Memorial Day, celebrated on the last Monday in May, honors service members who died while serving in the military. On this episode of DIA Connections, a discussion on the traditional sound of remembrance – Taps. Jari Villanueva, the country’s foremost expert on America’s most familiar bugle call, joins us in a conversation about the 24 notes that must be sounded to perfection – and talk about one of the times it wasn’t ... when the whole world was listening.  *Nothing in this podcast should be construed to be an endorsement by the DIA or the US Government of any particular company, product, or service.

Diamonds, hearts, clubs and spades.  On this episode of DIA Connections, listen to how a team of analysts developed a special deck of playing cards used in Operation Iraqi Freedom.  You’ll also hear how they became one of the most significant pieces of DIA history and heritage, not to mention a red-hot collector’s item.  *Nothing in this podcast should be construed to be an endorsement by the DIA or the US Government of any particular company, product, or service.

Merryl Goldberg was followed by the KGB...interrogated by the KGB...even arrested by the KGB.  Just another spy that got caught, right? Well, not exactly. On this episode of DIA Connections, we follow the inspirational story of Merryl Goldberg, a saxophonist from Boston who in 1985 volunteered to go behind the iron curtain into the Soviet Union to help Jews seeking freedom. Hear how she hoodwinked the KGB by hiding coded information in her sheet music, and how she attracted worldwide attention for the plight of Soviet Jews.   *Nothing in this podcast should be construed to be an endorsement by the DIA or the US Government of any particular company, product, or service.

Throughout his country's invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin repeatedly denied his forces were targeting civilians. The world saw the truth for itself in a shocking image taken by photojournalist Lynsey Addario, which offered irrefutable proof of Russia’s tactics. On this episode of DIA Connections, our conversation with Addario includes her chilling account behind the historically important photograph she took at a bridge in Ukraine used as a civilian evacuation route, as well as her continued work in the world’s most dangerous places.

In June 2022, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, “Russia is stealing the childhood of our children.” Every victim of war suffers loss, but no one loses as much as children. On this episode of DIA Connections, you’ll hear from a psychologist who treats children suffering from war trauma. We spoke with the director of the War Childhood Museum, the world’s only museum focused exclusively on the impact of children and war. We also visited two brave 15-year-old young ladies who left their home in Ukraine for America after a walk home from a friend's house was interrupted by a Russian missile strike.