Podcasts about KGB

In 1986, Oggy Boytchev made a split-second decision that would change his life forever. Sent to Egypt by a Bulgarian shipping company, he seized an unexpected opportunity to escape communist Bulgaria, boarding a flight to London and claiming political asylum at Heathrow. In this 2nd episode with Oggy, he recounts details of his extraordinary escape to becoming a broadcaster with the BBC World Service. He describes the emotional impact of leaving his family behind, the pride his father felt hearing his son's voice broadcasting back into Bulgaria, and the dramatic events that followed the collapse of communism. Episode one is here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode465/ Oggy also takes us inside the Bulgarian section of the BBC, where the memory of murdered dissident Georgi Markov still lingered. He reveals stories of another mysterious death linked to the section, recalls interviewing KGB defector Oleg Gordievsky about Markov's assassination, and reflects on later encounters with spies, intelligence chiefs and world leaders during a distinguished BBC career alongside John Simpson. Oggy's latest novel, 'The Istanbul Connection ', is a gripping, morally complex thriller that explores the blurred lines between ideology and manipulation Enter the book giveaway here ⁠ https://coldwarconversations.com/giveaway1/⁠ Check outOggy's books here ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/4wyGHjT⁠⁠ Curated episode extras ⁠⁠https://coldwarconversations.com/episode466/ Help me preserve Cold War history via a simple monthly donation, You'll become part of our community, get ad-free episodes, receive a sought-after CWC coaster as a thank-you, and bask in the warm glow of knowing you are helping to preserve Cold War history. Just go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ If a monthly contribution is not your cup of tea, we also welcome one-off tips via the same link. Find the ideal gift for the Cold War enthusiast in your life! Just go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://coldwarconversations.com/store/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ CONTINUE  THE COLD WAR CONVERSATION o BlueSky ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bsky.app/profile/coldwarpod.bsky.social⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ o Threads ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.threads.net/@coldwarconversations⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ o Twitter/X ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ o Facebook ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ o Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ o Youtube ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Belarus, new legislation from the government of President Alexander Lukashenko targets anyone who might be regarded as an opponent with charges of being ‘extremist'. Dozens of independent media outlets have recently been designated as ‘extremist organisations' in the country, as the government cracks down on dissent. But the Belarus government isn't only targeting media outlets. It's taking aim at a wide variety of groups and organisations, including a well-respected Belarus university, the European Humanities University, which since 2005 has been based in the apparent safety of Lithuania. But recently, students, staff and their families have begun to be visited by Belarus's security service, the KGB. BBC Russian's Alina Isachenka has been investigating. The custom of men being married to more than one person at the same time, known as polygamy, is practiced in many parts of the world, particularly across the African continent. It's traditionally rooted in cultural, social, and economic values across various tribes in different regions, such as the Zulu in South Africa, a country where polygamous marriage is legally recognised. Now, a new hit Zulu language TV series, The Polygamist, has got people discussing the topic. BBC Africa reporter Khanisile Nkobho has been following the issue. This episode of The Documentary comes to you from The Fifth Floor, the show at the heart of global storytelling, with BBC journalists from all around the world. Presented by Faranak Amidi. Produced by Laura Thomas, Caroline Ferguson and Hannah Dean. (Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

參考書目：《獨裁者聯盟》，作者： 安愛波邦；譯者：李寧怡 這集我們會談到： 1.任教國小特教班有哪些優、缺點？有愛的人才能當特教老師？ 2.國中普通班的老師，面對融合教育時，實質上會有哪些困難？ 3.獨裁者們正在打造的想法：民主吵出結論VS獨裁集中力量辦大事！ 4.《獨裁者聯盟》：書中解密當代獨裁者會如何組成聯盟互相幫助！ 5.蘇聯解體後，大家有何樂觀的想法？貿易真能讓中國融入民主？？ 6.當世界更開放，獨裁國家的想法如何反向影響到民主世界？？ 7.普丁是如何透過從政竊取國家的錢，存入自己與夥伴的口袋？ 8.俄羅斯被「設計」得想民主國家，事實上為何？反對派下場如何？ 9.2004年俄羅斯的首富下場為何？勞改、破產，財產被誰收走？ 10.俄羅斯反對派納瓦尼2013年出來參選，卻在2024年於北極猝死！ 11.俄羅斯被視為洗錢的樞紐！其最著名的洗錢方式為何？？ 12.是誰在幫助獨裁者們洗錢的呢？就是民主國家的公民們！！ 【背景介紹】 《獨裁者聯盟》，作者在此書揭露了專制國家們如何攜手打造一個相互支持的國際網路，用最淺顯的語言，清楚剖析跨國獨裁聯盟的起源及特徵，追蹤它的命脈，拆解它的運作方式，找出潛在弱點，讓每一位因政治而焦慮的讀者，都能保持理智，看穿獨裁者聯盟的招式，守護既有的民主生活方式…..。 請贊助我一杯咖啡，感謝您的贊助，讓我們能走得更遠、更久

On the latest episode of Tin Foil Hat, Sam sits down with Jay Dyer for a wide ranging conversation exploring the hidden power structures that have shaped the modern world. They dive into the approved Rothschild biography, the origins and evolution of the OSS, CIA, and Mossad, the enduring legacy of MK Ultra, the KGB's role during the Cold War, and the growing debate over whether UFO and alien disclosure is part of a larger psychological operation. It's a fascinating deep dive into intelligence agencies, geopolitics, and the narratives that continue to shape public perception.   Please subscribe to the new Tin Foil Hat youtube channel:  https://www.youtube.com/@TinFoilHatYoutube   Sam Tripoli's 5th Crowd Work Special "Hero Live From Batavia" Drops May 2nd On Youtube.com/SamTripoliComedy   Grab your copy of the 2nd issue of the Chaos Twins now and join the Army Of Chaos: https://bit.ly/415fDfY   Check out Sam "DoomScrollin with Sam Tripoli and Midnight Mike" Every Tuesday At 4pm pst on Youtube, X Twitter, Rumble and Rokfin! Join the WolfPack at Wise Wolf Gold and Silver and start hedging your financial position by investing in precious metals now! Go to https://www.samtripoli.gold/ and use the promo code "TinFoil" and we thank Tony for supporting our show.   Grab Tickets To Sam Tripoli's Live Shows At SamTripoli.com: Miami, Fl: 7/31-8/1 Lawerence, KS: 9/17-9/19 Tulsa, OK: 10/9-10/10 Dallsa, Tx: Nov 7th (TrutherCon) Austin, TX: Dec 11th-13th   Please check out Word War Debate and the WordWarDebate Contenders Series: https://wordwardebate.com Please check out Jay Dyer's internet: Website: https://jaysanalysis.com  rokfin: https://rokfin.com/jaydyer  twitter: https://twitter.com/Jay_D007    Please check out Sam Tripoli's internet: Linktree: https://linktr.ee/samtripoli Sam Tripoli's Stand Up Youtube Page: https://www.youtube.com/@SamTripoliComedy Sam Tripoli's Comedy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samtripolicomedy/%20P Sam Tripoli's Podcast Clip Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samtripolispodcastclips/   Please support our sponsors: Jack Archer: Instead of needing different pants for work, travel, and weekends, the Jetsetter Tech Pant is designed to do more with one pair. Built for the office, golf course, date nights, and everything in between.  Right now, Jack Archer is offering our listeners 15% off your first order with promo code GETJACK. Go to Jack Archer dot com, and use promo code GETJACK for 15% off your first order, and see why thousands of people have given the Jetsetter Tech pant five stars. That's Jack Archer dot com, promo code GETJACK for 15% off your first order. Ultra: Ultra is the ultimate guilt-free pouch — delivering instant focus and mental clarity, without nicotine or caffeine. New customers can use code TINFOIL to get 15% off at Take Ultra dot com. That's TakeUltra.com for 15% off with code TINFOIL. After you purchase, they will ask you where you heard about them. PLEASE support our show and tell them our show sent you. ASPCA:This episode is sponsored by the ASPCA® Pet Health Insurance program, offering customizable accident and illness plans to fit your budget, lifestyle, and pet's unique needs. With nearly 30 years of experience and over one million pets covered, they make it easy to submit claims through their app and receive reimbursement for eligible vet bills. To explore coverage, visit A-S-P-C-A pet insurance dot com slash TINFOIL. That's A-S-P-C-A pet insurance dot com slash TINFOIL. Again, that's A-S-P-C-A pet insurance dot com slash TINFOIL.    

