PODCAST

SPYCRAFT 101

Justin Black

Welcome to your clandestine classroom.

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All Episodes

01:07:23

243. From Radicalization to Redemption: Undercover in...

SPYCRAFT 101 ·

2026/04/13

Today Justin sits down with Mubin Shaikh. Mubin grew up in Toronto, Ontario in a family of Indian Muslim immigrants. As a young man, he was drawn down the path of radicalization after traveling to India and Pakistan and encountering Taliban fighters there. However, in 2004, he experienced a change of heart and soon began working with the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service to identify potential jihadis in Canada. In 2006, Mubin was the key witness in Canada's biggest ever homegrown terror

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01:14:39

242. Inside France's Spy World with Dr. Damien Van...

SPYCRAFT 101 ·

2026/04/06

Today Justin talks with Dr. Damien Van Puyvelde. Damien is an associate professor and head of the Intelligence and Security Group at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs at Leiden University, Netherlands. Before joining Leiden University, he led the Scottish Center for War Studies at the University of Glasgow. He is the author or co-author of several books, and co-editor. His work has also been featured in outlets such as Le Monde and The Washington Post. He's here to discuss his newest

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01:18:46

241. From Russia with Secrets: The Defection of an...

SPYCRAFT 101 ·

2026/03/30

Today Justin sits down with Janosh Neumann, known as Jay. Jay was born in Russia under a different name and joined the Federal Security Service, known as the FSB ,as a counterintelligence officer in 1996. Over the next few years, he investigated international money laundering and other crimes. In 2008, he and his wife, Victoria, who was also an FSB officer, traveled to the Dominican Republic where they walked into the US Embassy and offered to defect to the United States. This was the start of a

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00:47:50

240. A Czech Spy Turned Little League Coach with Zach...

SPYCRAFT 101 ·

2026/03/23

Today Justin is joined again by Zach Dorfman. Zach is a national security reporter whose work has appeared in Politico, The Atlantic, Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, and many other publications. He received his vachelor's degree from Skidmore College and a Master's degree in International Relations and Affairs from the University of Chicago. Zach is a former senior fellow at the Carnegie Council for Ethics and International Affairs. He's also the host of the Spy Valley Podcast from

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00:54:29

239. Cyberwarefare: How Nations Hack and Spy in the...

SPYCRAFT 101 ·

2026/03/16

Today Justin sits down with Allie Mellen (@hackerxbella). Allie is a leading industry analyst who advises global 2000 organizations on cybersecurity policy and practice with a focus on detecting and responding to nation state attacks. Previously she held engineering and research roles at multiple early stage technology startups. She's also spent years conducting research at MIT and Boston University and supported the University of Oxford Business Leaders Program as a cybersecurity expert. Allie is

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00:59:18

238. [ARCHIVE] An International CIA Pilot with Lee...

SPYCRAFT 101 ·

2026/03/09

This week continues our tribute to Lee Gossett with his second Spycraft 101 episode. Not only did he appear on the podcast twice, but he and Justin were regularly in contact via email from 2021 and on. He was an avid listener to the podcast and on many occasions had some inside knowledge of the events that we discussed. Today's interview originally aired as episode 75. In late 2022, Lee came back to discuss life after Laos, including his time in Central America and Somalia, and his work with early

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00:48:19

237. [ARCHIVE] From Forest Fires to CIA Resuppliers...

SPYCRAFT 101 ·

2026/03/02

This week, Spycraft 101 returns to the archives to say goodbye to one of our earliest guests. Lee Gossett got his start as a smoke jumper with the US Forest Service in the late 1950s and later served with Air America and Continental Air Services during the Secret War in Laos. He worked and flew all over the world for the Central Intelligence Agency and various special operations units. He appeared twice on the podcast. Although these interviews were recorded several years ago, Lee and Justin stayed

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00:45:44

236. Imprisoned in China: The Hainan Island Incident...

SPYCRAFT 101 ·

2026/02/23

This week Justin sits down with Shane Osborn. Shane is a veteran of the US Navy and a graduate of the University of Nebraska Lincoln. From 2007 until 2011, he served as the treasurer for the State of Nebraska. He's also the founder of the Nebraska Soldiers Foundation, which helps soldiers and their families cope with post-traumatic stress disorder. In early 2001, Shane was serving as a pilot with Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron one based in Okinawa on April 1st of that year while flying a mission

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01:13:52

235. Secrets of a Spy Master: Your Guide to Influence...

SPYCRAFT 101 ·

2026/02/16

Justin's guest for today is Julian Fisher, a former British intelligence operative espionage specialist and author of Think Like A Spy. Following a stint in government service, Julian headed up Africa operations for a private military company and then founded his own intelligence boutique specializing in Africa. In 2017, he was the lead trainer on the Channel Four reality series Spies, which put 16 ordinary members of the public through a series of challenges to find out if they had what it takes to

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00:56:09

234. The Swedish "Assassin" and the Killer Cop with...

SPYCRAFT 101 ·

2026/02/09

Today's guest is Paula May. Paula graduated from Appalachian State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice, and later a Master's degree in Public Administration. She worked for more than 35 years in law enforcement, primarily in Waga County and then in King, North Carolina. She spent more than 20 of those years in major crime investigations, and the last 10 as Chief of Police directing major criminal incident response and investigations in King. Since retiring, she has also

