Podcasts · History

The Spy Who

Audible

142 episodes · in order

These are stories you were never meant to hear. The invisible but vital work of the world’s intelligence services: secret operatives playing to very different rules. The Spy Who, hosted by Indira Varma, Raza Jaffrey and Emilia Fox, takes you deep inside that shadow world to meet spies who risked everything in the national interest – or, sometimes, their own.

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Episodes page 1 of 3

  1. Introducing... The Spy Who

    · 1:38 · Trailer

    These are stories you were never meant to hear. The invisible but vital work of the world’s intelligence services: secret operatives playing to very different rules. The Spy Who, hosted by Indira Varma and Raza…

  2. The Spy Who Inspired 007 | A Friend Among Foes | 1

    · 35 min · S1 E1

    It’s 1940 and Serbian playboy Duško Popov hopes to sit out World War Two in Belgrade. But when his best friend, Johnny Jebsen shows up at his door to call in an old debt, Popov finds himself sucked into the wartime spy…

  3. The Spy Who Inspired 007 | Warning Signs | 2

    · 36 min · S1 E2

    MI6 double agent Duško Popov is heading to America, armed with evidence of Japan’s keen interest in the US Pearl Harbor naval base. But he's about to discover that the biggest threat to his mission are the very people…

  4. The Spy Who Inspired 007 | Back in the Game | 3

    · 36 min · S1 E3

    After a bust-up with the FBI over Pearl Harbor, Duško Popov finds himself at a crossroads. Does he seek a Hollywood ending with his movie star girlfriend or risk death by returning to Lisbon to win back the trust of…

  5. The Spy Who Inspired 007 | Retribution | 4

    · 40 min · S1 E4

    British intelligence is out to fool the Nazis into thinking the Allies invasion will start anywhere but Normandy. But to make Operation Fortitude’s lies stick, they need an agent who can sell the fiction to the Abwehr…

  6. The Spy Who Inspired 007 | The other James Bonds | 5

    · 21 min · S1 E5 · Bonus

    Charlotte Philby interviews Andrew Lycett, the biographer of Ian Fleming, about the other real life spies that inspired his most famous character: James Bond - including the flamboyant Biffy Dunderdale, the urbane Sir…

  7. The Spy Who Saved MI5 | The Spider and the Fly | 1

    · 37 min · S2 E1 · Explicit

    MI5 is on its knees at the dawn of the 1970s: Soviet spies are running free around the country and the government won’t boot them out for fear of upsetting Moscow. But the danger from inaction is growing because a spy…

  8. The Spy Who Saved MI5 | The Pressure Cooker | 2

    · 37 min · S2 E2

    Oleg Lyalin is now compromised. To survive, he must now find a way to maintain the fictions of his multiple lives. But when his messy love life spirals out of control, Moscow sends in a KGB investigator to uncover…

  9. The Spy Who Saved MI5 | No Return | 3

    · 33 min · S2 E3

    There’s panic at MI5 headquarters. Oleg Lyalin, their man inside the KGB, has just been arrested for drunk driving putting Operation Foot in jeopardy. But as MI5 races to reach him before the KGB can, Lyalin is working…

  10. The Spy Who Saved MI5 | The Dominoes Fall | 4

    · 39 min · S2 E4

    Operation Foot is now happening. And British government knows that its attempt to neutralise the KGB in London will be met with hostility from Moscow. But it’s not just the UK that must prepare for the retaliation, for…

  11. The Spy Who Saved MI5 | How the Cambridge Five Changed MI5 | 5

    · 38 min · S2 E5 · Bonus

    Why was the Cambridge Five scandal so embarrassing to MI5? And how significant was Oleg Lyalin's success in restoring faith in British Intelligence? Tristan Donovan discusses the notorious spy-ring and its lasting…

  12. The Spy Who Wouldn't Lie | The Tiger Stirs | 1

    · 38 min · S3 E1

    It’s June 1940 and the German forces are closing in on Paris. Noor Inayat Khan escapes to Britain just in time but is determined to return to Nazi-occupied France as a radio operator for Britain’s new covert ops…

