Best Katsu Katsu Podcasts (2024)

1
The Fenian Raids and a Friendly Border Threat Analysis with Phil Gurski 1:05:44

40m ago1:05:44

1:05:44

Phil Gurski, an author and renowned Canadian intelligence professional. Phil worked as an analyst at the Canadian Security Establishment (CSE), Canada's equivalent of the NSA, and as a senior strategic analyst at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). He contributes to the Ottawa Citizen and has published six books on counter-terroris…

1
Trevor Aaronson Takes The Sting Out of Law Enforcement 49:45

10M ago49:45

49:45

Trevor Aaronson is an award winning investigative journalist and contributing writer to The Intercept. His podcast ALPHABET BOYS and the subject of his other works focuses on the use of informants in Law Enforcement. We discuss the use of sting operations and how the informant has evolved into a more proactive role over the last few decades. Season…

1
Professor Erik Dahl Offers a Prescription for Pandemic Intelligence 54:05

1+ y ago54:05

54:05

Professor Dahl asserts that the pandemic was a global failure of intelligence, including not only the traditional intelligence agencies that should have been able to do better, but perhaps even more importantly, a failure of the complex system of medical and public health surveillance that is designed to anticipate threats just like this one. He sp…

1
Syndicating the Experience of Brittany Butler 47:41

1+ y ago47:41

47:41

Brittany Butler is a former CIA targeting officer with first-hand knowledge in the recruitment and handling of spies, and dismantling of terrorist networks abroad. A staunch advocate Middle Eastern women's rights, Brittany has worked to protect the rights of disenfranchised Afghan women and girls, and works within her local community to resettle Af…

1
Alma Katsu is Creating a Novel Spy Franchise 40:38

1+ y ago40:38

40:38

Alma Katsu is an accomplished writer and intelligence professional with an extensive career spanning over 35 years. She has held senior analyst positions at various federal agencies, providing policy advice to military and government officials on national security issues. Additionally, she has worked as a senior technology policy analyst for the RA…

1
Berlin Author Bernd von Kostka Duels in the Dark with Cold War History 42:45

2y ago42:45

42:45

Bernd von Koska is the curator of the Allied Museum in Berlin and co-author of Capital of Spies. For almost half a century, From summer 1945 until 1990, NATO and the Warsaw Pact fought an ongoing duel in the dark. Espionage was part of everyday life in both East and West Berlin with spies of numerous nationalities and loyalties. In this conversatio…

1
John Pomfret and Polish American Intelligence Cooperation 32:41

2y ago32:41

32:41

John Pomfret is the author of From Warsaw With Love: Polish Spies, The CIA and the Forging of a Unlikely Alliance This book starts out in Los Angeles with a particularly effective Polish spy who’d penetrated the aerospace industry. Along with a history of U.S. and Polish collaboration dating back to the Colonial period, Pomfret identifies the threa…

1
Author Rebecca Donner Enters Hostile Archives to Find Anti-Nazi Spy Mildred Harnack. 53:27

2+ y ago53:27

53:27

Rebecca Donner is the author of All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days. Mildred Harnack was twenty-six when she enrolled in a PhD program in Germany and witnessed the meteoric rise of the Nazi party. In 1932, she began holding secret meetings in her apartment—a small band of political activists that by 1940 had grown into the largest underground res…

1
Taking a Hard Look at the Five Eyes Agreement with Dr. Anthony Wells 43:46

2+ y ago43:46

43:46

It's not often you get to meet your heroes. As an Operations Research major in college, I Idolized the Bletchley Park giants. Dr. Anthony Wells was trained by these greats like his mentor the cryptoanalyst Sir Harry Hinsley. Fifty years of working in the British intelligence community leaves Dr. Wells with plenty to talk about -- and quite a lot to…

1
McCloskey Deconstructs Damascus Station 45:48

2+ y ago45:48

45:48

Though this episode was recorded in November of 2021, David's recollections and impressions of the Syrian Conflict are eerily similar to what's happening in Ukraine right now. A former CIA analyst, he's now a spy novelist to keep your eye on. David McCloskey reveals part of his process and some unique elements of craft that he brought to this auspi…

1
Spending Time on Target with Author Douglas London 54:16

2+ y ago54:16

54:16

Author of The Recruiter: Spying and the Lost Art of American Espionage, Doug London was happy to get right into his book's revelations and talk about his process. With 34 years of experience in the CIA, this memoir is rich with the authentic personal encounters of a case officer. Doug walks me through some of the many things going through a case of…

