The Bansenshukai and the Art of the Fireflies
Some of the greatest spies and saboteurs of all time were the shinobi no mono - trained agents of espionage in feudal Japan. Though depicted in most modern media as…
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Project AQUILINE: A Nuclear-Powered Cold War Drone
In the late 1960s the CIA began developing a small bird-like drone, intended for low-profile aerial reconnaissance. Still stinging from the infamous loss of the U-2 aircraft and pilot Francis…
Episode #20 – The True Story of the Poison Gun and the KGB Defector with Dr. Serhii Plokhy
https://youtu.be/C5ibix1ZsEY An unwilling Soviet assassin killed two Ukrainian expatriates in West Germany before his own dramatic escape and defection. Bogdan Stashynsky was recruited by the Soviet NKVD at the age…
Mother, Judge, Cyber Vigilante
Shannen Rossmiller was a mother of three and a small-town judge from rural Montana who watched in horror as the events of 9/11 unfolded. Unlike most people though, she was determined to…
Hidden Rubles in a Hollow Brick
Disguised objects for use as dead drop containers required an incredible amount of research, experimentation, and testing before they could be used for high-risk operations in the field. The slightest imperfection could…
Episode #19 – Licensed to Kill: The Couple that Inspired James Bond
https://youtu.be/WbQVOqcDZ1c Peter Mason and his wife Prudence Mason served Britain’s MI-6 from the earliest days of the Cold War through the 1970s. Peter was a member of the Special Operations…
Leave No Trace: Disguising Footprints in the Jungles of Southeast Asia
These jungle boots with footprint soles were designed to disguise the presence of MACV SOG warriors on the Ho Chi Minh trail. Military Assistance Command Vietnam - Studies and Observation Group was…
Episode #18 – KGB Agent to US Informant: Nikolai Khokhlov
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0y8rOIlnx0 An explosive press conference by US intelligence personnel took place in West Germany in 1954. The stars of the show were Nikolai Khokhlov, a Soviet MVD assassin and his…
Kate, the Pistol-Packing Plainclothes Paratrooper
Lance Corporal Sara-Jane Warke was assigned to the Military Reaction Force, a special mission unit which operated in Northern Ireland during the Troubles in the 1970s. The MRF is a…
D-21: The Ramjet-Powered Supersonic Spy Drone
Beginning in 1962, the legendary research & development powerhouse at Lockheed known as the Skunk Works started to develop a supersonic drone that could do the work of a CIA-flown A-12 or…