The Rest Is Classified
Enter the secretive world of spies, espionage, and covert operations. Hosted by former CIA analyst turned spy novelist, David McCloskey, and veteran security correspondent, Gordon Corera, this podcast unravels real-life spy stories, intelligence secrets, and the hidden power struggles shaping global events. From Cold War espionage to modern-day intelligence agencies like the CIA, MI6, and Mossad, explore the world of double agents, classified missions, and the shadowy figures who operate in them. Whether you're a true crime addict, a thriller fan, or fascinated by spy stories, this is the show for you.
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Recent Episodes
195. How Silicon Valley Took Over National Security
Sep 17, 2026Summary Preview
This bonus episode features Sharon Weinberger, author of 'Valley of Death,' discussing her Wall Street Journal investigation that revealed how a secret CIA contract saved Steve Jobs and Next Computer in the 1980s. The conversation explores this fascinating story and expands into a broader discussion about the evolving power dynamics between Silicon Valley and the national security establishment, from Cold War origins to today's defense tech boom, examining who really controls America's military technology future.
- The Secret CIA Contract That Saved Steve Jobs
- Why Jobs Never Thanked the CIA
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This episode concludes the two-part series on Agent Redwood, a KGB officer who volunteered to work for MI6 in revolutionary Iran. The discussion explores how Redwood's intelligence exposed a Soviet plot to overthrow the Ayatollah's regime, the dramatic exfiltration attempt, and the controversial decision to share this intelligence with Iran's Revolutionary Guard—a move that successfully prevented Soviet expansion but inadvertently helped create the brutal theocratic regime that persists today. The story reveals the complex moral calculus of Cold War intelligence operations and their unintended long-term consequences.
- Redwood's Intelligence Gold: Exposing the Soviet Illegals Network
- The Human Cost: Redwood's Personal Struggle and Operational Tradecraft
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This episode explores the remarkable true story of Vladimir Kuzichkin, codenamed Agent Redwood, a KGB officer who defected to MI6 during the Iranian Revolution. The discussion with author Ben McIntyre reveals how a deeply personal medical problem combined with ideological disillusionment led to one of the most consequential Cold War defections—one that would shape modern Iran and change the course of intelligence history.
- Introduction to Agent Redwood and His Historical Significance
- Vladimir Kuzichkin: The Making of a KGB Officer
192. 9/11: The War on Terror (Ep 6)
Sep 09, 2026Summary Preview
This episode examines whether 9/11 could have been prevented, analyzing intelligence failures and structural problems between the CIA and FBI. The hosts explore missed opportunities in the months before the attacks, debate whether early warnings could have disrupted the plot, and discuss the profound 25-year legacy of 9/11 on American foreign policy, intelligence operations, and national psyche. They conclude that while there were significant failures in information sharing and management, prevention would have required either well-placed sources inside al-Qaeda or earlier FBI surveillance of key operatives.
- The Intelligence Community's Immediate Response to 9/11
- The Fundamental Collection Failure
191. 9/11: The Twin Towers Fall (Ep 5)
Sep 06, 2026Summary Preview
This episode provides a minute-by-minute account of September 11, 2001, following the four hijacking teams as they execute their attacks on the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and the heroic passenger resistance on United Flight 93. The episode traces the chaos, confusion, and tragedy of the day from early morning airport departures through the collapse of both towers, examining individual stories of victims, survivors, and first responders, while also exploring the government's response and the engineering reasons behind the towers' collapse.
- The Hijackers Prepare and First Planes Take Off
- The First Attack: American Flight 11 Hits the North Tower
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This episode examines the final months before 9/11, from summer 2001 through September 10th. It details how Mohammed Atta orchestrated the final preparations, selecting specific flights and setting the date of September 11th. The episode explores the spiritual and practical preparations of the hijackers, the growing but vague intelligence warnings that went unheeded, and the disturbing mindset of men preparing for what they believed was martyrdom. The plot transforms from concept to countdown as 19 hijackers position themselves across America, spiritually prepared for an act they viewed as worship rather than murder.