  13. The Spy Who Wouldn't Lie | One Summer In Paris | 2

    · 34 min · S3 E2

    Noor Inayat Khan is back in France, eager to use her radio skills to help fight back against the Nazi occupation. But when two other agents fall into the Gestapo’s hands, she and the rest of the British spy ring in…

  14. The Spy Who Wouldn't Lie | Don't Stand Still | 3

    · 35 min · S3 E3

    Britain’s Prosper spy network is falling apart in Northern France. Every day the Gestapo seems to arrest yet another agent and Noor Inayat Khan finds herself playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse with the Nazis in…

  15. The Spy Who Wouldn't Lie | Liberté | 4

    · 36 min · S3 E4 · Explicit

    After months on the run Noor Inayat Khan's luck takes a turn for the worse. But she doesn't go down without a fight - and the Nazis soon discover that the Indian princess can draw blood. Listen to The Spy Who on the…

  16. The Spy Who Wouldn't Lie | The Unsung Heroines Of WW2 | 5

    · 31 min · S3 E5 · Bonus

    The endeavors of the women of the Special Operatives Executive were vital to many of Britain's successes during WW2. But the secretive nature of their work meant that many of their heroic feats have been lost to time.…

  17. The Spy Who Betrayed Bin Laden | Holy War | 1

    · 40 min · S4 E1

    It’s 1994 and 16-year-old Aimen Dean wants to die. He’s heading to war-torn Bosnia to join the Mujahideen and save fellow Muslims. He hopes to become a martyr so that he can be reunited with his dead parents in…

  18. The Spy Who Betrayed Bin Laden | Londonistan | 2

    · 38 min · S4 E2

    Aimen Dean is trapped. He wants out of al-Qaeda and Afghanistan, but no one gets to leave the jihadi training camps without permission. So when a missile strike hands him the perfect excuse to leave he seizes the…

  19. The Spy Who Betrayed Bin Laden | Twin Towers | 3

    · 39 min · S4 E3

    Aimen Dean is now working undercover posing as a loyal jihadi in Afghanistan, while actually spying for the British intelligence service MI6. And he knows that one mistake is all it will take to wind up dead. But…

  20. The Spy Who Betrayed Bin Laden | Death Sentence | 4

    · 40 min · S4 E4

    Aimen Dean is now on a mission to thwart a deadly plot to release poison gas on the New York Subway. But when his British spymasters decide to alert the U.S. to the threat, Dean’s deception begins to unravel. Listen…

  21. The Spy Who Betrayed Bin Laden | Aimen Dean talks about his time as MI6's Top Spy Inside Al-Qaeda | 5

    · 47 min · S4 E5 · Bonus

    Aimen Dean talks Raza Jaffrey through the highs and lows of his eight years as an undercover agent and why he chose to spy for the British rather than the Americans. He also describes how he felt after his cover was…

  22. The Spy Who Defused the Missile Crisis | The Stranger In Red Square | 1

    · 42 min · S5 E1

    It’s 1960. The world hangs on the brink of nuclear war. But in Moscow, a man’s about to emerge from the shadows with an offer for the CIA. His name is Oleg Penkovsky and he wants to supply the US with the Soviet…

  23. The Spy Who Defused the Missile Crisis | Hero or Madman? | 2

    · 40 min · S5 E2

    After months of missed opportunities, the CIA and MI6 are about to meet Penkovsky. But with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev squaring up to the US President John F. Kennedy over West Berlin, his information could have…

  24. The Spy Who Defused the Missile Crisis | Manoeuvres in Moscow | 3

    · 43 min · S5 E3

    Oleg Penkovsky is back in the USSR, ready to feed Soviet secrets to his new MI6 contact: a pram-pushing mother of three. But with the Berlin Crisis about to boil over, his intel could be the difference between war and…

  25. The Spy Who Defused the Missile Crisis | Code Nuclear | 4

    · 41 min · S5 E4

    It’s 1962 and Oleg Penkovsky has gone to ground after spotting a KGB surveillance team tracking his MI6 contact Janet Chisholm. But when the British Embassy in Moscow invites him to a cocktail party, he sees a chance…