Here’s the audio from the July 8th, 2026 Fantastic Fiction at KGB reading series, with guests Sam Rebelein & Victor Manibo, recorded live at the KGB Bar. Support the Fantastic Fiction at KGB series by clicking here!​​​​​​​​​​​​​ ​ Sam Rebelein Sam Rebelein writes and teaches in Poughkeepsie, NY. His fiction has appeared in PseudoPod, The Deadlands, Bourbon Penn, Press Pause Press, Ellen Datlow’s prestigious Best Horror of the Year, and elsewhere. His first three books (The Poorly Made and Other Things, Galloway's Gospel, and the Bram Stoker award-nominated novel Edenville) are all set in the fictional world of Renfield County. His sci-fi horror chapbook Meatship is also available from Rapture Publishing. For more about Sam’s work, and pictures of his scruffy pooch Frodo, follow him on Instagram @rebelsam94. & Victor Manibo Victor Manibo is a Filipino novelist living in New York. He is the author of the science fiction novels The Sleepless and Escape Velocity, and the crime thriller Dead Note. His first horror novel, The Villa, Once Beloved, is out now from Erewhon Books. Aside from his books, he also spins fantastical tales in his career as a lawyer. Find him online at victormanibo.com and on most social media platforms @victormanibo.

John Adams hosts Thomas Jefferson one last time on his final night in the White House, and the two men confront the meaning of party, power, and the peaceful transfer of authority. Built from real historical language, the episode follows Jefferson's inauguration, Adams's departure from Washington, and the tensions that follow as Jefferson begins rolling back the Federalist program.As the episode continues, James Callender's accusations against Jefferson and Sally Hemmings expose the hidden violence and contradiction at the center of the founding generation.With Adams, Jefferson, Abigail Adams, John Quincy Adams, and Sally Hemings all shaping the story, the episode becomes a study in principle, scandal, memory, and unfulfilled promises.Patriarchs is a six-part audio drama about John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the founding of the United States, the American Revolution, and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence enacted in 1776.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

SPECIAL GUEST: BART KAMP! Join us this evening LIVE as we take a closer look at Oswald's passage to Russia and some intriguing things going on in Helsinki, Finland!Silk CIty Hot Sauce - https://www.silkcityhotsauce.com Use our code GUNMAN for 20% off entire order at checkout!The COLDEST Cup - https://snwbl.io/TLG10 Follow our link to save $10 on every cup ordered!Music By - Lee Harold OswaldA Loose Moose ProductionBBB&JOEB#TheLoneGunmanPodcast #JFK #JFKAssassination #CIA #ColdWar #Conspiracy #HistoryMysteries #Declassified #MindControl #JackRuby #LeeHarveyOswald #CIAFiles #TrueCrimePodcast #HistoryPodcast #HiddenHistory #DeepDive #ConspiracyResearchBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-lone-gunman-podcast-jfk-assassination--1181353/support.

Tunne Kelam: "Apelli saatmine ÜRO-le 1972. a ja sellele järgnevad KGB repressioonid alates 1974. aastast, mis hõlmasid kümneid inimesi, on üks paradoksaalne näide, kuidas kitsas ringkonnas alanud tegevus laienes tänu KGB jõupingutustele laiemate ringide teadvusse."

Mostre que Você Apoia o Toca: https://apoia.se/atocadodragao#rpg #russia #URSS #ficçaocietifica #ficçaohistorica #scify #rpgdemesa #maddragonturbo #MDT #RPGdoToca #RPGSeguro #FarolDaHistoria"1966. O auge da Guerra Fria. A KGB designa três dos seus melhores agentes para desvendar o Mistério do desaparecimento da Dra. Alekseeva no Complexo de Pesquisa B12. Paranoia, traição e medo, rondam os jogadores a todo instante, nada é o que parece ser. A equipe Sigma-4 conseguirá descobrir o que houve no trágico evento, ou tudo ficará encoberto pela União Soviética? Descubra."Um RPG Do Toca Do Dragão

John Adams becomes President after narrowly defeating Thomas Jefferson in 1796, and the uneasy partnership between the two men is tested by cabinet politics, French aggression, and the rise of partisan warfare. Built from historical dialogue and source material, the episode follows Adams, Jefferson, Abigail Adams, John Quincy Adams, and James Callender as public principle, private friendship, and political survival collide.As France seizes American ships, Adams calls for military readiness and a stronger navy, while Jefferson turns to the press and to Callender to attack Adams and his administration. The episode closes with Adams triumphant over the peace with France, but personally wounded by defeat, setting up the final stage of the Adams-Jefferson divide.Patriarchs is a six-part audio drama about John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the American Revolution, and the founding of the United States, and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence enacted in 1776.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Football can be geopolitics by other means. Financial Times Journalist Simon Kuper has covered every World Cup since 1990. This week, he joins Sir Richard Dearlove and guest co-host Baroness Ayesha Hazarika to unpack how football and geopolitics collide.  Kuper explains why he thinks FIFA president Gianni Infantino runs the organization like an autocrat, how U.S. President Donald Trump's red card intervention echoes historical precedents set by Mussolini and Brazil's military government, and why hosting a World Cup brings prestige but rarely economic benefit. The conversation also covers the KGB's use of Soviet football clubs for cover during the Cold War, football's role in the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, why China's investment in football hasn't paid off, and how France's multicultural national team has become a flashpoint in its domestic politics. Plus, in Brief: Russian strikes on Ukraine ahead of the NATO summit, German prosecutors' Nord Stream allegations against Ukraine, deepening Russia-China military cooperation, and reports of Trump pushing for a "master list" of intelligence assets. In this episode: (00:00) World Cup Geopolitics Football & Global Power (00:45) England's Surprising World Cup Victory (03:05) Football As Geopolitics Explained (03:24) Russia-Ukraine War Intelligence Analysis (11:12) Trump CIA Spy List Dangers Exposed (14:25) Andy Burnham Northern Devolution Power Shift (19:10) Simon Kuper On The Geopolitics Of Football (23:07) FIFA Corruption Infantino's Autocratic Control (28:00) Jules Rimet World Cup Origins Peace Vision (30:23) 1954 World Cup Rebuilt German National Identity (38:42) KGB Soviet Football Cold War Espionage (47:53) Argentina 1978 World Cup Junta Propaganda (49:52) Qatar 2022 World Cup Human Rights Backlash (1:02:49) Reflecting On Football Power, Politics, & Identity Show Notes:  Soccernomics: Why European Men and American Women Usually Win―and American Men Don't (Yet) | https://a.co/d/07dBzyak World Cup Fever: A Soccer Journey in Nine Tournaments | https://a.co/d/0g5raBr3 Football Against The Enemy: https://a.co/d/04OUzQgR  Hosted by Sir Richard Dearlove (former MI6 Chief) and guest co-host Baroness Ayesha Hazarika (House of Lords) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After The American Revolution, George Washington becomes the first President of the United States, John Adams is swept into the vice presidency, and Thomas Jefferson takes on a central role as Secretary of State. Built from real historical language and dramatized from the founders' letters, speeches, and memoirs, the episode explores how the new nation begins to define power, duty, and the limits of government.As Adams and Jefferson argue over the presidency, federal power, the British Constitution, political parties, and the French Revolution, the story also turns to Jefferson's alliance with Thomas Paine and the rupture it causes with Adams. The episode ends with the emerging divide between the two men and the growing tension between public principle and personal friendship.Patriarchs is a six-part audio drama about John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the founding of the United States, and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence enacted in 1776.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Turns out replacing visionary engineers with KGB middle managers isn't great for innovation. Jim and A.Ron plow deep into a stellar episode of Star City. Transmit your feedback to fam@baldmove.com! Hey there!  Check out ⁠https://support.baldmove.com/⁠ to find out how you can gain access to ALL of our premium content, as well as ad-free versions of the podcasts! ⁠Join the Club!⁠ Join the discussion: ⁠Email⁠ | ⁠Discord⁠ | ⁠Reddit ⁠| ⁠Forums⁠ Follow us: ⁠Twitch⁠ | ⁠YouTube⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠ | ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠Facebook⁠ ⁠Leave Us A Review on Apple Podcasts⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Turns out replacing visionary engineers with KGB middle managers isn't great for innovation. Jim and A.Ron plow deep into a stellar episode of Star City. Transmit your feedback to fam@baldmove.com! Hey there!  Check out https://support.baldmove.com/ to find out how you can gain access to ALL of our premium content, as well as ad-free versions of the podcasts! Join the Club! Join the discussion: Email | Discord | Reddit | Forums Follow us: Twitch | YouTube | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook Leave Us A Review on Apple Podcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the producers of The Asset. During the American Revolution, John Adams leaves Braintree for a dangerous crossing to France, while Thomas Jefferson retreats to Monticello, grief-stricken after the death of Martha Jefferson. Built from real letters, speeches, and memoirs, the episode follows Adams, Jefferson, Abigail Adams, and Sally Hemings as they move between war, diplomacy, family, and the moral contradictions of the founding era.From the Atlantic crossing and the French salons to London, Paris, and Monticello, the episode deepens the friendship between Adams and Jefferson while showing how power, marriage, slavery, and public duty shape their lives. Patriarchs is a six-part audio drama about John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the founding of the United States, and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence enacted in 1776.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Former nuclear‑trained Navy submariner, turned fearsome political debater, Nick Matau, joins Jillian Michaels to unpack how foreign governments, bot farms, and coordinated propaganda campaigns are radicalizing young people online, fueling antisemitism, turning college campuses into ideological battlegrounds and destabilizing Western societies.