1
A Spymaster and a Gentleman, Jack Devine Dispels CIA Myth and Dispenses his Truth 1:03:40

2+ y ago1:03:40

1:03:40

Jack Devine's career at the CIA spanned from the late 1960s to the early 1990s, including the fall of President Salvador Allende in Chile in 1973, the Iran–Contra affair in the mid-1980s, and the fight to push the Soviets out of Afghanistan in the late 1980s. Devine would go on to run the Counter Narcotics Center in the 1990s, and helped oversee ca…

1
George Koval Discussion: The Atomic Spy Who Got Away 50:07

2+ y ago50:07

50:07

Ann Hagedorn discusses her new book SLEEPER AGENT – about the little known Soviet-trained atomic spy who got away. George Koval was born to Russian immigrant parents and raised in Sioux City, Iowa. At the age of 17, he emigrated back to Russia in 1932 where, after university studies, he was discovered and trained by the GRU. He returned to the US, …

1
Former CIA Senior Intelligence Officer Marc Polymeropoulos Offers Clarity In Crisis 50:51

3y ago50:51

50:51

Marc Polymeropoulos has had to live with the consequences of decisions made under the most high-stress circumstances you can imagine as a senior intelligence officer in the CIA, retiring from his 26 years of service as one of the CIA’s most decorated field officers. In his book Clarity in Crisis, Marc shares how true leaders need to lead in and thr…

1
Daniel Levin Negotiates Hostage Release and Mediates Armed Conflict in the Middle East 58:24

3y ago58:24

58:24

In his new book Proof of Life, American author Daniel Levin dives into the Syrian shadows - an underground industry of war where everything is for sale: arms, drugs, even people. In this thriller/memoir he draws on his perceptions and experience as a a lawyer turned armed conflict negotiator who, for the past twenty years, has worked with governmen…

1
Todd Bensman Surveys the Southern Border and the Convoluted Path of Human Trafficking 53:09

3y ago53:09

53:09

Back in April 2021, Todd Bensman talked with me about the nexus between immigration and national security in his book America’s Covert Border War: the Untold Story of the Nation’s Battle to Prevent Jihadist Infiltration. Todd is an award-winning journalist who transitioned to a career as a national security intelligence professional for the Texas D…

1
Toby Harnden Guides Us Back Into Afghanistan With CIA's Team Alpha, ODA 595, and the Northern Alliance with his new book: FIRST CASUALTY 45:13

3y ago45:13

45:13

Toby Harnden is an awarded journalist, foreign correspondent and former bureau chief of the Sunday Times. His most recent book is First Casualty: The untold story of he CIA mission to avenge 911. After numerous interviews with key players and having visited Afganistan several times over the last decades, Toby documents the unconventional success st…

1
A Moscow Station Conversation with John Sipher who Shares the Secret to a Good Spy Story 56:10

4y ago56:10

56:10

The Live Drop's 50th Episode - John Sipher - CIA & Spycraft Entertainment from Spycraftentertainment.com John retired in 2014 after a 28-year career in the Central Intelligence Agency’s National Clandestine Service. At the time of his retirement, he was a member of the CIA’s Senior Intelligence Service, the leadership team that guides CIA activitie…

1
Author and former refugee, Kao Kalia Yang Reveals the Life, Loss, and Hmong Legacy of the Secret War in Laos 47:41

4y ago47:41

47:41

Live Drop guest Kao Kalia Yang is a celebrated Hmong-American writer. She holds degrees from Carleton College and Columbia University. Yang is the author of The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir winner of the 2009 Minnesota Book Awards in Creative Nonfiction/Memoir and Readers’ Choice, a finalist for the PEN USA Award in Creative Nonfiction, and…

1
Author Jonathan Dyer Switches Back to his Time on Teufelsberg as an Army Intercept Operator with Field Station Berlin 36:50

4y ago36:50

36:50

Jonathan Dyer spent three years during the Cold War living and working in Berlin as a Russian Linguist for the Army's Intelligence and Security Command at Field Station Berlin. From 1983 through 1986, Dyer worked at the NSA’s intercept site on Teufelsberg in what was at the time West Berlin. He was a SIGINT intercept operator and transcriber - his …