  26. The Spy Who Defused the Missile Crisis | Unpacking the mind of a spy legend | 5

    · 39 min · S5 E5 · Bonus

    Few spies have motives as hard to decipher as those of Oleg Penkovsky. Was he a hero, an egotist or a madman? The Spy Who's Tristan Donovan sits down with Jack Basu-Mellish, host of the LSE Cold War Podcast, to discuss…

  27. The Spy Who Sold Peace to the IRA | A Divided Land | 1

    · 42 min · S6 E1

    When Willie Carlin quits the British Army to return to Northern Ireland during The Troubles, he gets an unusual job offer: to spy on his own catholic community. Listen to The Spy Who ad-free on Wondery+ in the Wondery…

  28. The Spy Who Sold Peace to the IRA | Ballots Not Bullets | 2

    · 39 min · S6 E2 · Explicit

    Stuck with a wayward handler, MI5 agent Willie Carlin hunts for a way out, only to get sucked deeper into the Irish republican movement. Listen to The Spy Who ad-free on Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or…

  29. The Spy Who Sold Peace to the IRA | Fly Fishing | 3

    · 43 min · S6 E3

    When Willie Carlin makes an alarming discovery in an IRA safe house, he must choose between preserving his cover or conscience. Listen to The Spy Who ad-free on Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify.…

  30. The Spy Who Sold Peace to the IRA | Threats From All Sides | 4

    · 36 min · S6 E4 · Explicit

    With IRA hardliners losing ground and Sinn Féin on the up, Willie Carlin’s feeling confident about his spying. But loose talk is about to put him on a kill list. Listen to The Spy Who ad-free on Wondery+ in the…

  31. The Spy Who Sold Peace to the IRA | Thatcher's favourite | 5

    · 40 min · S6 E5

    Why was Carlin considered Thatcher's favourite spy? What difference did he really make? And how did he cope when he became an exile? To find out more about Carlin's life and significance, Charlie Higson is joined by…

  32. The Spy Who Started the Cold War | Enemy Alien | 1

    · 42 min · S7 E1

    It’s the 1940s. Robert Oppenheimer is creating plans for the first atomic bomb. And his colleague is stealing them. Klaus Fuchs is a traitor in Oppenheimer's ranks. A German-born physicist secretly working for the…

  33. The Spy Who Started the Cold War | Los Alamos | 2

    · 41 min · S7 E2

    Fuchs’ plan to feed secrets to the Soviets is in jeopardy. The atomic bomb project is closely guarded. That means little contact with the outside world, especially his handlers. Listen to The Spy Who ad-free on…

  34. The Spy Who Started the Cold War | Fallout | 3

    · 38 min · S7 E3

    Klaus Fuchs is sure his espionage has gone undetected. So when authorities unearth a similar spy ring in Canada’s nuclear project, Fuchs doesn’t consider that he could be next. Listen to The Spy Who ad-free on…

  35. The Spy Who Started the Cold War | Lost Control | 4

    · 43 min · S7 E4

    MI5 is closing in on Klaus Fuchs. But they can't seem to catch him in the act of spying. There’s only one option. They need a confession. Listen to The Spy Who ad-free on Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or…

  36. The Spy Who Started the Cold War | The Most Dangerous In History? | 5

    · 32 min · S7 E5 · Bonus

    Why did Fuchs take such a huge gamble by sharing US nuclear secrets with the Soviets? Was Oppenheimer's fellow physicist seeking peace - or war? Charlie Higson talks to Frank Close, an author and physicist, about…

  37. The Spy Who Putin Poisoned | End of an Era | 1

    · 39 min · S8 E1

    When the USSR falls apart, GRU officer Sergei Skripal finds himself adrift in the new Russia, having never asked for the country's new democracy. So when he meets a shadowy wine dealer, he leaps at the chance to make…