With the recent public debate between Zohran Mamdani and President Trump regarding socialism and communism, Andrew For America presents a refresher course on the history and existence of the communist "plan for the world." Andrew has told us about Yuri Bezmenov's "ideological subversion" KGB plan in previous episodes, and today he plays a 1958 clip from Robert Welch explaining this 10-step communist plan to change the United States from within. Andrew also plays clips and discusses George Soros, the Trilateral Commission (and its members), Saul Alinsky, the Hegelian Dialectic, Karl Marx, Sophie Lewis, Stefan Molyneux, and a clip from a Soviet Marxist admitting that the death of millions of people in the Soviet Union was justified in pursuit of achieving their communist utopian society. 1973 was a hell of a year people!Happy 4th of July everyone!!!The song selection is the song "Wayside" by the band Dead Wrong.Visit allegedlyrecords.com and check out all of the amazing punk rock artists!Visit soundcloud.com/andrewforamerica1984 to check out Andrew's music!Like and Follow The Politics & Punk Rock Podcast PLAYLIST on Spotify!!!Check it out here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Y4rumioeqvHfaUgRnRxsy...politicsandpunkrockpodcast.comFollow Future Is Now Coalition on Instagram @FutureIsOrgwww.futureis.org

In the shadows of the Cold War, an unassuming British civil servant lived a double life as one of the KGB's most valuable agents, passing critical atomic secrets that accelerated the Soviet nuclear program while evading detection for nearly forty years. This episode examines her deep ideological motivations rooted in communist conviction, the sophisticated tradecraft she employed to maintain her cover, and the high-stakes psychological demands of long-term espionage under constant threat of exposure. A compelling case study in government and law, intelligence history, and the psychology of betrayal, this story culminates in the dramatic 1999 revelation that stunned the nation and reshaped public understanding of Cold War infiltration.

In this episode I talk about the subversion process in which is what is used to demoralize a society within 15 to 20 years according Yuri Bezmenov. Yuri Bezmenov was a defector of the KGB (allegedly) and went on to do lectures in Los Angeles on this process. We find ourselves in this day in age dealing with the issues which he stressed upon but will we act in a manner that will be beneficial or detrimental to each other... only time will tell. SERVE YOUR PURPOSE!!!!Yuri Bezmenow Interviews and Lectures:https://youtu.be/-WGlEiHLHIk?si=Ar6JOUiJqSW4TS1yBiblical Reference:Matthew 15:1-20Purpose Served Social Media:Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/purpose_servedTwitter-https://twitter.comFacebook:https://www.facebook.com/purpose.serv...Become a Memberhttps://www.purposeserved.com/forumPurpose Served Website:https://www.purposeserved.comEmail:servedpurpose@gmail.comEmail UsSupport the show

RULE OF LIES: My Wild Ride Through Chaos, Corruption, and Murder in Putin's Russia by Jamison Firestone (Harper; June 23, 2026) is a true story that reads like a spy thriller-darkly comic, violent, and unnervingly real. Rather than explaining Russia's destruction of rule of law and democracy through politicians or oligarchs, the book tells it from the inside out: how an American lawyer walked straight into chaos and managed to live long enough to expose it.Raised by a multimillionaire conman and crack addict who hung out with mobsters and owned Manhattan's most expensive brothel, Firestone learned early on how to deal with criminals. At twenty-four, fresh out of law school and desperate to escape that world, he struck out for the Wild East, the disintegrating Soviet Union. In 1991, as Russia slid into lawlessness, he founded the country's first independent foreign-owned law firm-an act his law school equated with insanity.What followed was out of the frying pan and into the fire. For nearly two decades, Firestone lived in the maelstrom of post-Soviet Russia, defending himself and his clients against mafia attacks, corrupt police, and armed commandos who raided his office. He was threatened, surveilled, extorted-and at one point forced to raid his own offices with a SWAT team and bug the offices of the Russian police just to stay alive. In a system where the law was a weapon, survival meant learning how to fight back.Firestone soon found himself at the center of Russia's most explosive scandals. He employed Sergei Magnitsky, whose exposure of the largest tax theft in Russian history led to his imprisonment, torture, and murder. Refusing silence, Firestone joined Bill Browder and teamed up with Alexei Navalny to expose Magnitsky's killers and take their blood money.Along the way, he inadvertently inspired Navalny to develop the corruption-exposing videos that would later threaten the Kremlin-and helped trigger an open war with the Russian state over the Magnitsky Acts, legislation threatening sanctions against Russia's most powerful figures.RULE OF LIES is both an adventure and an indictment: how a fragile democracy was hijacked by criminals and KGB spooks and transformed into a true mafia state. And how a small group of people decided to hit back. Darkly funny, often horrifying, and deeply personal, it is a warning about what happens when corruption hardens into governance-and what it costs to resist.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-unplugged-totally-uncut--994165/support.

En: repressie in Belarus en de strijd voor de vrijlating van politieke gevangenen. (00:45) Lot van kanselier Merz hangt aan Volkswagen Een nieuwe klap voor de Duitse auto-industrie: bij Volkswagen dreigen 100.000 ontslagen en sluiting van vier fabrieken. De Duitse regering zegt alles te zullen doen om de fabrieken open te houden, maar is dat wel mogelijk? En wat betekent dit voor de toch al erg wankele positie van bondskanselier Friedrich Merz? Daarover Duitslandverslaggever bij de VRT Jeroen Reygaert. (09:40) Terug naar de KGB-cel De Belarussische president Aleksandr Loekasjenka liet het afgelopen jaar tientallen politieke gevangenen vrij na onderhandelingen met de regering-Trump. Tegelijkertijd zitten nog altijd honderden Belarussen vast om politieke redenen. Onze verslaggever Michiel Driebergen bezocht in Vilnius het voormalige KGB-gevangeniscomplex, dat nu een museum is. Samen met oud-politiek gevangene Sergej Sparisj, die vorig jaar vrijkwam, sprak hij over repressie in Belarus en de strijd voor de vrijlating van achtergebleven gevangenen. (16:24) Oeganda's nieuwe dictator De belangrijkste onafhankelijke media van Oeganda werden dit weekend op last van legerchef Muhoozi  uit de lucht gehaald. Eerder werden al oppositieleden en journalisten opgepakt. De zoon van de huidige president Yoweri Museveni lijkt zijn macht razendsnel uit te bouwen, terwijl de vrees groeit dat Oeganda afstevent op een dynastieke machtsoverdracht. We bespreken het met Oeganda-kenner Kristof Titeca van de Universiteit Antwerpen. Presentatie: Laila Frank

Tonight we return to the more serious topics of ecumenist pastors and women pastors, charismatic delusions, prelest, chaos, and the REAL relationship between the KGB and CIA and the World Council of Churches. Superchats at any time here: https://streamlabs.com/jaydyer/tip Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnt7Iy8GlmdPwy_Tzyx93bA/join Philosophy Course is here: https://marketplace.autonomyagora.com/philosophy101 Set up recurring Choq subscription with the discount code JAY60LIFE for 60% off now https://choq.com Subscribe to my site here: https://jaysanalysis.com/membership-account/membership-levels/ Music by Dr Evo the Producer, Jay Dyer and Amid the Ruins 1453 https://www.youtube.com/@amidtheruinsOVERHAUL Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnt7Iy8GlmdPwy_Tzyx93bA/joinBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/jay-sanalysis--1423846/support.