1
International Security Risk Specialist Mike Croll Starts a New Conversation about Safety, Security and Risk 1:16:10

4y ago1:16:10

1:16:10

Mike Croll has been around a crisis or two - some violent and some peaceful - starting with the fall of the Berlin Wall. He's worked for the Halo Trust in Cambodia, and with the British Foreign Office, European Union, United Nations and more recently, Facebook. He's an old friend of your host Mark Valley and they share a few laughs as Mike offers s…

1
Berlin Photographer Dan Kane and That Time the Stasi Made it Weird on the Way to Rostock 48:46

4y ago48:46

48:46

American photographer Dan Kane has a vivid memory. He got to Berlin in 1983 and experienced some of the major events like the Nicholson shooting of 1985, the LaBelle bombing in 1986, the Wall coming down in 1989 - and he has some stories to share. Dan was a civilian, fluent in German, and an ex-pat with a variety of jobs in the American sector. He …

1
Unraveling the Portland Spy Ring with Dead Doubles author Trevor Barnes 59:13

4y ago59:13

59:13

Author Trevor Barnes talks about his new book Dead Doubles – about the Portland spy Ring – their Portland, not our Portland. In the late 50s Soviet illegal Gordon Lonsdale (Konan Molody) ran a group of spies who managed to penetrate a British research facility at the Portland Naval Base, and communicate effectively to Moscow. The compromised intell…

1
Global Health Supply Chain is Having a Moment - A Covid Conversation with Expert Maeve Magner 33:51

4y ago33:51

33:51

In this episode we gather some expert intelligence about global health supply chains, and how they are adapting to the demands and limitations of the Covid-19 pandemic. My guest Maeve Magner is an industry renowned global health supply chain advisor who’s clients include: Foundation for New Diagnostics, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The Global…

1
Former CIA Analyst Cindy Otis Reveals How to Spot Fake News in a Crowded Feed 44:17

4y ago44:17

44:17

"Fake news" is a term you’ve probably heard a lot in the last few years, but it’s not a new phenomenon. From the ancient Egyptians to the French Revolution to Jack the Ripper and the founding fathers, fake news has been around as long as human civilization. But that doesn’t mean that we should just give up on the idea of finding the truth. In True …

1
Norman Ohler’s The Bohemians Reveals a Spy Ring the Nazis Didn’t Want us to Remember 31:16

4y ago31:16

31:16

Lovers Harro and Libertas Schulze-Boysen formed an unconventional and enigmatic network of artists and intellectuals to resist the Nazis in the 1930s and 40s Berlin. As an officer of the Luftwaffe and Nazi film worker Harro and Libertas sought to operate in plain site, and combine friendship with opportunities for espionage. This gripping spy tale …

1
A Profile of Life in Beirut and Lebanon's History of Unrest with Middle East Historian Emily Whalen 50:39

4y ago50:39

50:39

Emily Whalen is a historian of U.S. foreign policy and the Middle East. She is a doctoral candidate in History at the University of Texas - Austin, and an Earnest May pre-doctoral fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School. Soon to be Dr. Whalen essentially offers a thorough country profile start…

1
Author Jessica Pearce Rotondi Searches the Secret War in Laos for Answers to a Family Mystery 31:49

4y ago31:49

31:49

The Secret War in Laos was sponsored by Americans, fought by Laotians, Thais, Vietnamese, American advisors and pilots while almost entirely eclipsed by the war in Vietnam. Jessica Pearce Rotondi’s book What We Inherit – is a poignant memoir of a family’s loss and search for answers over generations to find Jack Pearce whose AC130 gunship was shot …

1
Mossad Sends In The Good Assassin to Catch The Butcher of Latvia with Author Stephan Talty 24:52

4y ago24:52

24:52

Latvian Aviator Hubert Cukurs was a popular figure before WWII, but the Charles Lindbergh of Latvia would soon become the Butcher of Latvia responsible for the murder of some 30,000 Latvian Jews. Somehow, he dodged the Nuremberg trials, and fleed to South America after war’s end. In 1965, with the improbable German war crimes statute of limitations…

1
Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster Veteran Dr. Sergei Belyakov Liquidates an Unseen Enemy 52:25

4y ago52:25

52:25

This episode isn’t so much about espionage or intelligence collection as it is an example of how understanding how what you don’t know can help shape your reality. How do you take precautions against an unseen and undefined threat - in this episode - to public health. After getting his Phd in Chemistry, Sergei was called to duty by his reserve mili…