- Final Operational Preparations and Pilot Training
- Jarrah's Doubts and the Backup Pilot
189. 9/11: How Much Did the Saudis Know? (Ep 3)
Aug 30, 2026Summary Preview
This episode examines the 15 'muscle' hijackers who would storm cockpits on 9/11, focusing on their backgrounds in Saudi Arabia, recruitment through Al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan, and journey to America. David and Gordon explore how these young, mostly unremarkable Saudi men were radicalized, trained for their mission, and managed to enter the US undetected, while also investigating the controversial question of potential Saudi state involvement through figures like Omar al-Bayoumi.
- The Profile of the Muscle Hijackers
- Growing Up in Post-1979 Saudi Arabia
188. 9/11: How to Recruit a Hijacker (Ep 2)
Aug 26, 2026Summary Preview
This episode examines the development and execution of the 9/11 plot, from recruitment of operatives through their arrival and training in the United States. It explores how Mohamed Atta's Hamburg cell became central to the operation, details the struggles of the Saudi operatives who arrived first, and investigates critical intelligence failures where the CIA failed to share information about known al-Qaeda operatives with the FBI - potentially the most significant missed opportunity to prevent the attacks.
- Planning the Planes Operation and Early Recruitment
- The Hamburg Cell: Mohamed Atta and the Perfect Recruits
The Man Who Briefed the President on 9/11
Aug 25, 2026Summary Preview
Michael Morrell, former acting director and deputy director of the CIA, shares his firsthand account of September 11th, 2001, when he served as President Bush's daily intelligence briefer. This episode provides an intimate look at the events inside Air Force One and the White House on that fateful day, offering unique insights into the immediate response to the attacks, the intelligence assessment process in real-time, and President Bush's transformation from a struggling leader to one with singular purpose. Morrell details the intense moments of briefing the president about who was responsible, warning of potential second-wave attacks, and witnessing F-16s escort Air Force One home past the smoldering Pentagon.
- Journey to the CIA
- Becoming the President's Briefer
187. 9/11: The Rise of Osama bin Laden (Ep 1)
Aug 23, 2026Summary Preview
This episode begins a six-part series examining the 9/11 attacks, exploring how the deadliest terrorist attack in history came to be. The hosts trace Osama bin Laden's journey from wealthy Saudi youth to global terrorist leader, and reveal how the 9/11 plot originated not with bin Laden himself, but with an ambitious terrorist entrepreneur named Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The episode examines the formation of al-Qaeda, the evolution of jihadist ideology, and the early warning signs that U.S. intelligence struggled to recognize in the 1990s.
- Osama bin Laden's Formation and Early Radicalization
- Afghanistan and the Birth of Al-Qaeda
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In this final episode examining the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, Gordon Carrera, David McCloskey, and guest Richard Kerbaj explore how the partnership has evolved in the Trump era and whether it can survive current political tensions. They discuss the alliance's increasing public profile, particularly around the China threat, and analyze how Donald Trump's second presidency is creating new strains between the partners, from threatened trade wars with Canada to controversial FBI leadership. Despite these challenges, they conclude the operational intelligence relationships remain strong, though the alliance may become less central as partners diversify their relationships.
- The Five Eyes Goes Public: Confronting the China Threat
- Trump 1.0 vs 2.0: Different Challenges for the Alliance
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This episode examines the Five Eyes intelligence alliance during the post-Cold War era, exploring how it adapted after losing its original Soviet-focused purpose, navigated the war on terror's controversies, survived the Snowden revelations, and managed emerging tensions over China and Huawei. Despite budget cuts in the 1990s, torture scandals, massive leaks, and disagreements over Chinese technology, the alliance's institutional foundations proved remarkably resilient.
- Post-Cold War Drift and the Search for Purpose
- 9/11 and the War on Terror's Dark Turn
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This episode explores the Cold War era of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, examining how political tensions and espionage scandals threatened to tear apart the signals intelligence partnership between the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Despite crises including the Suez invasion, Soviet penetration of British intelligence, and disagreements over nuclear policy, the underlying technical cooperation and geographic imperatives kept the alliance intact, even when political leaders demanded severance.
