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John Kiriakou's Dead Drop: Daily Summaries Delivered
by John Kiriakou & Alan Katz
Join ex-CIA officer John Kiriakou on a very personal deep dive into what makes a spy tick. One of the most famous spies in the whole world, John - a spy with a conscience - blew the whistle on the CIA's torture program after the war on terror and spent 23 months in federal prison for it. As John explains, no spy is ever an "ex-spy". Why is that so? Listen to the podcast and you'll understand why.
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- 6 days ago1h 32m
S2E18 Whistleblower's Roundtable with Tom Drake
IN THIS EPISODE We draw the curtain on season 2 with a preview of season 3 wherein we'll ask "What Makes A Whistleblower Tick?" To get us kicked off, John roundtables with whistleblower Tom Drake. A longtime member of America's intelligence community, Tom had just become an official at NSA when 9-11 happened - literally on Tom's first day. But, as America's "War On Terror" ramped up, Tom noticed NSA was gathering intelligence that it shouldn't - information pertaining to American citizens. NSA doing that was both outside its charter and flat out illegal. Tom chose to go through authorized channels to report what he saw. When, a decade later, the problem was still a problem, Tom finally took what he knew to the news media. What makes a whistleblower tick? Judging by Tom Drake - the right stuff.SHOW NOTESIf you're enjoying Dead Drop, please sample our other podcasts at Costard & Touchstone Productions. Your next great podcast obsession is just a click away! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- 1 weeks ago1h 5m
S2E17 How NOT To Make A SPY Movie
IN THIS EPISODE We join with another podcast in the Costard & Touchstone Family - The How NOT To Make A Movie Podcast - to explore how NOT to make a SPY movie. John and Alan Katz (he's both the host of The How NOT To Make A Movie Podcast and the co-writer/executive producer of this the Dead Drop podcast) talk about the spy TV series and movies that inspired them both when they were kids, in John's case, to become a spy, and in Alan's case, to want to write about them. And, they'll discuss the process of turning real life spy stories - like John's - into a movie or TV series. SHOW NOTESYou can find The How NOT To Make a Movie Podcast everywhere you find your favorite podcasts or here. If you enjoy Dead Drop - and The How NOT To Make A Movie Podcast, please check out the rest of our podcasts at Costard & Touchstone. Your next podcast obsession is just a click away! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- 2 weeks ago52 min
S2E16 Free At Last
IN THIS EPISODE John's time at Loretto finally comes to an end - but not without a near hiccup. Though he's free of Loretto, he's not free from the federal Bureau of Prisons; John must report every day to "Hope Village", a halfway house - a situation loaded with ways to trip up and land back at Loretto. John begins the process of shaking off the prison persona he had to adopt in order to survive and relocating his true self.SHOW NOTESIf you are enjoying this project, please check out the rest of our podcast offerings at Costard & Touchstone Productions. Your next podcast obsession is just a click away! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- 3 weeks ago53 min
S2E15 The Home Stretch
IN THIS EPISODE When John first entered the gates of Loretto Federal Prison, his goal was to use all his training as a spy to survive prison. But, just as with spying, prison can be very unpredictable. In fact, John found that he'd been fooled by one of his roommates - who'd been betraying him from the jump. As he enters the home stretch of his sentence, John doubles down on his mission to use everything he learned as a spy to survive prison to the bitter end. SHOW NOTESIf you enjoy this podcast, please check out our whole exciting range of podcasts at Costard & Touchstone Productions. Your next podcast obsession is just a click away! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Aug 17, 202634 min
S2E14 The Torture Report
IN THIS EPISODE At Loretto Federal Prison, John can almost see the light of his release date in the not-too-distant future. Returning to the Outside World will mean having to shed the prison persona John worked so hard to create - if only for survival purposes. Meanwhile in the outside world, the suibject of John's whistleblowing - the CIA's torture program - is finally getting its day in the court of public opinion as the Senate finally gets up the nerve to release its damning report on torture. Things are coming to a head.SHOW NOTESIf you're enjoying this podcast, please check out the rest of our podcasts at Costard & Touchstone Productions. Your next great podcast obsession is just a click away! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Aug 10, 202646 min
S2E13 The Crusader
IN THIS EPISODE John was hardly the first person to point out corruption in America's penal system. Paul Wright was serving a 17 year sentence for murdering a drug dealer when, in May 1990, he started The Prison Legal News. Prison changes people; it changed Paul profoundly. He transformed from a rudderless young man into a veritable crusader for prison amd legal reform. SHOW NOTESLearn more about Paul Wright and The Prison Legal News here.If you're enjoying this podcast, please sample our other podcasts at Costard & Touchstone Productions. Your next podcast obsession is just a click away! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Aug 3, 202636 min
S2E12 Dangerous
IN THIS EPISODE When he first arrived at Loretto Federal Prison to start serving his 30 month term, John expected to serve that term where the judge and prosecutor both advocated that John be in the minimum security camp. But someone at the Federal Bureau of Prisons decided that John was too dangerous - and assigned him to the actual prison instead. John was not even remotely dangerous. Not nearly as dangerous as the FBP is to every inmate in its charge. But, the FBP wasn't entirely wrong. John was indeed dangerous - but only to the FBP.SHOW NOTESIf you enjoy this podcast, please check out all our other podcasts at Costard & Touchstone. Your next podcast obsession is just a click away! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Jul 27, 202635 min
S2E11 Unfinished Business
IN THIS EPISODE With his out date - the end of his prison sentence - now starting to come into view (albeit still in the distance), John would have been best served by keeping his head down. But there remained unfinished business - with sevveral fellow prisoners and especially with the Soretto Prison authorities. And then there was all the unfinished business - all related to torture - happening outside Loretto. SHOW NOTESIf you're enjoying this show, please check out all our other podcasts at Costard & Touchstone. Your next great podcast obsession is just a click away! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
About John Kiriakou's Dead Drop
Join ex-CIA officer John Kiriakou on a very personal deep dive into what makes a spy tick. One of the most famous spies in the whole world, John - a spy with a conscience - blew the whistle on the CIA's torture program after the war on terror and spent 23 months in federal prison for it. As John explains, no spy is ever an "ex-spy". Why is that so? Listen to the podcast and you'll understand why.
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