  38. The Spy Who Putin Poisoned | The Exchange | 2

    · 34 min · S8 E2

    Sergei Skripal is easing into retirement with a side hustle as a MI6 agent, and enjoying the Spanish seaside. Meanwhile, the KGB’s successor, the FSB, is on the hunt for traitors after a tip-off from a mole inside…

  39. The Spy Who Putin Poisoned | Always a Spy | 3

    · 30 min · S8 E3

    In a top-secret Russian laboratory, a terrifying chemical weapon called Novichok is about to be hauled out of storage, and will soon reach the streets of British city Salisbury. Listen to The Spy Who ad-free on…

  40. The Spy Who Putin Poisoned | Bear Traps | 4

    · 39 min · S8 E4

    As hospital medics battle to save the first victims of the Salisbury poisonings, police hunt the perpetrators. And while they're searching, the spy war between Russia and the West heats up, with an eventful call…

  41. The Spy Who Putin Poisoned | Uncovering The Truth With Bellingcat | 5

    · 33 min · S8 E5

    In a groundbreaking investigation into the poisoning of Sergei Skripal, journalism group Bellingcat exposed previously unknown details of the Salisbury Poisonings that blew the case wide open. Journalist and Bellingcat…

  42. The Spy Who Killed a Prime Minister | Independence Day | 1

    · 45 min · S9 E1

    When MI6 sends officer Daphne Park to help stop a communist takeover in Congo, it kickstarts one of the darkest operations in MI6 and CIA history. Because security services either need to win the trust of Congo’s first…

  43. The Spy Who Killed a Prime Minister | Heart of Darkness | 2

    · 40 min · S9 E2 · Explicit

    Newly independent Congo is spiralling into disorder. Disorder the Communists could be quick to exploit. MI6 officer Daphne Park needs to act, and fast. Listen to The Spy Who ad-free on Wondery+ in the Wondery App,…

  44. The Spy Who Killed a Prime Minister | Cold Jungle | 3

    · 48 min · S9 E3

    While Patrice Lumumba battles to control his country, MI6 officer Daphne Park and CIA officer Larry Devlin are secretly battling to stop him turning to the Soviets for help. Listen to The Spy Who ad-free on Wondery+…

  45. The Spy Who Killed a Prime Minister | One Gold Tooth | 4

    · 42 min · S9 E4 · Explicit

    New Prime Minister Joseph Mobutu’s grip on power is shaky. It’s Patrice Lumumba who has the people’s support. So the CIA and MI6 start plotting to oust him using any means necessary. Listen to The Spy Who ad-free on…

  46. The Spy Who Gave London its Christmas Tree | 1

    · 35 min · S10 E1

    Each Christmas, a giant tree lights up London’s Trafalgar Square. Behind the custom: 007 author Ian Fleming and a secret mission to Norway. This is the story of how wartime espionage gave Britain its most spectacular…

  47. The Spy Who Killed a Prime Minister | Lumumba's Grandson on Legacy, Loss and the Weight of a Name | 5

    · 24 min · S9 E5

    Amory Lumumba was born long after the 1961 assassination of his grandfather. Yet the impact continues to ripple through his family today. Actor and spy novelist Charlie Higson speaks with Amory about the heavy…

  48. The Spy Who Betrayed Bin Laden (Encore) | Holy War | 1

    · 41 min · S11 E1

    It’s 1994 and 16-year-old Aimen Dean wants to die. He’s heading to war-torn Bosnia to join the Mujahideen and save fellow Muslims. He hopes to become a martyr so that he can be reunited with his dead parents in…

  49. The Spy Who Betrayed Bin Laden (Encore) | Londonistan | 2

    · 38 min · S11 E2

    Aimen Dean is trapped. He wants out of al-Qaeda and Afghanistan, but no one gets to leave the jihadi training camps without permission. So when a missile strike hands him the perfect excuse to leave he seizes the…

  50. The Spy Who Betrayed Bin Laden (Encore) | Twin Towers | 3

    · 39 min · S11 E3

    Dean is working undercover, posing as a loyal jihadi in Afghanistan, while actually spying for British intelligence. He knows that one mistake is all it will take to wind up dead. But that’s not his only worry because…

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