Today we return to open QnA on any topic (not low tier debates) as we discuss the major recent news as well as the upcoming big formal debates and perhaps new history text / global elite texts I've read. Superchats at any time here: https://streamlabs.com/jaydyer/tip Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnt7Iy8GlmdPwy_Tzyx93bA/join Philosophy Course is here: https://marketplace.autonomyagora.com/philosophy101 Set up recurring Choq subscription with the discount code JAY60LIFE for 60% off now https://choq.com Subscribe to my site here: https://jaysanalysis.com/membership-account/membership-levels/ Music by Dr Evo the Producer, Jay Dyer and Amid the Ruins 1453 https://www.youtube.com/@amidtheruinsOVERHAUL Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnt7Iy8GlmdPwy_Tzyx93bA/joinBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/jay-sanalysis--1423846/support.

Derrière Mikhaïl Gorbatchev, un homme a travaillé dans l'ombre à la chute du régime soviétique. Personne ne le connaît : Alexandre Yakovlev.Retour sur l'incroyable ascension de Mikhaïl Gorbatchev au sein du Kremlin, grâce à l'aide d'un allié de poids : Alexandre Yakovlev, surnommé le "Diable boiteux". Ensemble, ils vont mener une révolution progressive pour libéraliser l'Union soviétique, mais leur entreprise ne sera pas sans danger.

Join our discussion on the Checkmate Podcast, where we discuss the face off we've waited for, The VIgilante vs. The Batman!  As exciting as that sounds, the battle between the big boss, KGB operative, Katia, and Vigilante is quite a fierce fight pound for pound panel for panel.  Ex-Soviet, Colonel Valentina Vostok, hands over the The Agency over to Harry Stein, really setting up the transition into Checkmate part one.  

“My brothers always think: what would Jesus do? And they do that. I think: what would dad do? And I do the opposite.” — Jamison Firestone What do you do if your dad was a multimillionaire conman, crack addict, and owner of New York's most expensive brothel? If you're Jamison Firestone, you transform yourself into his antithesis. You go to law school. You go to post-Soviet Russia and establish the country's first independent foreign law firm. You employ Sergei Magnitsky and befriend Alexei Navalny. You transform yourself into one of Vladimir Putin's most vocal foreign critics. It's quite a story. His memoir, Rule of Lies: My Wild Ride Through Chaos, Corruption, and Murder in Putin's Russia (HarperCollins, June 4, 2026), is both a Russian and American confession. As an old friend of the show, Peter Pomerantsev, says: “This book is NUTS! — in the best possible way.” Yes, Rule of Lies is nuts. But it's also the best kind of contemporary history. Firestone arrived in Russia in 1991, at the very moment the KGB hardliners rolled tanks into the streets and kidnapped Gorbachev. He watched, within days, as the Russian people confronted the tanks. He saw Yeltsin emerge as the hero, the Soviet Union dissolve, and the promise of a free-market democracy consumed by mafia groups, corrupt officials, and the structural lawlessness of the transition. In 1993, Yeltsin shelled his own congress. In 1999, on New Year's Eve, he got on television, wished everyone a happy new year, and resigned — handing the country to Vladimir Putin in exchange for a pardon. That, says Firestone, is how we got to Putinism's kleptocratic rule of lies. Firestone's Russian memoir is also the Magnitsky story. He employed an accountant called Sergei Magnitsky, who uncovered the largest tax theft in Russian history, was arrested on fabricated charges, and died in pre-trial detention — probably murdered by the same corrupt officials he had exposed. The Magnitsky Act, the Magnitsky sanctions, the Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign — all of it connects back to Jamison Firestone. And, in a way, back to his dad, Richard, the New York City crook who schooled his rebellious son in the value of obeying the law and telling the truth. Five Takeaways •       The Criminal Father Who Taught Him Everything He Needed for Russia: Firestone's father was a brilliant, charming man who turned out, when Firestone was 15, to be a multimillionaire fraudster defrauding investors and the IRS. Indicted, his father went a little crazy: became a crack addict, bought New York's most expensive brothel, started hanging out with loan sharks and contract killers. Firestone spent his late high school years learning to talk to contract killers — respectfully, to make them laugh, to say no and not get killed. That skill, he says, turned out to be exactly what he needed in Russia in the 1990s, when everyone was mafia. His father taught him crime doesn't pay. He believed it. •       Arriving in Russia at the Moment of the Coup: Firestone arrived in Russia in 1991, at the very end of the Gorbachev era, during the opening of the Soviet Union. Within days, KGB hardliners rolled tanks into the streets, kidnapped Gorbachev, and declared the reforms over. Then — the extraordinary thing — the Russian people stood up. The tanks backed down. Gorbachev was released. But the hero of the day was Yeltsin, not Gorbachev. The Soviet Union dissolved within months. What followed was a chaotic, disorderly transition in which democracy got lost: everyone, including Firestone and the US government, was so concentrated on the business opportunities that no one noticed the democratic backsliding until it was too late. •       Yeltsin Shelling His Congress, and Putin's New Year's Eve Deal: Two moments stand out in Firestone's account of Russia's democratic failure. First: in 1993, Yeltsin resolved a standoff with his own congress by shelling it — the equivalent, Firestone says, now that January 6 has happened, of not unimaginable. Everyone — the US government, Firestone himself — saw it as a triumph for the free market. They didn't recognise how undemocratic it was. Second: on New Year's Eve 1999, Yeltsin got on national television, wished everyone a happy new year, and resigned — handing the country to Vladimir Putin in exchange for a pardon. “That's how we got Putin,” Firestone says. For a pardon. •       Sergei Magnitsky: The Tax Fraud, the Murder, and the Act: Firestone employed Sergei Magnitsky as a tax adviser and auditor. Magnitsky uncovered what was then the largest tax theft in Russian history — committed by the same government officials who had raided and seized a Browder-connected fund. Magnitsky reported it to the authorities. He was arrested on fabricated charges, denied medical treatment in pre-trial detention, and died — murdered, in Firestone's view, by the officials he had exposed. The Magnitsky Act, which sanctions human rights abusers, grew from that death. The Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign, which Firestone co-founded with Bill Browder, has extended it worldwide. •       Russia's Precarity and Why Ukraine Must Not Fall: Firestone's current work is dedicated to seizing Russian state assets for the benefit of Ukraine. His strategic assessment: Russia has burnt through its $600 billion reserve fund under sanctions — it took four years, but it's done. Russia now owes hundreds of billions of dollars. Putin cannot force a mass mobilisation without becoming deeply unpopular, and even the huge financial incentives he's offering for enlistment are no longer working. The regime is precarious. But Firestone's long-term hopes for Russia do not change his short-term argument: if Russia is not stopped in Ukraine, the West will be fighting it when it takes a chunk of Europe that used to be part of the Soviet Union. About the Guest Jamison Firestone established Russia's first independent foreign law firm, where he worked for eighteen years. He is the author of Rule of Lies: My Wild Ride Through Chaos, Corruption, and Murder in Putin's Russia (HarperCollins, June 4, 2026). He is co-founder (with Sir William Browder) of the Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign, which created the Magnitsky human rights and anti-corruption sanctions regimes. He also ran the Navalny 35 campaign promoting the sanctioning of corrupt oligarchs and officials identified by Alexei Navalny. He currently works on seizing Russian state assets for the benefit of Ukraine. He lives in London. References: •       Rule of Lies: My Wild Ride Through Chaos, Corruption, and Murder in Putin...

