The Spy Who
These are stories you were never meant to hear. The invisible but vital work of the world’s intelligence services: secret operatives playing to very different rules. The Spy Who, hosted by Indira Varma and Raza Jaffrey, takes you deep inside that shadow world to meet spies who risked everything in the national interest – or, sometimes, their own. Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of The Spy Who ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app.
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Recent Episodes
The Czech Spy Who Stole a Son | The Kidnap | 1
May 26, 2026Summary Preview
This episode introduces the extraordinary story of Václav Jelinek, a Czechoslovak intelligence officer who assumed the identity of Erwin van Halen, a Dutch boy given up for adoption during WWII. Beginning with his mother Johanna's traumatic wartime experience and continuing through Jelinek's espionage training and deployment to London, the episode reveals how Cold War spy agencies weaponized stolen identities and the human cost of such deception.
- A Mother's Impossible Choice
- The STB Weaponizes a Stolen Identity
Listen Now: OnlyFantasy
May 21, 2026Summary Preview
Leon Nafok and Gracie Kanan explore the business side of OnlyFans by visiting Creators, Inc., a high-end agency that represents elite OnlyFans creators. The episode takes listeners inside a mansion-turned-content-house in Los Angeles where creators work with professional support teams, revealing how the platform has evolved into a sophisticated industry that blurs the lines between adult content, influencer culture, and entrepreneurship.
- The Journey to OnlyFans Investigation
- Arriving at the Modern Playboy Mansion
The Spy Who Sold Nuclear Secrets to Iran | How a CIA Spy Recruiter Helped Stop Dr Strangelove | 4
May 19, 2026Summary Preview
In this episode of The Spy Who, host Raza Jafri interviews Jim Lawler, a former CIA operations officer with 25 years of experience, who specialized in recruiting foreign spies and played a crucial role in disrupting the A.Q. Khan nuclear proliferation network. Lawler shares insights into his accidental entry into intelligence work, his recruitment techniques including the 'metaphysics' method, and his pivotal work stopping nuclear technology from reaching rogue nations like Libya and Iran. The conversation explores the psychology of espionage, the MICE motivational framework, and reflections on modern intelligence challenges including AI and biological warfare threats.
- Jim Lawler's Accidental Path to the CIA
- The Metaphysics of Recruitment and the MICE Framework
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This episode chronicles how UN weapons inspector Olli Heyonen's 2003 discovery of Iran's advanced nuclear facility exposed Dr. A.Q. Khan's global proliferation network. The CIA and MI6 launched an intensive operation to dismantle Khan's black market, recruiting the Tinner family as moles, intercepting shipments to Libya, and ultimately pressuring Pakistan to arrest their national hero. The episode details the sophisticated intelligence operation that tracked nuclear components across continents and forced Libya to abandon its weapons program while revealing the terrifying scope of Khan's sales to Iran, North Korea, Libya, and an unknown fourth customer.
- Iran's Secret Nuclear Facility Discovery
- MI6 and CIA Unite Against Khan
Summary Preview
This episode chronicles A.Q. Khan's transformation from Pakistan's nuclear bomb architect to the world's most dangerous nuclear proliferator. After successfully testing Pakistan's nuclear weapons in 1998, Khan established a global black market network selling nuclear secrets and technology to Libya, Iran, and North Korea. The episode follows CIA and MI6 efforts to infiltrate his network through Swiss engineer Urs Tinner, while Pakistan's President Musharraf attempts to rein in the rogue scientist who has become both a national hero and a dangerous liability.
- Khan's Nuclear Empire and the Libya Deal
- Pakistan's Historic Nuclear Test
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This episode chronicles the origin story of A.Q. Khan, the Pakistani scientist who stole nuclear secrets from the Netherlands and built a global proliferation network. Beginning with suspicions about Khan's espionage in 1974, the episode traces his journey from a metallurgist at a Dutch nuclear facility to the architect of Pakistan's bomb program and eventually a dealer selling nuclear technology to Iran and beyond. Despite warnings and surveillance, Western intelligence agencies failed to stop Khan before he could transfer critical uranium enrichment technology to multiple nations.