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01:18:09

233. From Cracking Watergate to Revolutionizing...

SPYCRAFT 101 ·

2026/02/02

Today Justin talks with Michael Hershman. Michael served as a special agent with US Army Intelligence beginning in the late 1960s. He then went to work as an investigator for New York City, New York State, and then as a senior staff investigator for the Senate Watergate Committee led by US Senator Sam Ervin. Later, he joined the Federal Election Commission as chief investigator and was responsible for audits and investigations of candidates and their campaign committees.After leaving government

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01:37:35

232. My Uncle D.B. Cooper with Lisa Story

SPYCRAFT 101 ·

2026/01/26

Today Justin sits down with Lisa Story. Lisa graduated from the University of Nevada - Las Vegas, where she studied Communications and Journalism. Since then, she has worked in and around Nevada as a public relations professional. She's the author of two books, both of which focus on her uncle Walter Reca. Walt was an airborne soldier, professional, skydiver, occasional criminal, and conman possible CIA operative, and one of the primary candidates suspected to be D.B. Cooper, the infamous American

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01:13:03

231. Decoding Battlefield Intelligence with Tim Scherrer

SPYCRAFT 101 ·

2026/01/19

Today Justin talks with Tim Scherrer. Tim earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in History from Truman State University and is a Distinguished Military Graduate of the Army ROTC program. He served as a military intelligence officer in the Army Reserve for 28 years. His assignments included an intelligence briefer to the commander in chief of US Transcom during Operation Desert Storm, basic training company commander and chief of the asymmetric threat division at US Transcom. After the 9/11

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01:00:38

230. Tortured and Held Hostage in Venezuela with...

SPYCRAFT 101 ·

2026/01/12

Today Justin sits down with Matthew John Heath. Matthew served in the US Marine Corps from 1999 until 2003, including a combat deployment to Iraq. Afterwards, he worked with the US State Department as a private contractor in Afghanistan. In 2020, Matthew was arrested inside Venezuela, near the Colombian border, and charged with multiple false offenses, including treason and arms trafficking. He spent more than two years captive in prison in Caracas before he was released in a prisoner exchange in

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00:54:08

229. In the Shadows: US Naval Intelligence in the...

SPYCRAFT 101 ·

2026/01/05

Today Justin sits down with Dr. Brian J. Ellison. Brian has a Master's degree in International Security from American University and a PhD in War Studies from King's College London. He's worked as a senior research scientist at the Center for Naval Analysis and at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory where he has specialized in Chinese strategic affairs, naval warfare and intelligence. His work has led to significant policy, operational, and institutional changes within the Office

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01:01:32

228. Data, Privacy, and Power: How Commercial...

SPYCRAFT 101 ·

2025/12/29

This week Justin talks with Mike Yeagley. Mike is a graduate of St. Lawrence University and is currently the Chief Strategy Officer for cohort.ID. For the past decade, Mike has been working in a variety of positions to understand and reveal how advertising and marketing data can be both an asset and a detriment in intelligence and targeting operations. He's here today to discuss his work regarding the many ways that data can be bought, sold, and used worldwide, and how anyone can effectively

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01:19:01

227. My Husband the Cuban Spy with Ana Margarita...

SPYCRAFT 101 ·

2025/12/22

This week Justin sits down with Ana Margarita Martinez. Ana fled to the states at age six as a Cuban political refugee, and settled in South Florida as part of the Cuban Exile community. In 1992, she met Juan Pablo Roque, a Cuban Air Force pilot, who had recently arrived in Miami after defecting. They dated for three years and then married in 1995. A year later, Juan Pablo suddenly disappeared and Ana discovered that he had really been a spy for the Cuban government all along. She's here today to

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01:09:11

226. Biologics, Guns, and Secrets: A Deep Dive into...

SPYCRAFT 101 ·

2025/12/15

Today Justin talks to retired FBI Special Agent Sheldon Fung. Sheldon has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biochemistry from the University of California Davis, and a Master's Degree in Criminology and Weapons of Mass Destruction from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. spent more than 21 years with the FBI as a bomb technician and a WMD coordinator. He's here to discuss one of the biggest WMD cases he ever worked on, which began in Irvine, California in March, 2000, after a local man named Dr. Larry

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01:23:42

225. How the FBI Caught China's Most Prolific Spy...

SPYCRAFT 101 ·

2025/12/08

Today, Justin welcomes retired FBI supervisory special agent James Gaylord. Jim spent nearly 32 years with the FBI, including six years supervising a counterintelligence squad at the Los Angeles Field Office's Santa Ana Resident Agency. If you're a longtime listener of the podcast, you might remember Jim as one of our earliest guests from episode 12, recorded nearly four and a half years ago. Today he's back to talk about two of the most famous cases he ran as case agent. It's the story of The FBI's

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01:24:49

224. Secrets, Scandals, and Salvation: Spying for...

SPYCRAFT 101 ·

2025/12/01

Today Justin sits down with Gregg Bergersen. Gregg spent 19 years in the Department of Navy's office of Naval Intelligence as an intelligence research specialist. He was then asked to join the Department of Defense as a weapons systems policy analyst at the Defense Security Cooperation Agency in Arlington, Virginia, where he oversaw complex command control, communication, computer intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance foreign military sales programs managed by the Army, Navy, and Air Force

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SPYCRAFT 101

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