Tonight we return to the more serious topics of ecumenist pastors and women pastors, charismatic delusions, prelest, chaos, and the REAL relationship between the KGB and CIA and the World Council of Churches. Superchats at any time here: https://streamlabs.com/jaydyer/tip Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnt7Iy8GlmdPwy_Tzyx93bA/join Philosophy Course is here: https://marketplace.autonomyagora.com/philosophy101 Set up recurring Choq subscription with the discount code JAY60LIFE for 60% off now https://choq.com Subscribe to my site here: https://jaysanalysis.com/membership-account/membership-levels/ Music by Dr Evo the Producer, Jay Dyer and Amid the Ruins 1453 https://www.youtube.com/@amidtheruinsOVERHAUL Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnt7Iy8GlmdPwy_Tzyx93bA/joinBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/jay-sanalysis--1423846/support.

Jesse Watters on left Dems: Communism discussion. Do you need to be saved? Ex-KGB Yuri Bezmenov. Supreme Court immigration decision. Haiti. Venezuela.

RULE OF LIES: My Wild Ride Through Chaos, Corruption, and Murder in Putin's Russia by Jamison Firestone (Harper; June 23, 2026) is a true story that reads like a spy thriller-darkly comic, violent, and unnervingly real. Rather than explaining Russia's destruction of rule of law and democracy through politicians or oligarchs, the book tells it from the inside out: how an American lawyer walked straight into chaos and managed to live long enough to expose it.Raised by a multimillionaire conman and crack addict who hung out with mobsters and owned Manhattan's most expensive brothel, Firestone learned early on how to deal with criminals. At twenty-four, fresh out of law school and desperate to escape that world, he struck out for the Wild East, the disintegrating Soviet Union. In 1991, as Russia slid into lawlessness, he founded the country's first independent foreign-owned law firm-an act his law school equated with insanity.What followed was out of the frying pan and into the fire. For nearly two decades, Firestone lived in the maelstrom of post-Soviet Russia, defending himself and his clients against mafia attacks, corrupt police, and armed commandos who raided his office. He was threatened, surveilled, extorted-and at one point forced to raid his own offices with a SWAT team and bug the offices of the Russian police just to stay alive. In a system where the law was a weapon, survival meant learning how to fight back.Firestone soon found himself at the center of Russia's most explosive scandals. He employed Sergei Magnitsky, whose exposure of the largest tax theft in Russian history led to his imprisonment, torture, and murder. Refusing silence, Firestone joined Bill Browder and teamed up with Alexei Navalny to expose Magnitsky's killers and take their blood money.Along the way, he inadvertently inspired Navalny to develop the corruption-exposing videos that would later threaten the Kremlin-and helped trigger an open war with the Russian state over the Magnitsky Acts, legislation threatening sanctions against Russia's most powerful figures.RULE OF LIES is both an adventure and an indictment: how a fragile democracy was hijacked by criminals and KGB spooks and transformed into a true mafia state. And how a small group of people decided to hit back. Darkly funny, often horrifying, and deeply personal, it is a warning about what happens when corruption hardens into governance-and what it costs to resist.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-like-it-s-live--4113802/support.

From The Asset team: Patriarchs. Subscribe hereThis first episode begins at the end, then rewinds to before the Revolutionary War, at the Continental Congress, where Adams and Jefferson clash, collaborate, and argue over independence, democracy, and the future of the nation. With powerful performances and historically grounded dialogue, Patriarchs explores the human cost of power, principle, and ambition.Patriarchs is a six-part audio drama about John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the founding of the United States, and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence enacted in 1776. Patriarchs stars Stacy Keach as Thomas Jefferson and Edward Gero as John Adams.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Russian disinformation no longer feels like a foreign problem you read about in long articles. It shapes what you see when you open your phone, what your relatives believe about a war they have never visited, and what large language models tell you when you ask a sincere question about world events. My guest this week on Cults, Culture & Coercion, Chris Sampson, journalist, terrorism analyst, and extremism researcher, publisher of The Wiretap, has spent more than four years reporting from Ukraine. He wakes up to drones and missiles, then opens his laptop to read online claims about the country he lives in describing a place he does not recognize. Few people are positioned to explain this gap with the precision he brings. He sorts Russian information into three streams: state propaganda, general pro-Kremlin bloggers, and military-security bloggers. The third stream sometimes fractures, and analysts who watch carefully see fissures open. Living in Ukraine has given Chris a daily lesson in cognitive dissonance, the discomfort a person feels when they hold two contradictory beliefs and resolve it by changing one of them. He walks through a Ukrainian city the morning after Russian drones strike it, then opens a feed full of Russian disinformation claiming the strikes never happened or accusing Ukrainians of staging them. The flood of falsehoods is the point. Putin and the KGB long ago refined what researchers call the firehose of falsehood, in which an overwhelming volume of contradictory claims exhausts your ability to sort signal from noise. He warned me about a newer escalation. Russia has been seeding pseudo-academic papers and propaganda articles into the training data of large language models. Ask one of the major AI tools a sincere question about the war or about the kidnapped Ukrainian children, and the model has been trained on material with Russian framing baked in. Chris named Kateryna Rashevska, a leading Ukrainian expert on the abducted children, as one of those raising the alarm about academic-looking papers planted to muddy the legal and historical record. This is active measures, the Russian intelligence tradition of psychological and information warfare, applied to a new generation of tools. The mechanism is brainwashing, the systematic use of deception, repetition, and emotional manipulation to shape what a person believes. The kidnapped children case is one of the most painful expressions of this doctrine.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here’s the audio from the June 10th, 2026 Fantastic Fiction at KGB reading with guests Nicholas Kaufmann & A.C. Wise, recorded live at the KGB Bar. Support the Fantastic Fiction at KGB series by clicking here!​​​​​​​​​​​​ ​ Nicholas Kaufmann Nicholas Kaufmann has been a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, the Thriller Award, and the Dragon Award. Two of his novels, 100 Fathoms Below (co-written with Steven L. Kent) and The Hungry Earth, were Amazon and Barnes & Noble.com bestsellers. His latest book is the collection Monuments in Darkness. He also co-hosts the strange-but-true science podcast Spooky Science Lab with author David Wellington. & A.C. Wise A.C. Wise is the author of the novels Wendy, Darling, Hooked, and her most recent, Ballad of the Bone Road, published in January 2026. She’s also the author of various novellas, collection, and short stories, and her work has won the Sunburst and been a finalist for the Nebula, Stoker, World Fantasy, Shirley Jackson, and Locus Awards, among others. Along with her fiction, she contributes regular review columns to Locus and Apex Magazine.

Olyan sem volt még, hogy egy KK Nanóban három témából kettőben előkerül a pornó, de most ez is megtörtént! Grath a mai Indonézia első elnökéről mesélt, különös tekintettel annak nőügyeire, illetve arra, hogy a KGB és a CIA hogy állt a nimfomán politikushoz. Mazur egy több mint 600 éves zavargást dolgozott fel bortól borig, felvetve közben egy érdekes szakdolgozattémát: az egykori kandósok vagy a középkori oxfordosok az igénytelenebb jószágok? Végül Stöki a béke nagyasszonyát, Staller Ilonát hívta segítségül, hogy bemutassa a rendszerváltás egy különösen plasztikus jelenetét, nyúl-, ló- és galambüregekkel.

Ajaloolane Küllo Arjakas: "Täiesti uskumatult põhjalik, erilaadne, mitmetasandiline töö, mida tehakse ühe mehega, kes on kodumaast tuhandete kilomeetrite kaugusel, kelle võimalused mingeid sündmusi mõjutada on nullilähedased! Aga nii see KGB aparaat töötas."

This one’s a banger. The KGB has got the mole… or do they? What will happen to the Chief Designer’s risky mission to Venus? Is Lyudmilla out of control or does she have the upper hand? And Brezhnev makes a surprise appearance! Dan Moren and Jason Snell.

As the main intelligence and security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991, the KGB instilled fear across Russia and sought to sow discord abroad. This network of government spies was notorious for the often brutal methods it used to keep enemies, loyalists and common people under the thumb of the state. And far from fading as the USSR old guard fell from power, the operatives, methods and networks of the KGB remain at the heart of the Russian state today. Putin himself was a KGB officer for 16 years, including six years as a foreign intelligence officer stationed in Dresden, East Germany. In May 2026, veteran security correspondent and Rest is Classified co-host Gordon Corera joined us to unveil the inner workings of the KGB and the hidden power struggles that shaped modern Russia. Corera explored the real-life stories of those on the inside; from the spies who lived and died enforcing its rule, to those who were brave enough to resist it. --- If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. ⁠https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

La periodista argentina Laura Ramos relata en el libro 'Mi niñera de la KGB' la historia de esta extraordinaria mujer que fue paracaidista en Ucrania, mujer de la limpieza en París y su propia niñera en Montevideo.