- Fritz Wiermann's Suspicions and the First Warning
- Khan's Motivation: India's Nuclear Test and Personal Trauma
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This episode explores the extraordinary life and tragic death of Christina Skarbek, one of Britain's most successful but overlooked WWII spies. Historian Claire Mulley reveals how Skarbek became Churchill's favorite spy, performed death-defying missions across Europe, and then was pushed to society's margins after the war - ultimately meeting a violent end in a London hotel in 1952, just seven years after VE Day.
- Christina Skarbek's Background and Path to Espionage
- Breaking Into British Intelligence as the First Female Agent
Summary Preview
Christina Skarbek, a Polish aristocrat turned British spy, conducts dangerous missions in wartime France after being sidelined for years. She coordinates resistance fighters, convinces Polish conscripts to defect, and orchestrates a daring rescue of captured SOE officers from Gestapo execution. Despite her extraordinary bravery and success, the war's end leaves her without a homeland as Poland falls under Soviet control.
- Return to Active Service in France
- Meeting Francis Camard and the American Airdrop Disaster
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This episode follows Christine Granville (Kristina Skarbek), a Polish aristocrat turned British spy, as she navigates increasingly dangerous missions between Hungary and Nazi-occupied Poland in 1940-1941. After narrowly escaping Slovak guards and becoming a wanted woman with her photo in Gestapo hands, she faces arrest, ingenious escapes, and ultimately bureaucratic betrayal when British intelligence sidelines her due to political suspicions, ending her espionage career despite her extraordinary courage and contributions.
- Narrow Escape from Slovak Guards
- Return to Budapest and Continued Missions
Summary Preview
This episode introduces Christina Skarbek, a Polish countess who became Britain's first and most daring female spy of World War II. After Nazi Germany invaded Poland, she volunteered for British intelligence and embarked on dangerous missions skiing through the Tatra Mountains, smuggling intelligence and propaganda between Nazi-occupied Poland and Hungary. Despite her aristocratic background and initial inexperience in espionage, her beauty, courage, and quick thinking made her a legendary operative—though her story would end in tragedy after the war.
- Christina Skarbek Volunteers for British Intelligence
- A Dangerous Romance and Treacherous Mountain Crossing
Summary Preview
Investigative journalist Bethany Allen joins Charlie Higson to explore the expansive world of Chinese intelligence operations, from Larry Chin's Cold War espionage that helped shape U.S.-China relations in the 1970s to contemporary influence operations targeting American politicians and communities. Allen, who was banned from China in 2018 for her reporting on Chinese government interference, provides insider perspective on how Chinese espionage has evolved from traditional Cold War tactics to sophisticated industrial espionage, political influence campaigns, and transnational repression affecting millions of Chinese people living abroad.
- Bethany Allen's Personal Journey and Ban from China
- Larry Chin: The Ideal Cold War Mole
The Spy Who Outplayed Nixon | The Gamble | 3
Mar 17, 2026Summary Preview
This episode chronicles the dramatic conclusion of Larry Chin's decades-long espionage career, spanning from 1982 to 1986. Chinese intelligence officer Yu Changshong infiltrates his boss's files to gather information about China's spy within U.S. intelligence, ultimately leading the CIA to identify Chin. After three years of surveillance, the FBI finally arrests Chin through a masterful interrogation that leads to his confession. The episode reveals that Chin had been spying for China since 1948—far longer than investigators suspected—and ends with his suicide in prison just months after his conviction.
- Yu Changshong's Risky Search for the Mole
- FBI Identifies Larry Chin as the Suspect
The Spy Who Outplayed Nixon | A gift for Mr. Lee | 2
Mar 10, 2026Summary Preview
This episode chronicles Larry Chin's extraordinary 30-year career as a Chinese spy embedded in U.S. intelligence. From passing his 1970 CIA polygraph test to stealing Nixon's secret China diplomacy plans, Chin provided invaluable intelligence that helped Beijing during historic U.S.-China negotiations. The episode follows his eventual retirement, his dangerous decision to continue spying while concealing his retirement from Beijing, and the CIA's discovery that a Chinese mole exists within their ranks.