- The Suez Crisis: First Major Test of the Alliance
- Division of Global Responsibilities and the Rise of Pine Gap
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This episode launches a four-part series exploring the Five Eyes intelligence alliance - the powerful partnership between the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The hosts trace its origins from World War II espionage cooperation through the early Cold War, revealing how a shadowy wartime intelligence-sharing arrangement evolved into the world's most significant intelligence alliance. Guest Richard Aldrich joins to discuss the alliance's formation, key defections that shaped it, and the tensions that have tested it throughout history.
- Origins of the Five Eyes and the Jesse Jordan Case
- World War II and the Pacific Theater Foundation
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This special two-part series finale records from inside Bletchley Park's auditorium with a live audience, exploring how the February 1941 visit by four American codebreakers to Bletchley Park established the foundation for what would become the strongest intelligence alliance in history—the US-UK signals intelligence partnership that continues today through GCHQ and NSA.
- The Americans Arrive at Bletchley Park
- Building Trust Through Socializing and Shared Experience
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David McCloskey and Gordon Carrera record live from Bletchley Park, exploring the origins of the US-UK intelligence partnership. In February 1941, four American codebreakers arrived at Bletchley Park on a secret wartime mission, bringing with them breakthroughs in Japanese cipher technology. This episode examines the fragile trust between American and British intelligence services, the parallel codebreaking efforts on both sides of the Atlantic, and the high stakes decision about whether Britain should reveal its crown jewel: the breakthrough against Germany's Enigma machine.
- Bletchley Park: Britain's Greatest Secret
- The American Black Chamber and Herbert Yardley
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This episode explores the Jonathan Pollard spy case, one of the most damaging espionage incidents in US-Israel relations. David McCluskey and Gordon Corera examine how a troubled Navy analyst managed to pass massive amounts of classified intelligence to Israel over 17 months, the mechanics of his espionage operation, his dramatic capture, and the decades-long political fallout that continues to shape US-Israel intelligence cooperation today.
- The Israeli Intelligence Unit Behind Pollard
- The Mechanics of Pollard's Espionage Operation
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This episode examines the complex intelligence relationship between the United States and Israel, exploring how two close allies navigate the practice of spying on each other. The hosts analyze recent controversies around Israeli surveillance of U.S. negotiators during Iran peace talks, trace the historical evolution of U.S.-Israel intelligence cooperation from the 1950s onward, and begin a deep dive into the infamous Jonathan Pollard espionage case from the 1980s. The discussion reveals how strategic interests, personal relationships, and institutional frameworks shape intelligence sharing and collection between allies, even when those activities create significant friction.
- The Modern U.S.-Israel Intelligence Relationship and Recent Tensions
- Historical Foundation: From Angleton to Ice Castle
178. The Plot to Destroy Russia’s Gas Empire (Ep 2)
Jul 22, 2026Summary Preview
This episode explores the audacious 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines by a small Ukrainian team. Journalist Bojan Pancevski reveals how civilian divers, working on a $250,000 budget, executed what may be one of the century's most significant acts of sabotage—destroying Russian-German energy infrastructure using a sailing yacht and basic diving equipment. The story unveils the operation's planning, the CIA's attempts to stop it, and the troubling implications for future infrastructure security.
- Ukrainian Intelligence and CIA Relationship
- The CIA's Non-Role and $50 Million Alternative
177. Who Blew Up the Nord Stream Pipeline? (Ep 1)
Jul 19, 2026Summary Preview
In September 2022, the Nord Stream pipelines carrying Russian gas to Europe exploded in the Baltic Sea in what became the greatest act of sabotage on civilian infrastructure in history. This episode explores the controversial origins of the Nord Stream project, revealing how Germany's 'change through trade' philosophy with Russia created dangerous energy dependencies. The investigation uncovers how a group of Ukrainian military and intelligence officers, operating more like a startup than a traditional covert operation, devised an audacious plan to strike at Russia's economic lifeline by destroying the pipelines that Putin relied upon for funding his war machine.
- The Explosion: A Historic Act of Sabotage
- Nord Stream: A Controversial Pipeline Built on 'Change Through Trade'