As the main intelligence and security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991, the KGB instilled fear across Russia and sought to sow discord abroad. This network of government spies was notorious for the often brutal methods it used to keep enemies, loyalists and common people under the thumb of the state. And far from fading as the USSR old guard fell from power, the operatives, methods and networks of the KGB remain at the heart of the Russian state today. Putin himself was a KGB officer for 16 years, including six years as a foreign intelligence officer stationed in Dresden, East Germany. In May 2026, veteran security correspondent and Rest is Classified co-host Gordon Corera joined us to unveil the inner workings of the KGB and the hidden power struggles that shaped modern Russia. Corera explored the real-life stories of those on the inside; from the spies who lived and died enforcing its rule, to those who were brave enough to resist it. --- This is the first instalment of a two-part episode. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When does refusing to repeat a lie become complicity in it?The hardest question in documentary filmmaking is not how to find the truth. It is how to handle a lie. When a false story is already loose in the world, you have two choices that look almost identical on the page: refuse to repeat it, or amplify it by debunking it. The discipline of knowing which is which can decide whether your film tells the truth or makes the lie stronger.In this Deep Dive on Documentary First Episode 279 with Brian Pocrass, host Christian Taylor digs into the question Brian asked on tape about how much oxygen you give a lie. The conversation took thirty minutes to arrive there, but the question turns out to be the spine of every documentary that touches a contested story. This episode traces that question through C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters, Dietrich Bonhoeffer's life under the Nazi regime, Alexander Solzhenitsyn's 1974 essay Live Not By Lies, and a two thousand year old paradox in the book of Proverbs.The spine of the episode is Brian's question on tape: "The question is, how much oxygen do you give it?" That question runs straight into a paradox the rabbis of the Talmud spent centuries arguing over. Proverbs 26:4 says do not answer a fool according to his folly. Proverbs 26:5, the very next verse, says answer a fool according to his folly. The Talmudic resolution maps directly onto the filmmaker's dilemma: the stakes determine the answer. Christian closes the episode with her own test, drawn from her film The Girl Who Wore Freedom: the story of Michel de Vallavieille, the French farmer shot in the back by an American paratrooper on D-Day, and the famous Band of Brothers rumor she refused to put on screen.In this episode, Christian explores:Why every production company wanted Brian Pocrass to tell a different version of Heather O'Rourke's story than the one he ended up makingThe C.S. Lewis principle from The Screwtape Letters that the devil cares more about attention than beliefHow debunking a conspiracy theory can give the conspiracy a brand new piece of footage to point atDietrich Bonhoeffer's argument that silence in the face of evil is itself evilAlexander Solzhenitsyn's 1974 essay Live Not By Lies and the moral discipline of refusalThe two thousand year old paradox in Proverbs 26:4-5 and how the Talmudic rabbis resolved itWhy the Talmud's answer is sacred versus mundane stakes, and what that means for documentary filmmakersThe Michel de Vallavieille story from Christian's film The Girl Who Wore FreedomThe Band of Brothers rumor about Bill Guarnere that Christian refused to put on screenThe two questions every documentary filmmaker has to weigh before they amplify a storyChapters0:00 C.S. Lewis, the Devil, and Brian Pocrass's Question0:30 How Much Oxygen Do You Give a Lie?1:28 The Screwtape Letters and the Devil's Currency2:24 Bonhoeffer: Silence in the Face of Evil Is Evil Itself3:27 Solzhenitsyn's Live Not By Lies and Proverbs 264:59 The Girl Who Wore Freedom: Bill Guarnere and My Own Test6:14 The Question I Leave You WithFrequently Asked QuestionsWhen does debunking a lie make it stronger?Researchers at Data and Society documented this dynamic in a 2018 study called The Oxygen of Amplification. Repeating a false claim in order to refute it gives the claim attention, repeats the language, and trains the algorithm to surface it more. Britannica describes this dynamic as adding oxygen to the fire of misinformation. For documentary filmmakers, this means a debunking film about a conspiracy theory can leave viewers more familiar with the conspiracy than with the truth.What did Dietrich Bonhoeffer say about silence?Bonhoeffer's most famous line on the subject is silence in the face of evil is itself evil; not to speak is to speak; not to act is to act. Bonhoeffer was a German pastor in the 1930s who watched the German church surrender to the Nazi regime. He spent his adult life arguing against the silence of fellow pastors. The Nazis executed him in April 1945. His writings on costly discipleship remain among the most cited works of twentieth century theology.What is Alexander Solzhenitsyn's Live Not By Lies about?Live Not By Lies is the essay Solzhenitsyn released on the day the KGB arrested and deported him in 1974. He argues that while a single person cannot stop a lie from being told, every person can refuse to repeat it. The refusal itself is the action. The essay is one of the foundational moral texts of the dissident movement against Soviet totalitarianism and remains widely cited in discussions of personal moral resistance.How do the rabbis of the Talmud resolve Proverbs 26:4 and 26:5?Proverbs 26:4 says do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself. Proverbs 26:5 says answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes. The Talmudic resolution is that the two verses apply to different kinds of stakes. When the fool is talking about something sacred, you answer. When the fool is talking about something mundane, you do not. The wisdom is in knowing which kind of stakes you are facing.How do documentary filmmakers handle conspiracy theories about their subjects?There is no industry standard. Each filmmaker has to weigh the specific story. Some choose to confront the conspiracy directly and risk amplifying it. Others refuse to give the conspiracy screen time and risk being accused of avoidance. The discipline is to ask what the documentary makes more solid in the world and who the actual audience is: the people who already believe the lie, or the people who deserve the truth.About the Source EpisodeDocumentary First Episode 279 with Brian Pocrass aired on June 9, 2026. Brian is an attorney based in Los Angeles and the producer of She Was Here, the 2026 documentary about the life and death of Heather O'Rourke. The film features Heather's family debunking the Poltergeist curse rumor that has surrounded her death for almost forty years.Episode link: https://pod.fo/e/427c08About The Girl Who Wore FreedomThe Girl Who Wore Freedom is Christian Taylor's documentary about the children of Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, France, and the American GIs who liberated their town on D-Day, June 6, 1944. The film centers on Danielle Patrix Van Den Heede, whose family hid GIs in the days after the invasion, and Michel de Vallavieille, the young farmer at Brecourt Manor who was shot in the back by an American paratrooper on D-Day and went on to build the Utah Beach Museum and become the mayor of Sainte-Marie-du-Mont.Website: https://thegirlwhoworefreedom.comAbout Documentary First: The Deep DiveEach week, host Christian Taylor takes an insight from a recent Documentary First filmmaker interview and explores it through literature, philosophy, theology, current culture, and the universal human experience. It is a companion show to Documentary First, built for documentary filmmakers, lovers of story, and anyone who wants to think more deeply about what we are watching. Christian Taylor is a documentary filmmaker (The Girl Who Wore Freedom, Heroes of Carentan), actor, voice actor, and podcast host based in the United States.Resources MentionedDocumentary First Episode 279 with Brian Pocrass: https://pod.fo/e/427c08She Was Here, directed by Nick Bailey, produced by Brian Pocrass (2026)The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis (1942)Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), German pastor and theologianLive Not By Lies by Alexander Solzhenitsyn (1974 essay)Proverbs 26:4-5Talmud, Shabbat 30bThe Girl Who Wore Freedom, directed and produced by Christian Taylor: https://thegirlwhoworefreedom.comBand of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose (1992 book and 2001 HBO miniseries)The Oxygen of Amplification, Whitney Phillips, Data and Society Research Institute (2018)Listen and FollowListen to this episode on your preferred podcast app: https://pod.fo/e/[DD 279 CODE — TO BE ADDED ONCE EPISODE IS LIVE]Documentary First on all podcast apps: https://podfollow.com/documentary-firstYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@documentaryfirstSupport the show on Patreonhttps://www.patreon.com/c/DocumentaryFirstConnectDocumentary First on all platforms: https://linktr.ee/doc1stConnect with Christian Taylor on...