- Beating the Polygraph
- Stealing Nixon's Game Plan
The Spy Who Outplayed Nixon | Forked Tongue | 1
Mar 03, 2026Summary Preview
This episode introduces Larry Wu Tai Chin, one of history's longest-serving Chinese spies who infiltrated American intelligence services. Beginning with a dramatic 1954 execution scene in northeastern China, the narrative traces Chin's recruitment as a Communist spy in 1948 Beijing, his work as a translator for the US during the Korean War, and his eventual positioning within the CIA. The episode culminates in 1970 as President Nixon secretly reaches out to China while Chin undergoes security clearance for a position at CIA headquarters, setting up a collision between geopolitical forces.
- The Execution and Discovery
- Chin's Recruitment into Communist Espionage
Summary Preview
In this final episode of The Spy Who Sold Codes and Cocaine, lawyer and author Kate Mills Boyce shares her extraordinary 20-year legal battle to free Christopher Boyce and Andrew Dalton Lee from prison. What began as a simple letter to Dalton Lee in 1980 evolved into a decades-long fight against the US justice system, complicated by cancer, romance, and the blurred lines between professional duty and personal connection. Kate's story reveals how two young men convicted of espionage were treated far more harshly than the actual damage they caused warranted, and how one determined lawyer proved the system wrong.
- Kate's Introduction to the Case and Meeting Dalton Lee
- The Complexity of the Crime and Their Motivations
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This episode chronicles Christopher Boyce's daring prison escape from Lompoc Prison and his subsequent recapture while planning to rescue his former spy partner Dalton Lee. The story spans from Lee's arrest in Mexico City in 1976 through to both men's eventual releases on parole decades later, exploring themes of loyalty, regret, and the consequences of their espionage activities.
- Dalton Lee's Desperate Return to Mexico
- The Final Delivery: Pyramida Documents
Summary Preview
This episode chronicles the increasingly dangerous and chaotic partnership between Christopher Boyce and Dalton Lee as they sell American spy satellite secrets to the KGB. As Lee's drug addiction spirals and the Soviets demand more valuable intelligence, the two friends' relationship deteriorates into threats and betrayal, culminating in a tense meeting at the Soviet embassy in Mexico City where both realize they're trapped in the KGB's grip.
- The Cocaine-Fueled Courier's Dangerous Games
- Boyce's Close Call and Growing Paranoia
Summary Preview
This episode introduces the true story of Christopher Boyce and Dalton Lee, two young men from privileged Los Angeles families who became unlikely Cold War spies in the 1970s. Boyce, working in a CIA communications vault, grows disillusioned with government corruption and convinces his drug-dealing friend Lee to sell American spy satellite secrets to the Soviets. What begins as an act of rebellion quickly spirals into a dangerous game of espionage, drugs, and deception.
- A Dangerous Meeting in Mexico City
- The Falcon and the Vault
The Spy Who Jailed the Omagh Bomb Plotter | Inside Britain's Vast Espionage Network | 2
Jan 27, 2026Summary Preview
This final episode of The Spy Who explores the controversial case of Stakeknife, a high-ranking IRA member who secretly worked as a British intelligence agent while allegedly involved in interrogating and killing suspected informants. Host Charlie Higson speaks with journalist Cara McGugan about the recently released Kenova Report, which reveals how MI5 allowed their agents to participate in murders to maintain cover, raising troubling questions about British intelligence operations during the Troubles and whether more lives were lost than saved through these spy networks.
- The Kenova Report and Stakeknife's Identity
- More Lives Lost Than Saved
Summary Preview
This episode chronicles the final phases of FBI and MI5 spy David Rupert's infiltration of the Real IRA and its leader Michael McKevitt. After a critical error nearly exposes him, Rupert participates in elaborate sting operations including a fake Iraqi weapons deal. Despite his reluctance, he ultimately agrees to testify in court, leading to McKevitt's historic conviction as the first person prosecuted under Ireland's anti-terrorism laws—though the personal cost includes permanent hiding for Rupert and his wife.
- The Disc Mix-Up: A Near-Fatal Error
- The Real IRA's Escalating Campaign