your country and join the other side? A former Russian intelligence agent gives Vanessa Kirby a rare masterclass in international tradecraft. Janosh Neumann fled Moscow armed only with his wits, a suitcase and the names of Russia's most influential money launderers, to begin a dangerous journey to the other side.
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LISTEN NOW
EPISODE 6
PUTIN'S PALACE? | Investigation
Former Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny released a film in 2021 that sent shockwaves through the country. Part exposé, part-psychological portrait, his investigation claimed to reveal a culture of corruption within the Kremlin - with President Putin at its heart. The Kremlin and Putin deny everything.
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EPISODE 7
NEW RUSSIA, NEW RULES | CIA
It's 1993, and Russia is tearing itself apart. A violent coup is threatening to derail Boris Yeltsin's fragile post-Soviet government. Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, deputy chief of station for the CIA in Moscow, is caught in the crossfire. To get out alive, he'll need to lean on an unlikely new ally - Russian Intelligence. Vanessa Kirby tells his story.
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EPISODE 8
RUSSIA'S MOST WANTED | Investigation
Bill Browder’s fund made billions in the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse. But in the new Russia, the cost of doing business could be counted in more than cash. When Bill caught wind of major financial corruption in the country, he decided to act - making powerful enemies in the process. Vanessa Kirby unravels a story of money, power and terrible sacrifice.
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EPISODE 9
STALIN'S ROMEO SPY | Historical
In the fall of 1973, journalist Emil Draitser met an aging Soviet super-spy. His name was Dmitri Bystrolyotov, and for him, sex and secrets went hand-in-hand. At the time, Emil could scarcely believe what he heard - much less publish it. Thirty years later, long after the collapse of the USSR, Dmitri's story could finally be told. Vanessa Kirby enters a world of seduction, secrets, and lies between the wars. Could YOU mix business and pleasure?
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EPISODE 10
THE ACE OF SPIES | Historical
Who was Britain's Ace of Spies? Nobody really knows but the name he used was Sidney Reilly - and nobody did it better in the early 20th century. Reilly reckoned with oil barons, his personal pride, and the rise of Communism during his decades on the edge.
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EPISODE 10
THE ACE OF SPIES | Historical
EPISODE 9
STALIN'S ROMEO SPY | Historical
EPISODE 8
RUSSIA'S MOST WANTED | Investigation
EPISODE 7
NEW RUSSIA, NEW RULES | CIA
EPISODE 6
PUTIN'S PALACE? | Investigation
Episode 5
THE MONEY SPY | FSB
Episode 4
The NUCLEAR SUPERHIGHWAY | CIA
Episode 3
N IS FOR NOVICHOK | Investigation
Episode 2
THE BILLION-DOLLAR SPY | CIA
Episode 1
THE ILLEGAL | KGB
True Russian Spy Missions - Teaser

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