A ceasefire broken. The U.S.launched “self-defense strikes” on Iranian air defense and radar sites last evening after a U.S. Apache helicopter was downed Monday near the Strait of Hormuz. The two pilots were rescued. This came after President Trump said the U.S. response “should be very strong, very powerful,” and earlier said talks with Iran were in their “final throes,” possibly concluding in “two or three days” though the status of those negotiations is now unclear.  Sources say U.S. targets included Iranian air defenses and radar installations as part of the retaliation. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says Iran will not leave any attack "unanswered."Mo Kelly speaks with political analyst John Rothmann about what this escalation means for any potential deal to end Trump's Iran War. Mark welcomes the authors of ‘Notes of Deception.' Drs. Merryl Goldberg and Vince Houghton tell the story of a quartet of American musicians that outwitted the KGB. We also consider how much we as consumers really need and how we can benefit our own communities. Kate Assaraf, founder and CEO of DIP Haircare  joins.The Mark Thompson Show 6/10/26Kate Assarafhttps://dipalready.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-assaraf-b25a741a7Patreon subscribers are the backbone of the show! If you'd like to help, here's our Patreon Link:https://www.patreon.com/themarkthompsonshowMaybe you're more into PayPal.  https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=PVBS3R7KJXV24And you'll find everything on our website: https://www.themarkthompsonshow.comThe Mark Thompson Show has an official new Facebook page.  Please join! Here's the link: https://m.facebook.com/TheMarkThompsonShow/Show sponsors:coachellavalleycoffee.com  - use code MarkT at check out to save 10%Suite 106 Bakery use code MarkT to save 15%Here's a special link:https://suite106bakery.com/discount/MARKT

Alex Konanykhin is the founder and CEO of Unicoin, an audited, public reporting, and regulations-compliant cryptocurrency company. His background is so implausible that he resorts to media reports to summarize his life story: The Wall Street Journal: “Mr. Konanykhin was a whiz-kid physics student who became a pioneering Russian capitalist in early 1990s, building a banking and investment empire valued at an estimated $300 million all by his mid-20s. He was a member of President Boris Yeltsin's inner circle.” ABC TV: “Russian Bill Gates.” The Baltimore Sun: “Business whiz kid.” CNN: “Alex Konanykhin controlled Russia's largest commercial bank in the 1990s” The Times [of London]: “By the time he was 25 he was one of the most important figures in post-Communist Russia. But in 1992, while on a business trip to Hungary, Alex Konanykhin was kidnapped.” Forbes: “Alex Konanykhin defected to the United States in 1992 and became the first person to be granted political asylum in the United States for opposing corruption in post-Soviet Russia.” Washington Post: “National Republican Congressional Committee chose Konanykhin "New York Businessman of the Year" The Sun: “Alex Konanykhin fled Russia in 1992 and won asylum in the US after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The entrepreneur had set up 100 different companies in Russia and had an estimated net worth of $300 million by the time he was 25. He is regarded as one of the first Russian millionaires after the fall of the Iron Curtain. One of the newly open country's leading lights, he even met with US President George HW Bush in 1991 on a joint visit with Russian leader Boris Yeltsin. However, he was then kidnapped in 1992 while visiting Budapest and all of his business assets were seized in Russia. … Being hunted by the Russian state, Konanykhin won asylum in the US in 1997 and set up a new life - but the shadow of the Kremlin continued to loom over him.He went on to rebuild a business empire and set up multimillion dollar firms such as TransparentBusiness in the US.” Los Angeles Daily Journal: “Representing himself through much of the process, Konanykhin managed to convince an immigration judge of an alleged INS and KGB conspiracy and cover-up. Following the court's admonishment, the INS agreed to drop all charges and also pay $100,000..The judge also ordered an investigation of the Justice Department. In separate actions, Konanykhin subsequently won multimillion dollar libel judgments against two Russian newspapers. A $100 million lawsuit against the Justice Department is pending, alleging perjury, fraud, torture and witness tampering by U.S government officers on behalf of the Russian Mafia.” Profit Magazine: “Imagine you are a teenage physics genius who quickly amasses a $300 million empire of real estate and banking ventures, has dozens of cars, six hundred employees, several mansions and two hundred bodyguards—but you are nonetheless kidnapped by those you trusted, threatened with torture and death, and have your entire empire stolen from you one dark night in Budapest. You escape with your life by racing through Eastern-block countries and flying to New York on stashed-away passports—only to have the KGB and Russian Mafia hell-bent on your hide and the U.S. government jailing you and conspiring to serve you up into their clutches. All this before your 29th birthday. Sound like a Tom Clancy thriller? No. . . just a slice in the life of Alexander Konanykhin.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Serhii Plokhy details that Khrushchev's decision was driven by the USSR having only five or six ICBMs capable of hitting the U.S. mainland. By deploying medium-range R-12 and R-14 missiles to Cuba, he sought to balance the threat from American Minutemen. He appointed General Pliyev, despite the general's poor health, because he needed a commander capable of defending the island from a potential ground invasion. Newly tapped KGB records reveal the inhuman secrecy of the transit. Soviet units, unfamiliar with the tropics, faced significant technical obstacles, like mismatched electrical frequencies, making their survival a "heroic deed." (3)1915

Hey Comrade Bobs! We're diving into the Soviet side of the For All Mankind universe with Star City Season 1, Episodes 1 & 2 — “The Eyes” and “A Bear on a Chain.”This one's a slow-burn political thriller with a definite Andor vibe — gritty, paranoid, and full of tension. We follow Irina's origin story as she navigates the KGB machine, young Sergei catching the Chief Designer's eye, and Belikova's high-stakes moon landing that goes sideways in spectacular fashion (yes, there's a bear). The forced marriage plot, the constant surveillance, and that bleak-but-beautiful Soviet aesthetic all hit hard.We break down the stark contrast to the American space program, the paranoia baked into every scene, and why this feels like a fresh (and very different) chapter in the FAM universe.Drop your thoughts at happyvalleyfam@gmail.com — we read every one!See you next week, Bobs! 

Craig Unger argues that Donald Trump has been a Russian intelligence asset since 1987. He highlights how Trump's first trip to the Soviet Union was followed by advertisements in U.S. newspapers featuring KGB talking points. (13)OCTOBER 1930

