True Life Spy Stories

• dead drop #4 | Cold War Spy Oleg Gordievsky Has Died

  Welcome to dead drop. This is your host Philip Thompson bringing you the latest intel on the world of espionage.In this week's dossier:Former KGB double agent Oleg Gordievsky has diedNational Archives exhibits declassified MI5 Kim Philby documentsFire at Heathrow has all the hallmarks of state-sponsored sabotageTop secret US war plans sent to journalist by mistakeStay vigilant. Trust no one. And remember, this Dead Drop will self-destruct in 5... 4... 3...Ways to support the True Life Spy Stories podcast:Buy Me a Coffee: ☕ https://bmc.link/philipthompsonDonate via PayPal: 💸 paypal.me/PhilipT284

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• Oleg Gordievsky | The Most Senior KGB Officer to Spy for Great Britain

  Ways to support the podcast:Buy Me a Coffee: ☕ https://bmc.link/philipthompsonDonate via PayPal: 💸 paypal.me/PhilipT284Oleg Gordievsky was the highest ranking KGB officer to ever become a British spy. He almost single-handedly shaped world events at one of the most dangerous times in global history during the Cold War when humanity peered over the precipice of nuclear holocaust. The plan to rescue him from deep behind the Iron Curtain after he was compromised was thought to be virtually impossible. While to his motherland he remains a traitor, to the Western world he is a hero that risked it all for the sake of the democratic freedoms most of us take for granted.This is the gripping tale of Oleg Gordievsky.Dedicated to the memory of Oleg Gordievsky: 10 October 1938 - 4 March 2025Further reading and sources 📚: (affiliate links) 🛒📕 Next Stop Execution by Oleg Gordievsky - https://amzn.to/3oQPA7U📘 The Spy and the Traitor by Ben McIntyre - https://amzn.to/3SniRVh

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• dead drop #3 | Chinese Court Sentences Convicted Spy to Death

  Welcome to dead drop. This is your host Philip Thompson bringing you the latest intel on the world of espionage.In this week's dossier:Israeli-Arab Resident Arrested for Spying for West Bank TerroristsUK and Russia Engage in Tit-for-Tat Diplomatic ExpulsionsFurther Details Emerge of the Bulgarian Trio Convicted of Spying for RussiaA Chinese Court Sentences Convicted Spy to DeathStay vigilant. Trust no one. And remember, this Dead Drop will self-destruct in 5... 4... 3...Ways to support the True Life Spy Stories podcast:Buy Me a Coffee: ☕ https://bmc.link/philipthompsonDonate via PayPal: 💸 paypal.me/PhilipT284

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• Michał Goleniewski | The Rise and Fall of the CIA's Most Valuable Cold War Spy

  Ways to support the podcast:Buy Me a Coffee: ☕ https://bmc.link/philipthompsonDonate via PayPal: 💸 paypal.me/PhilipT284When a man calling himself “HECKENSCHÜTZE”, or “Sniper” in German wrote a letter to the US Embassy in Bern in April 1958, the West had no idea of the scale and magnitude of the revelations that would soon follow.The mysterious writer insisted that he would deal only with Director of the FBI J Edgar Hoover. From the outset, the relationship between spy and spy master was built on a lie. The CIA took over the running of the operation, all the while masquerading as the Bureau.The Agency soon realised that their informant was not just another spy. They deduced that he was a senior member of Polish intelligence with access to an unprecedented level of top secret Soviet information. As time went on, Agent Sniper became arguably the most valuable asset the West had during the early to mid-phase of the Cold War. Agent Sniper exposed 1,693 communist spies, agents and informants operating covertly within the apparatus of Western intelligence. Behind the mask of 'Agent Sniper' was Colonel Michal nzGoleniewski. He was a complex figure and an expert at compartmentalising his multiple identities. His story is however not just one of daring espionage; it's also a tale of deception, paranoia, and a bizarre descent into delusion. The country he risked everything to help exploited his flaws, the CIA driving him so far down the rabbit hole that he ultimately lost his mind. This is the tale of Michał Goleniewski, the spy who was left out in the cFurther reading:📕 Agent Sniper: The Cold War Superagent and the Ruthless Head of the CIA, Tim Tate - https://amzn.to/4ishMrA📕 The Spy Who Would Be Tsar: The Mystery of Michal Goleniewski and the Far-Right Underground, Kevin Coogan - https://amzn.to/4ishMrA#philipthompson #truelifespystories #agentsniper

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• Aleksandr Ogorodnik | When Cold War Spy Games Turn Deadly

  This is the story of Alexander Dmitrievich Ogorodnik, a mid-level Soviet diplomat turned CIA spy. Ogorodnik was a Soviet diplomat who was recruited to spy on the Soviet Union while stationed in Bogotá, Colombia. Codenamed Agent Trigon, he was later transferred to the Soviet Foreign Ministry in Moscow where he photographed secret diplomatic cables and requested a suicide pill from the CIA in case he was caught. His handler, Martha 'Marti' Peterson was the first female CIA case officer to operate within Moscow. At the height of the Cold War, she had the daunting task of running one of the CIA's most valuable spy prospects.Agent Trigon was ultimately betrayed by a CIA translator and arrested by the KGB. What happened next is a story that not even the best spy authors could come up with...Sources and further reading 📚: (affiliate links) 🛒📕 Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA's Spytechs, from Communism to Al-Qaeda - https://amzn.to/3ZVT1LO📘 The Widow Spy - https://amzn.to/3GY0lh5Ways to support the podcast:Buy Me a Coffee: ☕ ⁠https://bmc.link/philipthompson⁠Donate via PayPal: 💸 paypal.me/PhilipT284

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