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PODCAST

Spy Story

This podcast presents true stories from the history of espionage. Interesting characters, tradecraft techniques, fascinating stories -- all are dealt with in this semi-weekly podcast. Espionage fiction and their authors are also topics of this podcast. The website for this podcast and related material is https://www.Spy-Story.com, and the author"s website is https://www.JPROF.com.

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All Episodes

13:32

Elizabeth Van Lew - The Union's Secret Weapon in...

Spy Story ·

2025/08/21

Episode Notes: Elizabeth Van Lew - "The Union's Secret Weapon in Richmond" (Episode 14)Air Date: Thursday, August 21, 2025Key Points Covered:Background & Early Life:Born: 1818 to prosperous Richmond family with Northern rootsFather: John Van Lew, hardware businessman who moved from New York to VirginiaEducation: Attended Quaker school in Philadelphia, exposed to abolitionist ideasFamily transformation: After father's death (1843), convinced mother to free family's enslaved workersPre-war status:

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12:08

Belle Boyd: The Rebel Spy of the Shenandoah

Spy Story ·

2025/08/18

Episode Notes: Belle Boyd - "The Rebel Spy of the Shenandoah" (Episode 13)Air Date: Monday, August 18, 2025Key Points Covered:Background & Early Life:Born: 1844 in Martinsburg, Virginia (now West Virginia)Family: Prosperous Southern family; father was shopkeeper and tobacco farmerEducation: Mount Washington Female College in Baltimore - refined upbringing with music, dance, social gracesAge at war's start: Just 17 years old when Civil War beganEntry into Espionage:Initial incident: July 1861 -

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11:34

General Grenville Dodge: Intelligence That Won the War

Spy Story ·

2025/08/14

Episode 11: "General Grenville Dodge: The Union's Secret Spymaster"Air Date: Monday, August 11, 2025Key Points Covered:Background: Born 1831 in Massachusetts, civil engineer trained at Norwich UniversityPre-war experience: Railroad surveying in the Midwest, developing skills in cartography and logisticsMilitary appointment: Colonel of the Fourth Iowa Volunteer Infantry at start of Civil WarInnovation in funding: Used fines and seized Confederate property to pay agents independently of Army

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10:11

General Grenville Dodge: The Union's Secret Spymaster

Spy Story ·

2025/08/11

Episode 11: "General Grenville Dodge: The Union's Secret Spymaster"Air Date: Monday, August 11, 2025Key Points Covered:Background: Born 1831 in Massachusetts, civil engineer trained at Norwich UniversityPre-war experience: Railroad surveying in the Midwest, developing skills in cartography and logisticsMilitary appointment: Colonel of the Fourth Iowa Volunteer Infantry at start of Civil WarInnovation in funding: Used fines and seized Confederate property to pay agents independently of Army

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10:59

Somerset Maugham: The Art of Literary Espionage

Spy Story ·

2025/08/07

Episode Notes: Somerset Maugham EpisodesEpisode OverviewEpisodes 8-9: "Somerset Maugham: The Writer Who Spied" and "The Art of Literary Espionage" explore the dual career of one of the 20th century's most accomplished authors who also served as a British intelligence agent during World War One. These episodes examine how Maugham's experiences as Agent "Somerville" profoundly influenced his literary work and helped establish the foundation for modern espionage fiction.Key ThemesLiterary Intelligence:

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11:17

Somerset Maugham: The Writer Who Spied

Spy Story ·

2025/08/04

Episode OverviewEpisodes 8-9: "Somerset Maugham: The Writer Who Spied" and "The Art of Literary Espionage" explore the dual career of one of the 20th century's most accomplished authors who also served as a British intelligence agent during World War One. These episodes examine how Maugham's experiences as Agent "Somerville" profoundly influenced his literary work and helped establish the foundation for modern espionage fiction.Key ThemesLiterary Intelligence: How writers' observational skills and

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14:17

Charles Talleyrand: The Ultimate Betrayal - part 2

Spy Story ·

2025/07/31

Episode 21: "Charles Talleyrand: The Making of a Master Betrayer" and Episode 22: "Charles Talleyrand: The Ultimate Betrayal" tell the remarkable story of one of history's most skilled diplomatic manipulators. These episodes trace Talleyrand's transformation from aristocratic bishop to revolutionary supporter to Napoleon's Foreign Minister and ultimately to his betrayer. The story explores how Talleyrand's calculated treachery—selling military secrets to Austria and Russia while serving

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12:28

Charles Talleyrand: The Making of a Master Betrayer...

Spy Story ·

2025/07/28

Episode 21: "Charles Talleyrand: The Making of a Master Betrayer" and Episode 22: "Charles Talleyrand: The Ultimate Betrayal" tell the remarkable story of one of history's most skilled diplomatic manipulators. These episodes trace Talleyrand's transformation from aristocratic bishop to revolutionary supporter to Napoleon's Foreign Minister and ultimately to his betrayer. The story explores how Talleyrand's calculated treachery—selling military secrets to Austria and Russia while serving

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13:07

The Master of Disguise: Sarah Emma Edmonds

Spy Story ·

2025/07/24

Episode Overview"The Master of Disguise: Sarah Emma Edmonds" tells the extraordinary story of a Canadian woman who fled an abusive home, enlisted in the Union Army as Franklin Thompson, and became one of the Civil War's most successful spies. The episode explores how Edmonds used her remarkable ability to assume multiple identities—including an enslaved person, Irish peddler, and Confederate soldier—to gather crucial intelligence behind enemy lines. Her story illustrates the intersection of gender

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12:32

Karl Ludwig Schulmeister: The Smuggler's Gambit:...