1
Dissecting the Anatomy of a Spy For Intent and Motivation with Author Michael Smith 44:29

4y ago44:29

44:29

Focusing on the motivations, The Anatomy of a Spy by Michael Smith tells the story of why spies spy, presenting a wealth of spy stories—some previously unknown and some famous—from the very human angle of the agents themselves. He breaks them into categories that go beyond the widely shared MICE - Money, Ideology, Compromise/Coercion, Ego. We discu…

1
Special Forces Author James Stejskal Stays Behind in Berlin with an Unconventional Unit 47:12

4y ago47:12

47:12

Author James Stejskal talks about his secret Berlin unit during the Cold War. Their mission, should hostilities have commenced, was to wreak havoc behind enemy lines and buy time for vastly outnumbered NATO forces to conduct a breakout from the city. In reality it was an ambitious and extremely dangerous mission, even suicidal. Highly trained and f…

1
Federal Investigator Fred Burton Presents the Beirut Rules And The Hunt for Hezbollah 46:04

4y ago46:04

46:04

Fred Burton, one of the world's foremost authorities on security and terrorism, tells the harrowing story of the hunt for William Buckley - CIA station chief abducted by Hezbollah in Beirut on March 16th, 1984. Mr. Burton was deputy chief of counterterrorism at the Diplomatic Security Service, where he was in charge of preventing and investigating …

1
US Marine and Special Agent Cody Perron Reveals the Diplomatic Security Service 43:22

4+ y ago43:22

43:22

Special Agents of the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) have been on the front lines of securing diplomacy for over a century. From the Fall of Saigon to the U.S. embassy bombings in east Africa, and the Iranian Hostage Crisis to the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, special agents of the DSS have relentlessly put their lives on the line to…

1
Shoulder Surfing in Hong Kong with Security Consultant Ilya Umanskiy 59:54

4+ y ago59:54

59:54

Ilya is an asset protection practitioner and sought after security specialist. After immigrating to the US from Moscow, he graduated and later taught at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. He spent his formative professional years at Prudential Financial HQ in Newark, NJ, under the tutelage of Paul DeMatteis. He then went on to Kr…

1
Air America Pilot Neil Hansen Drops Some Hard Rice on the CIA's Secret War in Laos 1:08:00

4+ y ago1:08:00

1:08:00

My guest Neil Graham Hansen began his aviation career as a pilot for Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa. He then spent more than a decade in Southeast Asia as a captain for Air America - the CIA's airline that operated during the Vietnam era and the 'Secret War' in Laos. Upon returning to the States, unable to let go of the thrills of high stakes flying, hi…

1
Former CIA & FBI Tracy Walder Shares an Unexpected Journey from Sorority Girl to Spy to Spyhunter to Educator 30:53

4+ y ago30:53

30:53

Tracy Walder, ex-USC sorority girl joined the CIA at age 22, hunted down the most dangerous terrorists, then joined the FBI to uproot domestic spies and wrote a fantastic book about it - The Unexpected Spy. “I’d show up in countries where armies of terrorists wanted to kill Westerners. I’d wear red lipstick, curl my hair and stand firmly on the roc…

1
Stephen Vogel Digs Into Cold War Berlin and Taps Into British Spy George Blake 35:25

4+ y ago35:25

35:25

Author and journalist Stephen Vogel’s written a definitive and engaging book about the Cold War’s most audacious espionage operation – Betrayal in Berlin - about a clandestine tunnel as long as the Empire State Building into the Soviet sector of Berlin in the mid 50s. The operation collected years of telephone and wire communications from the Sovie…

1
Canadian Author and Journalist Joyce Wayne Rolls Up the Soviets and Local Members of the Cold War’s Ottawa Spy Ring 57:28

4+ y ago57:28

57:28

Joyce Wayne has written a historical novel called The Last Night of the World about a Soviet female operative, a key player in the Gouzenko Affair. When Igor Gouzenko defected from the GRU to the RCMP in September of 1945 the west would see for the first time the extent of Soviet espionage activity in North America. His 200 pages of documents would…

