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I Spy

I Spy

Foreign Policy

Spies don’t talk—it’s the cardinal rule of the business. But on Foreign Policy’s podcast I Spy, we get them to open up. We hear from the operations people: the spies who steal secrets, kill adversaries, and turn agents into double agents. Each episode features one spy telling one dramatic story.
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Top 10 I Spy Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best I Spy episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to I Spy for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite I Spy episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

I Spy - The Negotiators is Back!
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09/28/23 • 30 min

Hey there I Spy listeners. Here at Foreign Policy, we’re dropping season 3 of our podcast, The Negotiators. On each episode, one former diplomat or troubleshooter tells the story of one dramatic negotiation. If the tagline sounds familiar, that's by design. We think of The Negotiators as the sister show of I Spy.

We’re actually inserting the season 2 finale of The Negotiators into this feed because it’s especially I Spy like. It’s about a Texas rabbi who is taken hostage at his own synagogue—and ends up negotiating with his captor. Like the episodes of I Spy, this one is non-narrated. You'll hear our host, Jenn Williams, introduce the story, followed by nothing but rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker. The show is a collaboration between Doha Debates and Foreign Policy.

If you want to listen to season 3, find The Negotiators in your favorite podcast app. The first episode of the new season focuses on one of the most famous diplomatic negotiations ever: The Good Friday Agreement that ended decades of violence in Northern Ireland.

Meantime—we're working on more episodes of I Spy, so keep watching this space.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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I Spy - The Art Dealer
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12/03/19 • 32 min

Amaryllis Fox worked for a decade as an undercover agent at the CIA, cultivating arms merchants and preventing them from selling fissile material to terrorist groups. On this episode, she describes courting one particular dealer whose ties to terrorist groups in Indonesia and elsewhere raised alarm bells at Langley. Fox has changed some of the details of her story to avoid exposing the agency's assets and methods.

Check out I Spy's merch by going to https://store.dftba.com/collections/i-spy

Save 15% on FP subscriptions. Visit https://foreignpolicy.com/subscribe/ and enter code ISPY at checkout to claim this offer.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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I Spy - The Master of Disguise
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11/12/19 • 33 min

On this first episode of I Spy, CIA agent Jonna Mendez is sent to a capital city in Asia to help steal a top-secret encryption machine from a Soviet Embassy. Mendez’s job in the operation is to fashion disguises for the team. She would go on to become the chief of disguise at the CIA’s Office of Technical Service.

Check out I Spy's merch by going to https://store.dftba.com/collections/i-spy

Save 15% on FP subscriptions. Visit https://foreignpolicy.com/subscribe/ and enter code ISPY at checkout to claim this offer.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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I Spy - The Man With the Antidote
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11/19/19 • 34 min

On this episode, the Israeli Mossad operative Mishka Ben-David is sent to the Jordanian capital of Amman to help assassinate Khaled Mashal, the political leader of the Palestinian Islamic group Hamas. But the mission doesn’t go quite as planned.

Check out I Spy's merch by going to https://store.dftba.com/collections/i-spy

Save 15% on FP subscriptions. Visit https://foreignpolicy.com/subscribe/ and enter code ISPY at checkout to claim this offer.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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I Spy - The Hellraiser
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02/16/21 • 35 min

Jay Dobyns was a special agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. In 2002, he infiltrated the Hells Angels biker gang and spent two years undercover—a period in which he says he worried every single day about getting exposed and killed by the group.

Check out I Spy's merch by going to https://store.dftba.com/collections/i-spy

Save 15% on FP subscriptions. Visit https://foreignpolicy.com/subscribe/ and enter code ISPY at checkout to claim this offer.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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I Spy - The Special Agent
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02/23/21 • 33 min

The FBI's Ali Soufan specialized in Al Qaeda investigations both before and after the attacks of September 11th. In 2002 he was sent to question Abu Zubaydah, a high-level jihadi captured in Pakistan. But after several rounds of interrogation at the secret site, he was sidelined by a CIA contractor who had helped develop a new torture program for the agency.

Check out I Spy's merch by going to https://store.dftba.com/collections/i-spy

Save 15% on FP subscriptions. Visit https://foreignpolicy.com/subscribe/ and enter code ISPY at checkout to claim this offer.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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I Spy - The Infiltrator
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02/09/21 • 32 min

The British spy agency MI5 recruited Willie Carlin to infiltrate Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland. He spied on the group for 11 years until his cover was blown.

Check out I Spy's merch by going to https://store.dftba.com/collections/i-spy

Save 15% on FP subscriptions. Visit https://foreignpolicy.com/subscribe/ and enter code ISPY at checkout to claim this offer.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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I Spy - The Interrogator
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02/02/21 • 30 min

FBI special agent George Piro spent seven months interrogating deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, establishing a rapport and then getting him to reveal the truth about the country's weapons of mass destruction.

Check out I Spy's merch by going to https://store.dftba.com/collections/i-spy

Save 15% on FP subscriptions. Visit https://foreignpolicy.com/subscribe/ and enter code ISPY at checkout to claim this offer.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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I Spy - The Cassandra
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03/02/21 • 28 min

Frank Snepp was a CIA analyst based in Saigon during the Vietnam War. In April of 1975, he discovered that Communist forces were preparing a large-scale attack on Saigon—but the higher ups refused to believe it. When the attack began later that month, the Americans conducted a frenzied evacuation, leaving behind many Vietnamese allies.

Check out I Spy's merch by going to https://store.dftba.com/collections/i-spy

Save 15% on FP subscriptions. Visit https://foreignpolicy.com/subscribe/ and enter code ISPY at checkout to claim this offer.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Tensions between ethnic Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda began long before the 1994 genocide—a vestige of Belgian colonial rule in the country. On this episode, we trace the events leading up to the mass killing—and how they affected Paul and his wife.

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FAQ

How many episodes does I Spy have?

I Spy currently has 51 episodes available.

What topics does I Spy cover?

The podcast is about Society & Culture, History and Podcasts.

What is the most popular episode on I Spy?

The episode title 'The Negotiators is Back!' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on I Spy?

The average episode length on I Spy is 25 minutes.

How often are episodes of I Spy released?

Episodes of I Spy are typically released every 6 days, 23 hours.

When was the first episode of I Spy?

The first episode of I Spy was released on Oct 3, 2019.

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