Spy Story ·

2025/07/21

Episode Overview"The Smuggler's Gambit: Napoleon's Master Spy" explores the remarkable story of Karl Ludwig Schulmeister (1770-1853), one of history's most successful intelligence operatives. The episode focuses on his masterful deception at the Battle of Ulm in 1805, where his systematic disinformation campaign led to the surrender of an entire Austrian army without a major battle. Schulmeister's transformation from Alsatian smuggler to Napoleon's most valued spy illustrates the evolution of

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09:48

Josephine Baker (part 2)

Spy Story ·

2025/07/17

These episodes explore the remarkable transformation of Josephine Baker (1906-1975) from world-famous entertainer to French Resistance operative during World War II. Born Freda Josephine McDonald in St. Louis, Missouri, Baker became an international sensation in 1920s Paris before dedicating herself to intelligence work and humanitarian efforts during the Nazi occupation of France.The episodes detail Baker's evolution from celebrity performer to covert operative, examining how she used her fame,

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09:07

Josephine Baker: From Entertainer to Resistance Hero

Spy Story ·

2025/07/14

These episodes explore the remarkable transformation of Josephine Baker (1906-1975) from world-famous entertainer to French Resistance operative during World War II. Born Freda Josephine McDonald in St. Louis, Missouri, Baker became an international sensation in 1920s Paris before dedicating herself to intelligence work and humanitarian efforts during the Nazi occupation of France.The episodes detail Baker's evolution from celebrity performer to covert operative, examining how she used her fame,

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09:53

The Black Chamber: Origins of Code-Breaking

Spy Story ·

2025/07/10

This episode explores the establishment and operations of England's first systematic intelligence service under Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth government (1649-1660). The "Black Chamber" represents a crucial turning point in the history of espionage – the transition from ad hoc intelligence gathering to a permanent, bureaucratic intelligence apparatus capable of systematic mail interception, cryptanalysis, and counterintelligence operations.The episode focuses on John Thurloe (1616-1668), Cromwell's

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13:32

Wilhelm Stieber: The Father of Modern Intelligence

Spy Story ·

2025/07/07

This episode focuses on Stieber's most sophisticated intelligence operation: his preparation for and conduct of espionage during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. The episode demonstrates how Stieber's methods revolutionized warfare by proving that information could be as decisive as military force in determining conflict outcomes.Years before hostilities began, Stieber established a comprehensive intelligence network throughout France that included military officers, government clerks,

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12:35

Wilhelm Stieber: Bismarck's Master Spy

Spy Story ·

2025/07/03

This episode explores the early life and career of Wilhelm Johann Carl Eduard Stieber (1818-1882), who became Otto von Bismarck's chief intelligence officer and architect of Prussia's first organized intelligence service. Born to modest circumstances in Merseburg, Prussian Saxony, Stieber's path to espionage began when financial necessity forced him to work for the Berlin Police while studying law at Friedrich Wilhelm University.The episode details how Stieber's natural talent for surveillance and

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08:54

Erskine Childers: From Author to Revolutionary

Spy Story ·

2025/06/30

Erskine Childers: From Author to RevolutionaryThis episode chronicles Childers' dramatic transformation from British establishment figure to Irish revolutionary martyr. By 1913, his political evolution from imperialist to Irish nationalist was complete, leading him to conceive the audacious Howth gun-running operation of July 1914. Using his yacht Asgard, Childers and his American wife Molly smuggled 1,900 German rifles and 49,000 rounds of ammunition to Irish Volunteers, demonstrating how his

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09:41

Erskine Childers: The Man Who Created the Modern Spy...

Spy Story ·

2025/06/26

Erskine Childers: The Man Who Created the Modern Spy NovelThis episode explores the early life and literary career of Robert Erskine Childers (1870-1922), whose novel "The Riddle of the Sands" (1903) essentially created the modern spy thriller genre. Born to an English father and Irish mother, Childers was orphaned at six and raised by relatives in County Wicklow, Ireland, developing the deep attachment to Ireland that would later shape his political destiny.After a privileged education at

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11:18

Francis Walsingham: Defeating the Spanish Armada

Spy Story ·

2025/06/23

Francis Walsingham: Defeating the Spanish ArmadaThis episode examines Walsingham's intelligence campaign against the Spanish Armada of 1588, demonstrating how information warfare could be as important as naval battles in determining national survival. Facing the largest invasion force in European history, Walsingham deployed a comprehensive intelligence strategy that combined information gathering, economic warfare, and psychological operations.The episode details how Walsingham's agents in Spain,

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10:59

Francis Walsingham: The Babington Plot and the Fall...

Spy Story ·

2025/06/19

Francis Walsingham: The Babington Plot and the Fall of Mary Queen of ScotsThis episode focuses on Walsingham's most famous intelligence operation: uncovering and manipulating the Babington Plot of 1586, which led to the execution of Mary Queen of Scots. The operation demonstrated Walsingham's sophisticated understanding of counterintelligence and his willingness to use deception and entrapment to protect Elizabeth's reign.The episode details how Walsingham allowed the conspiracy to develop while

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10:05

Francis Walsingham: The Birth of English Intelligence

Spy Story ·

2025/06/16

Francis Walsingham: The Birth of English IntelligenceThis episode explores the early life and career of Sir Francis Walsingham (c.1532-1590), who established England's first professional intelligence service under Queen Elizabeth I. Born into a Protestant family during the religious upheavals of the Tudor period, Walsingham witnessed the persecution of Protestants under Queen Mary I, which shaped his lifelong commitment to protecting Protestant England from Catholic threats.After studying at King's

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