1
Polish Solidarity Operative Witold Radwanski Reveals the Golden Rule of Konspiracja 58:17

4+ y ago58:17

58:17

TRANSMISSION 028 Witold’s experience as a daring underground operator working within and around the Polish borders offers a view into the relationships, ratlines, allies, enemies, and tradecraft necessary to fund and supply the Solidarity insurgency movement from the late 70s until the Communists were peacefully voted out of power in 1989. He speak…

1
Order No. 8: Beef Wellington 24:42

5y ago24:42

24:42

It might seem like a simple pie on the outside, but slice into this Cult Food and you’ll discover the inside is as tricky as its history! John dives into the complexities of this dinner-party classic with the guidance of pastry expert, Executive Chef Calum Franklin. Can John please the Master of the Beef Wellington with his version of the dish, or …

1
Order No. 7: Cheeseburger 21:05

5y ago21:05

21:05

Is there anything better and more indulgent than classic 80’s cheeseburger? Nope! Put down your Rubik’s cube, get your neon spandex out and join John on his mission to find the perfect patty and suss out a secret sauce. Can he build the ultimate 80’s cheeseburger and transport the Cult Food experts back to their childhood? See more of my trip to Ru…

1
High Stakes Poker Player Joe Rivers Reveals How to Avoid Being Shaken or Stirred. 34:44

5y ago34:44

34:44

Live Drop episode 027, I meet up with an old friend of mine who among other things plays high stakes poker. I wanted to talk to him about that world, and perhaps see how it could inform the role of intelligence with the brinksmanship, nerve, bluff and distraction that are tools to a card player, and protection or transfer of clandestine information…

1
Order No. 6: Lasagna 21:22

5y ago21:22

21:22

The series wouldn’t be complete without this classic Cult Food! John discovers the many layers (pun intended) of this heart-warming, family dish… but who knew there were different versions?! John travels to Italy to find the best of the best, gets advice from a family that’s been making it for generations and serves up his attempt at Lasagna di Car…

1
Dave Rupert American Trucker, Traveler, and British Spy Who Brought Down the Real IRA 58:33

5y ago58:33

58:33

A trucker from upstate New York, David Rupert spent seven years informing for the FBI and MI5 while working his way as high as the IRA war council. His lengthy testimony brought justice to several key players in the supply and terrorism networks of the Troubles, including Real IRA leader Mickey McKevitt who’d had a significant role in the Armagh bo…

1
Irish Writer and Journalist Sean O’Driscoll Found an Accidental Spy in the IRA 59:04

5y ago59:04

59:04

Author and Irish Journalist Sean O’Driscoll talks about his decades of risky investigation into the IRA and his new book - The Accidental Spy - about American David Rupert, aka the Big Yank, a trucking manager, pub owner and erstwhile undercover FBI and MI5 agent within the most violent ruling echelons of the Irish Republican Army. In this episode …

1
Order No. 5: Bacon 25:00

5y ago25:00

25:00

John’s not happy when he discovers harmful nitrates are being added to bacon. Nobody messes with his beloved bacon! This news sets him on a mission to dry-cure and smoke his own bacon, which involves a trip to River Cottage, a filing cabinet and a well-travelled piece of pork. Watch my full Bacon series on the Food Busker YouTube channel: https://y…

1
Order No. 4: Katsu Sandwich 19:31

5y ago19:31

19:31

This Japanese spin on the beloved sarnie has exploded onto the cult food scene. But what secrets are hidden between the two slices of bread? John’s deconstructs this quirky cutlet snack and tells you how to serve up your own version that’s bursting with flavour and sure to be a brunch-time banger! If fancy giving the Katsu Sandwich a crack, all the…

1
Order No. 3: Steak 34:42

5y ago34:42

34:42

A simple, sizzling, succulent steak never fails to get the mouth watering. But nailing the perfect steak isn’t just in the cooking. It starts with the meat. John speaks to award-winning chefs Richard Turner (Hawksmoor), Mark Hix (Tramshed) and beef guru Peter Hannan to get the lowdown on dry ageing his own meat. Can John replicate Peter’s ground-br…

1
Order No. 2: Pizza 27:36

5y ago27:36

27:36

This Cult Food classic is easy, right? Wrong! John is schooled in the techniques of how to craft a traditional Margherita by James Elliot, Co-Founder of Pizza Pilgrims in London. Can John lift the lid on the secret to the perfect dough? Can he deliver the perfect Cult Food pizza? Plus, John’s got some top tips to help you craft your own traditional…

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