True Spies: Espionage | Investigation | Crime | Murder | Detective | Politics
True Spies takes you inside the world's greatest espionage and detective operations. Our hosts Hayley Atwell, Vanessa Kirby, Sophia Di Martino, Daisy Ridley and Rhiannon Neads talk to the real spies behind the missions. What do they know? What are their skills? And what would you do in their position? We explore and investigate real life thrillers, mysteries and crimes - stories that prove truth is stranger than fiction! These stories cover lies, murder, theft, sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll. You’ll meet experts from the top intelligence agencies including FBI, CIA, MI5, MI6 (SIS), KGB, GRU, Mossad and many others. You’ll discover characters who spied because of money, ideology, coercion or just plain old ego. And, 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.
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A Cup & Nuzzle production. Series producers: Gemma Newby, Joe Foley. Music: Nick Ryan.
- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 43 minutes
- Episodes
- 292
- Years Active
- 2020 - 2025
The Secret Policeman | MI6
Lawyer and intelligence historian David Burke reveals a shadowy chapter in the story of Anglo-Irish relations in the 20th century.
Irish police intelligence analyst Patrick Crinnion was a man of rare…
01:08:49 |
Tue 16 Sep 2025
True Spies Debriefs - Andy Greenberg on Sandworm
WIRED journalist Andy Greenberg has spent years reporting from the murky world of hackers, spies, and cyber warriors. His 2019 book Sandworm tells the true story of the Kremlin-backed cyber criminals…
00:33:23 |
Tue 09 Sep 2025
True Spies - Brief Histories: Tradecraft
NEW from True Spies: Brief Histories. From Egyptian codebreaking, to USB sticks with the power to cripple nuclear facilities, this week hear the long evolution of tradecraft.
In Brief Histories, the…
00:28:52 |
Thu 04 Sep 2025
True Spies Classic: The Sociopathic Spy | CIA
Jim Lawler is one of the CIA's most successful recruiters of foreign spies. But even he had to start somewhere. In this classic episode of True Spies, Vanessa Kirby joins Jim on his first foreign pos…
00:43:14 |
Tue 02 Sep 2025
True Spies Debriefs: John Taylor on the Psychology of Spies
John Taylor is an author, lecturer and advisor on handling human sources of secret intelligence. He joins True Spies producer Morgan Childs to discuss the psychology of those who play the espionage g…
00:42:43 |
Tue 26 Aug 2025
The Great Illegals, Part Two: The Ambassador | NKVD
In this two-part True Spies story, author and journalist Shaun Walker unmasks the greatest generation of Russian spies - the Great Illegals.
In Part Two, Shaun tells the story of Iosif Grigulevich…
00:50:37 |
Tue 19 Aug 2025
True Spies - Brief Histories: Information Warfare
NEW from True Spies: Brief Histories. From Ancient Roman propaganda apparatus to burgeoning MI6 operations, hear how the very information we consume has throughout history been orchestrated.
In Brie…
00:22:58 |
Wed 13 Aug 2025
The Great Illegals, Part One: The Whistler | NKVD
In this two-part True Spies story, author and journalist Shaun Walker unmasks the greatest generation of Russian spies - the Great Illegals.
In Part One, Shaun tells the story of Nikolai Khokhlov …
00:58:15 |
Tue 12 Aug 2025
True Spies Classic: Exit Strategy | CIA
In this classic episode of True Spies, 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…
00:46:02 |
Tue 05 Aug 2025
Introducing... True Spies: Brief Histories
The history of espionage is long and shrouded in mystery...
Hear it chronicled in True Spies: Brief Histories, the new monthly episodes of True Spies.
From the intricacies of Ancient Roman trad…
00:03:15 |
Fri 01 Aug 2025
True Spies Debriefs: Seth Thévoz on Espionage in London's Clubland
True Spies producer Morgan Childs joins researcher and author Seth Thévoz to discuss the origins of London's elite gentlemen's clubs - and the movers, shakers and spies who have called them a home-fr…
00:38:38 |
Tue 29 Jul 2025
The Baltic Baron | MI6
Author, historian and former British Foreign Office official Tim Willasey-Wilsey tells the incredible story of Wilhelm Von De Ropp - the high-born chameleon who had Hitler's ear in the build-up to WW…
01:02:13 |
Tue 22 Jul 2025
True Spies Classic: I Was Never Here | CSIS
Rediscover a classic from the vaults with Andrew Kirsch - a Special Operations officer with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
True Spies work in all sorts of far-flung locales - but some …
00:36:44 |
Tue 15 Jul 2025
True Spies Debriefs: Douglas Waller on Frank Wisner
Content Warning: This episode contains references to suicide.
True Spies producer Morgan Childs sits down with author and journalist Douglas Waller to discuss the complex and controversial legacy at…
00:43:11 |
Tue 08 Jul 2025
Cover of Darkness | CSIS
Former Canadian Security Intelligence Service operative Neil Bisson delivers a compact masterclass in Human Intelligence gathering in this blow-by-blow account of a Mobile Debrief.
Along the way, yo…
00:34:18 |
Tue 01 Jul 2025
True Spies Debriefs: Jane Bradley and Michael Schwirtz on Russia's Brazilian Illegals
Investigative New York Times journalists Jane Bradley and Michael Schwirtz speak to True Spies producer Frank Palmer about the discovery of a Russian 'spy factory' in Brazil.
This is a free taster o…
00:31:19 |
Tue 24 Jun 2025
True Spies Debriefs: Stephen Davis on Flight 149
Journalist Stephen Davis has spent 30 years working to uncover the truth behind one of the most secretive chapters of the Gulf War.
When British Airways Flight 149 landed in Kuwait on the 2nd of Aug…
00:44:45 |
Tue 17 Jun 2025
Foxtrot in Kandahar, Part 2: Showdown in Takhteh-Pol | CIA
In late 2001, veteran CIA Officer Duane Evans deployed to Afghanistan as part of the US response to 9/11. This is his story.
In Part 2, Duane and Team Foxtrot make the perilous journey to Kandahar.…
00:51:49 |
Tue 10 Jun 2025
Foxtrot in Kandahar, Part 1: Snakes and Lightning | CIA
In late 2001, veteran CIA Officer Duane Evans deployed to Afghanistan as part of the US response to 9/11. This is his story.
In Part 1, we find Duane as he swears vengeance against Al Qaeda - and m…
00:49:26 |
Tue 03 Jun 2025
True Spies Classic: The Ritchie Boys | WW2
In this True Spies Classic, you'll revisit the story of a true American hero.
It's 1944 - 3 days after D-Day. 22-year old Guy Stern lands in Normandy. Unlike many of his comrades in the US Army, it'…
00:52:26 |
Tue 27 May 2025
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