SCHEDULE THE JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW, 5-27-26.APRIL 1900 OTTAWA.Cliff May discusses the deepening crisis in Cuba, where extreme food and electricity shortages have led officials to describe it as a failing state. However, the regime has reportedly received hundreds of attack drones from Russia and Iran, posing a new offensive threat to U.S. interests in the Caribbean. (1)Cliff May examines the empty pageantry of the Trump-Xi summit in Beijing, where the high-profile ceremony produced no major deals regarding trade or artificial intelligence. Xi Jinping made no concessions on human rights issues, such as the persecution of Christians or the Uyghurs. (2)Jon Hartley discusses the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the new Federal Reserve Chairman, bringing a hawkish reputation focused on reducing the Fed's expanded balance sheet. Warsh advocates for a return to principles linking money growth directly to inflation control. (3)Jon Hartley proposes a new agreement modeled after the 1951 Accord that would separate the missions of the Federal Reserve and the Treasury. Under this plan, the Fed would focus strictly on short-term rates and price stability rather than long-term debt management. (4)Captain James Fanell analyzes the Balikatan military exercise, which featured 17,000 troops and, for the first time, combat forces from Japan participating in counter-invasion training. The drills demonstrated the capacity of allied nations to successfully target and strike enemy vessels at sea. (5)General Blaine Holt discusses Russian hypersonic threats and the shift to asymmetric drone warfare, noting Russia's threats of using weapons of mass destruction against Kyiv to warn European leaders against further intervention. Meanwhile, low-cost drone technology is proving to be an asymmetric force that renders expensive, multi-million dollar military systems obsolete. (6)Charles Burton examines Canada's controversial economic pivot toward China, where Prime Minister Mark Carney is pursuing a strategic partnership that includes non-public security agreements and the reduction of tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. Critics warn these moves compromise Canadian sovereignty and allow for significant Chineseinfiltration. (7)Charles Burton and Gordon Chang analyze China's strategic gain from prolonged conflict in the Middle East, with Beijing appearing content to allow the conflict in the Strait of Hormuz to drag out as a way to deplete U.S. military resources. This instability supports China's narrative that the United States is a declining power. (8)Michael Bernstam discusses the impact of Ukrainian drone strikes on the Russian oil market, noting that strikes on refineries and ports have forced Russia to export more crude oil at discounted prices instead of high-value refined products. Simultaneously, U.S. oil production has hit record levels, significantly influencing global market prices. (9)Michael Bernstam examines the failure of Russia's Power of Siberia 2 pipeline deal, as Vladimir Putin left Beijingwithout securing the agreement while China shows no immediate need for the gas. Furthermore, China demanded to pay domestic Russian prices, which would yield no profit for Moscow. (10)Bob Zimmerman discusses the success of SpaceX's Starship 12 test, which demonstrated major design improvements, while NASA has effectively ended Boeing's role in manned missions to the ISS. NASA awarded all manned flights through 2030 to SpaceX, leaving Boeing out of the picture. (11)Bob Zimmerman reports that the Webb telescope has detected weather variations, including morning clouds, on a distant exoplanet. Additionally, images from Mars show parallel ridges that suggest a history of climate cycles and the presence of significant near-surface ice. (12)Craig Unger argues that Donald Trump has been a Russian intelligence asset since 1987. He highlights how Trump's first trip to the Soviet Union was followed by advertisements in U.S. newspapers featuring KGB talking points. (13)Craig Unger discusses U.S. unreliability and the future of the NATO alliance, noting that under Trump, the United States is seen as an unreliable partner by allies like Finland, who fear he will not honor Article 5. This lack of reliability forces European nations to consider whether they can emerge as a self-sufficient military power. (14)Judy Dempsey examines how the ongoing conflict between the U.S. and Iran distracts from Russian aggression in Ukraine and causes economic sluggishness in Germany. European allies feel jaundiced by the lack of consultation from the U.S. regarding Middle East diplomacy. (15)Judy Dempsey discusses how the AfD has become Germany's leading political party by capitalizing on public anger over housing shortages and the government's handling of the wars in Iran and Ukraine. The party represents a growing threat to the established political order in Europe. (16)

The Asset team is releasing a 6-part audio drama Patriarchs. As the United States approaches 250 years of independence, the nation is asking hard questions about how it began, who paid the price, and what kind of republic it has become. Patriarchs, a loaded but apt term in today's vernacular, is a six-episode historical podcast drama that answers those questions by chronicling the most consequential relationship in early America: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, told in their own words. Subscribe hereWe begin with two former presidents looking back over a life together as friends, rivals, and uneasy family. From there, listeners travel back to the moment these strangers first step outside the Continental Congress to talk, two lawyers, two farmers, two men who have no idea they are about to remake the world. Every scene, every argument, every confession in Patriarchs is drawn from real letters, speeches, and memoirs, voiced by an ensemble of award-‑winning actors—with Stacy Keach starring as Thomas Jefferson. The result is an intimate drama of brilliant founders who are also flawed fathers, husbands, slaveholders, and partisans. ​We hear their partnership forged in crisis, as they push Congress toward independence and wrestle the language of the Declaration onto the page.​ Alongside them is Abigail Adams, one of the sharpest political minds of the age, whose letters slice cleanly through ego and ideology. Patriarchs also confronts the reality of slavery and sexual exploitation in the founding generation, centering Sally Hemings not as rumor but as a speaking, thinking presence whose choices and constraints shape Jefferson's life. Patriarchs is a chance to hear the founding generation as they really sounded: insecure, vain, idealistic, petty, courageous, haunted—often in the same breath in a rare combination of rigorous primary-source history and bingeable character drama, led by Stacy Keach and a veteran cast capable of carrying both prestige storytelling and wide audience appeal. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

THE KGB INVENTED ANTI-ZIONISM AND YOUR KID'S HISTORY TEACHER ASSIGNED THE TEXTBOOK. Thomas Massie lost the most expensive House primary in history and opened his concession speech with a Tel Aviv joke while Hasan Piker mourned. We trace the sixty-year pipeline from KGB propaganda to mandatory high school reading to the libertarian movement celebrated by its own enemies. Jennifer Welch says masculinity is fascism — a Harlem pastor says the Democrats made p*ssies out of their men. Plus Judge Napolitano on Clarence Thomas's SCOTUS dissent and Naomi Brockwell on what the government is buying about you right now without a warrant.

They tell you the modern surveillance state began in Moscow in 1917 — that Lenin invented it, that the KGB built the entire thing from scratch. That's too small of a story.The real surveillance state was built thirty-six years earlier, by a Russian son who watched his father die in the snow. He created an institution called the Okhrana — the Department for the Protection of Public Safety and Order — and operated it out of an ordinary-looking building on a canal in St. Petersburg called Fontanka 16. Over the next thirty-six years, his secret police invented every technique that would later define the Cheka, the NKVD, the KGB, the Stasi, and almost every modern intelligence service. Mail interception. Agent provocateurs. Police-controlled unions. Forged documents for narrative management. Double agents inside revolutionary movements who reported back to the state.This isn't conspiracy. It isn't ideology. It's architecture — and the architecture survives the regime that built it.In this video:→ Why Alexander III's response to his father's assassination created the prototype for every modern police state→ How the Okhrana intercepted the entire Russian mail system before wiretaps existed→ The agent provocateur invention — and the moment the state realized infiltration was more powerful than arrest→ Zubatovshchina: police-run unions, the original "controlled opposition" architecture→ The two greatest double agents in the history of political infiltration — Yevno Azef and Roman Malinovsky→ How the Bolsheviks studied the Okhrana files and built every Soviet intelligence service on the same blueprintSubscribe to Hidden Forces in History for civilizational autopsies of the empires, institutions, and patterns shaping the world we live in now.CHAPTERS:00:00 The Surveillance State Begins With a Bomb01:21 March 1881: Alexander III's Decision02:43 Fontanka 1603:35 Perlustration: The Mail Was the First Internet06:08 The Invention of the Agent Provocateur08:36 Zubatovshchina: When the Police Built the Unions10:38 Bloody Sunday: The System Creates the Revolution11:30 The Paris Office: From Surveillance to Narrative Management13:12 Azef and Malinovsky: The Provocateur System at Scale15:22 1917: The Bolsheviks Inherit the Blueprint17:19 Same Playbook, Different Century

What a renowned 82-year-old Christian mathematician has to say about a life well lived. Watch this conversation on YouTube  For decades, Oxford mathematics professor emeritus John Lennox has stood in lecture halls, debate stages, and university classrooms making the case that Christianity is not a retreat from serious thought but an invitation into it. He has debated some of the world's best-known skeptics, from Richard Dawkins to Christopher Hitchens. He taught mathematics at Oxford. He smuggled Christian teaching behind the Iron Curtain. And now, in his eighties, with his health declining and his world physically growing smaller, he has written a memoir looking back on the strange providences that shaped his life.  In his new autobiography, My Story: A spiritual and intellectual autobiography, Professor Lennox reflects on growing up amid sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland, actually hearing C. S. Lewis lecture at Cambridge (literally!), being followed by the KGB, and learning over time that saying “I don't know” can sometimes open deeper doors than feigning certainty. If you've ever wondered whether intellectual seriousness and deep Christian conviction can actually coexist alongside tenderness and joy, step into the classroom: the professor is in. Resources mentioned in this episode: My Story: A spiritual and intellectual autobiography- by John Lennox Keep up with Russell: Subscribe to Russell on Substack Sign up for the weekly Moore to the Point newsletter  Submit a question for the show at questions@russellmoore.com  Subscribe to the Christianity Today Magazine: Special offer for listeners of The Russell Moore Show: Click here for 25% off a subscription. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Misreading Russia and the Path to True IndependenceFinkel argues that Western administrations—from Obama to Trump and Biden—have consistently miscalculated Russia, treating it as a rational or transactional actor rather than a revanchist neo-imperial power. While Eastern Europeans warned of the threat, they were often dismissed. The conflict is essentially an ideological war over history; therefore, simply joining NATO or the EU may not stop Russia's desire to dominate. Finally, Finkel highlights his grandfather's refusal to join the KGB after the war, illustrating a personal rejection of the state security apparatus that has long sought to oppress and control Ukraine. Guest: Professor Eugene Finkel. (8/8)1890